What’s New To Watch On Netflix In December 2025

December doesn’t have to be a black hole of Christmas classics and TV specials.

In a world where you can have both, Netflix has a full roster of originals dropping this month to keep everyone entertained throughout the festive season, when you’ve grown tired of pleading the case for Die Hard and can’t stomach another soap.

From hard-hitting documentaries to feel-good fluff, here’s what you can stream this month.

Tell me more: US chat show legend David Letterman sits down with Adam Sandler for a special edition of his My Next Guest interview series. The pair talk about everything from (figuratively) dying on stage to how Adam’s impressions of his grandma helped give him his big break on the comedy circuit. A heartwarming combination of laughs and interesting tidbits from the Happy Gilmore star’s rise to fame, it’s the ideal pre-Christmas warmer.

Netflix says: “Adam Sandler invites Dave backstage on his comedy tour, then they sit down at NYU to chat about stand-up, famous roles and his beloved Stratocaster.”

Tell me more: When Norwegian movie Troll arrived on Netflix over Christmas in 2022, it quickly became the platform’s most streamed non-English language movie of all time with a whopping 103 million views. The first film honed in on palaeontologistt Nora Tidemann’s (Ine Marie Wilmann) attempt to save Oslo from a peed off giant, after a railway project awakened it from its slumber. In the second instalment, Nora is at it again after a troll escapes from an underground research facility and threatens to wreak havoc.

Netflix says: “A new troll has awakened! Join Nora, Andreas, and Captain Kris as they embark on their most dangerous adventure yet. With the clock ticking and chaos spreading, they’ll need new allies and ancient secrets to stop the rampage. Can they save Norway before it’s too late?”

Tell me more: Already being lauded by critics for its thoroughness, Netflix’s new documentary on Sean Combs is being called a “grimly necessary” watch. The series, which was executive produced by Combs’ “longtime adversary” 50 Cent, has triggered the disgraced music mogul’s team to lash out at its content and issue a cease-and-desist in an attempt to get the streamer to take it down. It might not be a Christmassy watch, but Sean Combs: The Reckoning is an important look at the abuse of power and the many allegations that the rapper sees himself at the centre of.

Netflix says: “Sean Combs: The Reckoning is a staggering examination of the media mogul, music legend, and convicted offender. Through explosive, never-before-seen materials, including exclusive interviews with those formerly in his orbit, this documentary tells the story of a powerful, enterprising man and the gilded empire he built — and the underworld that lay just beneath its surface.”

Tell me more: On a lighter note, how about a gender-swap romcom with a Christmas twist? Think Amanda Bynes and Channing Tatum’s classic She’s The Man, but this time it’s a single mum who disguises herself as Santa Claus to get her daughter discounted snowboard lessons. Oh, and she ends up falling in love with the manager of the hotel (Ryan Eggold) which happens to be the centre of her deception. Need we say more?

Netflix says: “A single mom needs a job. A ski resort needs a Santa. Disguised as a St. Nick lookalike, can Taylor fool a charming hotel heir into ho-ho-hiring her?”

Tell me more: Never let a critical savaging get in the way of a good time. Meghan Markle’s much-derided series is back for a one-off Christmas special that sees her visit a Christmas tree farm, show off her present wrapping skills and chat to friends like tennis player Naomi Osaka and restaurateur Will Guidara. It’s the kind of Christmassy white noise you can pop on in the background while wrapping your presents and trying to find the end of the sodding sellotape for the fifteenth time.

Netflix says: “There are few seasons better suited to gathering loved ones together than the holidays […] You have the opportunity to make the coziest time of the year even more special with seasonal tips and tricks from Meghan, Duchess of Sussex.”

Tell me more: Sex, guns, fire, blood and vengeance. It’s all happening in the trailer for Netflix’s turn at the western genre, and with Gillian Anderson and Lena Headey at its helm, they’re shooting from the hip. Set in the 1850s, The Abandons follows two matriarchs (Constance and Fiona, played by Gillian and Lena respectively) as they go into battle over a town they both claim a stake in for very different reasons, with Constance’s wealth and privilege bristling against Fiona and her family of orphans and outcasts.

Netflix says: “The families find their fates linked by two crimes, an awful secret, star-crossed love, and a piece of land over a silver lode. Their collision in a place just beyond the reach of justice echoes the perpetual American struggle between the haves and have-nots.”

Tell me more: George Clooney and Adam Sandler…in the same movie? Strange as it may be, Marriage Story director Noah Baumbach’s new film throws the unlikely pair together. George plays the title character, a successful and charming actor (he must have had to dig deep to prepare), whose journey across Europe with his manager Ron (Adam) leads to them both reflecting on their life choices and the relationships they’ve forged. There’s been early positive pick-up by the critics, with one review calling it George’s “midlife crisis masterpiece”.

Netflix says: “Everybody knows Jay Kelly, but Jay Kelly doesn’t know himself.”

Tell me more: Simon Cowell is bored of TV and wants to go back to signing artists and working with bands. And so here we have a TV show about him signing artists and working with bands. “If this goes wrong it will be ‘Simon Cowell has lost it’,” the music mogul says in the trailer for his new show, which sees him dusting off the old X Factor model and going about putting a boyband together.

Netflix says: “This is unlike any show he has made before. From raw open casting calls to the release of their debut single, this is an all-access pass for viewers to catch every moment of Simon’s next chapter. Will he strike gold once again?”

Tell me more: We can’t imagine a world in which we tire of Rian Johnson’s murder mysteries, and the third film in the series is further proof. This time it’s a religious experience, with Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) sent to investigate the murder of Monsignor Jefferson Wicks (Josh Brolin) amidst a landscape where Glenn Close, Josh O’Connor, Kerry Washington and Andrew Scott are all part of the dead priest’s flock.

Netflix says: “This time around, Blanc travels to a small church in upstate New York, where a murder that defies all logic sets the detective on his most personal case to date.”

Tell me more: Look, we don’t really know why aristocrat and I’m A Celeb star Lady C seems to be a big fixture of Netflix’s new true crime documentary, getting huffy about being offered a drink and storming out, but it feels very important that we find out. Murder In Monaco tells the story of billionaire Edmond Safra, and the mysterious events that led up to his death through the streamer’s classic sit-down interview format spliced with retelling.

Netflix says: “Monaco, 1999. One of the world’s richest men dies in his penthouse. This documentary unpacks the mysterious murder of billionaire banker, Edmond Safra.”

Tell me more: Will Emily stay in Rome to grow Agence Grateau’s Italian office and see things out with Marcello, or head back to her adopted home of Paris and try again with OG on/off love interest Gabriel? Season five of Lily Collins’ marmite show lands in mid-December, and it looks like we’re in for more of the dodgy accents, ridiculous fashion and love triangles that make people love or loathe the show in equal measure.

Netflix says: “This season is a tale of two cities: Rome and Paris. Straddling both, Emily takes love and life to the next level.”

Tell me more: Thought you could get through Christmas without an ugly cry? More fool you. Helen Mirren stars as a dying woman in Kate Winslet’s directorial debut, as her family rally around her and try their best to navigate grief, love and messy family dynamics in the run-up to Christmas. With Kate also acting in the film, she’s joined by fellow legends Toni Collette and Timothy Spall. Just make sure you have a mince pie and a pick-me-up nearby.

Netflix says: “The film takes place just before Christmas, when an unexpected turn in their mother’s health thrusts four adult siblings and their exasperating father into chaos as they navigate messy family dynamics in the face of potential loss. But their quick-witted mother, June, orchestrates her decline on her own terms — with biting humour, blunt honesty, and a lot of love.”

Tell me more: The next batch of Stranger Things episodes will arrive in the UK at 1am on Boxing Day, giving us just enough time to sleep off our third round of Christmas dinner, fourth family argument, and unquantifiable amount of chocolates. It’s the second out of three drops that Netflix are staggering for the fifth and final season of the massive show, with the last ever episode arriving on New Year’s Day.

Netflix says: “The final battle looms in Stranger Things 5, and your favorite nerds are facing a nightmare like no other. The fifth and final season picks up in the fall of 1987, with Hawkins, Indiana, scarred by the opening of the Rifts at the end of Season 4 and our heroes united in their efforts to find and kill Vecna. But that’s easier said than done since his whereabouts are unknown, and Hawkins is under lockdown.”