New Netflix movies: the biggest films to stream in November 2023

What are the new Netflix movies that have arrived on the service over the past few weeks? We’re glad you asked.

Below, you’ll find a list of all of the new movies to debut on the world’s best streaming service since October began. So, if you’re searching for a film to stream this weekend (or any day, for that matter) that’s recently come out in theaters and/or on Netflix, you don’t need to look anywhere else.

From Netflix Originals including NYAD and Pain Hustlers, to licensed flicks like the latest Spider-Man movie, you’ll find lots to read about in our new movies on Netflix guide. And, if you’re after an even bigger selection of what’s available on the platform, our best Netflix movies guide is stuffed with even more top-tier flicks for you to wrap your eyes around.

For now, though, here are all of the new Netflix movies to debut on the service.

New Netflix movies: November 2023

NYAD

Release date: November 3

Based on an incredible true story, NYAD tells the tale of journalist Diana (Annette Bening) who, at 60 years of age, attempts to complete an epic 110-mile open ocean swim from Cuba to Florida. It’s a water-based trek she’s been obsessed with since she gave up marathon swimming 30 years prior. With the aid and support of long-time friend and coach Bonnie (Jodie Foster), Diana sets off on a four-year journey to tackle her biggest regret.

Critics have called this thrilling drama “mesmerizing”, “fearless”, and “powerful”. Its 86% critical rating on Rotten Tomatoes suggests it’s absolutely worth catching if you can, too. Just make sure you have a box of tissues handy for those tear-jerking moments.

New Netflix movies: October 2023

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Release date: October 31 (US only)

Netflix users in the US got a not-so-spooky bonus when Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse made its unexpected streaming debut in late October. The spectacularly assembled animated superhero film only arrived in theaters in June, so we were taken aback to see it join Netflix’s film library (in North America, anyway) so soon.

Still, we’re delighted it has as it’s one of 2023’s best movies. Set 14 months after Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, viewers are reunited with Miles Morales, Gwen Stacey, and Peter B Parker as they embark on a new multiverse-spanning journey that, unlike its forebear, won’t be such an easy one to navigate.

In our Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse review, we said it “fulfils its ambitious promise to deliver an amazing follow-up to its 2018 predecessor”. Once you’ve watched it, read our Across the Spider-Verse ending explained article to see how it sets up its Beyond the Spider-Verse sequel. Then, see where it ranks in our best Spider-Man movies guide, or find out how to watch the Spider-Man movies in order.

(NB: Available to rent or buy on Apple TV, Amazon, Google Play, the Microsoft Store, and YouTube in the UK and Australia.)

Pain Hustlers

Release date: October 27

In our minds, Pain Hustlers looks like a medical Wolf of Wall Street. Previously, we said if it’s half as good as that movie was, we’re in for a real treat. Based on its god-awful 23% critical Rotten Tomatoes score, though, we wish to retract our statement.

Anyway, for those interested: Pain Hustlers stars Emily Blunt as Liza Drake, a blue-collar mom who loses her job and winds up being hired by a pharmaceutical firm. However, Drake soon finds herself grappling with the company’s ethical ambiguity and dangerous rackateering scheme, as well as dealing with her fellow explosive and chauvinistic employees, including Pete Brenner (Chris Evans) and unhinged CEO Jack Neel (Andy Garcia).

It wasn’t heralded as a superb film by critics and, despite us expecting Pain Hustlers to pull in millions of people, it only ended up drawing in 14.1 million views in its first week on the platform. In short: it could’ve performed better.

Old Dads

Release date: October 20

A flick that’s got comedian Bill Burr’s fingerprints all over it – he’s written, directed, and stars in this film – Old Dads is another Netflix comedy film that might appeal to you, depending on your sense of humor.

Also starring Ant-Man‘s Bobby Cannavale and the Halo TV show‘s Bokeem Woodbine, Old Dads tells the tale of “three best friends [who] become fathers later in life and find themselves battling preschool principals, millennial CEOs, and anything created after 1987”.

With a terrible 24% critical rating on Rotten Tomatoes, this is one film we’d ordinarily suggest you avoid. But, with a far more positive 88% audience score and its 29.3 million views so far, Old Dads may be worth watching.

Fair Play

Release date: October 6

This erotic thriller from Chloe Domont could be one of 2023’s unexpectedly great Netflix movies. You don’t need us to hype it up, either – its 86% critical score on Rotten Tomatoes suggest it’ll enthrall and surprise you in equal measure. Well, if you don’t look at its less impressive 52% audience rating, anyway.

Fair Play stars Alden Ehrenreich and Phoebe Dynevor as Luke and Emily, a newly engaged couple whose relationship is pushed to the brink by Phoebe’s unexpected promotion. With critics labeling it “sexy”, “intelligent,” “wicked sharp”, and “an expertly calibrated urban thriller”, you might want to stick this one on your watchlist ASAP.

Dune

Release date: October 1 (US only)

Denis Villeneuve’s 2021 sci-fi epic has surprisingly made its debut on Netflix (in the US, anyway). Dune, which tells the first half of the legendary story set in Frank Herbert’s seminal novel of the same name, landed on the streamer in early October (it’s also available on Max). And, but for one issue, Dune‘s Netflix arrival would’ve been perfect.

It’s hard to distil Dune‘s expansive story down into a couple of sentences, so we’d advise you read our Dune review to find out more about it. Oh, and it has one of the best ensemble casts we’ve seen in a long time, which includes (but isn’t limited to) Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Zendaya, Oscar Isaac, Jason Momoa, Josh Brolin, Stellan Skarsgard, Dave Bautista, and Javier Bardem. Catch it before a) it leave the service and b) Dune Part 2, one of 2024’s new movies, arrives next March.

(NB: UK viewers can catch Dune on Prime Video, while Australian audiences need to tune into Foxtel.)

New Netflix movies: what’s coming in 2023?

Looking for more information on the all of new Netflix movies set to launch before December 31? See what’s confirmed to arrive below:

The Killer

Release date: November 10

David Fincher’s back with a brand-new thriller to, well, thrill us with. The Killer, which stars Michael Fassbender, looks like it’ll be another unmissable Fincher offering, too.

Based on Alexis Nolent and Luc Jacamon’s graphic novel series of the same name, The Killer sees Fassbender play an unnamed assassin. After a near-fatal miss, goes to war against his employers during an international manhunt that Fassbender’s nameless protagonist insists isn’t personal. Tilda Swinton and Charles Parnell are among the starry supporting cast of one of 2023’s new Netflix movies.

Best. Christmas. Ever!

Release date: November 16

Christmas movies seem to be debuting earlier on streaming services with each passing year, and Netflix’s latest festive offering isn’t an exception to that rule.

Heather Graham (Twin Peaks, The Hangover) and Brandy Norwood (The Game) star in this feel-good holiday flick as Charlotte and Jackie respectively. Each year, the latter sends a boastful holiday newsletter to her friends, including Charlotte, who is always left feeling insignificant despite her own stable family life. When a twist of fate lands Charlotte and her family and Jackie’s door one Christmas, though, Charlotte sets out to prove her former college friend’s life isn’t as great as she makes out.

Best. Christmas. Ever!‘s first trailer doesn’t look all that enticing. Nonetheless, we imagine it’ll warm the cockles of your heart and get you in the festive spirit.

Rustin

Release date: November 17

Colman Domingo promises to deliver a powerful performance in Rustin, a film based on the architect of 1963’s momentous March on Washington, which culminated with Martin Luther King giving his legendary and impactful ‘I Have a Dream’ speech.

Domingo portrays the titular Bayard Rustin, a political and social activist, and one of the civil rights movement’s most influential men. Never one to apologize for who he was or what he believed in, the inspirational Black and gay leader helped to make history – so why has his iconic story never been told before? Netflix aims to finally shine a light on Rustin in this powerful tale of resolve, faith, and standing up for what’s right.

Stamped From the Beginning

Release date: November 20

This powerfully harrowing film is, following Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon, a new Netflix documentary that delves into another dark part of America’s past.

Stamped From the Beginning, which is based on Doctor Ibram X. Kendi’s novel of the same name, uses “vivid animations and leading female scholars to explore the history of anti-Black racist ideas”, according to an official Netflix press release. Helmed by Oscar-winning director Roger Ross Williams (Cassandro, The Super Models), you can expect one of November’s new Netflix movies to be an incredibly moving and at-time infuriating (based on the historical events it covers) docufilm.

Leo

Release date: November 21

2023 feels like the year of Adam Sandler on Netflix. Not content with starring in Murder Mystery 2, The Out-Laws, and You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah, he’s also voicing the titular character in family-friendly musical-comedy Leo, which arrives in time for Thanksgiving.

Sandler stars as jaded school pet lizard Leo, who’s been stuck in the same Florida classroom alongside his turtle friend (voiced by Bill Burr) for decades. But, when Leo learns he only has a year left to live, he plans to escape from his glass-wall confinement and live life to the full for once. Here’s hoping it’ll keep the kids entertained once you’ve consumed your bodyweight in turkey during the aforementioned US holiday…

Family Switch

Release date: November 30

Family Switch is an upcoming comedy-drama flick that’ll immediately draw comparisons to other humorous body-swap movies like Freaky Friday and 13 Going on 30.

Ed Helms and Jennifer Garner play Bill and Jess Walker, who find themselves swapped into their children’s bodies – and vice versa – after the family, who have grown distant amid the kids growing older, have a chance run-in with a seemingly magical astrology reader. Unsurprisingly, its schtick is that they only have 24 hours to work out why they’ve swapped places – otherwise, they’ll be trapped in each other’s bodies forever. One that may do okay post-Thanksgiving, especially if you’re looking for a PG-friendly film to watch with your own kids.

May December

Release date: December 1 (US and Canada only)

Billed as an unsettling romantic drama, May December brings two titans of the acting game – Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore – together in a flick that could be unexpectedly great.

Portman plays Elizabeth Berry, an actress who’s set to portray a fictionalized version of Moore’s Gracie Atherton-Yoo on the big screen. Berry visits Atherton-Yoo and the latter’s toy boy Joe Yoo, whose romantic dalliance-turned-marriage was front page news two decades earlier, to learn more about the woman she’s set to play. However, Berry’s arrival and intrusion upsets the couple’s private life, which threatens their until-now stable relationship. 

NB: UK viewers will be able to catch this on Sky Cinema in early December.

Leave the World Behind

Release date: December 8

This Julia Roberts, Ethan Hawke, and Mahershala Ali-starring apocalyptic sci-fi thriller might be an enticing alternative to the swathe of Christmas movies we’ll get later this year.

Leave the World Behind, which is based on Rumaan Alam’s book of the same name, tells the story of married couple Amanda (Roberts) and Clay (Hawke), whose vacation is interrupted by the mysterious G.H. (Ali) and his daughter Ruth (Myha’la). The two visitors bring news of an impending cyberattack and seek refuge in the home, which Amanda and Clay have rented for the weekend, G.H. and Ruth claim is theirs. As the disaster unfolds, the two families become trapped in a terrifying and escalating situation.

Award-winning writer and director Sam Esmail (Mr. Robot) leads production on the film, so we’re confident it’ll be an electrifyingly dramatic watch in December. Check out the trailer above, which we described as horribly hair-raising.

Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget

Release date: December 15

Having pulled off a death-defying escape from Tweedy’s farm, Ginger has finally found her dream – a peaceful island sanctuary for the whole flock, far from the dangers of the human world in Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget. 

When she and Rocky hatch a little girl called Molly, Ginger’s happy ending seems complete. However, back on the mainland, the whole of chicken-kind faces a new and terrible threat. This time around, instead of breaking out, they’re breaking in. That’s right, get ready for everyone’s favorite anthropomorphic chickens (and rats!) to ruffle some feathers by performing their own egg-cellent heist.

Maestro

Release date: December 20 (in select theaters from November 24)

Produced by Todd Phillips, Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, and leading man Bradley Cooper (who also directs and stars in the film), Maestro centers on the life and legacy of West Side Story composer Leonard Bernstein. 

Judging by the prosthetics used to transform Cooper into the much older Bernstein, we expect this entry in our new Netflix movies list to be a shoo-in for next year’s Best Makeup and Hairstyling Oscar. Early reactions to Maestro have called it Michelle Williams’ best performance in years, too, so expect her to be in the running for multiple Best Actress awards early next year.

For those interested, here’s Maestro‘s story synopsis: “Maestro is a towering and fearless love story chronicling the lifelong relationship between Leonard Bernstein and Felicia Montealegre Cohn Bernstein.  A love letter to life and art, Maestro at its core is an emotionally epic portrayal of family and love.”

Rebel Moon Part 1: A Child of Fire

Release date: December 22

Director Zack Snyder returns to Netflix with Rebel Moon, an epic space opera reportedly inspired by Star Wars, The Dirty Dozen, and Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai. Sofia Boutella, Charlie Hunnam, Ray Fisher, Djimon Hounsou, Jena Malone, Corey Stoll, Ed Skrein, and Anthony Hopkins are among its stacked ensemble cast.

Here’s the plot synopsis: “When a peaceful colony on the edge of a galaxy finds itself threatened by the armies of a tyrannical ruling force, Kora (Sofia Boutella), a mysterious stranger living among the villagers, becomes their best hope for survival. 

“Tasked with finding trained fighters who will unite with her in making an impossible stand against the Mother World, Kora assembles a small band of warriors – outsiders, insurgents, peasants and orphans of war from different worlds who share a common need for redemption and revenge. As the shadow of an entire Realm bears down on the unlikeliest of moons, a battle over the fate of a galaxy is waged, and in the process, a new army of heroes is formed.”

Rebel Moon Part 1: A Child of Fire releases this December, with Part 2: The Scargiver slated for April 2024. Its first trailer, which you can view above, looks like Netflix’s pretty good answer to Star Wars. Given Snyder is helming this one, a director’s cut is on the way as well, and it’ll test your movie runtime limits.

For more Netflix-based coverage, read our best Netflix shows and best Netflix documentaries guides. Alternatively, find out how to sign up to Netflix or get the lowdown on whether it’s worth cancelling your Netflix subscription.