Streaming
The best of what’s new streaming on Netflix, Hulu, HBO Max, Disney Plus, and more.
Welcome to Boston.com’s weekly streaming guide. Each week, we recommend five must-watch movies and TV shows available on streaming platforms like Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, Apple TV, Disney+, HBO Max, Peacock, Paramount+, and more.
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For even more great streaming options, check out previous editions of our must-watch list here.
New Movies Streaming
’28 Years Later’ (2025)
Danny Boyle’s long-awaited sequel is tonally different but no less impactful than 2002’s “28 Days Later,” and just missed the cut for my 10 favorite movies of 2025. The rest of the world has quarantined Great Britain and moved on from the zombie outbreak of the original film. But for the inhabitants of a small isthmus just off the coast of England (reachable by foot only when the tide is low), the threat remains ever-present.
Featuring a revelatory performance from child actor Alfie Williams as a 12-year-old going through the ceremonial rite of his first zombie hunt alongside his father (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), “28 Years Later” starts as an examination of Brexit and isolation’s impact on the male psyche. But it grows into something more tender and profound, as Alfie searches for a way to help his dementia-addled mother (Jodie Comer).
How to watch: “28 Years Later” is streaming on Netflix.
‘One Battle After Another’ (2025)
From the very first frame of Paul Thomas Anderson’s “One Battle After Another,” it is obvious that you are witnessing a current and future masterpiece. It’s the director’s most purely entertaining film to date, an alchemic mix of political intrigue, thrilling action, and giddy comedy, all undergirded by some of the most technically spectacular filmmaking in recent memory.
As “Bob,” a weed-smoking, bathrobe-wearing paranoiac trying to hide from his anarchist past, Leonardo DiCaprio has rarely been better. As the cartoonish manifestation of Bob’s worst fears, Sean Penn turns in a villain performance for the ages. The best time to see “OBAA” was in September, when the Coolidge Corner Theatre was one of four theaters in the world playing the film in VistaVision. The second-best time is now.
How to watch: “One Battle After Another” is streaming on HBO Max.
‘Stand by Me‘ (1986)
Based on the Stephen King novella “The Body” (from the four-part collection “Different Seasons”), “Stand By Me” stands the test of time as a coming-of-age film thanks to the chemistry of its adolescent leads (Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Corey Feldman, Jerry O’Connell) and the steady hand of director Rob Reiner (“When Harry Met Sally”).
As the saying goes, “Stand By Me” isn’t about the destination (the site of a dead body), it’s about the journey. The friends experience brushes with death, confide their deepest fears, and invent campfire stories to entertain each other. The enduring appeal of the film is neatly summed up in the final moments by the fully grown narrator (Richard Dreyfuss): “I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was 12. Jesus, does anyone?”
How to watch: “Stand by Me” is streaming on Netflix.
New TV Shows Streaming
‘Fallout’ Season 2
The second season of “Fallout,” based on the hit video game series of the same name, takes what worked in Season 1 and expands on it. Unlike “The Last of Us,” the Prime Video series is full of laughs amidst the post-apocalyptic carnage, whether it’s from Walton Goggins as the wisecracking Ghoul or Ella Purnell as the relentlessly cheery Lucy.
There’s a lot more ground to cover this time around, with new characters played by Justin Theroux, Kumail Nanjiani, and Macaulay Culkin all factoring into an approaching civil war. While you don’t need to have played the video games to enjoy “Fallout,” watching Season 1 is a must, as the show’s plotlines continue to diverge and progress through this eight-episode effort from Jonathan Nolan (“Westworld”).
How to watch: “Fallout” is streaming on Prime Video.
‘Pluribus’
The most recently released show to make my list of the 10 best TV shows of 2025, “Breaking Bad” showrunner Vince Gilligan’s sci-fi puzzler rewarded viewers’ patience with its Season 1 finale, released on Christmas Eve. For those who haven’t watched yet, the high-concept story follows Carol (Rhea Seehorn), one of 13 people in the world who has not been infected by an alien virus that turns humanity into a surprisingly benevolent hivemind.
The core conceit of “Pluribus,” and the mysteries it slowly teases out, are reason enough to tune in. But the headier themes that Gilligan explores – especially at a time when tech titans are attempting to synthesize centuries of human thought to create an AI singularity – are what could make “Pluribus” an all-timer by the time it’s over.
How to watch: “Pluribus” is streaming on Apple TV.
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