Every month, Netflix adds movies and TV shows to its library. Here are our picks for some of October’s most promising new titles. (Note: Streaming services occasionally change schedules without giving notice. For more recommendations on what to stream, sign up for our Watching newsletter here.)
‘East of Eden’
When Elia Kazan produced and directed his 1955 movie adaptation of the John Steinbeck novel “East of Eden,” he focused mainly on the last section of the book — set around World War I — in which two grown brothers from a dysfunctional California family learn the scandalous truth about their long-absent mother. Elia’s granddaughter Zoe Kazan takes a more faithful approach with her Netflix mini-series, which she adapted and executive produced. This new version begins in the late 19th century and follows two half brothers, Adam (Christopher Abbott) and Charles (Mike Faist), as they are pulled apart by Cathy Ames (Florence Pugh), a mercurial woman willing to use sex and violence to get what she wants. The story that ensues stretches across decades, as multiple generations are affected by Cathy’s ambitions and by their own hubris.
‘Below’
Starts streaming: Oct. 8
Josh Hartnett plays a proud Newfoundlander named Calvin Penney in this horror mini-series, in which the arrival of a rogue iceberg and a sea monster causes all kinds of trouble just off the shores of a fishing village. Created by Jesse McKeown (who wrote previously for “The Umbrella Academy” and “The Sinner”), “Below” is partly about the everyday lives of the Penney family, whose members are maintaining their way of life by entertaining tourists and doing odd jobs while also trying to convince their neighbors not to sell their land to developers. But it is also about the larger forces that have led to the existential threat to the Penneys’ town — forces being studied by a marine biologist (Mackenzie Davis) who enlists Calvin in her crusade.
‘Norm: The Tale of Norm Macdonald’
Starts streaming: Oct. 16
The director Judd Apatow pays tribute to one of his comedy heroes in the documentary “Norm: The Tale of Norm Macdonald.” Eschewing straight biography — in part because Macdonald regularly lied about his past — Apatow instead compiles some of the jokes and personal anecdotes the comedian told in his stand-up sets and interviews. The documentary is weighted toward what Macdonald did best: making dry comments that often shocked his audiences into laughing, either because of how inappropriate they were or how corny. When woven together, these punchlines tell the story of a man who found his greatest moment of fame in the 1990s on “Saturday Night Live” but who actually did some of his best work later in his life on podcasts and talk shows, letting his fans experience the same joy he felt in the company of funny people.
‘Sacrifice’
Starts streaming: Oct. 16
Chris Evans spoofs his own movie stardom in “Sacrifice,” a political satire that starts as a takedown of performative activism and then takes several sharp turns. Evans plays Mike Tyler, a celebrity trying to recover from a recent public meltdown by attending a high profile benefit, taking place in a quarry on a Greek island. Anya Taylor-Joy plays Joan, the leader of an armed cadre that hijacks the event and announces its plan to sacrifice three of the attendees to a volcano — to appease the gods and possibly save the world. Directed and co-written by Romain Gavras (“Athena”), “Sacrifice” uses stunning natural scenery to make its egomaniacal characters seem smaller and more petty — especially Mike, who genuinely wonders if being killed by an eco-terrorist could save his career.
‘SCTV: The Greatest Show You’ve Never Heard Of’
Starts streaming: Oct. 30
The Canadian sketch series “SCTV” aired off and on from 1976 to 1984, in different formats and on different networks. While the show never became a huge hit, it found an audience among comedy aficionados and helped launch several enduring careers. Most of the surviving cast members are interviewed for the documentary “The Greatest Show You’ve Never Heard Of,” which arrives shortly after Netflix added nearly every “SCTV” episode last month. Eugene Levy, Andrea Martin, Martin Short, Dave Thomas, Rick Moranis and Catherine O’Hara (interviewed shortly before her death) reunite to talk about their scrappy origins, their inspired showbiz spoofs, the highs and lows of cult fame and their fond memories of their late colleagues Joe Flaherty, Harold Ramis and John Candy.
Also arriving:
Oct. 1 “Call Me by Your Name” “Crazy Rich, Incredibly Broke” “Crimson Peak” “The Devil Wears Prada” “Love Actually” “Moonlight” “The Prestige” “Psycho” “The Ramparts of Ice” Season 2 “The Sixth Sense” “The Way Home” Season 4
Oct. 2 “#Love” “Schumacher ’94: The Birth of a Legend” “Tyler Perry’s Doing Life”
Oct. 3 “Ranma 1/2” Season 3
Oct. 4 “Blue Box” Season 2
Oct. 5 “Lorne” “Mayor of Kingstown” Seasons 1-4
Oct. 6 “Love Village” Season 3 “Mojo Brookzz: I Know You Lying”
Oct. 7 “Inside the Circle” Season 1 “Less of a Stranger” “Real Men” Season 2 “Who Is Martin Mull?”
Oct. 9 “Animals” “Haunted Hotel” Season 2 “Is It Cake? Halloween” Season 2 “Take Charge of My Heart” Season 1
Oct. 10 “100 Days of Deception” Season 1
Oct. 12 “Free Leonard Peltier”
Oct. 13 “Michael Che: Shot in Minnesota” “The Trap” “Tyson”
Oct. 14 “Cocaine Bear” “Love Is Blind: Boston” Season 11
Oct. 15 “The Diplomat” Season 4 “Hollywood Arts” Season 1 “The Storm”
Oct. 16 “The Disciple” “Money Trap: The Karun Treasure” Season 1 “Seriously Single Too” “Therapy Done Right”
Oct. 20 “Blindspotting” Seasons 1-2 “Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2”
Oct. 21 “The Mothers of Penguins” Season 2 “The New Standard Prison Experiment” Season 1 “Six Kings Slam” Season 2
Oct. 22 “Bottle Shock” “Did Someone Happen to Mention Me?” Season 1 “Nobody Wants This” Season 3
Oct. 23 “Fading Grandeur” Season 1 “Lupin” Season 4 “Paralyzed by Hope: The Maria Bamford Story” “Surviving Hurricane Otis”
Oct. 26 “Minimum Wage” Season 1
Oct. 27 “Dangerous Liaisons” Season 1 “The One About Mathew Perry” “Zainab Johnson: Toxically Optimistic”
Oct. 29 “Balaraw: Blood Island” Season 1 “You, Me, Us”
Oct. 30 “Akka” Season 1 “Beat Luke Littler” “Collision Course” “A Couple of Lies” Season 1 “How to Ruin Diwali: Meet the Parents” Season 1
The post The Best Movies and TV Shows Coming to Netflix in October appeared first on New York Times.
