The holiday season always creates a need for new streaming content, and Netflix subscribers looking for a break from cold weather and family stresses will have no shortage of movie options this month.
After enjoying boutique theatrical runs over Thanksgiving, Netflix’s last two major original films of 2025 — Rian Johnson’s latest Benoit Blanc mystery, “Wake Up Dead Man:A Knives Out Mystery,” and Noah Baumbach’s meditation on movie stardom, “Jay Kelly” — are both set to hit the streaming platform this month. The repertory side of the service is equally stacked, with everything from recent critical darlings to nostalgic classics becoming available for your viewing pleasure.
Keep reading for our seven favorite movies coming to Netflix in December 2025.
-
“The Wolf of Wall Street” (Streaming now)
Image Credit: ©Paramount/Courtesy Everett Collection Leonardo DiCaprio is once again at the center of the Oscar race, this time for his role in “One Battle After Another,” which many have hailed as some of the best work of his career. And if you’re itching for another DiCaprio fix, you can revisit his landmark fifth collaboration with Martin Scorsese on Netflix this month. “The Wolf of Wall Street” gave DiCaprio, who plays scammer Jordan Belfort, one of his first major opportunities to flex his comedic muscles and eased the actor into his mid-career niche as Hollywood’s finest portrayer of men-children. (Think Rick Dalton in “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.”) DiCaprio and Scorsese might be the best actor-director duo of the century so far, and “The Wolf of Wall Street” remains on of their most critically and commercially successful collaborations.
-
“As Good as It Gets” (Streaming now)
Image Credit: ©Sony Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection James L. Brooks is back in theaters this month with “Ella McCay,” his first directorial effort since 2015. Brooks has a relatively small filmography, and a rather high winning percentage, so revisiting his entire output as a director could easily be done in one pleasurable weekend. At the top of the list should be “As Good as It Gets,” one of his most beloved feel-good classics, which can be streamed on Netflix this month. Jack Nicholson won his third and likely final Oscar for his performance in the film as obsessive-compulsive novelist Melvin Udall, who slowly overcomes his misanthropy through a new romance. It’s the kind of adult-driven movie that Brooks is a master of, and makes for a comforting holiday rewatch.
-
“Pulp Fiction” (Streaming now)
Image Credit: ©Miramax/Courtesy Everett Collection If you’ve spent any time thinking about Quentin Tarantino this week, it’s likely in response to his surprising list of top movies of the 21st century — and his polarizing comments about a certain actor. For a reminder of the undeniable filmmaking talent that affords Tarantino the berth to share his opinions freely, you can stream “Pulp Fiction” on Netflix this month. A structural triumph that combines Tarantino’s unique knack for genre pastiche with some of the best performances and most quotable dialogue of the 1990s, it’s the work of a master filmmaker at the top of his game.
-
“The Northman” (Streaming now)
Image Credit: ©Focus Features/Courtesy Everett Collection With the success of “Nosferatu” in 2024 and “Werwulf” and “A Christmas Carol” in the pipeline, Robert Eggers is becoming synonymous with adult holiday counterprogramming. This December will unfortunately pass without seeing a new film from the director, but Netflix is at least giving cinephiles the opportunity to stream one of his recent hits. “The Northman” is a blistering Viking epic based on the Norse myth that inspired Shakespeare’s “Hamlet.” And in true Eggers fashion, it oozes period accuracy and heavy metal intensity. Aside from its icy setting, it’s about as anti-Christmas as you can possibly get, and that might be exactly what the doctor ordered.
-
“Jay Kelly” (Streaming now)
Image Credit: ©Netflix/Courtesy Everett Collection A beautiful film about the problems faced by beautiful people, Noah Baumbach’s latest work could be dismissed as pointlessly tone deaf if the craftsmanship wasn’t so immaculate. Every image from cinematographer Linus Sandgren — whose job was made infinitely easier by having a subject as aesthetically pleasing as George Clooney in almost every shot — is a feast for the eyes. And Baumbach’s sharp script offers a thoughtful look at the contradiction of having everything but still feeling unfulfilled, with Clooney’s endless charm ensuring that we never lose too much sympathy for a potentially quite unlikable character. Movies can be a great excuse to escape from the stresses of family during the holidays, but “Jay Kelly” is a poignant reminder of what life looks like if you veer too far in that direction.
-
“Babylon” (Streaming December 7)
Image Credit: ©Paramount/Courtesy Everett Collection Perhaps the most misunderstood film of the 21st century, Damien Chazelle’s “Babylon” is a career high point for one of the best working filmmakers around. Equal parts “Goodfellas” and “Singin’ in the Rain,” this sprawling feature about Hollywood’s transition from silent films to talkies — and what was lost in the process — is the kind of auteur-driven epic that even the best directors only get one or two chances to make. But beyond its distinct indulgence in all of Chazelle’s favorite stylistic choices, the film demonstrates a singular understanding of the contradiction that every generation has to face the show business they know expiring, but the entertainment industry will never truly die. Simultaneously optimistic and pessimitic, its gut-wrenching climax doesn’t shy away from the painful truth that, even if moving pictures will live forever, the loss we have to endure in our own lifetimes should never be minimized.
-
“Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery” (Streaming December 12)
Image Credit: ©Netflix/Courtesy Everett Collection With Rian Johnson planning to take a break from the “Knives Out” franchise and direct an original sci-fi film next, he certainly left us wanting more. The third Benoit Blanc whodunnit is the darkest and best entry in the series to date, following Daniel Craig’s Cajun sleuth as he teams up with a priest desperate to prove his innocence in a seemingly impossible murder. The Gothic backdrop provided by a neoclassical church in upstate New York combined and contemporary themes of misinformation and social media brainwashing meld harmoniously, and Johnson’s vision of a mystery franchise that manages to be topical without sacrificing its genre thrills is realized more clearly than ever before.