20 Best Movies New to Streaming in December: Top Gun: Maverick, Glass Onion, Bu

Streaming is going out with a bang in 2022 as December brings some of the biggest movies of the year to Netflix, HBO Max and more. There’s no bigger streaming premiere this month than “Top Gun: Maverick,” Tom Cruise’s record-breaking sequel that is destined to be the streaming hit of the holiday movie season. After grossing $1.4 billion to become the 11th highest-grossing film of all time worldwide (unadjusted for inflation), “Maverick” finally hits Paramount+ on Dec. 22 and should become the crown jewel of the new streaming platform’s film library.

Elsewhere, some of the year’s box office success stories (Brad Pitt’s “Bullet Train”) and infamous box office failures (David O. Russell’s star-studded “Amsterdam”) are also coming to streaming this month. As is the case every December, a ton of awards contenders are making their debuts, be it the streaming debut of “The Banshees of Inisherin” or Netflix’s onslaught of contenders, from “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” to “Pinocchio,” “White Noise” and “Bardo.”

Check out the full list below of best films new to streaming in December.

Top Gun: Maverick (Dec. 22 on Paramount Plus)
“Top Gun: Maverick” currently stands as the 11th highest-grossing movie ever made worldwide with $1.4 billion, not adjusted for inflation. On the domestic charts, the film sits in the fifth position with $716 million. No one saw the record-breaking success of “Top Gun: Maverick” coming, but never underestimate the global star power of Tom Cruise. After getting an exclusive theatrical release for months on end, “Maverick” finally arrives on Paramount+ this month just in time for the holidays. Variety film critic Peter Debruge hailed the film as a “stunning” and “barrier-breaking” sequel, adding, “Engineered to hit so many of the same pleasure points as the original, ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ fulfills our desire to go really fast, really far above ground.”
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (Dec. 23 on Netflix)
Following its impressive one-week theatrical release, where it grossed over $15 million despite playing in only 600 theaters, Rian Johnson’s beloved “Knives Out” sequel “Glass Onion” debuts just before Christmas on Netflix, where it’s destined to become the streamer’s holiday blockbuster. Daniel Craig reprises Southern detective Benoit Blanc for a new murder mystery in which the suspects are played by Dave Bautista, Kate Hudson, Janelle Monáe, Edward Norton, Kathryn Hahn and Leslie Odom Jr. From Variety’s review: “Johnson’s sequel tries to top the original in a go-big-or-go-home way, resulting in a showier and even more elaborate shell-game mystery. Daniel Craig has figured out how to let his wry performance sneak up on you all over again.”
Bullet Train (Dec. 3 on Netflix)
Brad Pitt powered “Bullet Train” to over $100 million at the box office in August, and now the eye-popping action movie arrives on Netflix. Pitt plays an assassin who boards the eponymous train and discovers that other assassins have been tasked with the same job as him. Pitt faces off against the likes of Bad Bunny, Brian Tyree Henry, Aaron Taylor Johnson and Joey King in the film. From Variety’s review: “’Bullet Train’ feels like it comes from the same brain as ‘Snatch,’ wearing its pop style on its sleeve — a ‘Kill Bill’-level mix of martial arts, manga and gabby hit-man-movie influences, minus the vision or wit that implies.”
Bros (Dec. 2 on Peacock)
Billy Eichner made more than a few headlines after his Universal-backed comedy “Bros” flopped at the box office with a $4.8 million opener in September. The writer and star blamed the box office disappointment on homophobia, although surely the film’s lackluster marketing and odd release date played into its underperformance as well. Regardless, “Bros” is a consistently funny movie that sticks to a tried and true romantic-comedy formula. In other words, there’s no reason it shouldn’t be a big crowd-pleaser that attracts many eyeballs. Hopefully the comedy’s arrival on Peacock this month attracts a larger fan base.
Pinocchio (Dec. 9 on Netflix)
Guillermo del Toro is a frontrunner in the Oscar race for animated feature thanks to his long-in-the-works passion project “Pinocchio.” From Variety’s review: “After Disney’s dismal remake earlier this year there may be little collective appetite for another Pinocchio film, but del Toro’s version, set in Fascist Italy, is eccentric and imaginative enough to make us hungry again. Aesthetically and narratively, this is a ‘Pinocchio’ that credits its young audience with eminently grownup taste and intelligence… this is a rare children’s entertainment that isn’t afraid to perplex kids as much as it enchants them.” The voice cast includes Ewan McGregor, John Turturro, Ron Perlman, Finn Wolfhard, Cate Blanchett, Tim Blake Nelson, Christoph Waltz and Tilda Swinton.
White Noise (Dec. 30 on Netflix)
Noah Baumbach follows his Oscar-winning “Marriage Story” with “White Noise,” an adaptation of Don DeLillo novel that stands as the most ambitious movie Baumbach has ever made. Adam Driver plays an entitled Hitler studies professor and Greta Gerwig stars as his pill-popping wife. The couple must protect their family when their community is upended by an airborne toxic event. From Variety’s review: “A meticulously reverent adaptation of Don DeLillo’s acerbic domestic academic satirical dystopian novel of American middle-class life in the 1980s, it’s the kind of madly audacious, swing-for-the-fences literary-event movie that a gifted director makes when he’s coming off a celebrated success and feeling his power in the industry, wanting to elevate his artistry to the next level.”
Matilda the Musical (Dec. 25 on Netflix)
Grownups still get the upper hand in director Matthew Warchus’ bouncy screen adaptation of his hit stage musical. Alisha Weir’s agreeably precocious title character and a large, eager ensemble of self-proclaimed “revolting children” fill the screen in one busy number after another, as they vocally stand up for kids’ right to be kids in the face of authoritarian adult opposition — only for Emma Thompson’s towering, truck-jawed antagonist to rather greedily pull focus from them with each rancorous line reading. The film, on balance, is cheery, sherbet-colored stuff, bursting with goodwill for all good people. What you remember from it, however, is each scene in which elder malevolence deliciously spoils the party.
Sr. (Dec. 2 on Netflix)
Robert Downey Jr. turns the camera on himself and his father, the iconic cult filmmaker Robert Downey Sr., in Netflix’ “Sr.” From Variety’s review: “’Fyre’ director Chris Smith lets underground movie icon Robert Downey Sr. have a hand in shaping how his life will be remembered in this unexpectedly revealing documentary… it’s a a loose seemingly seat-of-your-pants portrait of the antiestablishment director (perhaps best known for siring ‘Iron Man’ star Robert Downey Jr.) that sneaks up on you, emotionally speaking, seeing as how it doubles as a kind of farewell exercise between the two generations (plus grandson Exton) in the months before Downey succumbed to Parkinson’s Disease.”
Lady Chatterley’s Lover (Dec. 2 on Netflix)
Emma Corin and Jack O’Connell have an affair to remember in “Lady Chatterley’s Lover,” French director Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre’s adaptation of the scandalous D.H. Lawrence classic. From Variety’s review: “In an admirable bid to make ‘Lady Chatterley’s Lover’ at once respectable and arousing, the ‘Mustang’ director embraces the erotic nature of its source, while making it something you can still recommend to your mom, assuming she’s got nothing against a nude romp in the rain… In the end, the couple’s chemistry is off the charts, and that’s all that matters.”
Emily the Criminal (Dec. 7 on Netflix)
Aubrey Plaza is earning rave reviews for her role on “The White Lotus” Season 2, but she delivered another incredible performance this year in the underseen indie gem “Emily the Criminal.” Plaza plays a young woman in student debt who turns to scamming in order to gain a quick fortune. From Variety’s review: “Plaza, who also produced the film, is strong as a scammer who invites sympathy and simultaneously pushes it away…It’s a fluorescent-lit noir that spends a fair amount of time near the anonymous big box stores scattered across Los Angeles, which as cinematographer Jeff Bierman sees it, is a city that’s dim even in the daylight.”
Bardo (Dec. 16 on Netflix)
Alejandro G. Iñárritu divided the festival circuit with his latest, “Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths.” The film is an ambitious epic of self-reflection as Iñárritu tells the story of a journalist and documentarian who returns to his native country of Mexico and begins having an existential crisis. Variety film critic Owen Gleiberman called the film a “Fellini-esque epic of soulful midlife naval-gazing” in his review, adding, “It’s the first film that Iñárritu has made in his native Mexico in 22 years, and you feel, in every scene, the sweat and ardor of his ambition. He wants to make an epic statement — about life and death, fiction and reality, history and imagination. And he wants to make a confessional autobiographical fantasia about the fears and dreams hidden behind his façade as a famous and celebrated film director.”
Emancipation (Dec. 9 on Apple TV+)
“Emancipation” might be the biggest streaming gamble of the month as it marks the first major release for Will Smith following the 2022 Oscars, where he slapped Chris Rock. The film is based on a true story and stars Smith as a runaway slave named Peter, known better to the world as “Whipped Peter” after photographs of keloid scarring on his back were distributed to show the brutality of slavery. The film follows Peter as he navigates the swamps of Louisiana to escape the plantation owners that nearly killed him. Smith said in an interview that he “completely understands” if moviegoers ignore the movie because they aren’t ready for his comeback so soon after the Oscars slap, adding, “The people on this team have done some of the best work of their entire careers, and my deepest hope is that my actions don’t penalize my team. At this point, that’s what I’m working for.”
Amsterdam (Dec. 6 on HBO Max)
David O. Russell’s star-studded “Amsterdam” is one of the biggest flops of the year with just $14 million made at the domestic box office. That’s a huge miss for a movie that stars the likes of Christian Bale, Margot Robbie, John David Washington, Rami Malek, Robert De Niro, Zoe Saldana and more. Critics weren’t too kind to the movie either (Variety film critic Peter Debruge called it an “overstuffed social satire”), which follows three friends trying to clear their names of murder. With “Amsterdam” coming to streaming, expect many moviegoers to see what all the bad fuss was about.
The Banshees of Inisherin (Dec. 13 on HBO Max)
Friendships can be as changeable and temperamental and outright dramatic as grand romances, though they tend to get a bland rap on screen. Martin McDonagh’s searing new film traces the tortured breakup between two best pals (Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson) in remote rural Ireland with all the anguish and gravity of the most charged romantic melodrama. When its characters speak, they do so in the gruffly poetic and violently hilarious vernacular of McDonagh’s best writing. Ferrell won the best actor prize at the Venice Film Festival, where McDonagh also took home the best screenplay prize. The film arrives on HBO Max this month after earned just under $10 million at the domestic box office. Expect awards voters to stream all Christmas long.
The Night House (Dec. 8 on Hulu)
Rebecca Hall goes through the wringer as a wife whose husband’s untimely death leads to a series of clues pointing to a mysterious house. This Sundance 2020 title was held for a 2021 release, but it barely registered even with horror movie lovers. As “The Night House” heads to Hulu this month, it’s a perfect time to discover one of the most overlooked horror movies of the last few years. Thanks to Hall’s disquieting shock as she learns more and more about her husband’s secret life, this puzzling feature hypnotizes the view with blinding twists and an overwhelming sense of dread and paranoia.
Retrograde (Dec. 11 on Hulu)
Matthew Heineman’s latest documentary “Retrograde” captures the final months of America’s 20-year war in Afghanistan from multiple perspectives: the last U.S. Special Forces units deployed there, an Afghan general fighting to defend his homeland, and civilians desperately attempting to flee as the Taliban take over the collapsing country. From Variety’s review: “Virtually every Afghanistan-set documentary of the past 20 years deals with collateral damage — usually the women and children killed in tactical strikes. This one contends with the fact that U.S. allies are now being dragged from their homes and executed, or else stuck at the airports, unable to get out.” Available on Hulu this month.
I Love My Dad (Dec. 16 on Hulu)
Actor-director-writer James Morosini won the audience award and narrative feature prize in the narrative competition at the 2022 SXSW Film Festival with his feature directorial debut “I Love My Dad,” starring Patton Oswalt as a father who catfishes his own son after he gets blocked on social media. The film is based on Morosini’s true story. From Variety’s review: “James Morosini takes an embarrassing thing that happened to him and turns it into a squirm-inducing (albeit surprisingly accepting) father-son comedy… Morosini plays most of what follows for comedy, which is certainly a better solution than using the movie as a resentful act of revenge. Or therapy, although it’s clear the project gave the filmmaker a chance to put himself in his father’s shoes.” Available on Hulu Dec. 16.
The Black Phone (Dec. 13 on Prime Video)
Filmmaker Scott Derrickson reunites with his “Sinister” star Ethan Hawke for “The Black Phone,” a horror hit at the box office this year with nearly $90 million domestically. Hawke stars as a child serial killer who abducts a 13-year-old boy. The film has a supernatural twist as the kidnapped boy has access to a telephone where he can talk to the killer’s previous victims. Variety film critic Owen Gleiberman called “The Black Phone” a “grungy, dread-soaked nightmare” in his review, adding, “Derrickson has made a serial-killer movie that feels like a dark cousin to the comic-book world, with supernatural elements that drive the story, even as they get in the way of it becoming any sort of true nightmare.” Available on Prime Video Dec. 13.
Nanny (Dec. 16 on Prime Video)
Nikyatu Jusu’s acclaimed horror movie “Nanny” won the grand jury prize at the Sundance Film Festival at the start of the year. Anna Diop gives a breakout performance as Aisha, an undocumented Senegalese Immigrant nanny who gets hired to work for an Upper East Side family in New York City. The job doesn’t go according to plan. “In this bold debut, writer-director Nikyatu Jusu conjures figures from West African folklore to critique another myth: the American Dream,” writes Variety critic Peter Debruge. “Jusu brings fresh eyes to this widely accepted story dynamic, so rarely seen from the perspective of the immigrant worker herself.”
Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank (Dec. 29 on Prime Video)
“Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank” didn’t get the best reviews when it opened in theaters over the summer, nor did it break the bank at the office. And yet, parents looking to show their kids some of the year’s new animated offerings are in luck as the comedy makes its Amazon Prime Video debut. Michael Cera voices a hard-on-his-luck hound named Hank (Michael Cera), who finds himself in a town full of cats who need a hero to defend them from a ruthless villain’s evil plot to wipe their village off the map. With help from a reluctant teacher, Hanks trains to become a samurai and team up with the villagers to save the day. The voice cast also includes Samuel L. Jackson, Ricky Gervais, Mel Brooks, George Takei, Aasif Mandvi, Gabriel Iglesias, Djimon Hounsou and Michelle Yeoh.

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20 Best Movies New to Streaming in December: Top Gun: Maverick, Glass Onion, Bu

Top Gun: Maverick (Dec. 22 on Paramount Plus)

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (Dec. 23 on Netflix)

Bullet Train (Dec. 3 on Netflix)

Bros (Dec. 2 on Peacock)

Pinocchio (Dec. 9 on Netflix)

White Noise (Dec. 30 on Netflix)

Matilda the Musical (Dec. 25 on Netflix)

Sr. (Dec. 2 on Netflix)

Lady Chatterley’s Lover (Dec. 2 on Netflix)

Emily the Criminal (Dec. 7 on Netflix)

Bardo (Dec. 16 on Netflix)

Emancipation (Dec. 9 on Apple TV+)

Amsterdam (Dec. 6 on HBO Max)

The Banshees of Inisherin (Dec. 13 on HBO Max)

The Night House (Dec. 8 on Hulu)

Retrograde (Dec. 11 on Hulu)

I Love My Dad (Dec. 16 on Hulu)

The Black Phone (Dec. 13 on Prime Video)

Nanny (Dec. 16 on Prime Video)

Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank (Dec. 29 on Prime Video)

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