As the leaves turn, streaming heats up with the hottest new shows and movies to watch in October 2025 on Netflix, Prime Video, Apple TV Plus and other major streaming service. We're highlighting the biggest, buzziest new shows and movies premiering this month.
Gear up for more monster-hunting adventures in "The Witcher season 4," or follow the high-stakes intrigue of "The Diplomat" season 3. Laugh (and wince) through the romantic travails of "Nobody Wants This" season 2 and the wealth satire of "Loot" season 3.
Plus, suspense and terror await in "The Hand That Rocks the Cradle" (2025) and "It: Welcome to Derry." True crime fans won’t want to miss "Murdaugh: Death in the Family." Here's our guide on what to watch in October 2025.
‘The Lost Bus’ (Oct. 3, Apple TV Plus)
Paul Greengrass’ new Apple movie is a survival/disaster drama co-written by Greengrass and Brad Ingelsby (“Mare of Easttown,” “Task”), and follows driver Kevin McKay (Matthew McConaughey) and a dedicated school teacher (America Ferrera) as they try to save a school bus full of children from a deadly 2018 Californian wildfire.
Early signs point to this being a worthwhile watch: the movie’s currently sitting at 84% on Rotten Tomatoes, with critics praising the drama, the tension, and the terrifying scenes of the blaze itself. – Martin Shore
Premieres Oct. 3 on Apple TV Plus
‘Monster: The Ed Gein Story’ (Oct. 3, Netflix)
There may not be a new "American Horror Story" for 2025, but this could be the next best thing. Set in 1950s rural Wisconsin, this third season of Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan’s true crime anthology series follows the story of serial killer Ed Gein (Charlie Hunnam), infamous for some of the most egregious instances of grave robbing ever as well as additional heinous acts
Framed through Gein’s devotion to his mother Augusta (Laurie Metcalf) and the investigation that finally exposes his deeds, "Monster: The Ed Gein Story" promises to be a horrifying chapter in Murphy's menagerie of monstrous content. – Brittany Vincent
Premieres Oct. 3 on Netflix
‘Steve’ (Oct. 3, Netflix)
Cillian Murphy's post-Oscar output may not be as bombastically box-office big as the movie that earned him that trophy — Christopher Nolan's "Oppenheimer," of course — but they still detonate quakes of devastation: First "Small Things Like These," a 2024 Claire Keegan adaptation about Ireland's chilling Magdalene laundries, and now this Netflix reworking of Max Porter's novella "Shy."
In the new film, which is also directed by “Small Things” filmmaker Tim Mielants, Murphy plays the devoted but disturbed head teacher of a last-chance reform school, following the embattled educator over an intense day of trying to keep students in line while also weathering his own mental health troubles. That heart-wrecking performance is yet another reminder that Murphy is one of the best actors we've got. – Christina Izzo
Premieres Oct. 3 on Netflix
‘The Last Frontier’ (Oct. 10, Apple TV Plus)
“Con Air” meets The Fugitive in this icy thriller series. Frank Remnick (Jason Clarke) is the lone U.S. Marshal in a sleepy Alaskan town when a prison transport plane crashes, spilling dozens of dangerous inmates into the wilderness.
As Frank races to track them down, he begins to suspect the crash wasn’t an accident and that the CIA might be hiding more than they admit. With kidnapped loved ones, a villain named Padlock, and frozen standoffs that leave no room for mistakes, this is a ’90s-style action ride that’s rugged, tense, and full of twists and turns. - Kelly Woo
Premieres Oct. 10 on Apple TV Plus
‘The Woman in Cabin 10’ (Oct. 10, Netflix)
A travel journalist (Keira Knightley) boards a luxury yacht for an assignment. After a recent break-in leaves her rattled, she’s already running on nerves and no sleep. Then, in the dead of night, she’s sure she sees a woman from the next cabin go overboard. The problem? The ship’s manifest insists that the cabin was empty in the first place, and no one believes her.
As she chases a disappearing witness through velvet lounges and locked staterooms, it's up to her to risk her life if she wants to uncover the truth. But good luck getting anyone to actually listen. Based on Ruth Ware's bestselling novel, this thriller looks to be an exercise in how women should not only be heard, but also believed. – BV
Premieres Oct. 10 on Netflix
‘Loot’ season 3 (Oct. 15, Apple TV Plus)
Maya Rudolph isn’t done skewering billionaire life in the third season of her comedy. When we last saw Molly Wells, she’d confessed her feelings to Arthur (Nat Faxon) — only to get shot down mid-kiss — and then hopped on a jet to anywhere-but-here.
Now, she and Nicholas (Joel Kim Booster) are stranded on a deserted island and let’s just say survival isn’t exactly in their skill set. Back home, the Wells Foundation crew keeps the ship afloat, while guest stars like D’Arcy Carden, Kesha and Henry Winkler drop by to stir things up. - KW
Premieres Oct. 15 on Apple TV Plus
‘Murdaugh: Death in the Family’ (Oct. 15, Hulu)
Inspired by the breakout “Murdaugh Murders” podcast, this miniseries takes the Southern Gothic nightmare that’s made headlines and transforms it into a pulpy, prestige drama. Jason Clarke and Patricia Arquette lead as Alex and Maggie Murdaugh, pillars of a South Carolina legal dynasty whose glossy world unravels after son Paul (Johnny Berchtold) is tied to a fatal boat crash.
Enter journalist Mandy Matney (Brittany Snow), whose dogged reporting peels back layers of corruption, cover-ups and murder. “The result is a chilling portrait of a family that’s undone by its own secrets.
Premieres Oct. 15 on Hulu
‘Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy’ (Oct. 16, Peacock)
What was serial killer John Wayne Gacy really like behind the scenes? This limited series, set in suburban Illinois between 1972 and 1978, explores the man behind the madness. Gacy kept up his model-citizen facade as a contractor, community booster, and even volunteer clown while investigators later uncovered dozens of victims beneath his home.
Based on the 2021 docuseries of the same name, "Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy" takes his victims’ stories and the families and detectives who pieced the case together, and wraps them all up into a scripted series that explores how he was able to continue his evil work even as investigators were at his doorstep. – BV
Premieres Oct. 16 on Peacock
‘The Diplomat’ season 3 (Oct. 16, Netflix)
When season 3 kicks off, the twisty political thriller picks up mid–constitutional crisis and doesn’t stop to catch its breath. The president is dead, Grace Penn (Allison Janney) is suddenly commander in chief, and her husband, Todd (new cast member Bradley Whitford), is already testing out his “First Gentleman” smirk.
Kate Wyler (Keri Russell) is stuck living the nightmare of getting what she asked for, while Hal (Rufus Sewell) happily plots her path to the vice presidency. But old secrets, more international intrigue and messy marriage issues threaten to upend the new world order.
Premieres Oct. 16 on Netflix
‘Mr. Scorsese’ (Oct. 17, Apple TV Plus)
It's a busy time in Rebecca Miller's household: While her husband and son — Daniel and Ronan Day-Lewis — promote their latest familial creation, "Anemone," the filmmaker-novelist is releasing her own high-profile project: "Mr. Scorsese," a five-part documentary series centered on the legendary American director.
After its world premiere at the New York Film Festival, the doc chronicles the life and work of the man who gave the world "Taxi Driver," "Raging Bull," "The Last Temptation of Christ," "The Age of Innocence," "Goodfellas," "The Wolf of Wall Street" and so much more.
Along with "unrestricted access" to Scorsese's personal archives, Miller weaves in talking-heads with those who know the film icon best — including family, friends and frequent collaborators such as Robert De Niro, Mick Jagger, Steven Spielberg, Leonardo DiCaprio and Margot Robbie — as well as with Marty himself. – CI
Premieres Oct. 17 on Apple TV Plus
‘The Hand That Rocks the Cradle’ (Oct. 22, Hulu)
The cradle rocks again. Hulu remakes the 1992 psychological thriller for a new generation, with Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Caitlin Morales, a suburban mom whose perfect life begins to fray when she hires nanny Polly (Maika Monroe).
Sweet smiles and lullabies hide sinister motives, and soon become manipulation and terror. Director Michelle Garza Cervera promises a story with gray-area characters and fresh surprises that honor the original while standing on its own.
Premieres Oct. 22 on Hulu
‘Harlan Coben's Lazarus’ (Oct. 22, Prime Video)
If you’ve been craving another Harlan Coben mystery after Netflix dropped “Missing You” at the start of 2025, make sure you’ve got access to Prime Video this October so you can stream “Lazarus.”
This mind-bending new series is based on an original idea from Coben and regular collaborator, Danny Brocklehurst, and introduces us to Joel Lazarus (Sam Claflin). Joel’s headed home after his father, Dr. Jonathan Lazarus (Bill Nighy), died by suicide. Joel soon starts having a series of inexplicable, disturbing experiences, and is soon entangled in a series of cold-case murders as he grapples with both the mystery of his father’s death and his sister’s murder over two decades prior. Expect strange goings-on as Joel continues to dig into this twisted new story. – MS
Premieres Oct. 22 on Prime Video
‘Nobody Wants This’ season 2 (Oct. 23, Netflix)
Actually, everybody wants this, as evidenced by the swooning fervor that followed the first season of this Netflix rom-com charmer, centered on the odd-couple courtship of an agnostic sex podcaster (played by Kristen Bell) and a newly single rabbi (Adam Brody, who won a Critics Choice Award for the sweet role).
The end of season 1 saw Joanne and Noah passionately reconcile after their split, but still having to face the fact that Joanne is unwilling to commit her life to Judaism. Season 2 will delve deeper into how those differences will play out in their romance: “It’s such an interesting part of every relationship when you now have to see if you can make it work with each other’s friends, day-to-day routines, and how you handle the milestones that come in those first few months together from holidays, birthdays, and what you each think the future should look like,” creator Erin Foster told Tudum.
Excitingly, that expanded story means even more characters to fall for, with actors Miles Fowler, Alex Karpovsky, Arian Moayed and Brody's IRL wife, "Gossip Girl" icon Leighton Meester, joining the cast. – CI
Premieres Oct. 23 on Netflix
‘A House of Dynamite’ (Oct. 24, Netflix)
Few filmmakers know their way around a political thriller quite like Kathryn Bigelow. She got pulses positively racing with films like the 2008 war drama "The Hurt Locker" (for which she became the first woman to win the Academy Award for Best Director), the 2012 spy thriller "Zero Dark Thirty" and the 2015 drug doc "Cartel Land."
Now you can add "A House of Dynamite" to that adrenaline-jolting list. The ensemble drama stars a POTUS-playing Idris Elba as well as Rebecca Ferguson, Jared Harris, Tracy Letts, Gabriel Basso, Anthony Ramos, Greta Lee and Jason Clarke as U.S. government and military officials scrambling to deal with an incoming nuclear missile launched by an unknown foreign power at the city of Chicago. Spoiler alert: This will not be a relaxing watch. – CI
Premieres Oct. 24 on Netflix
‘Mayor of Kingstown’ season 4 (Oct. 26, Paramount Plus)
Jeremy Renner is back as Mike McLusky and his fiefdom of Kingstown is more combustible than ever. Season 4 throws new players into the power vacuum left by the Russians, igniting a gang war that could swallow the town whole. Edie Falco’s no-nonsense warden, Laura Benanti’s determined correctional officer and Lennie James’ smooth but deadly gangster raise the stakes.
As old wounds reopen and loyalties are tested, Mike has no choice but to stand his ground. In Kingstown, the line between law and crime is thin, and Mike is the only man keeping it from snapping. - KW
Premieres Oct. 26 on Paramount Plus
‘Anne Rice’s Talamasca’ (Oct. 26, AMC)
In the third series based in Anne Rice’s Immortal Universe, law grad Guy Anatole (Nicholas Denton) discovers his life has been under surveillance by a secretive agency that monitors witches, vampires and other supernatural forces. Under the guidance of the steely Helen (Elizabeth McGovern) and the beguiling Olive (Maisie Richardson-Sellers), Guy is plunged into a world where immortal politics collide with mortal danger.
Eric Bogosian and Justin Kirk return from “Interview With the Vampire,” while William Fichtner, Celine Buckens and Jason Schwartzman add layers of intrigue, ambition and menace in this supernatural spy thriller. - KW
Premieres Oct. 26 on AMC (via Sling, Fubo or YouTube TV) or AMC Plus
‘IT: Welcome to Derry’ (Oct. 26, HBO)
If you thought you knew everything there was to know about Stephen King's "IT", think again. This prequel packs plenty of new details into the series as it tracks a new family’s arrival to the city of Derry, Maine in 1962. A local boy vanishes and sets off another turn of the town’s sinister cycle that will one day ensnare the Losers Club.
The show explores some of the most salacious lore through King’s novel “interludes,” revealing how the town learned to live with the unthinkable and how Pennywise the clown first took hold. Bill Skarsgård returns in his iconic role as well, making this prequel worth exploring even if you're only into his work as one of the creepiest clowns of all time. – BV
Premieres Oct. 26 on HBO Max
‘Hedda’ (Oct. 29, Prime Video)
In Nia DaCosta’s 2025 reimagining of Henrik Ibsen’s classic play, Tessa Thompson plays the titular newlywed who has a taste for manipulation, guns and chaos, all covered up by irresistible charm. In 1954 England, Hedda throws a lavish party that spirals into a high-stakes psychological game.
Old flames, ambitious academics and influential power brokers all collide, revealing hidden tensions and desires. As the night unfolds, Hedda’s intricate maneuvers set the stage for intrigue and suspense that will keep the guests (and audience) on edge until the very end. - KW
Premieres Oct. 29 on Prime Video
‘The Witcher’ season 4 (Oct. 30, Netflix)
Netflix’s flagship fantasy saga returns after a two-year absence right at the end of the month — and a new actor is stepping into Geralt’s boots. Yes, almost three years after we first learned that a would-be Witcher, Liam Hemsworth, was taking over from Henry Cavill, we’re finally going to see his version of Geralt in action this October.
This penultimate season picks up after the Continent-altering events of the third season, and finds Geralt, Yennefer (Anya Chalotra), and Ciri (Freya Allen) separated by a raging war and countless enemies. As their paths continue to diverge, our Witcher family will encounter unexpected allies, eager to join their respective journeys. And if they can accept their newfound help, they just might be reunited at last. – MS
Premieres Oct. 30 on Netflix
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