We're in that weird "Twilight Zone" gap between Christmas and New Year's when time doesn't feel real anymore and all this family bonding is getting old fast. Like many families, watching movies together is a regular Christmas tradition to take a break from it all, and thankfully, the best streaming services are stuffed with plenty of hit new movies to choose from.
Leading the pack this weekend is China's record-breaking animated hit "Ne Zha 2" for the kiddos or young at heart. Football fans will want to check out "Elway" on Netflix, a documentary about one of the NFL's greatest and most divisive quarterbacks. Or, to ring in the holidays with nary a dry face in the house, Netflix's yuletide family drama, "Goodbye, June," starring Kate Winslet and Toni Collette, has all the makings of Netflix's next No. 1 movie. Just be sure to have tissues handy.
'Elway' (Netflix)
After killing the game all year with must-watch documentaries, Netflix's latest takes a look at one of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history: John Elway. "Elway" dives into one of the most debated and defining years in NFL history, tracing his rise from his early wins at Stanford to his entire 16-year professional career with the Denver Broncos, which famously ended with back-to-back Super Bowl wins after over a decade of shutdowns.
The documentary gives Elway the floor to tell much of his story himself, with plenty of color added from several people who had a front-row seat to his success, including family, former teammates, and sports commentators. While it doesn't reinvent the wheel for these kinds of single-athlete-focused documentaries, it feels less like a celebration and more like a reflection than others I've watched, one that's sure to bridge the gap for younger sports fans who only know Elway the general manager and never got to see Elway the quarterback throw a pass or set a then-record for the fastest touchdown in Super Bowl history.
Watch "Elway" on Netflix now
'Ne Zha 2' (HBO Max)
Like a lot of folks, I'd never heard of the first "Ne Zha" until its sequel smashed box office records this year. After making more than $2 billion (with a "b") at the box office, making it the biggest global movie of 2025 and the biggest animated movie of all time, "Ne Zha 2" is finally landing on HBO Max. Pro tip: You can also watch the original on HBO Max to catch up.
Written and directed by Jiaozi, "Ne Zha 2" follows the titular demon-boy Ne Zha (voiced by Crystal Lee) and dragon warrior Ao Bing (Aleks Le), two yin-and-yang frenemies born with powers stemming from a magic pearl. After the pair succumbed to a heavenly curse at the end of the first movie, Ne Zha absorbs his friend's spirit and sets out to complete a series of dangerous trials to restore his body.
Watch "Ne Zha 2" on HBO Max now
'Goodbye June' (Netflix)
The holidays can be stressful, and sometimes you just need the catharsis that comes with a good cry. "Goodbye, June" seems like just the ticket, a Christmas movie that doesn't shy away from the messier emotions that go hand-in-hand with family. Based on the trailer alone, "Goodbye June" is sure to leave me blubbering. Once I learned Kate Winslet's own son, Joe Anders, wrote this heartwrenching family drama, I knew I'd need to grab some tissues.
Winslet stars as Julia, one of four grown children who gather around their mother, June (Helen Mirren), for Christmas after her health takes a turn for the worse. When Julia and her siblings, Helen (Toni Collette), Connor (Johnny Flynn) and Molly (Andrea Riseborough), soon realize that she's not likely to get better, simmering tensions flare as they band together to make her final days as comfortable as they can.
Watch "Goodbye June" on Netflix now
'Strange Harvest' (Hulu)
"Strange Harvest" wasn't on my radar until I started looking into this weekend's new movies on streaming, but any horror movie that manages a 92% critics' score on Rotten Tomatoes is on a fast track to my watchlist. Its genre caught my eye, too. Mockumentary horror movies aren't as common as they were a decade ago, back in the heyday of found-footage scares, but I still recommend standouts like "Grave Encounters" and "The Bay" to this day (the latter is absolute nightmare fuel for those of us who grew up in coastal towns).
In fact, "Grave Encounters" co-director/writer Stuart Ortiz is at the helm, which has me even more excited. "Strange Harvest" centers on detectives Joe Kirby (Peter Zizzo) and Lexi Taylor (Terri Apple) as they hunt for “Mr. Shiny,” a serial killer whose return after a 20-year absence sparks a fresh wave of murders across Southern California. To unmask him, they must follow the trail of cryptic clues he leaves behind, which suggest these bizarre ritualistic crimes have a supernatural bent, a la "Longlegs."
Watch "Strange Harvest" on Hulu now
'Sinners' (Prime Video)
"Sinners" is my favorite movie of 2025, and you can bet I'm going to take any chance I can to yap about it. I was late to the hype train, but I'm happy to report director Ryan Coogler's vampire horror blockbuster is just as good as everyone says. With spell-binding performances across the board, heartwrenching themes of love and loss, and an electrifying soundtrack, you can't help but get swept up in its wicked fever.
Set in 1930s Mississippi, "Sinners" follows twin brothers (both played by longtime Coogler collaborator Michael B. Jordan) who leave the hustle and bustle (as well as a few double-crossed mobsters) of Chicago behind, heading back to their hometown to turn an abandoned sawmill into a juke joint. Opening night is everything they'd dreamed it would be. Until vampires crash the party, that is. But "Sinners" is about so much more than vampires, and honestly, I hesitate to even call it a horror movie. It's as much a tragic tale of star-crossed lovers, a reckoning with the scars of colonialism and America's racist history, and a powerful metaphor on the unifying force of music as it is about supernatural scares.
Watch "Sinners" on Prime Video now
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