What’s Streaming This Week (11/15 – 11/22)

Welcome to When To Stream’s Weekly Preview! Every week, we take a closer look at the major film streaming releases scheduled to launch in the next 7 days. As always, release dates are subject to change.

Another note: We provide links to digital pre-orders (when available) and do receive a very small commission for any purchases made from this website. If you’d like to support our work, and you’re looking to buy through any of our digital retail partners, we’d appreciate it if you’d click through.

Here are this week’s highlights:

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Tuesday, November 17th, 2026

THE BEAST – $19.99 Sale / TBD Rental

Cast: Samuel L. Jackson, Joel Kinnaman and Guy Burnet

Synopsis: When a militia of unidentified hostiles coordinates a coup against the United States, the president must fight back by utilizing the highly classified offensive capabilities of his armored limousine, nicknamed The Beast.

What we like:

• Renny Harlin is back again! The action filmmaker behind 90s classics Die Hard 2: Die Harder, Cliffhanger, The Long Kiss Goodnight, and Deep Blue Sea is finally done with his The Strangers prequel trilogy.
• 77 year-old Samuel L. Jackson is still headlining action thrillers. It probably helps that he’s seated throughout the film, taking on the role of POTUS, riding in the heavily armored vehicle nicknamed The Beast.
• This is Harlin and Jackon’s fourth collaboration, following The Long Kiss Goodnight, Deep Blue Sea and 2007’s Cleaner.
• Jackson and co-star Joel Kinnaman have been delightful doing the promotional rounds together. This is very charming:

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What we don’t like:

• Reviews for the film have been lukewarm. It currently holds a 50% Fresh score on Rotten Tomatoes, which isn’t great.

THE ODYSSEY – $19.99 Sale

Cast: Matt Damon, Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Robert Pattinson and Lupita Nyong’o, with Zendaya and Charlize Theron

Synopsis: Odysseus, the legendary Greek king of Ithaca, embarks on a long and perilous journey home following the Trojan War, chronicling his encounters with mythical beings such as the Cyclops Polyphemus, the Sirens, and the witch-goddess Circe, while attempting to reunite with his wife, Penelope.

What we like:

• Christopher Nolan’s epic is the first feature film shot entirely with IMAX cameras. Nolan’s fascination with IMAX began when he was just 16 years old, after visiting the Omnimax theater at Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry.
• Instead of creating Odysseus’s ship entirely through computer graphics, Nolan used the Draken, a real reconstruction of a Viking ship approximately 1,000 years old. The production modified it to resemble a ship from the Mycenaean period, and the actors even learned to row and sail.
• Composer Ludwig Göransson, who previously worked with Nolan on Tenet and Oppenheimer, created an unusual soundscape, recording approximately 35 bronze gongs of different sizes and incorporating their sounds into the score.
• Despite the enormous scale of the undertaking, the 91-day shoot finished nine days earlier than planned. And its $250M budget looks like a bargain when you factor in the film’s worldwide box-office gross: $1.8B.

What we don’t like:

• The decision to cast Lupita Nyong’o (as Helen of Troy), Elliot Page, and Travis Scott (as a Greek bard) drew heavy criticism from conservative commentators and social media figures who labeled the casting “woke” or a form of race-swapping. Elon Musk amplified rumors and shared AI-generated images to stoke debate around the film’s casting and perceived DEI considerations.

A TALENT FOR MURDER – $19.99 Sale / TBD Rental

Cast: Helen Mirren, Alden Ehrenreich and Olivia Cooke

Synopsis: A young man travels from New York to Switzerland to try to persuade acclaimed thriller writer Patricia Highsmith to write one final installment of her Tom Ripley series, with his efforts gradually turning more sinister.

What we like:

• Helen Mirren portrays Patricia Highsmith, the American author whose psychological crime novels influenced generations of thriller writers.
• Screenwriter Joanna Murray-Smith adapted her own 2014 theatrical play, Switzerland, for the movie. The play’s title references the country where Highsmith spent the later part of her life.
• Anton Corbijn directs. The Dutch filmmaker started his career in the 80s as a photographer and video director behind the visual output of Depeche Mode and U2 (among many other iconic videos). His feature filmography includes 2007’s Control, 2010’s The American, and 2014’s A Most Wanted Man.

What we don’t like:

• Despite positive reviews out of the Toronto International Film Festival (it currently sits at 78% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes), distributor Bleecker Street Films was unable to attract much of an audience to theaters. It grossed only $1.1M at the US box-office.

Wednesday, November 18th, 2026

GENTLE MONSTER – Netflix

Cast: Léa Seydoux, Jella Haase, Laurence Rupp, and Catherine Deneuve

Synopsis: After relocating with her family to the countryside, a renowned pianist uncovers a life-shattering truth that forces her to confront the complexities of love, trust, and deception.

What we like:

• Marie Kreutzer’s psychological drama had its world premiere at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival, where it competed for the prestigious Palme d’Or (it lost to Fjord).
• It features two titans of French cinema: Léa Seydoux portrays Lucy Weiss, a successful musician who moves her family from Munich to the countryside to help her husband recover from severe burnout. And Catherine Deneuve plays Lucy’s mother.
• The film was selected as Austria’s submission for the 95th Academy Awards in the International Feature Film category.

What we don’t like:

• The film heavily parallels the real-life scandal surrounding Kreutzer’s 2022 film Corsage, whose lead actor, Florian Teichtmeister, was arrested and sentenced in January 2023 for possession and production of child pornography. Some questioned whether Kreutzer was exploiting a sensitive, real-life trauma or using the film to process her own association with the scandal.

GUARDING STARS – Netflix

Cast: Leighton Meester, Jared Padalecki, Noah LaLonde, Walker Hayes, Toby Sandeman, Rachael Ancheril, Shaun Johnston, Phil Brooks, Ava Max, and Andie MacDowell

Synopsis: When a no-nonsense bodyguard is assigned to protect a charming action star over the holidays, sparks fly, secrets unravel, and Christmas gets a whole lot more complicated.

What we like:

• This holiday romantic comedy is adapted from the best-selling romance novel The Bodyguard by Katherine Center. The title was obviously changed to avoid confusion with the 1992 Whitney Houston classic.
• The director, Elizabeth Allen Rosenbaum, previously made another successful Netflix romance, 2022’s Purple Hearts.
• Gossip Girl’s Leighton Meester and Supernatural’s Jared Padalecki star, and Grammy-nominated country musician Walker Hayes makes his acting debut.

What we don’t like:

• Fans noticed the story underwent geographic changes from its source material. While the original book is set on a Texas ranch along the Brazos River during Thanksgiving, the film moves the setting to a snowy Montana ranch during Christmas. We love Christmas movies, but we need more Thanksgiving movies!

MADDEN – Prime Video

Cast: Nicolas Cage, Christian Bale, Kathryn Hahn, John Mulaney, Sienna Miller, Shane Gillis

Synopsis: John Madden’s remarkable journey-from a Super Bowl-winning partnership with Al Davis and the Raiders, to creating Madden NFL, and becoming one of the most iconic voices in football history.

What we like:

• This biographical sports drama is directed and co-written (with Cambron Clark) by David O. Russell, who brought us The Fighter, Silver Linings Playbook, American Hustle, Joy, and Amsterdam. But our personal favorite of his is still 1996’s Flirting with Disaster.
• Nicolas Cage plays John Madden, though Will Ferrell was initially announced to star. Christian Bale co-stars as Al Davis, longtime owner of the Oakland Raiders.
• Former NFL player and Good Morning America television personality Michael Strahan is among the executive producers of the film.

What we don’t like:

• During filming in Atlanta, Georgia, director David O. Russell allegedly used a racial slur while working on an impromptu monologue with a supporting actor. The actor and several other cast and crew members objected, walked off the set, and the actor temporarily quit the production.

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Friday, November 20th, 2026

BEST PANCAKES IN THE COUNTY – $14.99 Sale / TBD Rental

Cast: Nicolas Cage, Justin Long, Shelley Hennig, and Ravi Patel

Synopsis: Over the course of one explosive night, a small-town diner becomes the epicenter of a deadly standoff involving rogue federal agents, a fast-talking con man with a dangerous past, and a waitress harboring secrets of her own. As loyalties blur and tensions erupt, survival depends on who can outthink – and outgun – everyone else. In this diner, the ‘best pancakes in the county’ turn out to be the least explosive thing on the menu.

What we like:

• Nicolas Cage is back for his second streaming film of the week! This one is an action thriller about a violent criminal confrontation inside a small-town diner.
• Cage undergoes another dramatic physical transformation, wearing a curly black wig, oversized glasses, a prosthetic nose. The man is a master of disguise.
• Filmmaker Ken Sanzel previously directed Cage in the 2019 action thriller Kill Chain. Anyone remember that one (we don’t)?

What we don’t like:

• We have to admit we glanced at the cast list and got very excited to see Shelley Long included. Unfortunately, we misread Justin Long/Shelley Hennig…so the Troop Beverly Hills actress won’t be making an appearance in this violent actioner. Maybe next time.

ICE CREAM MAN – Shudder

Cast: Ari Millen, Benjamin Byron Davis, Eli Roth, Karen Cliche, Dylan Hawco, Sarah Abbott, Shiloh O’Reilly, Kiori Mirza Waldman, Charlie Zeltzer, and Charlie Storey

Synopsis: An idyllic summer town descends into madness when an ice cream man serves kids sweet delights with horrifying results.

What we like:

• This slasher was written and directed by Eli Roth, the filmmaker behind Cabin Fever, Hostel, The Green Inferno, and Thanksgiving. It’s Roth’s first film since his 2024 disaster Borderlands.
• The movie was the first film announced from Roth’s horror label, The Horror Section. The shingle has released some small horror titles it co-financed (including Jimmy and Stiggs and Dream Eater), but this is the first to be directed by Roth.
• Roth’s film is not a remake of the 1995 horror movie Ice Cream Man starring Clint Howard, though we wish Roth had recruited Howard for a cameo!

What we don’t like:

• The film sparked backlash when credits revealed generative AI visual effects from company Dark Half, forcing Roth to admit “I misspoke” after initially claiming select animated sequences were hand-drawn.

THE LAST TEMPTATION OF BECKY – $14.99 Sale / TBD Rental

Cast: Lulu Wilson, Neil Patrick Harris, Brandon Flynn, James Urbaniak, Kate Siegel

Synopsis: Now a CIA field agent, Becky goes undercover in Poland to infiltrate a family running an inn at The Wolf’s Lair, one of Hitler’s WWII bunkers. When she learns the father, Wilhelm Reuss, plans to spark the Fourth Reich, Becky must stop him.

What we like:

• The third installment in the Becky action-horror franchise. This time, Becky Hooper has grown up, become a CIA operative and finds herself fighting a dangerous neo-Nazi organization in Poland. Great!
• Lulu Wilson returns in the titular role, and she’s joined by Neil Patrick Harris, who portrays General Wilhelm Reuss, a dangerous figure who runs an inn near a former Nazi military headquarters.
• Jenn Wexler replaces the directing team behind the earlier two films. She previously directed 2018’s The Ranger and 2023’s The Sacrifice Game.

What we don’t like:

• Critics noted that the film struggles to balance a campy, “Scooby-Doo”-style or B-movie revenge premise with the heavy, dark reality of fascism and neo-Nazi villains.

STEPS – Netflix

Cast: Ali Wong, Amanda Seyfried, Stephanie Hsu, Nikki Glaser, Daniel Radcliffe, Young Mazino, Peter Dinklage, and Bette Midler

Synopsis: Think you know Cinderella’s “evil” stepsisters? Think again! When misunderstood Lilith (Ali Wong) is blamed for hijacking the Royal Ball with a stolen magic wand, she accidentally turns her sister Margot (Stephanie Hsu) into a frog and leaves the kingdom in the hands of a prince-obsessed mean girl. Now Lilith must team up with Cinderella (and a surprisingly dreamy troll) to save the kingdom, repair the fractured fairytale, and prove that even so-called villains deserve a shot at happily-ever-after.

What we like:

• This animated musical fantasy comedy turns the traditional Cinderella story upside down. Instead of focusing exclusively on Cinderella, the movie gives her supposedly evil stepsisters the spotlight.
• Director Alyce Tzue is a Taiwanese-American filmmaker who drew inspiration from her own experiences of feeling like an outsider growing up. She wanted to make a fairy tale for people who don’t always feel they belong. Co-director John Ripa previously worked on Disney’s Raya and the Last Dragon, and Amy Poehler is one of the producers.
• What a cast! Ali Wong, Stephanie Hsu, Amanda Seyfried, Daniel Radcliffe, Peter Dinklage and Bette Midler lead the deep bench of talent.

What we don’t like:

• Netflix sparked controversy in Latin America by casting Mexican influencer Lesslie Polinesia as the voice of Margot in the Spanish dub. Fans and dubbing purists (a very testy group) protested after promotional materials allegedly used the voice of veteran professional voice actress Diana Santos Galván in trailers while marketing Polinesia’s casting.

TONY – HBO Max

Cast: Dominic Sessa, Emilia Jones, Dagmara Dominczyk, Rich Sommers, Stavros Halkias, with Leo Woodall and Antonio Banderas

Synopsis: A 19-year-old Anthony Bourdain travels to Provincetown and stumbles into the chaotic world of a restaurant kitchen, setting off a summer that will shape the course of his life.

What we like:

• This A24 biographical drama about Anthony Bourdain focuses on Bourdain before he became famous. Rather than covering his entire life, Tony concentrates on 19-year-old Bourdain, when he travels to Provincetown, Massachusetts, and discovers the chaotic world of restaurant kitchens.
• Dominic Sessa, who broke out in The Holdovers, takes on the title role. He smartly modulates his performance to avoid impersonation. It’s an impressive star-turn.
• Antonio Banderas plays a fictionalized mentor figure, and he’s getting Oscar buzz for his performance. It would be great if he snagged another nomination after his titanic Pain and Glory performance in 2019.
• The film is directed (and co-written) by Matt Johnson, who follows up his phenomenal Nivanna the Band the Show the Movie with this winning biopic.

What we don’t like:

• The film depicts a 19-year-old Tony as obnoxious, self-aggrandizing, and a compulsive liar, opening with a quote calling him a “spoiled, miserable, narcissistic, self-destructive, and thoughtless young lout”. Many fans and critics felt the movie leaned too hard into an unappealing anti-hero angle without offering enough of the charm people associated with the adult Bourdain.

YOU HAD TO BE THERE – $14.99 Sale / TBD Rental

Cast: Martin Short, Eugene Levy, Dave Thomas, Gilda Radner, Victor Garber, Andrea Martin, Jayne Eastwood, Paul Shaffer

Synopsis: Martin Short, Eugene Levy, Gilda Radner, Victor Garber, Paul Shaffer, and other entertainment icons got their start in a 1972 Toronto production of the musical Godspell. Featuring interviews with the surviving cast members, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Mike Myers, and more, the film recounts a pivotal moment in comedy history, in hilarious, moving, and inspiring detail.

What we like:

• This fascinating documentary is directed by Nick Davis, and chronicles a remarkable moment in entertainment history: a 1972 Toronto stage production of Godspell that brought together a group of performers who would go on to become comedy legends.
• The filmmakers faced an unusual archival challenge. No film footage of the original stage production survives, so Davis uses animated recreations and other creative techniques to help bring the show back to life.
• It premiered at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival, where it was part of the festival’s Official Selection. It placed third in the People’s Choice Documentary Award voting.

What we don’t like:

• The film’s full title is You Had to Be There: How the Toronto Godspell Ignited the Comedy Revolution, Spread Love & Overalls, and Created a Community That Changed the World (in a Canadian Kind of Way). We’re always complaining about generic titles, so we probably deserve this one.

Also Streaming Friday

UNBEARABLE CHRISTMAS

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Saturday, November 21st, 2026

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