24 Best Movies New to Streaming in November: ‘Deadpool & Wolverine,’ ‘Twisters,’ ‘The Substance,’ ‘Emilia Perez’ and More

“Deadpool & Wolverine,” one of the year’s biggest movies, will finally be available to stream at home on Disney+ on Nov. 12. The Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman-starring superhero feature is the second highest-grossing film of 2024, earning a whopping $1.3 billion at the global box office. It recently surpassed “Barbie” ($636.2 million) to become the 12th-highest-grossing North American release in history. It also ranks as the highest-grossing R-rated movie ever. The movie follows Reynolds’ Wade Wilson/Deadpool as he faces off against the Time Variance Authority and becomes frenemies with Wolverine (Jackman) to save his world. It’s the first Marvel Cinematic Universe entry to be headlined by comic book characters that were previously licensed to 20th Century Fox, which was acquired by the Walt Disney Company in 2019.

Universal’s summer blockbuster “Twisters” is making its streaming debut on Peacock this month after earning more than $370 million globally at the box office. Glen Powell and Daisy Edgar-Jones lead the action film as two storm chasers with competing personalities who form a bond while investigating a tornado outbreak in middle America. Anthony Ramos, Brandon Perea, David Corenswet, Maura Tierney, Sasha Lane and more co-star. “Twisters” was directed by Lee Isaac Chung and executive produced by Steven Spielberg. From Variety’s review: “Chung made the incandescent humanistic drama ‘Minari.’ And while that wouldn’t seem to make him the likeliest contender to helm a popcorn spectacle as rooted in technological wonderment as this one, he does a smooth and confident job.”

“The Substance” dominated headlines at the Cannes Film Festival, where it took home the prize for best screenplay, and became a box office sleeper hit this fall with $14 million at the domestic box office and nearly $50 million worldwide, making it the biggest theatrical release yet for distributor Mubi. Demi Moore plays a Hollywood icon whose being forced out of the industry due to her age. Her frustration leads her to take the eponymous serum, which creates a younger and more beautiful version of her (Margaret Qualley). Everything goes bonkers as the two halves try to live their own lives. From Variety’s review: “Filmmaker Coralie Fargeat works with the flair of a grindhouse Kubrick in a weirdly fun, cathartically grotesque fusion of ‘Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde’ and ‘Showgirls.’”

Jacques Audiard’s audacious musical cartel drama “Emilia Pérez” won best actress honors at Cannes (Zoe Saldaña, Karla Sofía Gascón, Selena Gomez and Adriana Paz shared the prize) and is now Netflix’s biggest Oscar contender. Saldaña plays a high-powered lawyer who is recruited to set up gender reassignment surgery for a fearsome cartel leader. The two reunite later in life to combat cartel violence, but the former leader’s loyalty to his wife and children complicate their mission. Variety called the musical a “dazzling and instantly divisive film” out of Cannes, adding: “‘Emilia Pérez’ emerges as a powerful, unfiltered portrait of someone who challenges several stereotypes at once. That’s a testament to leading lady and the audacity of Audiard.”

Playwright Annie Baker makes her feature directorial debut with the A24 mother-daughter drama “Janet Planet.” The film is set in rural Massachusetts as 11-year-old Lucy comes of age alongside her mother (Julianne Nicholson). From Variety’s review: “Once again, A24 gambles on an unproven filmmaker, and once again, the indie studio comes away with an incredibly specific and personal glimpse into the mysteries of childhood… Baker has made an honest and endearing portrait of how an 11-year-old girl’s clingy relationship to her single mom evolves over the course of the summer between fifth and sixth grades. Watching it feels eerily akin to running one’s fingers along a scar sustained in childhood and being magically projected back to the moment that injury was sustained.”

Malcolm Washington directs Samuel L. Jackson and John David Washington in Netflix’s latest August Wilson adaptation “The Piano Lesson” following “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.” The actors reprise the roles they performed on Broadway. “The Piano Lesson” follows the lives of the Charles family, led by Doaker Charles (Jackson), in 1936 during the aftermath of the Great Depression. The family’s heirloom piano is decorated with designs carved by an enslaved ancestor. One brother plans to build a family fortune by selling the instrument and buying the land his family toiled, while his sister tries to keep it to preserve the family history. Ray Fisher, Michael Potts, Erykah Badu, Danielle Deadwyler and Corey Hawkins co-star.

Saoirse Ronan leads Steve McQueen’s war drama “Blitz,” which debuts on Apple TV+ just ahead of Thanksgiving following a limited theatrical release. Oscar nominee Ronan stars as Rita, a distraught mother who frantically searches for her nine-year-old son George (newcomer Elliott Heffernan) after sending him to the countryside during the London Blitz in World War II. The cast also includes Harris Dickinson, Erin Kellyman, Stephen Graham, Kathy Burke, Paul Weller, Leigh Gill and Benjamin Clementine. “12 Years a Slave” Oscar winner McQueen wrote, directed and produced “Blitz,” which marks his first feature film since 2018’s “Widows.”

Megan Park’s crowdpleaser “My Old Ass” was one of the biggest hits at the Sundance Film Festival at the start of the year and now makes its streaming debut on Amazon Prime Video following a limited theatrical release. Maisy Stella plays an 18 year old whose coming-of-age journey gets complicated when she gains the ability to see and communicate with her older self (Aubrey Plaza). From Variety’s review: “Megan Park’s amusing and emotional second feature presents an original riff on the fantasy of going back in time to advise your younger self.”

Lacey Chabert is front and center in the Netflix holiday movie “Hot Frosty,” which follows a widow in a small town who magically brings a sexy snowman (“Schitt’s Creek” alum Dustin Milligan) to life. Through his naïveté, the snowman helps Kathy to laugh, feel and love again, as the two fall for each other just in time for the holidays and all before he melts. Jerry Ciccoritti directed the film from a script written by Russell Hainline. The supporting cast includes Joe Lo Truglio and Craig Robinson as a pair of police officers investigating the new stranger to town, plus Katy Mixon Greer, Lauren Holly, Chrishell Stause, Sherry Miller and more.

Chad Michael Murray hopes to deliver Netflix a holiday blockbuster with his steamy Christmas original “The Merry Gentelman,” which injects the classic holiday movie with some “Magic Mike” energy. Britt Robertson stars as a former big-city dancer who dreams up creative (and sexy) way to save her parents’ small-town bar and performing venue. Her idea is to create an all-male, Christmas-themed revue featuring some of the local hotties. Naturally, that’s where Chad Michael Murray comes in. It’s not long before sparks fly between Robertson and Murray as he strips down to save her Christmas.

Lindsay Lohan has already delivered Netflix one Christmas movie success with 2022’s “Falling for Christmas,” and now she hopes to make lighting strike twice with “Our Little Secret.” Lohan and Ian Harding (“Pretty Little Liars”) play two resentful exes who are forced to spend Christmas under the same roof after discovering their current partners are siblings. Things are only complicated further when Lohan’s character butts heads with her boyfriend’s mother, played by Kristin Chenoweth. The supporting cast includes Tim Meadows, Jon Rudnitsky, Henry Czerny, Judy Reyes, Chris Parnell, Dan Bucatinsky, Katie Baker, Jake Brennan, Ash Santos and Brian Unger.

Rachel Zegler, John Lithgow, Jenifer Lewis, Tituss Burgess, Nathan Lane, Javier Bardem and Nicole Kidman lead the voice cast for the Netflix animated adventure “Spellbound,” directed by Vicky Jenson and produced by former Pixar boss John Lasseter. The official synopsis reads: “‘Spellbound’ follows the adventures of Ellian, the tenacious young daughter of the rulers of Lumbria who must go on a daring quest to save her family and kingdom after a mysterious spell transforms her parents into monsters.” The movie features original songs from EGOT-winning composer and Disney legend Alan Menkin  and lyrics by Glenn Slater (“Tangled”).

Steven Spielberg produces a documentary on his longtime friend and collaborator John Williams, who has composed the iconic films scores to “E.T.,” “Indiana Jones,” “Jaws,” “Harry Potter” and more. The doc opened AFI Film Fest last month and exclusively streams on Disney+ starting Nov. 1. The official synopsis reads: “From his early days as a jazz pianist to his 54 Oscar nominations and five wins, the documentary takes an in-depth look at Williams’ countless contributions to film, including many iconic franchises, as well as his music for the concert stage and his impact on popular culture. The film features interviews with artists and filmmakers whose lives have been touched by his timeless music.” 

The Beatles‘ 1964 trip to America is chronicled in a new documentary from producer Martin Scorsese and director David Tedeschi. Titled “Beatles ’64,” the film features never-before-seen footage of the band and its legions of young fans during the height of Beatlemania. It also includes new interviews with the two surviving Beatles, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr. The doc follows McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison and Starr as they land in New York City in February 1964 and solidify their status as the biggest band in the world. “Beatles ’64” promises to tell “a more intimate behind the scenes story” of the Fab Four as they debut on “The Ed Sullivan Show” to more than 73 million viewers, which back then was the most-watched television event of all time.

Jennifer Lawrence produces the documentary “Bread and Roses,” which “offers a powerful window into the seismic impact on women’s rights and livelihoods after Kabul fell to the Taliban in 2021,” according to the official synopsis from Apple TV+. “The film follows three women, in real time, as they fight to recover their autonomy. Director Sahra Mani captures the spirit and resilience of Afghan women through a raw depiction of their harrowing plight.” From Variety’s review: “This film tackles an urgent and timely topic through a committed on-the-ground perspective, capturing the experience of three people, Zahra, Taranom and Sharifa, whose lives as they knew them were effectively ended when the Taliban seized control of Kabul in 2021.”

The Amy Winehouse biopic “Back to Black” divided critics and earned $50 million at the worldwide box office over the summer, but now fans will be able to stream the drama from home courtesy of Amazon Prime Video. “Industry” breakout Marisa Abela stars as the singer in a film that chronicles Winehouse’s superstar rise as a musician, her complicated romance to Blake Fielder-Civil and her tragic death at 27 years old. Variety shared praise in its review for Abela’s performance, writing: “She nails Amy Winehouse in every look, mood, and note. Abela’s Amy is an authentic force of nature, and every inch the Winehouse we know from her ecstatic, tormented, spilling-over-the-sides, saturation-coverage-by-the-media image.”

Chris Pine’s feature directorial debut “Poolman” was ripped to shreds by film critics, but now more people can judge for themselves when the comedy noir makes it streaming debut on Hulu this month. Pine stars in the film as an optimistic Los Angeles pool cleaner who stumbles into a “Chinatown”-inspired conspiracy while trying to make his hometown a better place to live. The supporting cast includes Annette Bening, DeWanda Wise, Stephen Tobolowsky, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Danny DeVito and more. Pine has always stood by the film amid the critical backlash, saying earlier this year: “I tried to make a joyful film. With so much joy behind it, to then be met with a fusillade of not-so-joyous stuff…the cognitive dissonance there was quite something

June Squibb earned critical acclaim for her leading role in “Thelma,” which debuted to great reviews at Sundance and earned a strong $9 million at the domestic box office over the summer. The 94-year-old Oscar nominee plays an elderly woman who breaks out of her old-age home on a mission to find the scammer who tricked her over the phone. From Variety’s review: “She’s been stealing scenes from the sidelines for decades, and now the ‘Nebraska’ favorite finally gets top billing as a headstrong woman who takes her scammers to task…she’s an unlikely yet satisfying action star.”

Alicia Vikander commands the screen as Katherine Parr in the historical drama “Firebrand,” based on the novel “Queen’s Gambit” by Elizabeth Fremantle. The film follows Parr on her quest to survive the perilous last months of husband Henry VII’s life. Jude Law plays the senile king. From Variety’s review: “Vikander brings intelligence and poise to the role, but she looks out of place in Aïnouz’s grungy view of Tudor England — as do nearly all stars when they essay these royal roles. ‘Firebrand’ follows in the tradition of Josie Rourke’s not-especially-good ‘Mary Queen of Scots’ movie from a few years back, bringing trendy new concepts to its depiction of less enlightened times.

Robert Schwartzman directs Nick Jonas and Brittany Snow in the indie drama “The Good Half.” Jonas plays a young adult who returns home to Cleveland, Ohio for his mother’s funeral and mends some unhealthy relationships. Variety’s mixed review of the film stated it still “reclaims attention every now and then with its occasional humor and grace notes around its side characters.” The supporting cast includes David Arquette, Alexandra Shipp, Matt Walsh and Elisabeth Shue.

The dialogue-free animated buddy film “Robot Dreams” follows the unlikely friendship that forms between a dog and a robot in New York City circa 1984. The movie was nominated for the Oscar for best animated feature earlier this year. From Variety’s review: “The Spanish director Pablo Berger makes an unexpected but appealing pivot to animation in dialogue-free tale of friendship found, lost and rewired… ‘Robot Dreams’  would have been no less effective or affecting as a short subject, though that format would have admittedly kerbed the gleeful volume of nifty visual gags that Berger packs around his sweet, slender story — many of them wittily attuned to the period (frozen food and advertising trends of the era come in for a good ribbing) and the anything-goes street life of New York itself .”

Viggo Mortensen’s second feature directorial effort is “The Dead Don’t Hurt,” an understated and nonlinear Western frontier story in which he stars opposite Vicky Krieps. From Variety’s review: “Set during the Civil War but made with a mindset more in line with the #MeToo era, Mortensen’s sensitive take on a traditionally violent genre opens with Vivienne’s dying vision of a knight in shining armor coming to rescue her… Krieps is ideal casting for this uniquely tender-strong character. Faced with the choice between a comfortable life in a golden cage and whatever Holger may have to offer, Vivienne decides to travel west with him, only to find that the home’s a dump and the town’s corrupt.”

The documentary “Larger Than Life” delves into the evolution of boy bands, from The Beatles to BTS, with a particular focus on the iconic groups who dominated pop culture in the 1990s and 2000s, including NSYNC and the Backstreet Boys. From Paramount+: “Told through those artists who experienced it firsthand, the managers who orchestrated their rise, and other key music players, ‘Larger Than Life’ is an ode to the ones who were tearin’ up our hearts.” Interview subjects in the film include AJ McLean, Chris Kirkpatrick, Donnie Wahlberg, Donny Osmond, Jeff Timmons, Hanson, Lance Bass, Michael Bivins, Nick Lachey and more.

Kiernan Shipka and Nico Hiraga headline the Max original film “Sweethearts,” which marks the directorial debut of Jordan Weiss. The official synopsis reads: “Two college freshmen make a pact to break up with their high school sweethearts over Thanksgiving break, leading them on a chaotic night out in their hometown that puts their codependent friendship to the test.” The supporting cast includes Caleb Hearon, Tramell Tillman, Ava Demary, Charlie Hall, Joel Kim Booster, and Christine Taylor.