5 must-see movies and TV shows currently available to stream

Streaming

The best of new streaming offerings on Netflix, Hulu, HBO Max, Disney Plus and more.

Welcome to Boston.com weekly streaming guide. Every week we recommend five must-see movies and TV shows available on streaming platforms like Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, Disney+, HBOMaxPeacock, Paramount+ and more.

Many recommendations are new shows, others are releases you may have missed and haven't seen that often, or classics that are disappearing from streaming services at the end of the month.

Do you have a new favorite movie or TV show that you think we should know about? Let us know in the comments or send us an email. [email protected]. Looking for even more great streaming options? Check out previous editions of our Must-watch list here.

New films in streaming

“Civil War”

Contrary to what the trailers suggest, Alex Garland's Civil War isn't about America's hopelessly fractured political landscape – at least not entirely. Rather than focusing on racists and demagogues, the film follows a car full of photojournalists (Kirsten Dunst, Wagner Moura, Cailee Spaeny, Stephen McKinley Henderson) as they capture images of death and destruction on the front lines. As they race back to Washington, DC amid rumors of the President's (Nick Offerman) arrest, the group grapples with the role of the fourth estate in an American society that is falling apart before their eyes.

Here's how you can watch: “Civil War” is streaming on Max.

“Coming to America”

James Earl Jones, who died earlier this week at the age of 93, was best known for his deep, commanding voice and his dramatic roles in film and theater. Somewhat surprisingly, his first screen role was in Stanley Kubrick's satire Dr. Strangelove, in which Jones delivered every absurd line of his Lt. Lothar Zogg with complete seriousness. In Coming to America, Jones was able to deliver his witty lines with a little more tongue in cheek, playing the stern father of Zamundan prince Akeem (Eddie Murphy). Although he couldn't always show it, Jones had a range that went far beyond that of Darth Vader and Mufasa, and his King Jaffe is a perfect example of this.

Here's how you can watch: “Coming to America” is streaming on Paramount+ and Pluto TV for free, but with advertising.

New streaming TV

“English teacher”

Not content to let “Abbott Elementary” do all the fun, Hulu's new sitcom “English Teacher” shows that there's plenty more comedy to be mined in the halls of a suburban Texas high school and its hapless English teacher (showrunner Brian Jordan Alvarez). There are overprotective parents, insufferable school administrators, forbidden teacher crushes and teens who know they're the bosses in the current academic landscape. Unlike so many other “comedies” on Hulu, which are secretly 30-minute dramas with maybe one laugh per episode, “English Teacher” is just plain funny — a rare quality for a show this early in its run.

Here's how you can watch: “English Teacher” streams on Hulu, with new episodes airing Mondays on FX.

“Kevin can f*** himself”

After two seasons shot entirely during the pandemic, the Massachusetts-set series “Kevin Can F**k Himself” seemed destined for the dustbin of history. Thankfully, the dark comedy has regained popularity since its release on Netflix earlier this summer, and fans are celebrating the self-actualization of stereotypical TV wife Allison McRoberts (Annie Murphy, “Schitt's Creek”). Whenever Allison is in the presence of her Kevin James-esque husband Kevin (Eric Petersen), the series is shot like a brightly lit, canned-laughs, multi-camera sitcom. But when Allison leaves the house, the series turns into a dark drama as she lives a wild life and ponders what to do with her douchebag husband.

Here's how you can watch: “Kevin Can F*** Himself” is streaming on Netflix and AMC+.

“The Old Man”

In his 70-plus year career, Oscar winner Jeff Bridges (“The Big Lebowski”) has never been a series regular on a TV series. That changed in 2022 with “The Old Man,” the FX action/spy thriller that returns for its second season this week. Bridges, a former CIA agent who spent his life on the run after going rogue, plays the aptly named Dan Chase with a certain weariness of life, though he can still kick ass of guys half his age. When his daughter (Alia Shawkat, “Arrested Development”) is kidnapped, Dan is forced to team up with ex-FBI agent and professional frenemy Harold Harper (John Lithgow) to find her.

Here's how you can watch: Season 2 of “The Old Man” is streaming on Hulu, with new episodes airing Thursdays on FX.