With October in full swing, including pumpkin spice lattes and sweater weather, Netflix has been steadily adding new films and television to its extensive streaming library for a weekend binge. From classic action movies finding a new home on the digital platform to eagerly anticipated horror programming just in time for Halloween, there is something for everyone to watch over the second weekend in October. And CBR is here with a carefully curated set of recommendations to choose from while audiences are scouring the vast library for the perfect stream.
Here are all the best movies and television shows to stream on Netflix this weekend, ranging from superhero anime to acclaimed comedies marking their own Irish goodbye.
The Midnight Club Delivers the Halloween Scares
Mike Flanagan has steadily built up an impressive line of films and television to become one of the most acclaimed horror filmmakers in the industry today. Flanagan’s latest project is a television adaptation of Christopher Pike’s 1994 novel The Midnight Club. And if Flanagan’s past work and the talent assembled for The Midnight Club is any indicator, Netflix has another horror hit on its hands just in time for Halloween.
The new show follows a group of terminally ill kids living together at a hospice care facility run by a mysterious physician. Each night at midnight, the group quietly gathers to share scary stories while promising to return from the grave to visit their friends. As the patients in the ensemble begin to succumb to their respective illnesses, paranormal activity begins to pick up around the facility and the surviving patients as they endure their own scary stories.
Tiger & Bunny Returns to Continue Its Second Season
After premiering this past April, the second half of Tiger & Bunny Season 2 has returned to wrap up the Netflix original anime series’ sophomore outing. A meditation on superheroes and capitalism, the show takes place in a world where being a hero is an established profession, complete with corporate sponsorships. Featuring backroom conspiracies and scheming supervillains, Tiger & Bunny has become something of a sleeper hit on the streaming service as it picks up where it left off and then some.
The eponymous pair of superheroes are the veteran crimefighter Wild Tiger, reluctantly teaming up with the younger and more eager Barnaby Brooks. As Tiger considers retirement in the face of his diminishing powers, Barnaby is determined to solve the murder of his parents. A blend of superhero action, mismatched buddy comedy and corporate satire, Tiger & Bunny remains a solid choice among Netflix’s growing anime library.
Derry Girls Final Season Makes Its Big Debut
The acclaimed British comedy Derry Girls has officially come to an end with its third season, concluding its ‘90s look back at the Northern Irish city of Derry amidst the sectarian violence. Balancing riotous comedy with coming-of-age stakes, Derry Girls has been a popular favorite since its debut in 2018. And as the final season comes to Netflix after premiering in the United Kingdom this past April, Derry Girls closes out on a strong note.
Following a group of teenagers in the final years of their secondary school education in the eponymous Northern Irish city, Derry Girls Season 3 sees the characters prepare to graduate. It also features the girls embarking on post-secondary school adventures, culminating in the 1998 Good Friday Agreement that formally ended the violence taking place across Ireland. With the show’s complete run now available to stream on Netflix, now is the perfect opportunity to watch Derry Girls from beginning to end.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Stand United on Netflix
Netflix has increasingly become the home for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, following the debut of the original continuation film Rise of the Teen Mutant Ninja Turtles. The Heroes in a Half-Shell’s association with the streaming service continues this month, with even more Ninja Turtle content added to the digital platform. The classic live-action trilogy has returned to Netflix, along with the 2007 CG animated film, making this weekend a perfect time to revisit them.
The 1990 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film has the heroes defend New York City from a rising crime wave headed by the sinister Shredder, with the 1991 sequel Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze contending with Shredder’s revenge. 1993’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III flings the reptilian siblings back to feudal Japan just in time to stop the plot of an imperialist looking to conquer the country. And 2007’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles involves the rise of a new villain, prompting the Ninja Turtles to put aside their differences and reunite against a common enemy.
The Rush Hour Trilogy Races to Netflix This Month
If any action movie franchise solidified Jackie Chan as a global movie star, it was the Rush Hour trilogy, which began in 1998 and paired Chan with co-star Chris Tucker. The two mismatched police detectives would take on the world’s most nefarious criminals in a film series that spanned everywhere from North America to Asia and Europe across its fan-favorite run. The entire trilogy has been added to Netflix this past week, giving fans an opportunity for a breezy binge of all three popular martial arts action movies.
Chan and Tucker star as two police detectives out to solve a high-profile kidnapping case involving the Chinese consulate in the 1998 original film. After forming a fast friendship, the two solve crimes together in Hong Kong and Las Vegas in the 2001 sequel Rush Hour 2. The trilogy comes to an end in 2007’s Rush Hour 3, when Chan’s Inspector Lee discovers he has a long-lost half-brother, prompting him and Tucker’s Detective James Carter to travel to Paris.