Josh O’Connor and Daniel Craig, Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery
Netflix
The month of Stranger Things is approaching at Netflix. Yes, Season 5 Part 1 of the ’80s-set sci-fi horror series is premiering on Nov. 26, during Thanksgiving break. But the final two parts of Stranger Things‘ last season are both launching in December. If you’re a huge fan of the franchise, you might want to text your family and friends now to coordinate watch parties over the holidays, since Parts 2 and 3 will be released on Christmas and New Year’s Eve, respectively. What’s more thrilling than stepping into 2026 with Vecna?
Before then, mark your calendars for one of our most anticipated shows of the winter. The Abandons stars Lena Headey and Gillian Anderson as two widowed matriarchs from very different backgrounds facing off against each other. The Western series was created by Sons of Anarchy‘s Kurt Sutter. Later in December, Netflix is releasing Rian Johnson’s third Knives Out film, Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery. Daniel Craig returns as Benoit Blanc to solve a murder at a small church in upstate New York.
Here are the shows and movies coming to Netflix in December — as well as what’s leaving.
Last month’s guide: New Netflix shows and movies in November 2025
Next month’s guide: New Netflix shows and movies in January 2026
More streaming:
The best new Netflix movies and shows in December
Lena Headey, The Abandons
Matthias Clamer//Netflix
The Abandons (Dec. 4)
This town ain’t big enough for both Lena Headey and Gillian Anderson. In The Abandons, a new Western series created by Sons of Anarchy‘s Kurt Sutter, Headey and Anderson face off as a pair of widowed matriarchs separated by privilege in mid-19th-century Washington Territory. Headey’s Fiona Nolan is an Irish woman who has forged a home for an adopted family of outcasts (the titular Abandons) on silver-rich land, which Anderson’s wealthy Constance Van Ness is determined to seize. Their fellow haves and have-nots are played by an extensive cast that includes Michael Greyeyes, Nick Robinson, Diana Silvers, Lamar Johnson, Lucas Till, Aisling Franciosi, and Brían F. O’Byrne. –Kelly Connolly [Trailer]
Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery (Dec. 12)
Daniel Craig is back as Detective Benoit Blanc in Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, to solve what’s being described as his “most dangerous” and “most personal” case yet. The latest murder takes place at a small church in upstate New York where, according to the trailer, Father Jud Duplenticy (Josh O’Connor) is being labeled as the prime suspect. Like the previous installments in Rian Johnson’s whodunit film series — Knives Out and Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery — Wake Up Dead Man features a stacked cast. The ensemble includes Glenn Close, Josh Brolin, Mila Kunis, Jeremy Renner, Kerry Washington, Andrew Scott, Cailee Spaeny, Daryl McCormack, and Thomas Haden Church. [Trailer]
Stranger Things Season 5 (Part 2 on Dec. 25, Part 3 on Dec. 31)
It’s the beginning of the end. The fifth and final season of Stranger Things premieres in three parts: four episodes on Nov. 26, three on Christmas, and the series finale on New Year’s Eve. It’s been more than three years since Season 4 premiered, and Season 5 picks up a year after the events of the fourth season. It’s the fall of 1987, and Hawkins is in a precarious state after the opening of the rifts. As the government locks down the town and hunts for Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), she’s forced into hiding — but she and her friends will have to join forces if they want to take down Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower). To put it simply, whatever plan the Hawkins crew comes up with to fight the forces of the Upside Down has to work. [Trailer] [Everything to know about Stranger Things Season 5]
More on Netflix:
Everything coming to Netflix in December
Dec. TBA
Cashero
Pro Bono
Robby Hoffman: Wake Up
Nov. 1
All The Empty Rooms
CoComelon Lane: Season 6
Love Is Blind: Italy
My Next Guest with David Letterman and Adam Sandler
Playing Gracie Darling
Troll 2
A League of Their Own
As Good as It Gets
Bad Teacher
Big Momma’s House
Big Momma’s House 2
Brightburn
Burlesque
Cheaper by the Dozen
Cheaper by the Dozen 2
Christmas Break-In
Godzilla
Hollow Man
Joy for Christmas
Kung Fu Panda
Kung Fu Panda 2
Kung Fu Panda 3
Little Women
Pulp Fiction
Stripes
The Ugly Truth
Victoria: Seasons 1-3
What Lies Beneath
The Wolf of Wall Street
Zero Dark Thirty
Dec. 2
Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches: Season 2
Matt Rife: Unwrapped – A Christmas Crowd Work Special
Dec. 3
My Secret Santa
The Northman
Stranded with my Mother-in-Law: Season 3
With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration
Dec. 4
A Lot Like Christmas
The Abandons
The Believers: Season 2
Forrest Gump
Fugue State 1986
I Wish You Had Told Me
Lali: Time to Step Up
Mean Girls (2004)
Mean Girls (2024)
Dec. 5
Jay Kelly
Love and Wine
The Making of Jay Kelly
The New Yorker at 100
The Night My Dad Saved Christmas 2
The Price of Confession
Owning Manhattan: Season 2
Dec. 7
Babylon
Cast Away
Dec. 8
Elmo and Mark Rober’s Merry Giftmas
Dec. 9
Badly in Love
Blood Coast: Season 2
Masaka Kids, A Rhythm Within
The West Wing: Seasons 1-7
Dec. 10
The Accident: Season 2
Record of Ragnarok: Season 3
Simon Cowell: The Next Act
Dec. 11
The Fakenapping
Had I Not Seen the Sun: Part 2
Lost in the Spotlight
Man Vs Baby
Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft: Season 2
The Town
Dec. 12
The Amazing Digital Circus: Season 1: Episodes 5-7
City of Shadows
Home for Christmas: Season 3
Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery
Dec. 13
The Talented Mr. Ripley
Dec. 14
PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie
Dec. 15
A Cowboy Christmas Romance
Christmas at the Chalet
The Christmas Classic
Christmas on the Alpaca Farm
The Creature Cases: Chapter 6
Dec. 16
Castle Rock: Seasons 1-2
Culinary Class Wars: Season 2
Dec. 17
The Manny: Season 3
Murder in Monaco
What’s In The Box?
Dec. 18
10DANCE
Emily in Paris: Season 5
Dec. 19
A Time for Bravery
Breakdown: 1975
The Great Flood
Jake vs. Joshua: Judgment Day
Dec. 22
The Closer: Seasons 1-7
Elway
Sicily Express
Dec. 23
Eden
King of Collectibles: The Goldin Touch: Season 3
Dec. 24
Downton Abbey: A New Era
Goodbye June
Tom Segura: Teacher
Dec. 25
Christmas Gameday: Cowboys vs. Commanders
Christmas Gameday: Lions vs. Vikings
Stranger Things 5: Volume 2
Dec. 26
Cover-Up
Dec. 29
Members Only: Palm Beach
Dec. 30
Evil Influencer: The Jodi Hildebrandt Story
Ricky Gervais: Mortality
Dec. 31
Sleeping with Other People
Stranger Things 5: The Finale
Everything leaving Netflix in December
Dec. 1
Austin Powers in Goldmember
Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery
Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me
Back to the Future
Back to the Future Part II
Back to the Future Part III
Beverly Hills Cop
Beverly Hills Cop II
Beverly Hills Cop III
Billy Madison
Clueless
Cold Pursuit
The Dark Tower
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
Edge of Tomorrow
Escape Room
Game Night
The Goonies
The Happytime Murders
Inglourious Basterds
Kicking and Screaming
The Nutty Professor
The Nutty Professor II: The Klumps
Paddington
Wonka
Dec. 3
How I Met Your Mother: Seasons 1-9
Dec. 5
Compliance
Dec. 7
Gods of Egypt
Dec. 9
Daddy’s Home
Daddy’s Home2
Dec. 17
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2
Dec. 18
The 100: Seasons 1-7
Arrow: Seasons 1-8
Supernatural: Seasons 1-15
Dec. 25
Transformers
Transformers: Age of Extinction
Transformers: Dark of the Moon
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Dec. 29
10 Things I Hate About You
Idiocracy
Sweet Home Alabama
Shahs of Sunset: Seasons 3-4
Dec. 30
Ready Player One
Dec. 31
Evil: Seasons 1-3
