The best movies new to streaming this December

We’re in the final weeks of 2024, and there are still a ton of exciting new releases around the corner to enjoy before the year’s end. The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, Sonic the Hedgehog 3, and Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu, are some of this month’s biggest movies to see in theaters. But what about the movies to watch from the comfort of your home?

Per usual, we’ve pored over this month’s newest arrivals to bring you the best movies to watch on streaming this December. This month, we’ve got Christopher Nolan’s classic neo-noir Memento, Denis Villeneuve’s spine-tingling crime thriller Sicario, Peter Jackson’s enduring adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasy epic, and much more.

Here are the movies new to streaming services you should watch this month.

Editor’s pick: Memento

Where to watch: Criterion Channel
Genre: Psychological thriller
Director: Christopher Nolan
Cast: Guy Pearce, Carrie-Anne Moss, Joe Pantoliano

Before Christopher Nolan was making big-budget biopics or some of the most fun and inventive blockbusters ever, he was experimenting with bizarre little thrillers like Memento. The one thing that’s proven consistent across all his work, though, is that he just can’t seem to let time flow normally. 

Because Memento follows the story of a man who has a condition that causes him to struggle with short-term memory, Nolan plays the whole movie in two separate pieces; one series of black-and-white scenes plays out in chronological order, while the other series of color scenes plays out in reverse, with the whole narrative meeting at the end to reveal itself to the viewer. It’s almost annoying to describe on paper, but in practice Nolan makes the format feel fun and inventive, constantly finding new ways to introduce details to the movie’s mystery and keep us on our toes. 

It’s not nearly as polished as Nolan’s later work, but it’s an undeniably fun and fascinating early work from one of the most important filmmakers in the world. —Austen Goslin

New to Netflix

We’re the Millers

Genre: Comedy
Director: Rawson Marshall Thurber
Cast: Jennifer Aniston, Jason Sudeikis, Emma Roberts

I’m not typically one for comedies. That’s not to say I don’t love to laugh — I love to laugh — but I’m just not one to think “I could really go for a comedy right now” when I sit on the couch and peruse Netflix looking for something to watch. That said, I put on We’re the Millers for the first time and was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. Jason Sudeikis (Ted Lasso) stars as David, a low-level cannabis dealer in Denver who gets robbed of his entire stash. To pay back his boss, he agrees to traffic a shipment of pot from Mexico into the States. After coming up with an idea to pose as a vacationing family, David recruits his two neighbors and a local runaway to be his pretend family. Is it high cinema? No, but it is highly entertaining to watch this dysfunctional band of misfits stumble from one crisis into another and grow closer for that shared experience. It’s the best that Netflix has to offer in the way of new movies this week, and in that respect, it’s totally fine. —Toussaint Egan

New to Hulu

The Twilight series

Genre: Romance fantasy
Directors: Catherine Hardwicke, Chris Weitz, David Slade, Bill Condon
Cast: Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner

The last several years have had no shortage of praise for the wonderful performances and films of Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson, and every single bit of that praise has been well deserved. In fact, it wouldn’t be surprising at all to hear someone suggest that the pair are two of the best and most interesting actors working today. However, what might be more surprising is this: Every single bit of the talent that makes them great was also on display in the Twilight movies. And if you don’t believe me, then you absolutely owe the series a rewatch.

Each film is full of specific, often bizarrely daring acting choices rather than the kind of safe, generic choices that fill most surefire hit adaptations — like most of the performances in either of the Hunger Games or Harry Potter franchises. I’m not saying these movies are incredible, or that either Pattinson’s or Stewart’s performances here are among the best of their careers, but they are undeniably interesting. So if you haven’t checked in on Twilight recently, you should, even if it’s just to appreciate the big break for two of our best young movie stars. —AG

New to Max

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

Genre: Epic fantasy
Director: Peter Jackson
Cast: Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Orlando Bloom

Are the Lord of the Rings movies Thanksgiving movies, Christmas movies, or New Year’s Eve movies? The answer, of course, is yes. No matter when you choose to undergo a marathon watch of Peter Jackson’s era-defining adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s beloved fantasy epic, you’re in for an adventure that encapsulates the power of film as a medium to inspire, captivate, and yes, even possibly ennoble their audience.

If you’re reading this, a sentence written on a website that dedicated a whole year to writing about The Lord of the Rings, you don’t need me to tell you why to watch The Lord of the Rings. Instead, take this as an excuse that now is best time to watch Peter Jackson’s classic fantasy because truthfully, as has been proven time and again over the two decades since the trilogy concluded, there’s never a bad time to watch it. —TE

New to Prime Video

Sicario

Genre: Crime thriller
Director: Denis Villeneuve
Cast: Emily Blunt, Benicio del Toro, Josh Brolin

Sicario follows the journey of FBI agent Kate Mercer (Emily Blunt), who gets recruited for a quasi-legal joint taskforce to combat drug cartels by any means necessary. As she becomes more involved in the group’s operations, she meets increasingly sketchy people, including a CIA operative who’s fine working outside the law (Josh Brolin) and a Colombian assassin (Benicio del Toro) who is one of the scariest cold-blooded killers ever put on film. 

The movie is beautifully shot by director Denis Villeneuve and master cinematographer Roger Deakins, who present Kate’s journey into the darkest depths of U.S. foreign affairs like a descent into hell. The movie lets each moment of increased tension and violence ring in the audience’s ears until it’s all we can hear. One part law enforcement thriller and one part horror movie about U.S. law enforcement overreach, Sicario is a tightly packed bundle of nerves that feels ready to burst at every moment. —AG