December’s small-screen cinematic highlights include an operatic biopic, a fresh riff on “Twelve Angry Men,” a pair of powerful documentaries and more.
ON NETFLIX
Starts Dec. 11
Maria
Netflix’s most prominent prestige title this month fulfills every definition of Oscar bait: It’s a spectacularly expensive period biopic about a foundational cultural figure, anchored by a performance that is sure to earn a Best Actress nomination. Angelina Jolie plays Maria Callas, the globally celebrated Greek-American soprano, in the final years of her life—far removed from the spotlight of the world’s grand opera houses, and wiling away her days, Miss Havisham-like, in a mansion, occasionally singing for the help while dependent on pills and aspiring to mend her faltering vocal cords. Black-and-white flashbacks offer glimpses into her glamorous past, whether onstage or engaging in a courtship with Aristotle Onassis (Haluk Bilginer). The film completes director Pablo Larraín’s trilogy of important 20th century women, on the heels of “Jackie” and “Spencer.”
Starts Dec. 20
The Six Triple Eight
The “Hidden Figures” of World War II, writer-director Tyler Perry’s latest feature is an earnest and uplifting tribute to the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, a division of the Women’s Army Corps comprised almost entirely of Black women. Led by the inspiring Major Charity Adams (Kerry Washington), the battalion initially sees its mission of delivering mail to and from the troops as lowly gruntwork from the racist military brass but eventually takes pride in its status as wartime couriers, as its members discover their vital importance in improving soldiers’ morale. Perry’s paean to Black female empowerment in a patriarchal institution also stars Oprah Winfrey, Sam Waterston, Susan Sarandon, Ebony Obsidian and Milauna Jackson.
ON HULU
Starts Dec. 10
Sugarcane
A contender for the year’s Best Documentary Oscar, this debut film from Julian Brave NoiseCat, with co-director Emily Kassie, probes physical and sexual abuse at a school for indigenous peoples. NoiseCat, a descendent of one of the school’s students, began chronicling his investigation in 2021, and this resulting documentary from National Geographic continues to make waves. NoiseCat and Kassie won a directing award at Sundance earlier this year, and Sugarcane boasts a 100-percent Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Perhaps more importantly, its revelations have inspired an official investigation into atrocities committed at indigenous schools, spearheaded by U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland.
ON MAX
Starts Dec. 10
Nature of the Crime
HBO’s documentary division continues to produce compelling, hard-hitting exposes about law and crime, and its latest entry in the canon is no exception. “Nature of the Crime” centers on three men, incarcerated for crimes they committed in their youth, who are up for parole. In the process of following their persuasive efforts, we discover the ins and outs of parole boards. Through interviews with prisoner advocates and law enforcement alike, the directors present a seemingly objective account of the pluses and minuses of an inherently imperfect system, where punishment and freedom, justice and clemency are weighed, with desperate humans and their families hanging in the balance.
Starts Dec. 20
Juror #2
If you missed Clint Eastwood’s 40th film in its limited theatrical run this season, the courtroom drama’s streaming premiere on Max should make for riveting viewing over the holidays. Nicholas Hoult delivers a dynamic performance as Justin Kemp, a journalist and expectant father called for jury duty in a high-profile murder case—only to realize that he may have been directly involved in the crime in question. The colorful supporting cast includes J.K. Simmons as a nosy fellow-juror, Toni Colette as the prosecuting attorney who’s running for office, and Chris Messina as the public defendant representing the suspect. Despite—or perhaps because—of its occasionally uncanny resemblance to “Twelve Angry Men,” “Juror #2” feels like an instant classic of its cloistered genre, and continues Eastwood’s career-long exploration of moral ambiguity.
ON PEACOCK
Starts Dec. 6
Speak No Evil
Adapted from a 2022 Danish feature of the same name, and produced by Blumhouse—the prolific studio that specializes in “elevated” horror films—“Speak No Evil” is a cringe-y psychological thriller that gleans its dread from a typically idyllic location: a rustic home in the English countryside. This is where a city couple, played by Scoot McNairy and Mackenzie Davis, are invited to spend a holiday with their hosts, fellow-tourists (James McAvoy and Aisling Franciosi) they met on an Italian sojourn, who seem harmless enough despite their comparatively exotic lust for life. The back half of “Speak No Evil” is a relentless escalation of suspense and bloodshed that eventually strains credulity, but its first half is something else entirely—a patient and, for a studio picture, even daringly slow character study. Tense but sprinkled with nervous humor, it exhibits an astuteness of modern relationship dynamics that’s unusual in its genre.
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