The Thanksgiving holiday is fast approaching, which means get-togethers with family, lots of food — and plenty of free time that, if you’re like me, you’ll spend a good chunk of in front of a screen to enjoy a streaming service like Netflix. And the world’s biggest streaming platform, no surprise, will have you covered there, with plenty of new releases to check out while you’re off work — four of which we’ll spotlight in our latest curated weekend roundup below.
Blood, Sex & RoyaltySeason 1 on Netflix
First up — It’s currently the biggest Netflix show in the world right now, but if The CrownAre you too rigid on your upper lip? You can always try something lighter or sexier like the 3-episode series. Blood, Sex & Royalty (Coming on November 23).
This modern take on the British royal drama is, per the streamer, a window into the steamy and intrigue-filled lives of some of history’s most memorable monarchs.
From Netflix’s logline: “In the 16th century, Anne Boleyn navigates treacherous sexual politics and rises to become Queen of England. She forges history as she reshapes King Henry VIII’s worldview, but she’s expected to give birth to a male heir and makes powerful enemies along the way.”
The Swimmers + Wednesday Addams
Moving right along, the trailer alone for this next Netflix release utterly wrecked me — and you can probably understand why from the following summary of the story. This movie (coming soon to Netflix) basically sums it all. November 23, 2009The true story of two sisters (() is told in the film). It tells their tragic journey from Syria, where they fled to seek refuge, to Rio 2016 for the Olympics.
When we meet the Mardini sisters, they’re living a somewhat normal life in Syria — before the civil war broke out there, that is.
Yusra Mardini was shown the trailer for The Swimmers. It is a film that is based on her inspirational life story.
She was shocked. pic.twitter.com/6gnajAIWx0
— Netflix (@netflix) November 14, 2022
They’re swimming competitively under the instruction of their father, who’s a swim coach. Four years later, their home is destroyed and the girls almost get hit with a bomb. Their escape plan begins.
“The Swimmers is a film about female emancipation that shows how inner strength rises out of suffering,”Netflix provided this statement from director Sally El Hosaini. “It explores the power of ambition and freedom.
“Female ambition is so often a dirty word, but I wanted to celebrate it. I saw an opportunity to make complex heroes out of the type of modern, liberal Arab women who exist, but rarely appear on our screens. The type of Arab women I know, who Yusra and Sara are, who I am. That’s why this story resonated so deeply with me.”
Wednesday
Also available November 23In the meantime, you can watch the new Netflix series, “The New Netflix Series”. WednesdayJenna Ortega will be directing the show, and Jenna Ortega along with the rest the cast will continue to build on the existing. Addams Family franchise — while also bringing it into a new era, and in a new format.
Ortega stars as Wednesday Addams, the solemn, pale, and death-obsessed only daughter of the fictional family, in a series that’s all about her time as a student at Nevermore Academy. It debuts on Netflix on Wednesday, which is fitting, given its focus on her time at Nevermore Academy.
“When we first heard Al Gough and Miles Millar’s pitch for Wednesday we were struck, like an arrow from a crossbow, right in our hearts,”In press materials for the new release, Teddy Biaselli, executive at Netflix, explains. “They nailed the tone, the spirit, and the characters, but gave us a fresh way into this story.”
Continuing, Biaselli adds: “Wednesday’s attempts to master her emerging psychic ability, thwart a monstrous killing spree that has terrorized the local town, and solve the supernatural mystery that embroiled her parents 25 years ago – all while navigating her new and very tangled relationships of the strange and diverse student body.”
Gwendoline Christie (Principal Larissa) and Jamie McShane (Sheriff Galpin), Percy Hynes White, Xavier Thorpe, Hunter Doohan, Tyler Galpin, Emma Myers (Enid Simonclair) are among the cast of the eight-episode series. Christina Ricci, who is best known for her role as Wednesday on the big-screen, also appears in this series.
Check out this Netflix release:
We finally reach a dark documentary that Netflix will release the day after Thanksgiving.November 25), diving into the messy, sordid events surrounding Jeffrey Epstein’s accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell.
From Netflix’s synopsis:
“Ghislaine Maxwell: Filthy Rich goes beyond the headlines of the Ghislaine Maxwell case to tell the definitive story of Epstein’s mysterious accomplice, illuminating how her class and privilege concealed her predatory nature.”
This film is a follow-up to 2020’s four-part Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich, and one of a slew of streaming projects revisiting Maxwell’s actions in the service of the predator who died in prison in 2019. Based on the trailer, Netflix’s new release that’s focused on the disgraced socialite will include interviews with police, lawyers, and victims of Epstein. About Maxwell, specifically, Judge Alison Nathan has described the Epstein associate currently serving her prison sentence as “Heinous and predatory“
Additional Netflix news: Enola Holmes 2 & the rest of the top Netflix movies around the world this week