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A Steinbeck adaptation that is a showcase for Florence Pugh’s generational acting talent; Josh Hartnett taking on sea monsters; Ben Affleck’s latest directorial effort; a new thrilling season of The Diplomat; Judd Apatow’s insightful looks at the comedians Norm Macdonald and Maria Bamford; a star-packed film from Romain Gavras; the third chapter of rom-com Nobody Wants This; and the much-talked about docuseries on Matthew Perry are just some of the film and TV highlights hitting Netflix in October.
Kicking off the month is Netflix’s prestige TV play, the buzzy miniseries adaptation of John Steinbeck’s East of Eden. The reviews are already out as you read this, and The Hollywood Reporter‘s critic gave it a positive notice, with much of the praise focused on Florence Pugh’s Cathy Ames. “[Pugh] tears into one of fiction’s great and confounding antagonists, a woman so determined and determinedly wicked that she makes Becky Sharp from Vanity Fair look like a Girl Scout,” writes THR‘s critic. “She’s so good that even in the second half of the series, when Cathy ages past the point at which Pugh is convincing, it still works.” Joining Pugh in the cast are Christopher Abbott, Mike Faist, Joseph Zada and Joe Anders. The seven-episode series was created by Zoe Kazan, who follows her grandfather Elia Kazan who directed the 1955 feature adaptation.
Josh Hartnett’s career renaissance continues apace, with a new Netflix series. Below, a Canada-set thriller miniseries, launches on Oct. 8 and appears to be a good old fashioned creature feature. The logline for the series reads: “When a mysterious sea creature terrorizes a small Newfoundland town, a hard-bitten fisherman must fight to protect his family, his community, and his vanishing way of life.” Hartnett leads the cast that also includes Mackenzie Davis, Charlie Heaton, Natasha Henstridge and Joshua Close. So dive in if you’re into a bearded Hartnett looking harassed and concerned on the high seas.
Animals, Netflix’s big film release for the month, premieres on Oct. 9. Starring, produced, co-written and directed by Ben Affleck, the crime thriller has a cast that includes Gillian Anderson, Kerry Washington and Steven Yeun. The logline reads: “When their son is kidnapped, a Los Angeles mayoral candidate and his wife find themselves drawn into a web of deception. As they scramble to raise the ransom payment, they’re forced to make choices – and reveal secrets – that could tear their world apart.” Animals is Affleck’s second consecutive Netflix feature, after the excellent, and popular, The Rip from earlier this year. It also may get a lot of interested viewers (or not, depending on how you feel about the issue) for Affleck’s comments this week about the AI tools he used to make the film.
On Oct. 15, Netflix’s political drama The Diplomat returns for its fourth season. The show remains one of the streamer’s reliable views getter and the new season is sure to serve the same thrills and intrigues, with the two relationships at the center of the drama coming under more pressure and almost at breaking point amid the fragile peace between the U.S. and U.K. Keri Russell, Rufus Sewell, Allison Janney, Bradley Whitford, David Gyasi, Ali Ahn and Rory Kinnear all return.
Judd Apatow has two docs about comedy legends hit Netflix this month. After projects on Garry Shandling, Mel Brooks and George Carlin, Apatow focuses on Maria Bamford and the late Norm Macdonald. On Oct. 16, the streamer launches Apatow’s docuseries Norm: The Tale of Norm Macdonald, which was “built entirely from archival footage, personal photos, and rare home videos contributed by fans and friends.” The doc aimes to let “Norm tell his own story in his own voice.” Paralyzed by Hope: The Maria Bamford Story debuts on Oct. 23, and follows the life and times of the comedian and her struggles with depression and her mental health. The documentary film premiered in Sundance to rave reviews.
Another big film release in October (big in the sense of the stars involved), is Romain Gavras’ action comedy Sacrifice. Debuting on Oct. 16, the nominally French film features a Hollywood cast including Chris Evans, Anya Taylor-Joy, Vincent Cassel, Sam Richardson, John Malkovich, and Salma Hayek. So real star power. But the film didn’t wow critics when it debuted at the Toronto Film Festival in 2025. THR‘s critic called the film an “admirably ambitious swing” but “Sacrifice causes a bit of whiplash, failing to deliver either the mean and caustic comedy an audience might expect.” Still the cast is excellent and Gavras has a solid resume having directed the excellent Athena and that incredible Yung Lean music video.
Oct. 22 will see the debut of season three of romantic comedy series Nobody Wants This that is a reliable discourse driver even though it doesn’t get insane viewership numbers. If you’re somehow unaware, the show revolves around an agnostic sex and dating podcaster and a Jewish rabbi falling in love. The action picks up from the end of last season with Joanne (Kristen Bell) and Noah (Adam Brody) moving in together and building life and relationship together. Guest stars for the new season include Erin Foster, Sarah Silverman, Andrew Rannells, Keyla Monterroso Mejia, Avan Jogia, Poorna Jagannathan, Sadie Sandler, Stephanie Koenig, and Steven Weber.
In a month of new quality documentary releases on Netflix, the project likely to breakthrough with mainstream audiences is the docuseries The One About Matthew Perry, that launches on Oct. 27. The logline reads, “Told through intimate testimonies from close family and friends, this documentary event reveals the real Matthew Perry—generous, funny, vulnerable, larger than life—and the battles he fought to become the man behind the icon. A raw record of a life lived in full, and the honesty that became his greatest legacy.”
Movies added to Netflix in October include 21 Jump Street, 22 Jump Street, 8 Mile, A Haunted House, A Haunted House 2, A Madea Family Funeral, Ad Astra, Angels & Demons, Are We There Yet?, The Bourne Identity, The Bourne Legacy, The Bourne Supremacy, The Bourne Ultimatum, Bring It On, Call Me by Your Name, Cowboys & Aliens, Crimson Peak, Dallas Buyers Club, The Da Vinci Code, The Devil Wears Prada, Dracula, The Equalizer, Evil Dead, Friday the 13th, Happy Death Day 2U, Horton Hears a Who!, The Huntsman: Winter’s War, Hush, I Know What You Did Last Summer, Jason Bourne, Lake Placid, Love Actually, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, The Menu, Moonlight, Ouija, Ouija: Origin of Evil, Pearl Harbor, Point Break, The Prestige, Psycho, Psycho II, Psycho III, Red Dragon, Seven Years in Tibet, The Sixth Sense, Split, The Strangers, Twilight, The Twilight Saga: New Moon, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn: Part 1, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn: Part 2 and Underworld: Blood Wars.
Missed what came to Netflix last month? Check out the September additions here.
Read on for the complete list of titles hitting Netflix in October.
Oct. 1
Crazy Rich, Incredibly Broke (SA)
East of Eden
The Ramparts of Ice: Season 2 (JP)
21 Jump Street
22 Jump Street
8 Mile
A Haunted House
A Haunted House 2
A Madea Family Funeral
Ad Astra
Angels & Demons
Are We There Yet?
The Bourne Identity
The Bourne Legacy
The Bourne Supremacy
The Bourne Ultimatum
Bring It On
Call Me by Your Name
Cowboys & Aliens
Crimson Peak
Dallas Buyers Club
The Da Vinci Code
The Devil Wears Prada
Dracula
The Equalizer
Evil Dead
Friday the 13th
Happy Death Day 2U
Horton Hears a Who!
The Huntsman: Winter’s War
Hush
I Know What You Did Last Summer
Jason Bourne
Lake Placid
Love Actually
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein
The Menu
Moonlight
NCIS: Seasons 20-22
Ouija
Ouija: Origin of Evil
Pearl Harbor
Point Break
The Prestige
Psycho
Psycho II
Psycho III
Red Dragon
Seven Years in Tibet
The Sixth Sense
Split
The Strangers
Top Chef VIP: Seasons 3-4
Twilight
The Twilight Saga: New Moon
The Twilight Saga: Eclipse
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn: Part 1
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn: Part 2
The Way Home: Season 4
Underworld: Blood Wars
Oct. 2
Love (IN)
Schumacher ’94 — The Birth of a Legend (DE)
Tyler Perry’s Doing Life
Oct. 3
Ranma1/2: Season 3 (JP)
Oct. 4
Blue Box: Season 2 (JP)
Oct. 5
The Boogeyman
Lorne
Mayor of Kingstown: Seasons 1-4
Super BOOMi: Season 1
Oct. 6
All American: Season 8
Love Village: Season 3 (JP)
Mojo Brookzz: I Know You Lying
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
Oct. 7
Inside The Circle (MX)
Less of a Stranger (PL)
Real Men: Season 2 (IT)
Who Is Martin Mull?
Oct. 8
Below (CA)
Unicorn Academy: Secrets Revealed: Chapter 2 (CA)
Oct. 9
Animals
Haunted Hotel: Season 2
Is It Cake? Halloween: Season 2
Take Charge of My Heart (KR)
Oct. 10
100 Days of Deception (KR)
The First Monday in May
Oct. 12
Fire Spike: Season 1
Free Leonard Peltier
Señora Acero: Seasons 1-5
Wayne: Season 1
Oct. 13
Solar Opposites: Season 6
The Trap (DE)
TYSON
Oct. 14
Cocaine Bear
Love Is Blind: Season 11: Boston
Oct. 15
Hollywood Arts
The Diplomat: Season 4
The Storm (SE)
Oct. 16
The Disciple
Heat
The Fate of the Furious
Money Trap: The Karun Treasure (TR)
Norm: The Tale of Norm Macdonald
Sacrifice (FR)
SERIOUSLY SINGLE TOO (ZA)
Therapy Done Right (AR)
Oct. 20
Blindspotting: Seasons 1-2
Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2 (JP)
Oct. 21
Emily
Gladiator
Gladiator II
The Mothers of Penguins: Season 2 (PL)
The New Stanford Prison Experiment
Six Kings Slam: Season 2
Oct. 22
Bottle Shock
Couldn’t Agree Less with Allison & Isaac
Did Someone Happen to Mention Me? (JP)
Nobody Wants This: Season 3
Oct. 23
Fading Grandeur (ES)
Lupin: Part 4 (FR)
Paralyzed by Hope: The Maria Bamford Story
Surviving Hurricane Otis (MX)
Oct. 26
Minimum Wage
Oct. 27
Dangerous Liaisons: Season 1
The One About Matthew Perry
Zainab Johnson: Toxically Optimistic
Oct. 28
Champions
Oct. 29
Balaraw: Blood Island (PH)
You, Me, Us (IT)
Oct. 30
A Couple of Lies (SE)
Akka (IN)
Beat Luke Littler (GB)
The Birthday Gift (DE)
Collision Course (ES)
How to Ruin Diwali: Meet the Parents (ZA)
SCTV: The Greatest Show You’ve Never Heard Of
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