The holidays in 2020 are quite different from, well, any other holiday season in recent memory. This time of year, people are usually planning which big blockbuster movie or family film or Oscar contender to see in the theater with their loved ones, readying their popcorn and Junior Mints. This year, however, many theaters are closed and only a couple new releases are even going the theatrical route as most are still self-quarantining.

But if you’re looking for a great new movie to watch on streaming at home, there’s actually a number of fantastic options. From superhero sequels to awards-worthy dramas to even sci-fi spectacles, there are some great newly released movies streaming now on places like Netflix, Amazon, and Disney+.

We’ve culled together a list of the best of the best while also attempting to provide a diversity of films to choose from. So hopefully there’s a little something for everyone here, but if you’re curious about what’s worth checking out, this is our list of the best new movies to watch on streaming right now.

Wonder Woman 1984

Wonder Woman 1984 Chris Pine Gal Gadot
Image via Warner Bros.

Streaming on: HBO Max

Director: Patty Jenkins

Writers: Patty Jenkins and Geoff Johns

Cast: Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Pedro Pascal, and Kristen Wiig

Undoubtedly the biggest new release of December is Wonder Woman 1984, which hits theaters and streaming on Christmas Day. This one is only streaming on HBO Max, and only for 31 days, but it’s a full-on blockbuster for the whole family. In this follow-up, Gal Gadot’s Diana Prince is covertly fighting crime in the year 1984 when she comes across a mysterious businessman (Pedro Pascal) who’s trying to obtain an object that grants wishes. All the while, Steve Trevor (Chris Pine) miraculously reappears, and Diana must fight to save the world from overindulgence while learning the hard way that anything that comes easy comes with a price. It’s a bold, colorful, somewhat cheesy superhero movie in the best way that’s also a bit of a tonal shift from the first Wonder Woman – although it maintains the earnestness and hopefulness that made that film so great.

Soul

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Image via Disney•Pixar

Streaming on: Disney+

Directors: Pete Docter and Kemp Powers

Writers: Pete Docter, Mike Jones, and Kemp Powers

Cast: Jamie Foxx, Tina Fey, Questlove, Rachel House, Phylicia Rashad, Daveed Diggs, and Angela Bassett

Soul is the most mature film Pixar has ever made, and that’s saying something. The studio that emotionally devastated you with films about geriatric adventurers (Up) and toys (Toy Story) now tackles something a bit more intangible: the afterlife. Jamie Foxx plays a part-time music teacher with dreams of becoming a full-time jazz musician who finally gets his big break – then he dies. In the afterlife, he struggles to return to Earth to get his shot, and in the process learns some hard truths about embracing life’s curveballs. That old adage that life’s what happens while you’re waiting for it to begin? That’s essentially the thematic thrust of Soul, which also has some tremendous visuals, the best score of the year, and a fun performance by Tina Fey. Just be forewarned this is not the raucous, unchallenging animated film you may be expecting. And yes, you’re gonna cry.

Sound of Metal

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Image via Amazon Studios

Streaming on: Amazon Prime Video

Director: Darius Marder

Writers: Darius Marder and Abraham Marder

Cast: Riz Ahmed, Olivia Cooke, and Paul Raci

One of the best films of the year is Sound of Metal, which is now streaming on Amazon Prime. The indie drama stars Riz Ahmed as a drummer who suddenly loses his hearing and is forced to change his life, moving to a rural home for deaf recovering addicts where he must learn to become a member of the deaf community. But change doesn’t come easy, and Sound of Metal brilliantly uses sound design to put the viewer in the headspace of Ahmed’s character. What makes this film so special, and so heartbreaking, is that it’s about a man whose life changes dramatically, and who instead of finding a way forward and choosing to accept his new circumstances, desperately clings to anything he thinks might get him back to his previously life – consequences be damned. Ahmed gives an Oscar-worthy performance. This one’s a must-see. – Adam Chitwood

Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

Chadwick Boseman Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
Image via Netflix

Streaming on: Netflix

Director: George C. Wolfe

Writer: Ruben Santiago-Hudson

Cast: Viola Davis, Chadwick Boseman, Glynn Turman, Colman Domingo, and Michael Potts

If you want to be in the know when the Oscars roll around next year, you’re going to need to watch the Netflix movie Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. Based on the stage play by August Wilson, the film takes place during a recording session for iconic Blues singer Ma Rainey (Viola Davis) in 1920s Chicago, as she butts heads with talented and ambitious trumpeter Levee Green (Chadwick Boseman). Davis and Boseman both deliver phenomenal performances that could land them Best Actress and Best Actor Oscars, respectively, and while the film itself feels a little stage-y it’s no less compelling. If you’re in the mood for a meaty acting showcase that also seves as Boseman’s final onscreen appearance, check this one out.

Mank

Amanda Seyfried and Gary Oldman in Mank
Image via Netflix

Streaming on: Netflix

Director: David Fincher

Writer: Jack Fincher

Cast: Gary Oldman, Amanda Seyfried, Lily Collins, Tom Pelphrey, and Charles Dance

File this one under “for cinephiles only.” Legendary filmmaker David Fincher tackles 1930s Hollywood in his Netflix original film Mank, which takes place in two time periods – in 1940 Herman J. Mankiweicz (Gary Oldman) is holed away writing the screenplay for what will become Citizen Kane, while flashbacks throughout the 30s show Mank’s life experiences that inspire his incendiary script. I say “for cinephiles only” because Mank doesn’t really treat its audience with kid gloves with it comes to the historical figures who inhabit the various backlot sequences, but for those who are reasonably knowledgable about 30s and 40s Hollywood studio system and the figures that inspired Citizen Kane, you’ll find this a rewarding watch. Even on a pure technical level, the film is presented as if it were made in the 30s, and it’s pretty astounding.

The Prom

the-prom
Image via Netflix

Streaming on: Netflix

Director: Ryan Murphy

Writers: Bob Martin and Chad Beguelin

Cast: Meryl Streep, James Corden, Nicole Kidman, Jo Ellen Pellman, Keegan-Michael Key, Andrew Rannells, Ariana DeBose, and Kerry Washington

If you’re looking for a big colorful Broadway musical the whole family can enjoy, check out The Prom. The Netflix movie follows a quartet of Broadway stars in need of good publicity who latch onto the story of an Indiana teenager who was disallowed from attending her high school prom for wanting to bring her girlfriend. The A-listers travel to Indiana to support the teen, and in the process all the characters learn something from one another. The Prom is filled with big, beautiful, colorful musical numbers in the vein of 2007’s Hairspray (with a dash of Glee thrown in for good measure), so if that sounds up your alley, you may love this.

Small Axe

Letitia Wright in "Mangrove" episode of Small Axe
Image via Amazon

Streaming on: Amazon Prime Video

Director: Steve McQueen

Writers: Steve McQueen, Alastair Siddons, and Courttia Newland

Cast: John Boyega, Sheyi Cole, Shaun Parkes, Kenyah Sandy, Amarah-Jae St. Aubyn, Sharlene Whyte, Malachi Kirby, and Letitia Wright

Small Axe is a five-film anthology from 12 Years a Slave and Widows director Steve McQueen. The length of the films ranges from 64 minutes for the final installment, Education, to two hours and seven minutes for the first installment, Mangrove. Each of the five films is based on true stories from London’s West Indian community from between 1969 and 1982, and what makes Small Axe so powerful is that these aren’t just stories of oppression, but of pride. All five stories feature some kind of racial conflict between the black characters and white outsiders, but the movies shine because of how they show the rich, vibrant lives of these people coming together and forging something entirely their own. The best of the five is Lovers Rock, which puts you in the middle of a house party, but each film has something special to offer, and there’s not bad one in the bunch. Small Axe is one of the great artistic triumphs of 2020. – Matt Goldberg

Let Them All Talk

Let Them All Talk Meryl Streep Lucas Hedges

Streaming on: HBO Max

Director: Steven Soderbergh

Writer: Deborah Eisenberg

Cast: Meryl Streep, Candice Bergen, Dianne Wiest, Lucas Hedges, and Gemma Chan

Steven Sodberbergh’s latest film (his first in a string of planned projects for HBO Max) is Let Them All Talk, a mini marvel that takes three screen legends (Meryl Streep, Candice Bergen and Dianne Wiest), puts them on a cruise ship, and lets them improvise large swaths of their dialogue (based on a scenario by legendary short story writer Deborah Eisenberg). And while that might sound somewhat strained, it’s actually a total hoot. Streep is a writer getting an award in England (who cannot fly), so her publisher sticks her on a cruise ship with two of her longest friends. It’s a recipe for prickly, zany fun. The three actresses are loose and hilarious, each playing to long-simmering tension that goes along with friends who have been chummy for decades. And Soderbergh, in his typical less-is-more aesthetic, captures the action with an intimacy that suggests the viewer is just another member on the ship. Add in exemplary supporting performances from Lucas Hedges (as Streep’s nephew) and Gemma Chan (as her nervous new agent) and an intoxicating Thomas Newman score and Let Them All Talk becomes one of the most oddly under-the-radar must-watch features of the year. – Drew Taylor

The Midnight Sky

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Image via Netflix

Streaming on: Netflix

Director: George Clooney

Writer: Mark L. Smith

Cast: George Clooney, Felicity Jones, David Oyelowo, Tiffany Boone, Demián Bichir, Kyle Chandler, and Caoilinn Springall

If you’re in the mood for a big sci-fi adventure but don’t mind a little existential dread, you might like George Clooney’s latest directorial effort The Midnight Sky. The film takes place after some mysterious event has wiped out most of Earth’s population, and Clooney plays the lone man at an Arctic outpost struggling to make contact with a colony ship on its way back to Earth from a mission to find a new place for humans to live. In essence it’s two movies – Clooney’s side is a man vs. nature struggle, while Jones’ side is a sci-fi astronaut action-adventure. Again, there is an overwhelming sense of dread throughout given the mass extinction-level event on Earth, but there’s also some great Gravity-esque spectacle in space. It’s a sci-fi drama with some thematic meat on its bones. – Adam Chitwood