7 new movies and TV shows to stream on Netflix, Prime Video, Max this weekend (May 23)
The final weekend of May is upon us and, without wanting to sound hyperbolic, the fifth month of 2025 is aiming to go out with a bang.
Well, on the ‘what to watch at home’ front, anyway. The world’s best streaming services have released plenty of new movies and shows to enjoy between now and the start of the new working week on Monday (or, for those of you in the US and UK, Tuesday due to the latest holiday weekend’s arrival).
So, from the three offerings Netflix has given us this week, to various genre fare on a number of its streaming rivals, here’s what you’ll want to catch over the next few days. – Tom Power, senior entertainment reporter
Fear Street: Prom Queen (Netflix)
Following on from the success of the first three Fear Street movies, there’s a new tale of terror to enjoy. Fear Street: Prom Queen seems to be channeling Stephen King’s Carrie and, as such, I’m very excited for this one.
With the other three scoring highly enough to be on our best Netflix movies round-up, it’ll be interesting to see if they get lucky a fourth time. This movie does sound promising and early trailers have caught my attention, but its current 44% Rotten Tomatoes critical score doesn’t bode well.
Set during 1988, we follow the senior year at Shadyside High as they begin their prom queen election, which is a very cut throat competition. Unfortunately, it’s cut throat in the literal sense as a serial killer targets all the candidates. Sounds like it’ll be a senior prom to remember, for all the wrong reasons. – Lucy Buglass, senior entertainment writer
Nine Perfect Strangers season 2 (Hulu/Prime Video)
Nine Perfect Strangers is back for its second season on Hulu (US) and Prime Video (internationally), and it’s bringing an all-star cast along with it. That might not save it from receiving a mixed response, though, especially as season 1 holds a 59% Rotten Tomatoes score among critics.
This season, Nicole Kidman is joined by the likes of Mark Strong, Henry Golding, and Annie Murphy, with the plot centering around nine tourists who arrive in the Austrian Alps to embark on a transformative journey at a wellness resort.
Will Nine Perfect Strangers earn some rest and relaxation by making it onto our best Hulu shows and best Prime Video shows lists by way of its second outing? Time will tell. – LB
Mickey 17 (Max)
Bong Joon-ho wowed us with the multi-award-winning Parasite a few years ago, but his latest movie is truly out of this world. While it didn’t quite reach the heights of his Oscar-winning masterpiece, Mickey 17 still has a lot to say and should become part of our best Max movies list soon enough.
Led by Robert Pattinson, we follow a man (the titular Mickey_ who joins a space colony as an ‘Expendable, i.e. a disposable worker who is cloned every time he dies. And yes, you guessed it, it’s happened 17 times, which is pretty rough going.
However, a spanner in the works emerges when the 17th Mickey actually survives his apparent death as his replacement gets printed, meaning there are now two versions of Mickey vying to survive. Here, you get a brilliant dual performance from Pattinson, as well as an all-star supporting cast featuring Naomi Ackie, Steven Yeun, Toni Collette, and Mark Ruffalo, the latter of who plays a very obnoxious politician character in this Max sci-fi flick. – LB
Sirens (Netflix)
This new limited series has been compared to HBO’s smash hit Succession but, in my view, the similarities begin and end with the the familial melodrama that’s at the heart of Sirens.
A dark comedy-drama, it stars Meghann Fahy as Devon, who becomes increasingly concerned about the wellbeing of her younger sibling Simone (played by former House of the Dragon actor and soon-to-be Supergirl in James Gunn’s DCU Milly Alcock).
Indeed, Simone works for enigmatic billionaire Michaela (the ever-excellent Julianne Moore), and the pair’s creepy, cult-like relationship is clearly disconcerting enough for Devon, who’s hardly the epitome of a well-rounded human, to rock up at Michaela’s lavish home to hold an intervention for her sister. Cue an explosive weekend of discourse and revelations alike in this dark comedy program that’s been positively received by all – TP
Fountain of Youth (Apple TV+)
With a critically-acclaimed back catalog of hits, Apple can seemingly do no wrong on the TV Original front. Things are quite different on the movie development side, though, with the tech giant’s film library being more hit-and-miss than it would like.
Fountain of Youth, the next Apple TV+ flick, will hope to be the former rather than the latter. Guy Ritchie’s Indiana Jones-inspired movie stars John Krasinski and Natalie Portman as siblings (and intrepid explorers) who, yep, you’ve guessed it, set out to find the fabled fountain of youth. Eiza Gonzalez, Laz Alonso, and Domnhall Gleeson are among the supporting cast.
Like Apple, Ritchie’s movies tend to be great or pretty rubbish, so Fountain of Youth could go either way with fans and critics alike. Will we be adding it to our best Apple TV+ movies list in the next week or so? Or will its potentially old and cliched storytelling formula turn people off? We’ll find out soon enough. – TP
Clarkson’s Farm season 4 (Prime Video)
Everyone’s favorite petrolhead-turned-agriculturist returns for another installment of his popular (well, well-liked in the UK, anyway) Prime Video series.
That’s right, Clarkson’s Farm is back for its fourth season. And, if the three previous installments were any indication, we can expect even more rural-based mayhem from Jeremy Clarkson, Caleb, and the rest of the gang down at Diddly Squat Farm.
As mentioned, this comedy-laced docuseries has been a huge hit for Amazon on British shores, so I suspect season 4 will shoot to the top of Prime Video’s Top 10 TV chart in the coming days. Don’t be surprised if it makes a return to our best Prime Video shows list, either. – TP
Big Mouth season 8 (Netflix)
Big Mouth is growing up. Indeed, the coming-of-age animation is bowing out with its eighth and final season, which follows the characters as they start a new chapter at high school.
You can expect plenty of cringe, crude adult humor once again, and the plot includes Nick going off to a different high school, becoming enamored with a new best friend while neglecting his old one, and Jay becoming a overprotective parent after being given a melon to look after as a school project.
With an impressive 94% Rotten Tomatoes rating, fans have loved this series and will no doubt be very sad to see it go. But, who knows, maybe the characters will return again down the line? – LB
For more streaming recommendations, read our guides on the best Disney+ shows, best Hulu movies, best Paramount+ movies, and best Max shows.
