4 New Movies Streaming in December You Won’t Want To Miss
With the month of December comes an impressive lineup of new movies releasing on streamers that you can enjoy from the comfort and safety of your couch. We’re sharing four highly anticipated films you won’t want to miss, as well as the performances to note in each. And with a slew of holiday films saturating streamers, our top picks with their varied genres can offer a respite from all the holly and jolly titles.
Swan Song
Do you know what’s better than watching one Mahershala Ali perform? We’ll tell you — it’s two. You can catch a preview of the actor playing opposite himself in the trailer for the upcoming Apple original film. Ali stars in Benjamin Cleary’s Swan Song as Cameron, a husband and father who receives a terminal diagnosis in the sci-fi film set in the near future. His doctor (Glenn Close) offers an alternative solution — that’s revealed by the trailer so no spoilers here — which involves cloning. Besides getting the chance to see double Ali, keep an eye out for Naomie Harris as Cameron’s wife Poppy in the film that reunites the two actors for the first time since Barry Jenkins’ Moonlight. Also be on the lookout for Awkwafina, who may just bring some moments of levity to a drama that Apple TV+ describes as exploring “how far we will go and how much we’re willing to sacrifice to make a happier life for the people we love.” You can catch all these performances and more when Swan Song debuts both in theaters and on the streamer come December 17.
Being the Ricardos
I Love Lucy fans can anticipate the long-awaited release of Aaron Sorkin’s latest endeavor in December. The upcoming Amazon Studios film follows Lucille Ball (Nicole Kidman) and Desi Arnaz (Javier Bardem) during a critical production week for the aforementioned ’50s sitcom in which they starred as Lucy and Ricky Ricardo. Per Amazon Prime Video, Being the Ricardos offers “a revealing glimpse of the couple’s complex romantic and professional relationship.” The selection of Kidman to portray the groundbreaking comedy icon was met with some criticism, but you can form your own opinions on the casting choice when the film releases in theaters December 10 and on Prime Video December 21. And besides Kidman and Bardem in the lead roles, J.K. Simmons will portray I Love Lucy actor William Frawley opposite Nina Arianda in the role of Vivian Vance, respectively Fred and Ethel on the show. Plus, the stacked cast of Being the Ricardos also includes names like Alia Shawkat and Tony Hale.
The Matrix Resurrections
It’s been 18 years since the last film in The Matrix series came out, and the upcoming fourth installment is finally releasing in both theaters and on HBO Max on December 22. Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss are back to reprise their respective roles of Neo and Trinity for The Matrix Resurrections, which will certainly explain how their characters come back after seemingly dying in The Matrix Revolutions. But the actor who brought Morpheus to life in the first three installments won’t be back for the upcoming film. “I am not in the next Matrix movie, and you’d have to ask [director] Lana Wachowski why because I don’t have an answer for that,” Laurence Fishburne told Collider in an interview earlier this year. There is a character called Morpheus in Resurrections, though, played by Yahya Abdul-Mateen II. Other new-to-the-franchise actors to anticipate include names like Neil Patrick Harris, Jonathan Groff, Priyanka Chopra, and Christina Ricci.
Don’t Look Up
The latest from Adam McKay centers on two low-level astronomers, played by Jennifer Lawrence and Leonardo DiCaprio, who are tasked with warning mankind about an approaching, planet-killing comet on its way to Earth. They go on a huge media tour to try and reach a distracted world with the urgency of the situation. McKay shared with Netflix the level of humor he was aiming for with Don’t Look Up. “I knew the movie needed to be laugh-out-loud funny — not just clever or wry — so I turned to the all-time greats,” noted the film’s writer and director. But the mentioned “greats” aren’t limited to just DiCaprio and Lawrence. The film’s impressive ensemble cast also boasts Meryl Streep and Cate Blanchett, along with Rob Morgan, Jonah Hill, Mark Rylance, Tyler Perry, Timothée Chalamet, Ariana Grande, Himesh Patel, Ron Perlman, and Scott “Kid Cudi” Mescudi. You can see all the A-listers in one place when Don’t Look Up releases on Netflix come December 24.
From Ali to Lawrence, our picks of movies releasing to home audiences in December come with a number of Oscar winners to watch, and some are already getting awards season buzz. So whether you watch Swan Song, Being the Ricardos, The Matrix Resurrections, or Don’t Look Up, you can enjoy some highly-anticipated performances coming your way during “the most wonderful time of the year.”
