These are the streaming highlights in November

Luca Fontana

1-11-2026

Translation: machine translated

New month, new streaming tips. Whether Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+, Apple TV, Sky Show, or Paramount+: Here you can find out which series and movies are launching this November.

What do you call it when two bricklayers fight? Mortar Kombat. Hopefully, we won't need a brawl to decide whether this list actually contains film and series highlights or lowlights. But decide for yourselves:

Netflix

Bass X Machina (Anime Series)

Cowboys, gunslingers, and outlaws. Plus giant machines, supernatural monsters, and a family man who takes it upon himself to be judge, jury, and executioner. Welcome to «Bass X Machina», a steampunk western that apparently throws everything that looks remotely cool into one pot. And because that isn't crazy enough, the whole thing is served up as an anime. Naturally.

Behind the project is LeSean Thomas («Yasuke», «Cannon Busters»), and the series is animated by Studio Mir, which already has «The Legend of Korra», «X-Men ’97», and «Devil May Cry» under its belt. The mix reminds me a bit of «Trigun», only with more steampunk and presumably even less restraint. Will it end up being completely insane or simply brilliant? No idea. Let's find out.

Start: November 3

Black Doves, Season 2 (Series)

Helen (Keira Knightley) has been living a double life for years. Officially, she is the loving wife of a British politician and mother of two. But secretly, she spies on her own husband and sells his secrets to the highest bidder through a private espionage organization. Treason as a side job, essentially. The only problem is that her husband Wallace (Andrew Buchan) is now on the verge of becoming Prime Minister. If Helen's secret were to come out, it would be a political scandal like no other.

I love such wonderfully tangled stories. But what I particularly like about «Black Doves» is that typical British contrast between cultivated politeness and completely uninhibited violence. Tea is still politely offered before someone gets a bullet between the eyes. Plus, there are prominent additions with Neve Campbell («Scream») and Sylvia Hoeks («Blade Runner 2049»). The first season was already a blast. I'm looking forward to the second one even more.

Start: November 5

Heartland (Film)

Jessica Chastain as a washed-up country star who returns to Nashville after twenty years to search for her missing niece? Okay, you've got me. In «Heartland», she plays Misty Jones, once one of the greatest voices in country music. Today, she lives in seclusion, far from the spotlight. But when her niece Charlie (Carter Faith), an aspiring singer herself, disappears without a trace, Misty must return to a world she long wanted to leave behind.

And this world is apparently anything but as romantic as the country songs suggest. Behind the scenes in Nashville lurk old secrets, dubious characters, and people who would rather not be found. Paint me hooked.

Start: November 13

The Mosquito Bowl (Film)

«The Mosquito Bowl» is based on a true story: After the attack on Pearl Harbor, four of America's greatest college football talents leave their promising careers behind to join the Marines. Shortly before the bloody invasion of Okinawa, they stand on a football field one last time. For a legendary game that, for many involved, will be the last of their lives.

Directed by Peter Berg, who already proved with «Friday Night Lights» that he can tell sports stories without forgetting the people behind them. And with «Lone Survivor», he also knows the brutal flip side of military camaraderie. Now he combines both. Could be a pretty emotional punch to the gut.

Start: November 25

Amazon Prime Video

The Greatest (Series)

Muhammad Ali. Three-time heavyweight world champion. Political activist. One of the greatest athletes of all time. Everything has long been told about him, one would think. Films, documentaries, books – even Will Smith stepped into the ring for him back in 2001. Is an eight-part series really necessary? Amazon obviously thinks so.

«The Greatest» tells of Ali's beginnings as Cassius Clay (Jaalen Best), his rise to boxing world champion, and his fight against racism in 1960s America. But instead of just celebrating his sporting triumphs, showrunner Ben Watkins («Cross») wants to show the person behind the legend above all else. The series is produced by, among others, Michael B. Jordan («Creed») and Ali's widow Lonnie. The latter makes me a bit skeptical. Because Ali was undoubtedly great, but also a man full of contradictions and flaws. He doesn't need another monument. A series that dares to show the cracks in it, however, does.

Start: November 4

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, Season 3 (Series)

Hardly any series is as polarizing as «The Rings of Power». For some, Amazon's billion-dollar Tolkien epic is an insult to Middle-earth; for others, it's simply great fantasy television. In between? Not much, it feels like. Nevertheless, Amazon continues to pump millions into the series. Are the critics just a particularly loud minority? Or does Amazon not want to admit after all the investments that the experiment has failed?

The numbers also paint a contradictory picture. According to Amazon, Season 2 reached 55 million viewers worldwide within a month. On the other hand, according to the Hollywood Reporter, only 37 percent of the US audience actually finished the first season. A resounding success looks different. Nevertheless, Amazon is sticking to its original five-season plan. The two showrunners, J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay, are also staying on board. And honestly? I – dear haters, please forgive me – like the series a lot.

In terms of content, Season 3 makes a five-year time jump. Sauron (Charlie Vickers) has subjugated large parts of Middle-earth and is working on the One Ring in his fortress Barad-dûr, while elves, dwarves, and humans fight for survival. So it's getting down to business. Can the series appease its critics with this? I doubt it. But perhaps that's no longer so important anyway.

Start: November 11 (four episodes at the start)

Madden (Film)

Hand on heart: Which of you has ever played «Madden NFL» without really knowing who this Madden actually is? Exactly. Yet John Madden was far more than just the namesake of one of the most successful sports game series of all time. He led the Oakland Raiders to a Super Bowl victory in 1977, later became one of America's most famous football commentators, and finally helped bring football to European screens. Not as a broadcast – as a video game.

Exactly this story is told by «Madden» from director David O. Russell («The Fighter», «Silver Linings Playbook»!). But that's not all for big names: Nicolas Cage plays the eccentric and passionate football coach, Christian Bale his long-time companion and Raiders owner Al Davis, and John Mulaney the EA founder Trip Hawkins. Wild. That alone is worth a look.

Start: November 18

Blade Runner 2099 (Series)

Ah, «Blade Runner». Ridley Scott's original from 1982 and Denis Villeneuve's sequel from 2017 are, for me, among the most fascinating visions of the future that cinema has ever produced. Neon light, constant rain, gigantic billboards, and in the middle of it all, artificial humans desperately searching for something we take for granted: a soul. Now, of all people, Amazon is turning it into a series. Bold.

«Blade Runner 2099» is set 50 years after the events of «Blade Runner 2049». Los Angeles has changed, but the old questions remain. At the center are Cora (Hunter Schafer), a fugitive who becomes a Blade Runner herself, and Olwen (Michelle Yeoh), a replicant who only has a few days left. Together, they hunt a person whose secret could shake their entire world.

Behind the eight-part miniseries is Silka Luisa («Shining Girls»), while Ridley Scott produces. On one hand, this makes me incredibly curious. On the other hand, «Blade Runner» was never just cyberpunk aesthetics and cool machines, but a melancholic, almost philosophical exploration of the question of what actually makes us human. If Amazon has understood that, we could be in for something great here.

Start: November 25 (all eight episodes)

Disney+

Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Season 3 (Series)

I must confess: I haven't seen a single episode of «Percy Jackson» yet. The trailers just never grabbed me. They have too much of a Disney Channel feeling for me. As if the series were tailored to a rather young audience. But then I look at Rotten Tomatoes: 91 percent for Season 1, a whopping 100 percent for Season 2. The series also fares extremely well on Metacritic. Hm. Am I missing out on a fantasy gem?

For everyone who, like me, has avoided it so far: Percy (Walker Scobell) is a teenager who finds out that he is the son of the Greek sea god Poseidon. Suddenly, Zeus, Hades, and Co. are no longer fairy-tale figures, but quite real contemporaries. And not all of them are well-disposed toward him. Actually sounds pretty cool. Maybe I should finally give the series a chance.

Start: November 20

Apple TV

12 12 12 (Series)

Twelve months of preparation. Twelve hours of execution. Twelve days after. That is the unusual narrative structure of «12 12 12», Apple's new heist thriller. And it is set in Zurich, of all places! More precisely: in an underground bank vault that an American professional criminal (Jamie Dornan) wants to relieve of a few million. The only problem is that a disgraced FBI agent (Anthony Mackie) is hot on his heels.

What particularly appeals to me is the play with time. Instead of just running through the coup chronologically, the eight-part series is supposed to constantly jump back and forth between planning, execution, and consequences. Sounds a bit like «Ocean's Eleven», but directed by Christopher Nolan. And hey: A Hollywood bank robbery in the middle of Zurich? I'm in!

Start: November 13

Being Heumann (Film)

In 1977, Judy Heumann (Ruth Madeley) has had enough. As a woman with a disability, she has been fighting for equality for years, while the state ignores her demands and her calls... well, at best, doesn't answer them. She decides, without further ado, to occupy a government building in San Francisco. Together with over a hundred like-minded people, she barricades herself inside and refuses to leave until the government finally acts. Her opponent: a high-ranking official, played by Mark Ruffalo.

No kidding, that actually happened. The occupation lasted a full 25 days in 1977, when the activists demanded the implementation of a law passed four years earlier that was supposed to protect people with disabilities from discrimination. And indeed: Their protest became a milestone in the American civil rights movement. If Siân Heder is even directing it (does the Oscar-winning «CODA» ring a bell?), I'm on board anyway.

Start: November 13

Sky Show

The Westies (Series)

New York, early 1980s: In the notorious Hell's Kitchen district, it's not the police who rule, but an Irish-American gang called «The Westies». Protection racketeering, drug trafficking, contract killings – the full program. When the construction of a gigantic convention center suddenly promises billions, the Italian Mafia also wants a piece of the pie. The only problem is that the Westies won't give up their territory without a fight. And while boss Eamon Sweeney (J.K. Simmons) makes a pact with the Italians, the younger generation rebels against his leadership.

Here, too, reality served as a model: The Westies actually existed. The gang was one of the most brutal criminal organizations in New York and controlled Hell's Kitchen for decades. But it gets even better: Behind the series is, among others, Chris Brancato («Narcos», «Godfather of Harlem»). So someone who knows how to turn organized crime into gripping television. Bring it on.

Start: November 9 (all eight episodes)

Paramount+

Yellowjackets, Season 4 (Series)

When a girls' soccer team crashes in the middle of the Canadian wilderness in 1996, a nightmare begins. With no prospect of rescue, the survivors fight against hunger, cold, and increasingly against each other. «Yellowjackets» tells this story on two timelines: back then in the wilderness and 25 years later, when the now-adult women are still being haunted by their past. Sounds like «Lost»? It kind of is, but not only in a positive sense.

Because, much like with «Lost» back in the day, I increasingly have the feeling that «Yellowjackets» prefers to keep shaking its mystery box vigorously instead of finally letting us take a look inside (i.e., what the hell *really* happened back then?!). After Season 2, I was out of steam. The rather mixed reviews for the third season didn't exactly increase my motivation to keep watching either. But now comes the fourth and final season, and with it the moment of truth: At some point, all the riddles, hints, and secrets must finally be resolved! Right?

Start: November 20

Luca Fontana

Senior Editor

Luca.Fontana@digitecgalaxus.ch

I write about technology as if it were cinema, and about films as if they were real life. Between bits and blockbusters, I’m after stories that move people, not just generate clicks. And yes – sometimes I listen to film scores louder than I probably should.

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