Spooky season is upon us – but our favourite streaming sites have more in store for viewers than just cheap jumpscares (and even offer some options for the faint-hearted)
While the world seems to be obsessing over the Beckham miniseries and the irony of Posh Spice’s “working-class” Rolls-Royce driving family. Cinephiles and casual-watchers alike may have missed out on the goldmine of releases that Netflix and Disney+ have added to their catalogues.
Whether you’re looking for some new material to add to your Days-of-Horror marathons or are just craving some good old-fashioned escapism from the horrors of the real world – Men’s Folio has collated 12 releases (a fair mix of horror and non) that you need to add to your watchlists.
1. The Fall of the House of Usher
Mike Flanagan’s “Flanaverse” has become the embodiment of the limited horror series genre on Netflix, with the famed “Haunting of...” anthology and his proceeding releases Midnight Mass and The Midnight Club. His latest (and unfortunately last) Netflix series comes in the form of an adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe’s short story of the same name and gifts us with a macabre tale of familial rifts, greed, debauchery and (a copious amount of) death.
2. Doona!
The return of one of Korea’s most prominent K-Pop idols turned K-Actress, Bae Suzy, to the small screen is unquestionably a moment to be celebrated. Even more so when the source material hits territory so close to home. Suzy plays a retired K-Idol from the girl group Dream Sweet (cue Miss A parallel) who moves into a college town and ends up sparking a romance with her run-of-the-mill roommate.
3. Bodies
Time travel is a staple of the science-fiction genre. Coupled with a detective-style mystery (4 detectives to be exact) that investigates the same bizarre murder of a man with a cryptic mark on his wrist in 4 different time periods – Bodies offers viewers an ambitious mind-boggling time-traversing enigma of a limited series that somehow contains itself within 8 episodes.
4. Fair Play
Phoebe Dynevor has come a long way from her Bridgerton claim-to-fame. Her latest starring role sees her playing Emily, a financial analyst who secures a coveted promotion as a Portfolio Manager in a Manhattan hedge fund, a role that her colleague-cum-fiance, Luke (Alden Ehrenreich) had his eyes set on as well. Set in the dog-eat-dog world of high finance and marked by office politics, corporate backstabbery, sexism and gender stereotypes, it turns out that the starving dog in question is her soon-to-be husband.
5. Everything Now
The frontman of one of this year’s strongest horror films Talk To Me, Australian actress, Sophia Wilde, has quickly become a rising star. She solidifies her status as one of 2023’s breakout actresses in Everything Now, where she plays a struggling British teen who returns to school after a 7-month stay in a care facility due to anorexia nervosa.
6. Strong Girl Nam-soon
Serving as a spin-off to the 2017 hit series Strong Girl Bong-soon – this iteration of the ‘Strong Girl’ title stars Squid Game and All of Us Are Dead actress, Lee Yoo-Mi, as the titular character. Blessed with superhuman strength, Nam-soon becomes embroiled in a nationwide drug case and has to strong(wo)man her way through a powerful drug lord and his goons to stop their criminal activity.
7. The Devil on Trial
Fans of The Conjuring universe would be familiar with the real-life case of Arne Cheyenne Johnson, whose demonic possession was the focal point of the third film. More bewilderingly, the defence that was taken in the murder trial of his landlord, where he claimed that “the devil made me do it”. Netflix’s docu-version of the case, provides a more grounded take on the story, revealing new details and first-hand retellings from the Johnson family, while also exposing the exploitation they believed they faced from the Warrens.
8. Ballerina
Promising Young Woman meets John Wick: Ballerina follows a hell-bent ex-bodyguard in her pursuit to avenge the extortion and sex trafficking of her dead best friend.
9. Old Dads
Amidst all the horror and gore of October, consider watching Old Dads as a comedic palate cleanser. Comedian Bill Burr makes his directorial debut while exploring poignant themes of ageing, generational gaps, fatherhood and friendship while still managing to give audiences a good laugh.
10. Beckham
It wouldn’t be a streaming roundup without mentioning the Netflix show-of-the-month, the Beckham miniseries. Delving deep into David’s (and his family’s) inner workings, career, successes and failures, the miniseries answers many of his fan’s age-old questions while shedding light on places that we never knew the light needed to be shone on.
11. Loki Season 2
Undoubtedly one the MCU’s strongest Disney+ releases since WandaVision, the first season of Loki set up the idea of the multiverse and introduced us to the main antagonist of this year’s Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantanmania‘s, Kang The Conqueror. Season 2 continues the time-traversing madness with Loki being joined by other members of the Time Variance Authority to navigate the multiverse in search of *redacted* (no spoilers!). Episodes are released weekly until November 9th.
12. The Crown Season 6
The Crown fans have long wondered how creator Peter Morgan would go about addressing the widely publicized death of Princess Diana in the hit Netflix historical drama. The sixth and final season will finally give audiences an answer, spanning a period of the monarchy between 1997 to 2005 and will focus mainly on Princess Diana’s death, Queen Elizabeth’s Golden Jubilee and Charles and Camilla’s relationship. Part 1 of the season premieres on November 16th.
Once you’re done with this story, click here to catch up with our October 2023 issue.
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