November 2026: What’s Worth Watching?

From Brad Pitt and Blade Runner to Muhammad Ali, Middle-earth and a rather angry Godzilla, November is bringing some serious entertainment. Here's everything worth getting excited about.

November has arrived, the clocks have gone back, the evenings are getting darker and suddenly staying home with a good film seems considerably more appealing than going outside. Fortunately, Hollywood and the streaming giants have apparently decided that sleep is overrated, because this month's release schedule is absolutely packed.

We're talking blockbuster prequels, returning favourites, spectacular science fiction, Christmas romances, prestige dramas and enough crime thrillers to make you suspicious of everyone in your neighbourhood. And this isn't simply another batch of old films finding new homes on streaming services. We're talking brand-new movies, original productions and fresh seasons of our favourite television shows.

So, whether you're planning a cinema trip, lining up a weekend binge or desperately trying to find something the entire family can agree on, here's your Recce guide to November 2026.

At the Cinema: Big Names, Bigger Stories

November starts strongly on 6 November, with Martin McDonagh's **Wild Horse Nine **reuniting the filmmaker with Sam Rockwell for a darkly comic CIA thriller set in 1970s Chile. John Malkovich and Steve Buscemi join the fun, which presumably means plenty of extraordinary dialogue and people behaving very badly.

The same day brings I Play Rocky, the remarkable story of a young Sylvester Stallone refusing to give up on his dream of making Rocky. Peter Farrelly directs, and this might just be one of the month's most irresistible underdog stories. Meanwhile, Godzilla Minus Zero unleashes another Japanese monster spectacular. Anyone who saw Godzilla Minus One knows there's more to this franchise than an enormous reptile redecorating Tokyo.

Also arriving on 6 November are La Bola Negra, featuring Penélope Cruz and Glenn Close; the heartfelt British drama Onwards and Sideways, starring Rhys Ifans and Laura Linney; and the festive comedy Merry Christmas Aubrey Flint, featuring Richard E. Grant, Celia Imrie and Karl Pilkington. India's epic Ramayana: Rise of a Legend also makes its ambitious big-screen debut. Something for practically every taste, provided your taste doesn't exclusively involve films about gardening.

On 13 November, How to Rob a Bank sees director David Leitch team up with Nicholas Hoult and Zoë Kravitz for a stylish contemporary heist movie. There's also Ebenezer, a fresh interpretation of Dickens's A Christmas Carol, and the international drama Fjord.

Then comes 20 November, when The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping takes us back to Panem to explore Haymitch Abernathy's terrifying experience in the 50th Hunger Games. Expect elaborate brutality, political manipulation and considerably less enjoyable television than the kind we're discussing here.

Also competing for attention are A Talent for Murder, with Helen Mirren playing novelist Patricia Highsmith, the emotionally charged Josephine, starring Channing Tatum and Gemma Chan, and the Theranos documentary You Can See Everything.

The month's closing act brings Focker-In-Law on 25 November, reuniting us with cinema's most gloriously dysfunctional extended family. More intriguing still is The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth, with Brad Pitt returning to the character created by Quentin Tarantino, only this time under the direction of David Fincher. Two very different filmmaking legends, one wonderfully laid-back stuntman. What could possibly go wrong?

Finally, Disney's animated fantasy Hexed and the action thriller Ghost Soldier round out the month's announced cinema possibilities.

Netflix: Spies, Scandals and Christmas Chaos

Netflix isn't exactly taking November quietly either.

The action begins with animated steampunk Western Bass X Machina on 3 November, followed by the Polish medical drama Anesthesia and festive family film A Dog's Perfect Christmas on the 4th.

But the first really big appointment is 5 November, when Black Doves returns for its second season. Keira Knightley and Ben Whishaw are back in London's shadowy world of espionage, betrayal and exceptionally dangerous friendships. If you loved the first season, clear your diary. Canadian comedy North of North also returns for its second helping of small-town chaos.

On 6 November, acclaimed Korean filmmaker Lee Chang-dong delivers relationship drama Possible Love, while Colombian limited series Under Siege revisits a devastating historical event.

Mid-month brings Ron Howard's photography documentary Avedon on 11 November, alongside The Body, a disturbing psychological thriller involving a Catholic school and mysterious visions. The following day, sci-fi comedy Allen reunites a man with his childhood alien companion.

Then comes Heartland on 13 November, featuring Jessica Chastain as a country music star drawn into a mystery surrounding her missing niece. Meanwhile, the romantic department is represented by Guarding Stars on 18 November, with Leighton Meester and Jared Padalecki bringing some early Christmas sparkle.

That same week, reality competition Win the Mall turns shopping into a competitive sport, before The Altruists arrives on 19 November. Julia Garner and Anthony Boyle star in the fascinating story of the FTX cryptocurrency scandal. Billions of dollars, spectacular ambition and spectacularly questionable decisions. Television gold.

On 20 November, animated comedy Steps gives Cinderella's supposedly wicked stepsisters a chance to tell their side of the story. And to finish the month, there's Spanish family drama The Child and Vincent Cassel's historical adventure The Hunchback, Soul of Paris, both arriving on 27 November.

Prime Video: The Future, the Past and Everything in Between

If there's one platform determined to dominate November, it might be Prime Video.

The Greatest arrives on 4 November, offering an intimate new portrayal of Muhammad Ali. Rather than simply revisiting the legendary fights, this authorised drama explores the extraordinary man behind the global icon. An irresistible subject.

On 6 November, romantic drama Campus Drivers brings university romance and complicated relationships, while anime series Devils' Crest offers a terrifying virtual-reality adventure. Meanwhile, Keeley Hawes and Freddie Highmore return for The Assassin Season 2, proving once again that international crime is particularly inconvenient when you're trying to enjoy a family holiday.

Then, on 11 November, it's time to return to Middle-earth.

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 3 takes the story deeper into Sauron's rise and the forging of the One Ring. Expect enormous battles, breathtaking landscapes and characters making decisions we already know will end terribly. That's the trouble with prequels. We know how history turns out, but we still can't look away.

The Chosen Season 6 arrives on 15 November, exploring the final hours of Jesus's life. Two days later, documentary Surviving the London Nail Bombings tells the deeply moving stories of survivors of the 1999 attacks.

On 18 November, MADDEN brings the life of legendary American football coach and broadcaster John Madden to the screen, with Nicolas Cage taking the title role. And Perfect Liars, arriving on the 20th, promises university privilege, dangerous family secrets and revenge.

But perhaps November's most intriguing television premiere comes on 25 November.

Blade Runner 2099 takes us 50 years beyond Blade Runner 2049, with Michelle Yeoh and Hunter Schafer exploring a futuristic Los Angeles where humanity and artificial intelligence remain on deeply complicated terms. The original films gave us some of cinema's most unforgettable science-fiction imagery. This new series has enormous shoes to fill, although presumably they'll be stylish, rain-soaked shoes illuminated by neon signs.

Finally, Alan Carr's Great Big Bucket List arrives on 27 November, offering some welcome comedy after all that dystopian darkness.

So, What Should You Actually Watch?

That's the real question, isn't it? November offers something for almost everybody, but nobody has unlimited evenings, cinema tickets or patience for another disappointing sequel.

For the big screen, we're particularly excited about Wild Horse Nine, I Play Rocky, The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping and The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth. On television, Blade Runner 2099, The Greatest, Black Doves, The Rings of Power and The Altruists look like the month's essential viewing.

But the joy of a month like November is discovering the unexpected favourite. That little international drama you knew nothing about. The Christmas film that turns out to be surprisingly good. Or the series you planned to watch for twenty minutes and somehow finished at three in the morning.

And that's where Recce comes in.

Add your November favourites to My List, discover what your friends are watching, and use Group Lists to settle the eternal question of what everyone's going to watch next. Then come back, score what you've seen and tell us whether the hype was justified.

Because November might be packed with brilliant entertainment, but the best recommendations still come from people you trust.

Happy watching!