Every month, all the major streaming services add a host of newly acquired (or just plain new) shows, movies, and documentaries into their ever-rotating libraries. So what’s a dedicated reader to watch? Well, whatever you want, of course, but the name of this website is Literary Hub, so we sort of have an angle. To that end, here’s a selection of the best (and most enjoyably bad) literary film and TV coming to streaming services this month. Have fun.

NEW:

The Power of the Dog
Stream it on: Netflix, 12/1

Literary bona fides: Based on Thomas Savage’s The Power of the Dog (1967)
Starring: Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons, Kodi Smit-McPhee

Jane Campion’s first feature film in a decade has already won her the Silver Lion for Best Direction at the Venice International Film Festival, where it premiered. Also: that cast. If you aren’t yet venturing into the theaters, where it has been showing for a couple of weeks, you can now stream the western—which Manohla Dargis recently called “a great American story and a dazzling evisceration of one of the country’s foundational myths,” in the comfort of your own home. It’s what I’ll be watching tonight.

Station Eleven
Stream it on: HBO Max, 12/16

Literary bona fides: Based on Emily St. John Mandel’s Station Eleven (2014)
Starring: Mackenzie Davis, Himesh Patel, David Wilmot, Nabhaan Rizwan, Philippine Velge, Daniel Zovatto, Lori Petty

If you can bear to watch a television show about a pandemic right now, this should probably be the one you pick—showrunner (and novelist) Patrick Somerville called it “a post-apocalyptic show about joy.” It is, of course, an adaptation of Emily St. John Mandel’s beloved and bestselling 2014 novel in which a flu wipes out most of the global population (but Shakespeare, and therefore hope, remains). By the way: filming started before COVID-19, but only two episodes had been completed before the cast and crew realized just how prescient their project might be.

The Witcher (Season 2)
Stream it on: Netflix, 12/17

Literary bona fides: Based on the Witcher series by Andrzej Sapkowski (1986-2013)—and also the very good video game
Starring: Henry Cavill, Freya Allan, Anya Chalotra, Joey Batey, MyAnna Buring, Therica Wilson-Read, Anna Schaffer, Eamon Farren, Mimi Ndiwen

More grunting, more monster hunting, more fraught love affair between Geralt and Yennifer, Ciri looking a little older and a lot more badass—here’s hoping that the second season of Netflix’s fantasy epic is as sneakily good as the first.

The Matrix Resurrections
Stream it on: HBO Max, 12/22

Literary bona fides: The script was co-written by Aleksandar Hemon and David Mitchell
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Jada Pinkett Smith, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Jessica Henwick, Jonathan Groff, Neil Patrick Harris, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, and Christina Ricci.

The latest Matrix sequel (#4, all told, but who’s counting) was written by Lana Wachowski along with novelists Aleksandar Hemon and David Mitchell—and apparently it’s very emotional. Both novelists have a history with the Wachowskis, of course—both Hemon and Mitchell worked on Sense8, and then there was the adaptation of the unadaptable Cloud Atlas. That may be enough for you to give the new Matrix a shot, but if not, there’s always Keanu.

The Lost Daughter
Stream it on: Netflix, 12/31

Literary bona fides: Based on Elena Ferrante’s The Lost Daughter (2006, English translation 2008)
Starring: Olivia Colman, Dakota Johnson, Jessie Buckley, Paul Mescal, Dagmara Domińczyk, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Peter Sarsgaard, Ed Harris

One of our most anticipated movies of the year, an Elena Ferrante adaptation (check) starring Olivia Colman (check check) for which Maggie Gyllenhaal (who presumably has nothing to do with the scarf) has already won the Golden Osella Award for Best Screenplay at the Venice International Film Festival (check!).

THROWBACK:

The Princess Bride (1987)
Stream it on: Hulu, 12/1

Literary bona fides: Based on William Goldman’s The Princess Bride: S. Morgenstern’s Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure, The “Good Parts” Version (1973)
Starring: Cary Elwes, Mandy Patinkin, Chris Sarandon, Christopher Guest, Wallace Shawn, André the Giant, Robin Wright, Peter Falk, Fred Savage, Billy Crystal

Only one question is needed to determine whether you should rewatch this fine film this season: Do you have a soul, or don’t you?

Interview with the Vampire (1994)
Stream it on: HBO Max, 12/1

Literary bona fides: Based on Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire (1976)
Starring: Veiny Brad Bitt, Veiny Tom Cruise, Stephen Rea’s hair, Antonio Banderas playing a Russian, Christian Slater still looks like that, Kirsten Dunst does not

If the vampires don’t get you, the sweet, sweet nostalgia will.

Little Women (1994)
Stream it on: Amazon Prime, 12/1

Literary bona fides: Based on Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women (1868)
Starring: Winona Ryder, Gabriel Byrne, Trini Alvarado, Samantha Mathis, Kirsten Dunst, Claire Danes, Christian Bale, Eric Stoltz, Mary Wickes, Susan Sarandon

‘Tis the season, after all.

Jackie Brown (1997)
Stream it on: HBO Max, 12/1

Literary bona fides: Based on Elmore Leonard’s Rum Punch (1992)
Starring: Pam Grier, Samuel L. Jackson, Robert Forster, Bridget Fonda, Michael Keaton, Robert De Niro

Quentin Tarantino’s one and only literary adaptation is a loose one, but it still counts for our purposes. Come for the Pam Grier, stay for the Pam Grier.

Chocolat (2000)
Stream it on: Netflix, 12/1

Literary bona fides: Based on Joanne Harris’s Chocolat (1999)
Starring: Juliette Binoche, Judi Dench, Alfred Molina, Lena Olin, Johnny Depp, Carrie-Anne Moss, John Wood, Leslie Caron

It’s a great time of year to remember that chocolate is always sexy, no matter what your uptight neighbors think.

Serendipity (2001)
Stream it on: Hulu, 12/1

Literary bona fides: Books are a major plot point, okay?
Starring: John Cusack, Kate Beckinsale, Molly Shannon, Jeremy Piven, Bridget Moynahan, Eugene Levy

If you want to watch a whole romantic comedy that hinges on what Kate Beckinsdale wrote in a used copy of Love in the Time of Cholera, this is the (only?) movie for you.

Minority Report (2002)
Stream it on: Netflix, 12/1

Literary bona fides: Based on Philip K. Dick’s “The Minority Report” (1956)
Starring: Tom Cruise, Colin Farrell, Samantha Morton, Max von Sydow

Like many Tom Cruise movies, this is so much better than it has to be—but is also perfect for when you really just feel like having popcorn for dinner (which happens to me . . . a lot in December).

No Country For Old Men (2007)
Stream it on: HBO Max, 12/1

Literary bona fides: Based on Cormac McCarthy’s No Country for Old Men (2005)
Starring: Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin

Bleak as it is, the Coen Brothers’ Cormac McCarthy adaptation is a modern classic, and considered by many to be their best film. (Arguable, I know—I’d say it really depends on your mood—but either way, it’s worth a rewatch.)

Cloud Atlas (2012)
Stream it on: HBO Max, 12/1

Literary bona fides: Based on David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas (2004)
Starring: Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Jim Broadbent, Jim Sturgess, Doona Bae, James D’Arcy, Zhou Xun, Keith David, David Gyasi, Susan Sarandon, Hugh Grant

It’s a mess, but it’s an epic mess. Or you could just watch the trailer.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)
Stream it on: HBO Max, 12/1

Literary bona fides: Based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit (1937)
Starring: Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Richard Armitage, James Nesbitt, Ken Stott, Cate Blanchett, Ian Holm, Christopher Lee, Hugo Weaving, Elijah Wood, Andy Serkis

Well, perhaps you have children.