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:

Nightmare Alley (2021)
Stream it on: HBO Max, February 1

Literary bona fides: Based on William Lindsay Gresham’s Nightmare Alley (1946)
Starring: Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, Toni Collette, Willem Dafoe, Richard Jenkins, Rooney Mara, Ron Perlman, Mary Steenburgen, David Strathairn

What a cast Guillermo del Toro has rounded up for his first literary adaptation of the year, a fabulist noir populated by charlatans, carnys, mentalists, freaks, malevolent psychiatrists, and virtuous love interests galore. Not a cheery picture, but laced with about as many “psychological tunnels and downward spirals” as 2022 has been so far.

Reacher (2022)
Stream it on: Amazon Prime Video, February 3

Literary bona fides: Based on Lee Child’s Killing Floor (1997)
Starring: Alan Ritchson, Malcolm Goodwin, Willa Fitzgerald, Chris Webster, Bruce McGill, Maria Sten, Hugh Thompson

Well, your new Jack Reacher is still not 6’5″—but at least he’s an appropriately burly 6’2″.

The Girl Before (2021)
Stream it on: HBO Max, February 10

Literary bona fides: Created and written by J.P. Delaney, based on his own novel of the same name (2016)
Starring: Gugu Mbatha-Raw, David Oyelowo, Jessica Plummer, Ben Hardy

A four-part mini-series adaptation of Delaney’s best-selling thriller, in which a woman moves into a very odd, and very minimalist, house—which comes with a very precise set of rules, and as she soon discovers, a macabre history.

The French Dispatch (2021)
Stream it on: HBO Max, February 25

Literary bona fides: It’s not a literary adaptation, but it is basically Wes Anderson’s love letter to The New Yorker, which is close enough.
Starring: You know, the usual: Benicio del Toro, Adrien Brody, Tilda Swinton, Léa Seydoux, Frances McDormand, Timothée Chalamet, Lyna Khoudri, Jeffrey Wright, Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, Christoph Waltz, Edward Norton, Jason Schwartzman, Anjelica Huston

It may not be top-tier Anderson, but as long as you know what you’re getting yourself into (and you do), you’ll have a perfectly nice time.

THROWBACK:

Rosemary’s Baby (1968)
Stream it on: Hulu, February 1

Literary bona fides: Based on Ira Levin’s Rosemary’s Baby (1967)
Starring:  Mia Farrow, John Cassavetes, Ruth Gordon, Sidney Blackmer, Maurice Evans, Ralph Bellamy

Iconic, brilliant, wildly successful, terrifying, and, of course, cursed. Classic horror films really don’t get any better.

The French Connection (1971)
Stream it on: Hulu, February 1

Literary bona fides: Based on Robin Moore’s The French Connection: The World’s Most Crucial Narcotics Investigation (1969)
Starring: Gene Hackman, Fernando Rey, Roy Scheider, Tony Lo Bianco, Marcel Bozzuffi

William Friedkin’s masterpiece reinvented the police procedural—and also happens to be our friends at CrimeReads’ pick for the tenth best crime movie of all time.

The Exorcist (1973)
Stream it on: Netflix, February 1

Literary bona fides: Based on William Peter Blatty’s The Exorcist (1971)
Starring:  Ellen Burstyn, Max von Sydow, Lee J. Cobb, Kitty Winn, Jack MacGowran, Jason Miller, Linda Blair

Speaking of classic horror films—and speaking of William Friedkin, for that matter—why not make it a double feature? If you’re cool staying up all night, I mean.

What’s Eating Gilbert Grape (1993)
Stream it on: Hulu, February 28

Literary bona fides: Based on Peter Hedges’ What’s Eating Gilbert Grape (1991)
Starring: Johnny Depp, Leonardo DiCaprio, Juliette Lewis, Darlene Cates

Did you know that 90s tear-jerk classic and baby-Leo career-maker What’s Eating Gilbert Grape was based on a novel? I didn’t; nor have I seen this movie since it was released—so jury’s out on how it’s held up in the last 30 years, but soon you’ll be able to watch and decide for yourself.

The Babysitter (1995)
Stream it on: Hulu, February 28

Literary bona fides: I still can’t believe someone managed to make a movie out of Robert Coover’s “The Babysitter” (1969)
Starring: Alicia Silverstone, Jeremy London, J. T. Walsh, Lee Garlington, Nicky Katt, Lois Chiles, George Segal

Warning: I said someone managed to make a movie out of Coover’s “The Babysitter” but . . . this is a very bad movie. The management was poor. You’re better off just reading the story, which is as good as the adaptation is bad. But if you’re in the mood to throw popcorn at your television . . .

Donnie Brasco (1997)
Stream it on: Netflix, February 1

Literary bona fides: Based on Joseph Pistone’s Donnie Brasco: My Undercover Life in the Mafia (1988)
Starring: Al Pacino, Johnny Depp, Michael Madsen, Bruno Kirby, James Russo, Anne Heche

Jonny Depp is Joseph Pistone, an undercover FBI agent who infiltrates the Mafia under the name Donnie Brasco. Al Pacino is Benjamin “Lefty” Ruggiero, a hit man who takes Donnie under his wing. You can guess what happens.

Fight Club (1999)
Stream it on: Hulu, February 1

Literary bona fides: Based on Chuck Palahniuk’s Fight Club (1996)
Starring: Brad Pitt, Edward Norton, Helena Bonham Carter, Meat Loaf

Fight Club has had a weird, long legacy, but there’s no denying that this movie is . . . sorry, a knockout. Primo David Fincher, peak late-90s Brad Pitt, pitch-perfect Edward Norton, but most importantly, an unsettling reflection of its own time.

Election (1999)
Stream it on: Hulu, February 28

Literary bona fides: Based on Tom Perrotta’s Election (1998)
Starring: Reese Witherspoon, Matthew Broderick

Also an unsettling reflection of its own time, but in a very different way. Rewatch it in blessed horror before Perrotta’s new sequel comes out this summer.

3:10 to Yuma (2007)
Stream it on: HBO Max, February 1

Literary bona fides: Based on Elmore Leonard’s “Three-Ten to Yuma” (1953)
Starring: Russell Crowe, Christian Bale, Peter Fonda, Gretchen Mol, Ben Foster, Dallas Roberts, Alan Tudyk, Vinessa Shaw, Logan Lerman

If you’re looking for a good, solid western (with better acting than it really even needs), look no further.

The Other Boleyn Girl (2008)
Stream it on: Netflix, February 1

Literary bona fides: Based on Philippa Gregory’s The Other Boleyn Girl (2001)
Starring: Natalie Portman, Scarlett Johansson, Eric Bana, Kristin Scott Thomas, Mark Rylance, David Morrissey

For an evening of dRaMa, you could do worse than this wildly inaccurate, soapy, extravagant romance about Ann Boleyn, her sister, Mary, and Eric Bana. It’s not that it’s any good, mind you—but like I said, you could do worse.

12 Years A Slave (2013)
Stream it on: HBO Max, February 1

Literary bona fides: Based on Solomon Northup’s Twelve Years a Slave (1853)
Starring: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Benedict Cumberbatch, Paul Dano, Garret Dillahunt, Paul Giamatti, Scoot McNairy, Lupita Nyong’o, Adepero Oduye, Sarah Paulson, Brad Pitt, Michael Kenneth Williams, Alfre Woodard

Steve McQueen’s adaptation of Solomon Northup’s 1853 memoir of being kidnapped and sold into slavery was one of the best films of 2013 by any measure—it was nominated for nine Academy Awards and won for Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Supporting Actress (Nyong’o). Like any movie set in this time period, it’s difficult viewing, and it’s certainly not perfect, but if you haven’t seen it, it’s worth your time.

Gone Girl (2014)
Stream it on: Hulu, February 28

Literary bona fides: Based on Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl (2012)
Starring: Rosamund Pike, Ben Affleck, Neil Patrick Harris, Tyler Perry

You simply can’t go wrong with one of our favorite literary adaptations of the 2010s, especially not when it was a phenomenon based on a phenomenon, with a screenplay written by Flynn herself and David Fincher directing.