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:
Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy
Peacock, February 13
Literary bona fides: based on Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy by Helen Fielding (2013),
From our 2025 adaptation preview: Yes, folks, it’s Bridget Jones 4, and it’s a literary movie. The fourth Bridget Jones movie is based on the third Bridget Jones book, which is set 14 years after the events of The Edge of Reason (1999).
THROWBACK:
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931)
Max, February 1
Literary bona fides: based on The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson (1886)
The ultra-camp costuming—and the transformation which at the time was revolutionary, based on a trick that wouldn’t be revealed for almost 40 years—is worth the price of admission for this pre-code horror movie, for which Fredric March won an acting Oscar.
The Life of Emile Zola (1937)
Max, February 1
Literary bona fides: based on Zola and His Time by Matthew Josephson (1928)
Paul Muni stars in this Zola biopic, which was roundly heralded by critics at the time of its release and which won Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor (Joseph Schildkraut as Captain Dreyfus), and Best Writing at the 10th (!) Academy Awards. In 2000, it was entered into the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress.
Mildred Pierce (1945)
Max, February 1
Literary bona fides: based on Mildred Pierce by James M. Cain (1941)
Joan Crawford steals the show in one of her most iconic roles (she also won an Oscar for Best Actress). It’s always worth shaking hands with the devil…
The Color Purple (1985)
Max, February 1
Literary bona fides: based on The Color Purple by Alice Walker (1982)
Whoopi Goldberg, Danny Glover, Oprah Winfrey, and Margaret Avery star Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. It’s a sentimental, soft-eyed version to be sure (it’s Spielberg!), but it’s still a classic, with beautiful acting to boot.
Candyman (1992)
Peacock, February 1
Literary bona fides: based on “The Forbidden” by Clive Barker (1984)
Though it was met with somewhat mixed reviews when it first hit theaters, this adaptation of English horror legend Barker’s short story—its original themes of the British class system replaced by very American questions of class and race—has become a supernatural classic. Score by Philip Glass!
Interview With The Vampire (1994)
Peacock, February 1
Literary bona fides: based on Interview With The Vampire by Anne Rice (1976)
It’s too long, it’s too extra, it’s too silly, but on the other hand obviously it’s perfect.
William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet (1996)
Hulu, February 1
Literary bona fides: based on Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare (1597)
Ah, the golden age of Baz Luhrmann—and the saving grace of 1928371298 ill-read high school millennials.
You’ve Got Mail (1998)
Hulu, February 1
Literary bona fides: Nora Ephron’s beloved movie about two bookstore owners (one indie, one big box) falling in love.
Whether you find You’ve Got Mail eerily prescient or blissfully bad or weirdly too into serial killers, it’s guaranteed to scratch that ’90s nostalgia itch.
Beloved (1998)
Hulu, February 7
Literary bona fides: based on Beloved by Toni Morrison (1987)
No candles held to the book, of course, but this—the only film adaptation of Morrison’s work—is a solid effort led by Oprah Winfrey, Danny Glover, and Thandiwe Newton.
Brokeback Mountain (2005)
Paramount+, February 1
Literary bona fides: based on “Brokeback Mountain” by Annie Proulx (1997)
Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana wrote the screenplay for Ang Lee’s adaptation of Proulx’s award-winning story, which was revolutionary (and beloved) upon its release and remains both an important cultural artifact and a moving piece of art today.
Easy A (2010)
Hulu, February 1
Literary bona fides: based on The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne (1850)
One of the last gasps of a great, campy era of classics-reimagined-as-teen-movies, and a worthy one.
