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:

Death by Lightning
Netflix, November 6

Literary bona fides: based on Destiny of the Republic by Candice Millard (2011)

From our fall preview: Michael Shannon stars as James Garfield in this historical mini-series from executive producers David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, and Matthew Macfadyen is Charles Guiteau, his greatest admirer, who also happened to murder him. The rest of the cast is similarly stacked, featuring Betty Gilpin, Nick Offerman, Bradley Whitford, Shea Whigham, Paula Malcomson. The series was adapted from Millard’s book by showrunner Mike Makowsky, who was inspired after “reading it in one sitting, because it was one of the most insane true stories I had ever heard.”

He added: “I found it unspeakably tragic and moving, but also weirdly funny in a very dark way. It’s a tone that I tend to chase in the work that I take on, but there is a very deeply ingrained situational absurdity to roughly all of the proceedings that I was just so stunned by. As soon as I finished the book, I knew that I needed to adapt it and that in its best incarnation, it could speak to people in ways that other period shows might not.”

All Her Fault
Peacock, November 6

Literary bona fides: based on All Her Fault by Andrea Mara (2021)

From our fall preview: Sarah Snook stars in this mystery thriller series that I will absolutely not be watching because it concerns a woman coming to pick her son up from a playdate, only to find him missing. Jake Lacy, Sophia Lillis, and Michael Peña also star; Dakota Fanning, Abby Elliott, Jay Ellis and Thomas Cocquerel are series regulars.

Frankenstein (streaming premiere)
Netflix, November 7

Literary bona fides: based on Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (1818)

From our fall preview: First he tackled Pinocchio, and now Guillermo del Toro’s long-awaited Frankenstein adaptation finally, ahem, lives. “For years, del Toro has built his myths in films like Pan’s Labyrinth and Crimson Peak with the dusty and elaborate furniture of the gothic,” writes John Bleasdale in Time Out. “His baroque vision fuses personal and societal dysfunction with myths of otherness. Here, given the opportunity to bring his childhood favorite to life, Del Toro throws everything he can at the screen. Frankenstein is loud, bombastic, sublime and silly. This is a universe in which towers totter above precipices, cellars drip hollowly and women wear impossible dresses in the snow.”

Oscar Isaac stars as Victor Frankenstein, Jacob Elordi as the monster, Felix Kammerer as William, Mia Goth as Elizabeth, and Christoph Waltz as an arms dealer, just helping out. It also is supposedly one of the most faithful to Shelley’s original novel, which appeals after decades of a green guy with neck bolts. There are many bad Frankenstein adaptations, but this, I have all confidence, will not be one of them.

The Beast in Me
Netflix, November 13

Literary bona fides: concerning novelist problems

From our fall preview: Claire Danes and Matthew Rhys seem just about perfectly cast in this cat and mouse thriller, all eight episodes of which will be dumped in our laps for bingeing pleasure in November. It’s not an adaptation, but Danes stars as reclusive author Aggie Wiggs, who hasn’t been able to write since the death of her son. But then some very tantalizing material moves in next door, in the shadowy figure of Nile Jarvis (Rhys), a famous real estate mogul who may or may not have killed his wife. Brittany Snow, Natalie Morales, and David Lyons also star, and Jodie Foster and Conan O’Brien are listed as executive producers.

The Seduction
HBO Max, November 14

Literary bona fides: based on Les Liaisons Dangereuses by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos (1782)

Just what we need: another attempt at adapting an 18th-century novel for which there is, of course, already a perfect adaptation. On the other hand, this one, which is described as “loose” (hahaha), is in French and has Diane Kruger in it, which does bode well.

Come See Me in the Good Light
Apple TV, November 14

Literary bona fides: concerning poet Andrea Gibson

Ryan White directed and Tig Notaro produced this documentary about poet Andrea Gibson and their marriage to poet Megan Falley, which chronicles their relationship—and their commitment to joy—in the wake of Gibson’s terminal cancer diagnosis. The film won the Festival Film Favorite Award at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival; Gibson died in July of this year.

Train Dreams (streaming premiere)
Netflix, November 21

Literary bona fides: based on Denis Johnson’s Train Dreams (2011)

From our fall preview: One of Lit Hub’s most anticipated adaptations of the year, not because the book needs, or asks for, adapting, really, but just because we all love it so much. Joel Edgerton plays Robert Grainier, and Felicity Jones stars as his wife Gladys. Will it work on screen? Early reviews are promising, but there seems to be quite a bit of voiceover, which is rarely a good sign. Oh well! I’ll be looking for the wolf-girl.

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THROWBACK:

The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)
HBO Max, November 1

Literary bona fides: based on The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M. Cain (1934)

When the weather gets colder, black and white movies get better. On the other hand, Lana Turner’s hair is always magic.

The Princess Bride (1987)
Hulu, November 1

Literary bona fides: based on The Princess Bride by William Goldman (1973)

A balm for dark times, literally and otherwise.

A Knight’s Tale (2001)
Hulu, November 1

Literary bona fides: based on “The Knight’s Tale” by Geoffrey Chaucer

You may have noticed, but I put this millennial classic on this list whenever it pops up, if only so that more people can see Paul Bettany’s very good, very funny Chaucer.

A Beautiful Mind (2002)
Prime Video, November 1

Literary bona fides: based on A Beautiful Mind by Sylvia Nasar (1998)

I haven’t seen this movie—young Russell Crowe as the unraveling math genius John Nash!—in many years, but I do remember that it won a zillion Oscars (actually, upon a Google, just four, but good ones: Best Picture, Best Director (Ron Howard), Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actress (Jennifer Connelly)). Probably worth a rewatch.

Julie & Julia (2009)
Hulu, November 1

Literary bona fides: based on My Life in France, by Julia Childs and Alex Prud’homme (2006), and Julie & Julia by Julie Powell (2005)

Nora Ephron’s last film before her death isn’t a whole cloth classic, but Meryl Streep is extremely good (shocker!) as Julia Childs. Put it on while you’re cooking.

Crazy Rich Asians (2018)
Netflix, November 1

Literary bona fides: based on Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan (2013)

So big, so fun, so much. Another one to brighten up the dark.

The Personal History of David Copperfield (2020)
Hulu, November 1

Literary bona fides: based on David Copperfield by Charles Dickens (1850)

Admittedly, I will watch anything with Dev Patel in it (this is a personal problem that began in 2007), but it’s still odd that almost no one has seen this movie, which is a charming spin on David Copperfield. Maybe it’s because it came out in 2020—but here’s your chance!

The Color Purple (2023)
Hulu, November 1

Literary bona fides: based on the 2005 Broadway musical, which was based on The Color Purple by Alice Walker (1982)

A big, bombastic musical version of the literary classic, starring Taraji P. Henson, Danielle Brooks, Colman Domingo, Corey Hawkins, H.E.R., Halle Bailey, Phylicia Pearl Mpasi, and Fantasia. (I still prefer Spielberg’s 1985 take, but there’s room for it all.)