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:
Lynley
BritBox, September 4
Literary bona fides: based on the Inspector Lynley series by Elizabeth George
It’s a classic set-up: two detectives, different as can be—one straight-laced and posh, one rebellious and working class—team up to solve crimes. (A previous adaptation, The Inspector Lynley Mysteries, ran from 2001-2008.) The newest version, directed by Ed Bazalgette (once known as the lead guitarist of The Vapors) is set to premiere with four 90-minute episodes.
Highest 2 Lowest (streaming debut)
Apple TV+, September 5
Literary bona fides: based on Akira Kurosawa’s High and Low (1963), which was based on Ed McBain’s King’s Ransom (1959)
Spike Lee’s star-studded latest—featuring Denzel Washington, Jeffrey Wright, Ilfenesh Hadera, ASAP Rocky, John Douglas Thompson, Dean Winters, LaChanze, Princess Nokia, and Ice Spice—has a distant literary history, but a literary history all the same: it’s based on a Kurosawa film which was itself based on a 1950s police procedural about a rich man faced with a moral dilemma. Reviews from its run in theaters are good, and Spike Lee is always worth the price of admission.
Dr. Seuss’s Red Fish Blue Fish
Netflix, September 8
Literary bona fides: based on One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish by Dr. Seuss (1960)
Just what it says on the tin; also proof that literally any IP is good-enough IP.
The Girlfriend
Prime Video, September 10
Literary bona fides: based on The Girlfriend by Michelle Frances (2017)
Robin Wright directs and stars in this psychological thriller, alongside Laurie Davidson, who plays her son, and Olivia Cooke, who plays his new, extremely suspicious girlfriend. I haven’t seen very much about it, which isn’t a great sign, but Wright is a good one, so perhaps it’s a wash.
The Hardacres
BritBox, September 10
Literary bona fides: based on The Hardacre series by C.L. Skelton
This rags-to-riches drama from the creators of All Creatures Great and Small, set in 1890s Yorkshire, has been out in the UK for a year; it’s now coming to us (US) via BritBox. A second season has been ordered, if you’re anxious!
Slow Horses (Season 5)
Apple TV+, September 24
Literary bona fides: based on Mick Herron’s Slough House series
If you’re watching, you’re watching, and if you’re not, go start at the beginning.
The Man in My Basement
Hulu, September 26
Literary bona fides: based on Walter Mosley’s The Man in My Basement (2004)
Mosley co-wrote this adaptation of his 2004 psychological thriller with Nadia Latif, who also directs; a great sign. Set in Sag Harbor, the movie begins when Charles (Corey Hawkins), out of work and struggling, answers the door to find a strange man (Willem Dafoe) with an offer: let him rent out his basement for a ridiculous sum. Of course he accepts, and soon “finds himself led down a terrifying path that confronts his family’s ghosts and locks the men in a terrifying puzzle, at the heart of it race, the source of their traumas and the root of all evil.”
THROWBACK:
Dead Poets Society (1989)
Hulu, September 12
Literary bona fides: “We don’t read and write poetry because it’s cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race!”
This movie was so beloved when it came out that there was a character on Friends whose defining, “edgy” trait was that she hated it. But she’s wrong. (Okay, it’s semi-hysterical, but in the most delightful, 90s-core way.)
Misery (1990)
HBO Max, September 1
Literary bona fides: based on Stephen King’s Misery (1987)
One of the best of a long line of Stephen King adaptations; and peak Kathy Bates as one of the best literary villains of all time. (If you’re in the mood for two great King adaptation, Stand By Me (1986) is cycling up on Netflix this month as well.)
Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992)
Netflix, September 1
Literary bona fides: based on, well, Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1897)
Francis Ford Coppola’s cult classic features, among other things, steampunk Gary Oldman as the #30 Dracula of all time.
Clueless (1995)
Hulu, September 1
Literary bona fides: based on Jane Austen’s Emma (1816)
Still the best Austen adaptation of all time.
Shrek (2001)
Netflix, September 1
Literary bona fides: based on William Steig’s Shrek! (1990)
The film is a classic in its own right, but for the record it has nothing on the original children’s book, in which Shrek is actually a horrible monster, and likes it that way, and includes lines like “Shrek popped his eyes, opened his trap, and bellowed a blast of fire. The knight, red-hot, dove into the stagnant moat” and has also taught my 3-year-old the word “yokel.” Anyway that’s all for today about Shrek!
O (2001)
Paramount Plus, September 1
Literary bona fides: based on William Shakespeare’s Othello (1603)
I remember this movie—which stars Mekhi Phifer, Josh Hartnett and Julia Stiles—as one of the weaker teen Shakespeare adaptations from the golden era, and I’m almost afraid to find out how it holds up. Unfortunately for me, I will be finding out.
Mean Girls (2004)
Hulu, September 1
Literary bona fides: inspired by Rosalind Wiseman’s Queen Bees and Wannabes (2002)
Mean Girls, on the other hand, will never grow old. Though people should probably stop trying to remake it.
Sherlock Holmes (2009)
Netflix, September 1
Literary bona fides: based on Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes series
I know technically I’m wrong, but I’m a sucker for the Guy Ritchie Holmes—not least because of Jude Law’s adorable Watson—but also because Ritchie’s signature half-slick half-tough shtick is kind of perfect for the adventures of the anxious addict genius at hand.
Call Me By Your Name (2017)
Hulu, September 1
Literary bona fides: based on Call Me By Your Name by André Aciman (2007)
One of my favorite books, one of my favorite films, and one of my favorite adaptations—can’t go wrong.
Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret. (2023)
Netflix, September 11
Literary bona fides: based on Judy Blume’s Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret. (1970)
A lot of us would have been devastated if this movie was bad, but instead it was great. Thank goodness.
