As this week barrels down toward the end of the year and teases what might be coming next, it feels less like a countdown and more like a pause for reflection. With not much in the way of new releases on either the big screen or the small, this is one of those rare weeks that invites a little catching up. Scroll through to see what might be worth your time, revisit a few titles you missed, and however you spend it, have a safe and wonderful New Yearโs.
Hawkins faces its final reckoning as the boundary between the real world and the Upside Down collapses, forcing its longtime heroes into a last stand with Vecna where survival, sacrifice, and growing up are no longer optional. Crafted as a feature-length farewell, the series finale episode serves as a blockbuster goodbye, premiering on Netflix and simultaneously hitting theaters for a special cinematic event that turns the end of an era into a shared big-screen moment. Even as online criticism swirls, one of Netflixโs biggest shows prepares to take its final bow with enough explosions to rival New Yearโs fireworks.
This dark, seductive genre landmark gets a second life, as Oscar-winning filmmaker Guillermo del Toroโs audacious 1993 feature debut returns in a stunning 4K restoration that makes its obsessions with immortality, decay, and desire feel newly alive. When a gentle antiques dealer (Federico Luppi) uncovers an ancient scarab-like device that promises eternal life at a grotesque cost, its power pulls him into addiction, body horror, and the crosshairs of a delightfully deranged American played by Ron Perlman. Itโs the film that announced the arrival of a visionary new voice in horrorโone who would redefine monsters as tragic, soulful reflections of humanity itself.
During a pandemic-ravaged collapse, a woman joins a grim body-retrieval unit in Australia while searching for her missing husband, only to learn the dead arenโt staying dead. As Ava (Daisy Ridley) pushes deeper into the wasteland, a…