Five Netflix releases to keep an eye out for this week
This is probably the most-awaited week of November, and we all know the reason why. But before you rearrange your Christmas lights to the assigned letters you stuck on your walls nine years ago, there’s something else Netflix has in store to pay attention to this week.
The countdown to the release of Stranger Things season five has reached its final leg. And Netflix has taken special care in reducing distractions this week in regards to what’s to come to the platform.
Although you’re far too smart to mistake a slim stack of content for a lack of options, still, if you’re haunted by the ghosts of what-ifs, don’t worry, it’s going to be an eventful week.
While the continuation of the Hawkins saga may serve as the main course, don’t miss out on the appetisers or desserts, even literal ones, with the five Netflix releases to keep an eye out for this week. So, sit tight, and let the Netflix ride do its thing.
Five Netflix releases to watch out for this week
Missing: Dead or Alive (Netflix Original Productions, 2023-Present)
Missing: Dead or Alive is a gripping true-crime docu-series which returns with a second season and follows officers from the Richland County Sheriff’s Department Missing Persons Unit in Columbia, South Carolina, on their search operations for people right after their respective disappearances. Season two hit the Netflix shelves just today, November 24th, so, in case you need some briefing, you’re at the right spot.
In this season of Missing: Dead or Alive, Netflix takes viewers through the intricacy of investigation through the eyes of the officers assigned to each case. From witness interviews to extensive search-and-rescue operations, the Netflix documentary also features the police shedding light on how their entanglement with these types of cases impacts their own lives.
Jingle Bell Heist (Michael Fimognari, 2025)
Holiday rom-coms come in all forms, shapes, and sizes. In fact, some of the best ones from Netflix arrive just in time for December. So, in case you want something to lighten you up before or after the return of the Upside Down saga, keep an eye out for Jingle Bell Heist on November 26th. The Netflix holiday offering revolves around a down-on-her-luck woman, Sophia Martin, who relocated from Philadelphia to London to care for her cancer-ridden mother.
Sandwiched between her duties of caretaking and juggling two jobs, Sophia spirals out when she learns that the insurance won’t cover her mother’s surgery. In a desperate attempt to secure a quick way out, she decides to steal from her horrible boss, only to get caught by Nick O’Connor, a former security consultant who’s now a phone engineer. But it looks like Cupid is on Sophia’s side, because Nick doesn’t really mind the theft as long as he can be in on the share.
Stranger Things (Duffer Brothers, 2016-Present)
The tale of Hawkins is anything but a bedtime story. However, if told before bed, it can easily pass as one for even the adults because no one can risk closing their eyes without checking at least once under the bed. As we all know, that’s more likely to become a routine when Stranger Things returns with its fifth and final season on Wednesday, November 26th.
Stranger Things opens in Hawkins in the fall of 1987, when the town is still grappling with Vecna’s carnage from when he opened the Rifts. The gang is psyched about getting their hands on Vecna even though a full-blown search operation for Eleven and a strict military quarantine are ongoing. However, the only holdback is that Vecna has seemingly disappeared into thin air, leaving his hunters in a sea of confusion about his next move.
Left-Handed Girl (Shih-Ching Tsou, 2025)
Filmmaker Shih Ching Tsou is bringing a piece of her childhood to viewers with her first solo directorial debut for Netflix, Left-Handed Girl, releasing globally on the platform on November 28th. For those seeking some intimate, intergenerational drama with a heart, this is the perfect cinematic escape, which is also inspired by the memories of the director’s upbringing, heard from stories told by friends and family.
The coming-of-age portrait tells the story of a single mother with two daughters, who all come back to Taipei after years of residence in the countryside to open their own stall at a night market. However, family secrets begin to unravel instead, as the traditional grandfather prohibits his youngest left-handed granddaughter from using her “devil hands.”
The Stringer: The Man Who Took the Photo (Bao Nguyen, 2025)
To end the week, Netflix has a controversial documentary coming your way, The Stringer: The Man Who Took the Photo, releasing on November 28th. The film first premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2025, and Netflix acquired the documentary earlier in September. The film primarily “challenges the authorship of one of the most famous images ever taken of the Vietnam War, according to Deadline.
The Stringer: The Man Who Took the Photo aims to create a platform for curiosity and reflection to permeate. The documentary on Netflix additionally hopes to give the unheard story visibility, giving a voice to a Vietnamese generation.