A Ben Affleck kidnapping thriller, Tyler Perry’s latest drama, a new Maria Bamford documentary, and two classics worth revisiting lead our October 24–26 watchlist.
The remote has made it around the room twice, and nobody has committed to anything. Someone wants a thriller. Someone else has had enough anxiety for one week. There is a solution: decide what kind of evening you want before opening another row of recommendations.
This week’s Netflix list gives you five different places to start, from a political family in crisis to a fashion assistant whose boss could make a reasonable case for being the villain of a horror movie. There is also a documentary arriving just in time for the weekend and an actual horror classic for anyone getting into the Halloween spirit.
Availability checked against Netflix’s U.S. listings on October 23. Catalogs vary by country and can change.
1. Animals
Watch it if: You want a thriller where protecting the family could destroy its carefully managed public image.
Ben Affleck plays Los Angeles mayoral candidate Mark, with Kerry Washington as his wife, Abigail. Their son’s kidnapping forces the couple to raise a ransom and make decisions that threaten the life they have built. Affleck also directs; Gillian Anderson and Steven Yeun are among the cast. Netflix Tudum
The appeal is the collision between a public career and a private emergency. What happens to principles, reputation, and control when a family’s immediate priority becomes getting its child back?
This is the pick for an evening when you want pressure, difficult choices, and something to discuss once the crisis is over.
Weekend slot: Saturday night.
2. The Devil Wears Prada
Watch it if: You want familiar entertainment that still gives you reasons to argue about work.
Anne Hathaway plays Andy Sachs, an aspiring journalist who becomes an assistant to Miranda Priestly, Meryl Streep’s exacting fashion-magazine editor. Emily Blunt rounds out a workplace where looking composed is apparently part of surviving the day. netflix.com
The pleasure is in the performances, the clothes, and the escalating absurdity of a job that begins swallowing the rest of Andy’s life. Beneath that, there is a useful weekend argument: how much should an ambitious person surrender for an opportunity everyone insists they should appreciate?
Watch the 2006 original, then see whether your sympathies have shifted since the last time.
Weekend slot: Saturday afternoon.
3. Doing Life
Watch it if: You want a relationship drama built around second chances.
Tyler Perry’s film follows Anika, played by Naomi Baker, a single mother trying to hold her family together. She begins exchanging letters with Carousel, an incarcerated man played by Jay Reeves, and the correspondence develops into an unexpected connection. Netflix Media Center
That setup gives the relationship distance, limits, and an opportunity for two people to reveal themselves through words before sharing an ordinary daily life. The premise invites questions about hope, trust, and what people bring to relationships when they are already carrying difficult histories.
Choose this when you are in the mood for emotional stakes rather than another race to uncover a conspiracy.
Weekend slot: Sunday afternoon.
4. Paralyzed by Hope: The Maria Bamford Story
Watch it if: You want the newest selection to offer more than a few laughs.
Arriving October 23, this documentary examines the mental-health journey behind Maria Bamford’s comedy. Judd Apatow and Neil Berkeley co-direct, combining interviews and performance material to explore the person behind the work. About Netflix
This is a documentary rather than a stand-up special. Its subject makes it an intriguing choice for viewers interested in how a performer turns intensely personal material into something an audience can recognize and laugh with.
Come for the comedy, with room for a more complicated conversation about the life that makes it possible.
Weekend slot: Sunday evening.
5. Psycho
Watch it if: You want Halloween suspense without committing to another franchise.
Janet Leigh plays a woman fleeing with stolen money who stops at the Bates Motel. Anthony Perkins is Norman Bates, its proprietor, and Alfred Hitchcock directs a film whose reputation can make it easy to forget how unsettling the actual viewing experience is. netflix.com
Even if you know its most famous scene, there is value in watching how the movie establishes uncertainty before it arrives. A familiar image is a small part of the experience.
Make sure you select the 1960 original. Then let the motel’s atmosphere do its work without a second screen competing for attention.
Weekend slot: Late night.
If You Only Have Time for One
Start with Animals if you want a recent thriller with a clear hook. Make it Paralyzed by Hope if you would rather leave the weekend knowing more about someone whose work you have seen—or a comedian you have yet to discover.
For comfort viewing, The Devil Wears Prada is the move. Just remember that your own work messages can wait until the credits are over.