Watching: The best things to stream

sábado, 17 de mayo de 2025

On Netflix, Disney+, Max, Amazon and more All Newsletters Read online For subscribers May 17, 2025 By The Watching Team The weekend is her...
On Netflix, Disney+, Max, Amazon and more
All NewslettersRead online
New York Times logo
Watching
For subscribersMay 17, 2025

By The Watching Team

The weekend is here! If you're looking for something to watch, we can help. We've dug through Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, Max and Disney+ to find some of the best titles on each service.

STREAMING ON NETFLIX

'Ocean's Eleven'

Five men all wearing some type of suit stand in a line.
From left, George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Elliott Gould and Don Cheadle in "Ocean's Eleven." Bob Marshak/Warner Bros. Pictures

The Oscar-winning Steven Soderbergh brings together a jaw-dropping ensemble — including George Clooney, Matt Damon, Brad Pitt, Andy Garcia, Don Cheadle, Bernie Mac and Julia Roberts — for this sly, funny remake of the 1960 "Rat Pack" caper, investing the new work with a "seismic jolt of enthusiasm." Soderbergh keeps the basic story (a gang of con artists robs several Las Vegas casinos simultaneously) and the "all-star cast" hook. But he also updates the story to acknowledge Sin City's current, family-friendly aesthetic and invests the heist with enough unexpected twists and turns to keep audiences guessing.

These are the 50 best movies on Netflix.

STREAMING ON NETFLIX

'Territory'

A man in a cowboy had and suit stands under a tent with two women.
From left: Jay Ryan, Sara Wiseman and Anna Torv in "Territory." Netflix

"Yellowstone" is the most obvious point of comparison for this Australian neo-western, given that both shows are about dynastic ranching families trying to hold on to their business as rivals converge — some shady, and some with more righteous claims to the land. "Territory" isn't as soapy or pulpy as "Yellowstone." It takes a more serious look at a place where generations of white settlers have fought to carve out a living in a harsh landscape that doesn't really belong to them. "Territory" features a couple of actors well-known to American prestige TV audiences: Anna Torv ("Fringe," "Mindhunter") as a woman trying to hold her family together, and Michael Dorman ("Patriot," "For All Mankind") as her often underestimated rancher husband.

Here are 30 great TV shows on Netflix.

STREAMING ON HULU

'The Royal Tenenbaums'

A woman with dark eye makeup and a fuzzy copper-colored jacket sits on the roof of a city building looking upward wistfully.
Gwyneth Paltrow in "The Royal Tenenbaums." Touchstone Pictures

Wes Anderson's 2001 comedy-drama was Gene Hackman's third-to-last movie before he died this year, but it feels like his swan song — the story of an aging man putting his affairs in order and coming to grips with his own legacy. Royal Tenenbaum (played by Hackman) is, by most measures, a bad father — insulting, dismissive, selfish and frequently absent. Yet Anderson and Owen Wilson's piercing screenplay and Hackman's tragicomic performance discover the character's humanity, without sopping to sentimentality. It is, in many ways, the culmination of what Hackman did onscreen: presenting complicated men, without apology, and letting them live in their complexities.

Here are Hulu's best movies and TV shows.

STREAMING ON AMAZON PRIME VIDEO

'Saint Maud'

A woman wearing a turtleneck and with her hair in a ponytail looks straight to the lense with half of her face in shadows.
Morfydd Clark, mesmerizing as the title character in "Saint Maud." Angus Young/A24

This feature debut from the director Rose Glass is the kind of piercing examination of faith in a cynical world that we've come to expect from the likes of Paul Schrader and Martin Scorsese. Morfydd Clark is stunning in the title role as a nurse who believes she is a vessel of God, and must personally save the soul of her dying patient (a prickly, terrific Jennifer Ehle) — whether her patient likes it or not. It's the kind of film that burrows under your skin and settles there, and its shocking conclusion does not take any easy exits. Our critic praised the picture's "dark, spoiled beauty" and "mesmerizing" lead actor.

Here are a bunch of great movies on Amazon.

STREAMING ON MAX

'In the Mood for Love'

A softly lit woman wearing red lipstick looks into the distance as a man faces her in the background.
Maggie Cheung and Tony Leung in a scene from "In the Mood for Love." The Criterion Collection

Few films are as ravishingly beautiful as Wong Kar-wai's intoxicating film about Hong Kong in the early to mid-60s, starring Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung, two screen icons at the peak of their powers. Leung and Cheung play lonely-hearts who form a special kinship because of their spouses' neglect, but they're reluctant to follow through on the intense romantic longing they feel for each other. Wong's story of unrequited love in a changing city earned him the best reviews of his career, including one from the critic Elvis Mitchell, who called the film "a sweet kiss blown to a time long since over."

See more great movies streaming on Max.

STREAMING ON DISNEY+

'Moana 2'

A woman with long dark hair stands on a ship, looking out to the sky with determination.
Auli'i Cravalho voices the lead character in "Moana 2." Disney

On top of its lush tropical palette, its evocative use of Polynesian mythology and its memorable songs by Lin-Manuel Miranda, the original "Moana" broadened the Disney princess archetype by rejecting any prince character and giving its heroine the heavy burden of leading her island home of Motunui. The sequel largely runs it back without Miranda's working his magic; here, the musical numbers, by Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear, are mostly serviceable. But Moana's adventures are nonetheless eye-catching, as she teams up with the demigod Maui (Dwayne Johnson) to revive a legendary island sunk by an angry storm god. As with "Frozen 2," "Moana 2" doesn't change the formula so much as amplify its visual scale.

The 50 best things to watch on Disney+ right now.

If you received this newsletter from someone else, subscribe here.

Need help? Review our newsletter help page or contact us for assistance.

You received this email because you signed up for Watching from The New York Times.

To stop receiving Watching, unsubscribe. To opt out of other promotional emails from The Times, including those regarding The Athletic, manage your email settings.

Explore more subscriber-only newsletters.

Connect with us on:

facebookxinstagramwhatsapp

Change Your EmailPrivacy PolicyContact UsCalifornia Notices

LiveIntent LogoAdChoices Logo

The New York Times Company. 620 Eighth Avenue New York, NY 10018