Each month, lots of new films and TV shows are added to Stan‘s library. Eliza Janssen surveys the month’s selections and picks for titles most worth watching. For the full list of everything arriving on the platform, scroll down.
Top Picks: TV
Earth Abides: season 1 (December 2)
An unprecedented plague; civilisation breaking down; survivors struggling against one another and themselves to hold onto their true nature. The major plot points of this post-apocalyptic drama are all too contemporary, so let me blow your mind by noting that it’s based on George R. Stewart’s seminal sci-fi novel from 1949, the first ever winner of the International Fantasy Award!
With old-school origins seen through fresh eyes, this brand new dystopian series could either massively bum you out as we head into another bleak year, or make things seem a little lighter by virtue of comparison. The cast includes dependable action talents Alexander Ludwig and Jessica Frances Dukes, as well as Broadway darling Aaron Tveit, probably not belting out too many cheery song-and-dance routines here…
Universal Basic Guys: season 1 (December 9)
For most of us, the concept of AI automation stealing our jobs is a 21st century nightmare. For the Hoagies brothers, voiced by actual brothers Adam and Craig Malamut, however? Losing their jobs and getting a nifty $3k check each month as part of an experimental income program might be the best thing that’s ever happened to them. This new Fox animated series has traces of King of the Hill to it, following South Jersey slackers as they waste their time and, presumably, all the cash the system can cough up for ’em.
The show has received pretty negative reviews so far, but there’s the possibility (as with many animated comedies) that it’ll merely take a few episodes to settle into its boneheaded groove.
Barons: season 1 (December 23)
Surf’s up! An ideal summer binge, this ABC original from a few years ago chronicles the rising and falling fortunes of rival surf merch companies, a clear parallel to the histories of iconic Aussie brands Billabong and Quiksilver. Our mate Stephen A. Russell got to speak with the show’s creator Michael Lawrence on his aims for the sunny drama: helping viewers “to escape and enjoy bingeing eight hours of a great-looking group of people running around the beach, having a good time together with great music.”
Hot people, hot character conflict, hot weather: sounds like the perfect way to beat the heat indoors this month, no?
Bump: Season 5 Premiere (December 26)
Forget polishing off leftovers and binning all that spent wrapping paper with your annoying family on Boxing Day. You could instead be spending the post-Christmas haze with the Chalmers-Davis clan. And in fact it’s your last chance to do so, with season five wrapping up a saga of teen pregnancies, tragic diagnoses, and family drama that manages to be absorbingly entertaining and acutely relatable at once.
Over four heartfelt seasons, Nathalie Morris’ protagonist Oly has gone from unprepared teen mum to a relatively confident and secure adult, now facing her second pregnancy while mum Angie (a brilliant Claudia Karvan) grapples with her daunting health condition. We’ll miss the warmth of this gem of an Aussie drama: don’t take the last chapter for granted this holiday season.
Top Picks: Movies + Specials
The Drover’s Wife: The Legend of Molly Johnson (December 6)
A (very white) Australian bush legend is brought roaring to life in Leah Purcell’s revisionist western epic: a great selection to screen at the peak of our country’s blazing summer, especially with the family around. Writing, directing, and starring as the Indigenous frontierswoman whose family is threatened by fauna and corrupt men, Purcell more than lives up to the beloved Henry Lawson poem her mother used to read her in bed as a youngun.
Our review by Travis Johnson praised the film for its “pleasing and intriguing thematic complexity that refuses to allow space for pat answers and neat interpretations”.
Mandy (December 10)
In Luke Buckmaster’s definitive Cage Gauge, this trippy 2018 film ranks fourth, for both the movie’s nightmarish and stylish quality and the hysterical performance Our Nic contributes. “Never has the atmosphere of a Cage film been richer, gluggier, more intensely hallucinogenic”, Buckmaster praises: “Actor and aesthetic combine to make a strikingly original (and very squeamish) experience.”
At its best, the vibe of Panos Cosmastos’ revenge-horror feels like it was ripped straight from a metal album cover, and Cage of course meets this fever-pitch intensity at its level. When his world ends, he doesn’t phone in his moping. Oh no. He chugs a bottle of vodka while wearing tighty-whities and a tiger T-shirt, and screams his lungs out in a 70s-styled bathroom.
Marathon-a-rama: Rocky, Dwarves and the Man with No Name
Everyone else on the planet is going to be revisiting the same ol’ Christmas movie marathon around this time of year: Scrooges and Grinches learning the true reason for the season, psychopathic kids protecting their homes when left alone, etc. Why not spice things up with a movie marathon that is entirely unrelated to this period’s festivities?
Stan is about to host every film in Sly Stallone’s legendary Rocky franchise, including the wonderful Creed films made in recent years. On December 17, the finest Spaghetti Westerns of all time arrive, with all three of Leone and Eastwood’s Dollars movies dropping; and on Christmas day itself, Peter Jackson’s Hobbit trilogy digs out a cosy little Hobbit-hole on Stan, too. Screw tradition!
The Famous Five: Mystery at the Prospect Hotel (Coming soon this December)
Perhaps the perfect intergenerational programming for the holidays: certain to please readers of Enid Blyton’s beloved childrens’ adventure series, and young newcomers to the Five’s camaraderie and appetite for “lashings of ginger beer.” Bizarrely produced by edgy arthouse filmmaker Nicolas Winding Refn, the new feature film is set in the summer of 1940, with five plucky mates helping to find the attempted killer of a suave jazz singer.
The atmosphere is deliciously vintage, and nasty bugger Joffrey (Jack Gleeson) appears as the Five’s old foe, who unexpectedly needs their help with this swingin’ sleuthwork. The definition of old-fashioned fun.
All titles arriving on Stan in December
December 1
My Best Friend’s Wedding
Hey Duggee: Season 4 Part 2
The Octonauts and the Great Christmas Rescue
The Legend Of The Christmas Witch 2: Origins
December 2
Earth Abides: Season 1 Premiere
Click (2006)
When Mum is Away…with the Family
December 3
Gang Related
The Great Silence
December 4
CMA Country Christmas 2024
A Kid Like Jake
December 5
Hitler: A Life in Pictures: Season 1
December 6
Mr. Deeds
The Drover’s Wife
December 7
Ben-Hur (2016)
Escape Room (2019)
Burning
December 8
Shadows of the Web
Lantana
Agent Cody Banks
Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London
December 9
Universal Basic Guys: Season 1 Premiere
Who You Think I Am
December 10
Mandy
December 11
Born To Spy: Season 1
December 12
Death Wish (2018)
December 13
The Craft
The Innocence
December 14
Shazam: Fury Of The Gods
Thomas And Friends: Tale Of The Brave
Creed
Creed II
Creed III
Rocky
Rocky II
Rocky III
Rocky IV
Rocky V
Rocky Balboa
December 15
Man On Wire
A Tale Of Love and Desire
December 16
Original Sin
December 17
A Fistful Of Dollars
For A Few Dollars More
The Good, The Bad And The Ugly
December 18
Evil Dead Rise
Rosalie Blum
December 19
Significant Others: Season 1
Donnie Darko
An Unexpected Love
December 20
Legally Blonde
Legally Blonde 2: Red, White And Blonde
December 21
Interstellar
December 22
The Reserve: Season 1
My Little Pony: The Movie
Uptown Girls
December 23
Next Goal Wins
70 Big Ones
Barons: Season 1
December 24
The Vow
Petra
December 25
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug
The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies
Lassie Come Home
December 26
Bump: Season 5 Premiere
Hypnotic (2020)
December 27
Call The Midwife: Christmas Special 2022
God Exists, Her Name Is Petrunya
December 28
300
Thomas And Friends: The Great Discovery
December 29
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
Aurora
December 30
Grammys Greats: The Most Memorable Moments
District 9
Slugterra: Ascension: Season 1
December 31
Locke
The Queen of Spain
Coming Soon
The Famous Five: Mystery at the Prospect Hotel
See also
* Best new movies and TV series on Netflix Australia
* Best new movies and TV series on Amazon Prime
* Best new movies and TV series on Disney+
* All new streaming movies & series
