Season Four. [Episodes 1 - 3] Aired On: Peacock. Release Date: 01/08/26. Genre: Game Show. Reality-TV. The Verdict: A Must-See Three episodes in and The Traitors remains one of the greatest reality competition series to ever exist. If you checked out last season, you should be very aware of the crazy shenanigans that went down and this season is already firing on all cylinders. Loaded with recognizable faces from the pop culture sphere that we live in from Survivor and Bi

Release Date: 01/09/25 [Netflix] Genre: Romance. MPAA: Rated PG13. Distributor: Netflix. Sony Pictures. The Verdict: A Maybe January is typically not a solid month for new releases and People We Meet on Vacation didn’t initially give me much confidence based on the trailer. However, upon watching and then doing some research in regards to the 2021 New York Times Bestseller - this is a worthy romance, but equally a weak adaptation.  As someone who has not read the book mysel

Season One. [Episodes 1 - 4] Aired On: Paramount+. Release Date: 01/15/26. Genre: Action. Adventure. SciFi. The Verdict: A Maybe Now entering its celebrated 60th year, Star Trek  is boldly going… back to school. Star Trek: Starfleet Academy  aims to reboot the franchise with a new ship, a new captain, and a mostly new cast of faces still figuring out which end of a phaser goes pew-pew . The premise works. Holly Hunter (yes, that  Holly Hunter) plays Captain Nahla Ake, a half

Release Date: 01/09/26 [Cinemas] Genre: Biography. Drama. Romance. MPAA: Not Rated. Distributor: The Forge. The Verdict: A Must-See Lidia Yuknavitch is not a household name. Outside of a few small circles, she may never be. While there’s a chance those who read this may also not know who she is, they shouldn’t feel too bad because for most of her life she didn’t know herself either. Her journey of self-discovery is the subject of Kristen Stewart’s directorial debut The Chron

w/ Jim Belushi and Thora Birch. SYNOPSIS A woman, after an abusive childhood, escapes into competitive swimming, sexual experimentation, toxic relationships, and addiction before finding her voice through writing.   ​Cinefied's Dempsey Pillot had the opportunity to speak with Jim Belushi and Thora Birch about Kristen Stewart's directorial debut, The Chronology of Water ... ​ ​ READ Our The Chronology of Water  Review HERE

Season Two. [Episodes 1 - 4] Aired On: HBO Max. Release Date: 01/08/26. Genre: Drama. The Verdict: A Must-See HBO Max’s The Pitt  arrived with a pulse and ended on an adrenaline spike. Season two may start a brand-new shift with the 7:00 AM sun, but explosions are about to ignite, especially on a certain day in early July. The Pitt  debuted to strong critical and viewer praise, not only for welcoming Noah Wyle back into the world of medical procedurals, but for recentering t

Release Date: 12/19/25 [Cinemas] Genre: Drama. Thriller. MPAA: Rated R. Distributor: Lionsgate. The Verdict: A Must-See Paul Feig has a hot and cold streak that has followed his career ever since his breakout with Bridesmaids , with numerous success stories to follow along with some massive critical failures. In just this year alone, the director had directed two feature films: Another Simple Favor and now seven months later The Housemaid . Let’s just say, one of these titl

Release Date: 12/12/25 [Cinemas] Genre: Drama. Thriller. MPAA: Rated R. Distributor: IFC Films. The Verdict: A Must-See The Plague is a sadly relatable childhood bully simulator with Full Metal Jacket vibes (grade school edition). Cringy, disturbing juvenile interactions are aplenty, both subtle and outright, that effectively convey common struggles kids face trying to fit in, avoiding becoming social pariahs and targets for humiliation like the plague (buh-dum-tss 🥁 ) Th

Physical Media Release Date: 12/16/25. Label: Kino Lorber. Form of Release: Blu-Ray. The Verdict: A Must-Buy Monk is easily one of the best shows to ever grave our screens. A weekly murder mystery with the former detective, now consultant Adrian Monk (played by the charismatic Tony Shalhoub), whom you can't help but warm up to as more is established about his character. Monk is assisted by several series regulars such as his personal assistants Sharona (Bitty Schram) for th

Release Date: 12/12/25 [Cinemas] Genre: Holiday. Horror. MPAA: Rated TVMA. Distributor: Cineverse Entertainment. The Verdict: A Must-See There exists a special magic that blends horror films and the Christmas season into an enjoyable mixture. For being such a curious choice, this bloody mélange has more hits than misses, as evident with recent additions such as Terrifier 3 and Violent Night , and especially now with the latest entry into the Silent Night, Deadly Night seri

Physical Media Release Date: 12/09/25. Label: Paramount Home Entertainment. Form of Release: 4K UHD. The Verdict: A Must-Buy On 4K UHD for the FIRST time, Catch Me If You Can has finally arrived in the best quality transfer for any Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hanks or most importantly Spielberg admirer. One of their most brilliant and yet one of their lesser talked about feature films. Following a gifted teenager who turns master con artist in Catch Me If You Can, eluding the FBI

Release Date: 12/19/25 [Cinemas] Genre: Adventure. Animation. Drama. Family. Musical. MPAA: Rated PG. Distributor: Angel Studios. The Verdict: A Maybe Everyone at the very least has a vague awareness of the story of David versus Goliath. For myself, that’s essentially where my knowledge ends. As someone that has never read a page of the Bible, I’m taking this telling of David as gospel (with some animated flourishes for the whole family).  David was really quite a surprisin

Release Date: 01/02/26 [Cinemas] Genre: Horror. Thriller. MPAA: Rated R. Distributor: Vertical Entertainment. The Verdict: A Maybe We Bury the Dead is a bummer of a road trip movie, but succeeds in its focus on the importance of closure and maintaining dignity and humanity even as the world begins to crumble. It’s less of a zombie movie and more of a fractured love story about loss, acceptance and imperfect closure.  In the country of Tasmania a chemical explosion wipes out

Release Date: 01/02/26 [Cinemas] Genre: Drama. Thriller. MPAA: Rated R. Distributor: Inaugural Entertainment. Seen for SXSW 2025. The Verdict: A Maybe The Dutchman is a contemporary adaptation of Amiri Baraka's 1964 play, aiming to explore complex themes of race, identity, and power dynamics. The film introduces us to Clay, portrayed by André Holland, a successful Black businessman grappling with personal and professional turmoil. His marriage to Kaya, played by Zazie Beetz

Season Five. Aired On: Netflix. Release Date: 12/31/25. Genre: Drama. Fantasy. Horror. SciFi. The Verdict: A Must-See “As if this goddamned place wasn’t heady enough,” one character says in Episode Four of the fifth season of Netflix’s culminating juggernaut Stranger Things . It’s no longer cool to like — or even admit you still watch — Stranger Things . The first season was almost universally adored, but many fans drifted after Season Two’s infamous “The Lost Sister” detour

w/ Director Curry Barker. SYNOPSIS After breaking the mysterious "One Wish Willow" to win his crush's heart, a hopeless romantic finds himself getting exactly what he asked for but soon discovers that some desires come at a dark, sinister price.   ​Cinefied's Peter Gray had the opportunity to speak with Director Curry Barker about their theatrical directorial debut, Obsession ... ​ ​ READ Our Obsession  Review HERE

Release Date: 11/26/25 [Cinemas] Genre: Action. Adventure. Comedy. Crime. MPAA: Rated PG. Distributor: Walt Disney Studios. The Verdict: A Must-See Disney has undeniably been riding a commercial high lately, but calling it a creative wave feels generous. Rather than forging bold new stories, the studio has leaned heavily on recycling its own catalog, repackaging familiar titles as live action remakes or sequels designed to cash in on nostalgia. Just in the last year, Moana 2

Release Date: 12/19/25 [Cinemas] Genre: Action. Drama. Horror. Thriller. MPAA: Rated R. Distributor: Roadside Attractions. The Verdict: A Must-See In his feature directorial debut, Bryan Fuller delivers a boldly stylised and unexpectedly tender action thriller with Dust Bunny , a film that feels less like a conventional genre exercise and more like a fever dream stitched together from myth, violence, and childhood imagination. Starring Mads Mikkelsen as a weary hitman known

Release Date: 12/19/25 [Cinemas] Genre: Action. Adventure. Fantasy. SciFi. Thriller. MPAA: Rated PG13. Distributor: 20th Century Studios. The Verdict: A Maybe While thirteen years separated the release of Avatar  and its sequel, Avatar: The Way of Water , the wait between the franchise’s second and third chapters is far shorter. By filming the second and third installments back to back, James Cameron allowed post-production on both films to run concurrently, shrinking the ga

Season Two. [Episodes 1 - 6] Aired On: Prime Video. Release Date: 12/16/25. Genre: Action. Adventure. Drama. SciFi. The Verdict: A Must-See The first season of Fallout , adapted from the popular video game RPG series, was a blast. It was a video game adaptation that understood the tongue-in-cheek humor and style of the video games while also never compromising genuinely exciting stakes and character drama. Not only giving us charming performances from newcoming Ella Parnell