What to watch on streaming: today's picks from Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and more

Bradley Cooper directs and stars in this heartfelt and elegantly made biopic of the American composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein. The film spans his career, beginning in 1943 when he conducts the New York Philharmonic, aged just 25. Yet this is not simply "Bernstein's Greatest Hits"; Cooper and co-writer Josh Singer barely even mention West Side Story, for example. Rather, it's a searing portrait of his marriage to Chilean actress Felicia Montealegre (Carey Mulligan, giving a towering performance), which implodes owing to his attraction to men.

Switching from monochrome in the 1940s to colour in the later years, Cooper's film shows immense fidelity to both the period and Bernstein's joyous appreciation of music.

James Mottram

Move over, The Rings of Power and The Wheel of Time — there’s a new epic fantasy quest to get lost in, and it’s full of cheeky, youthful energy. Co-written by Rick Riordan, author of the hit novel series in which Greek gods and legends persist in the present day, the new show casts Walker Scobell as Perseus “Percy” Jackson, an apparently ordinary American kid with dyslexia and ADHD who is in fact a demi-god, and who has been accused by Zeus of stealing his “master bolt”.

As a trek across the country looms, a snappy sense of humour underpins the lush special effects and the story’s coming-of-age subtext about struggling to find one’s place in the world.

Jack Seale

Can a megastar marry an average member of the general public? That daydream sits at the heart of this glitzy romcom. Jennifer Lopez is at her most diva-like as a pop star who plumps for Owen Wilson’s single-parent teacher as a replacement beau for her cheating boyfriend (Colombian singer-songwriter Maluma). Soon enough, the genial everyman is thrown into a dizzy world of endorsements and 24/7 reality TV.

The film plays out like a less charming Notting Hill, but the original songs by Lopez and Maluma bring some cheer to an otherwise tame affair.

James Mottram

When an elderly Chinese woman is diagnosed with terminal cancer, her family opts not to tell her, taking on the emotional burden themselves and secretly celebrating her life behind the guise of a family wedding. However, their decision sits uneasily with her granddaughter Billi (Awkwafina, above with Zhao Shu-Zhen as her grandmother), a New Yorker who’s one of the many relatives flying in for the occasion.

Despite having its plot rooted in sadness and mortality, this is an upbeat and life-affirming movie filled with laughs.

Dave Aldridge

More than 20 years after Chicken Run became a claymation classic, Ginger, Rocky and co return in this joyous sequel. Having escaped from Mrs Tweedy’s farm, the flock now lives in a utopian island base. When Ginger (voiced by Thandiwe Newton) and Rocky (Zachary Levi) discover that their daughter Molly (Bella Ramsey) has set off on her own adventure, old enemies rear their heads and only an expertly orchestrated heist can avert a calamity.

Director Sam Fell crafts innovative set pieces, and the film is as eccentrically charming as its predecessor.

Patrick Cremona

Harrison Ford cracks his whip one last time as the intrepid archaeologist in this likeable fifth and final outing. In 1969, an ageing Indiana Jones now lives alone in New York, his adventuring days behind him, until his god-daughter Helena (Phoebe Waller-Bridge) crashes into his life seeking the Antikythera, better known as the Archimedes Dial. Also on the hunt for this artefact, believed to pinpoint fissures in time, is scientist Jürgen Voller (Mads Mikkelsen), a former Nazi who has helped the US win the Space Race.

With the story globe-trotting from Manhattan to Morocco and Greece, director James Mangold (taking over from Steven Spielberg) does a good job in realising the look and feel of an Indy movie. Although the helter-skelter plot is driven by one too many chases, it’s a good-natured ride with neat throwbacks to the originals.

James Mottram

Good as Tom Cruise was in the movies of Lee Child’s Jack Reacher stories, Alan Ritchson is surely the definitive screen version of the hulking former military policeman. Season one saw Reacher working to bring down a murderous conspiracy. In the new episodes, his old army buddies are being picked off by an unknown stalker, which means even more bone-splitting action.

But there’s no change to the show’s trump card, which isn’t Ritchson’s incredible muscles — it’s his dab hand with a dry one-liner.

Jack Seale

Dan Guterman, creator of this new animated series for adults, previously wrote for satirical website The Onion and has won Emmys for his work on Rick & Morty and The Colbert Report. So expect a laconically dry take on the apocalypse, as this show tells the ten-part story of Carol (Martha Kelly), a woman who loves routine and struggles to experience joy.

As a large object is hurtling towards Earth, most people are abandoning their responsibilities and ticking off bucket lists, but Carol finds it hard to leave her monotony behind.

Jack Seale

The first Shazam! (2019) was a surprise screwball entry in the DC movie universe, and this action-packed sequel is just as good. Having become Shazam (Zachary Levi), teen orphan Billy Batson (Asher Angel) recruits the other kids in his foster home as superheroes. They face a trio of vengeful Greek goddesses (Helen Mirren, Lucy Liu and Rachel Zegler) who have escaped their millennia-long imprisonment.

The film is full of heart, warmth and charm — and Levi remains a lovable goofball of a hero.

Dave Golder

The epic royal saga comes to a close, regaining its usual rhythm after this season’s heavily Diana-focused first half. The action resumes after reaction to Diana’s death in 1997 has abated — it’s replaced by more typical developments such as William returning to Eton and meeting his future wife Kate Middleton; Charles marrying Camilla; and the Queen’s Golden Jubilee in 2002.

It’s the end of a labour of love for Peter Morgan, who has written or co-written all 60 episodes.

Jack Seale

Jim Broadbent puts his best foot forward in this gentle British drama about a retiree who sets out on a 500-mile hike to see an old colleague who is in a hospice dying of cancer. Why doesn’t he take the train? Because he believes his pilgrimage will keep her alive while she waits for him to arrive.

The movie isn’t always credible, but its core message about finding meaning through helping others is touchingly conveyed. Penelope Wilton (above with Broadbent) co-stars as Harold’s wife Maureen.

James Mottram

Mummy issues abound in this animated comedy, in which an Egyptian charioteer and a pharaoh’s daughter go on an adventure in modern London. After being thrown together by chance, Thut (voiced by Joe Thomas) and Princess Nefer (Eleanor Tomlinson) are forced to leave the Egyptian afterlife and end up in the British capital, where high jinks ensue.

Among the voice talent, Hugh Bonneville is good value as a grave-robbing English lord, while the inclusion of the obligatory Bangles song Walk Like an Egyptian sums up the film’s breezy tone.

Steve Morrissey

Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore face off in this wickedly funny melodrama from director Todd Haynes (Carol). Moore plays Gracie, who has served jail time for having had a relationship with a teenager. Years later, her story is to be made into a movie, and actor Elizabeth (Portman) arrives at Gracie’s home to study her ahead of the role.

Taking a tone that is knowingly salacious and camp, Haynes recalls soap operas as much as he does cerebral arthouse films like Persona, and the result is a watchable romantic drama with plenty of depth.

Max Copeman

Julia Roberts and Ethan Hawke’s holiday break turns into terror in this fitfully engaging apocalyptic drama. Deciding on a whim to leave the city, Amanda (Roberts) packs up husband Clay (Hawke) and their two teens (Farrah Mackenzie and Charlie Evans) and heads to a luxury rental home. In the middle of the night, the owner (Mahershala Ali) and his daughter (Myha’la) turn up, seeking shelter after a mysterious blackout.

The story might have worked better as a TV series, but Roberts’s spiky turn will keep you watching.

James Mottram

Charming 2022 comedy Your Christmas or Mine? introduced us to young couple Hayley (Cora Kirk) and James (Asa Butterfield), who each spent Christmas with the other’s family after a series of misunderstandings. This sequel sees their two families jetting off for a festive break on the pistes in Innsbruck. Unsurprisingly, fresh confusion occurs, not least over who gets the posh hotel and who stays in the rickety old barn guarded by a goat.

However, despite the cast’s energetic performances, there is little evidence of the first film’s wit, and any laughs are pretty feeble at best. The plot bulges with even more clichés than the original, although the Austrian locations do at least offer up a smattering of real snow.

Jayne Nelson

A wholesome teen romance, based on the novel by Ali Novak and from the studio that made the Kissing Booth movies. Fifteen-year-old Jackie (Nikki Rodriguez) moves from glitzy Manhattan to small-town Colorado when her parents die — her new guardian is her mother’s best friend, a mother of 10, so there is a lot to adjust to as Jackie quickly becomes the talk of the community. Then she meets two brothers, one gentle and bookish, the other intense and mysterious.

You might be able to guess what happens next, but an old story is freshly told.

Jack Seale

Disillusioned with dating apps and sex parties, and having left a string of misjudged voice notes for a guy saved as MAX (DON’T CALL) in her phone, single 20-something Sammy (Danielle Vitalis) swears off dating. But then she meets Tom (Jon Pointing) at a karaoke bar. And she still swears off dating.Despite liking him, she tells him what she wants to do: three weeks of fun and no “pretending it’s going anywhere or getting deep”. As every other relationship she’s pursued has gone wrong, she doesn’t want this one to as well. Episode two sees them go back to phoning an ex (her) and downloading an app (him).

It’s a sideways take on the boy-meets-girl romcom – and one that is also sharp, perky and a lot of fun.

Frances Taylor

This twisted anthology is not letting up on the ick, with four unpleasant new tales. A model who is desperate to lose weight is persuaded to consume a tapeworm; a lonely teen is goaded into performing a series of dangerous pranks by a mysterious online acquaintance; a womaniser has his organs harvested; a man becomes overly reliant on his female-styled robot assistant.

The quartet of stories all have a point to make about aspects of modern society, which they do without worrying about subtlety.

Jack Seale

Marseille’s reputation as a sweltering hotbed of criminality may or may not be fair, but it’s the impression given by a new, violent French drama.

A druglord arrives from out of town and promises to make the coastal city his new patch, which — as you can imagine — isn’t received well by the existing kingpin. As a bloodbath looms, a gang of crack police enforcers, who don’t play by the rules, have recruited a female agent who might have her own agenda. Before long, everyone is shooting at someone.

Tewfik Jallab, Jeanne Goursaud and Nicolas Duvauchelle star.

It was never a hit over here, but this agreeable US sitcom from 2015 ran for six seasons over there and is a minor gem. Based loosely on the experiences of TV chef Eddie Huang, it follows a Taiwanese-American family as they move from Chinatown in Washington DC, to the white community of Orlando, Florida, where their Asian restaurant will be the only one for miles.

Standard jokes about parenting and coming of age mix neatly with warm character drama and enlightening comment on the immigrant experience.

Alexandre Dumas’s often- filmed novel is brought to life by a charismatic European cast. François Civil is D’Artagnan, who crosses swords with, and later joins, the musketeers loyal to King Louis XIII (Louis Garrel). Old-fashioned in the best way, the film benefits from period-perfect stylings and excellent turns from Vincent Cassel, Eva Green and Phantom Thread’s Vicky Krieps.

Sequel The Three Musketeers: Milady is in cinemas from 15 December.

James Mottram

Eddie Murphy stars as a recently laid-off father desperately trying to win a lucrative Christmas decorating contest in this peculiar festive comedy from director Reginald Hudlin. What begins as a conventional family film quickly descends into chaos after Murphy makes a Faustian deal with rogue elf Pepper, which could see him added to her collection of captive talking ornaments, among them Nick Offerman sporting a dreadful English accent. When Pepper casts a wicked spell based on a popular Yuletide song, Murphy is forced to enlist the help of his family to save Christmas and himself from meeting a terrible fate.

It’s not without charm, and the charisma of Murphy and Tracee Ellis Ross ensure there are some laughs along the way, but not enough to ensure Christmas classic status.

Patrick Cremona

Magic saves the day in this heartstring-tugging Christmas fable scripted by Richard Curtis (Love Actually) and previously adapted by the BBC in 1991. Paapa Essiedu stars as despondent husband and father Bernard, who frees genie Flora (Melissa McCarthy) from her jewellery-box prison and decides to use his unlimited supply of wishes to win back his family.

Curtis’s screenplay contains little in the way of surprises, but Essiedu brings plenty of emotional depth to the put-upon Bernard. He’s ultimately the straight man to McCarthy, though, who gives a joyously over-the-top performance.

Terry Staunton