Welcome to Mandatory Streamers, our column covering the best new streaming content coming your way every week! For the week of December 21, we’re changing things up a little to highlight the best new movies to stream over the holiday, from Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman 1984 to Disney and Pixar’s new animated feature Soul, Hulu’s Happiest Season starring Kristen Stewart, and many more. You can check out our selections below, and be sure to visit our mother site Mandatory by clicking here!
HBO Max
Wonder Woman 1984: Fast forward to the 1980s as Wonder Woman’s next big-screen adventure finds her facing two all-new foes: Max Lord and The Cheetah. With director Patty Jenkins back at the helm and Gal Gadot returning in the title role, Wonder Woman 1984 is Warner Bros. Pictures’ follow up to the DC Super Hero’s first outing, 2017’s record-breaking Wonder Woman. The highly-anticipated sequel will launch on Christmas Day!
Disney+
Soul: In Soul, Joe Gardner (voice of Jamie Foxx) is a middle-school band teacher who dreams of playing in the best jazz club in town, with the fantasy adventure drama’s filmmakers finding they could relate to the character’s passion for music. The animated movie, directed by Pete Docter, debuts on Christmas Day!
Hulu
Happiest Season: Happiest Season stars Kristen Stewart and Mackenzie Davis as a lesbian couple, happily cohabitating in the hip neighborhood of Lawrenceville. With the holidays fast approaching, both are considering big steps in their relationship. Abby (Stewart) is planning to pop the question, and even bought a ring for the occasion. For the first time, Harper (Davis) is bringing her girlfriend home for Christmas. That could prove the perfect moment for a proposal–except Harper’s not out to her family yet. This throws Abby into the awkward spot of being the tag-a-long friend at family gatherings, and watching awkwardly as Harper’s parents (Mary Steenburgen and Victor Garber) push hard for her to reconnect with her high school beau Connor (Jake McDorman). Seasonal shenanigans ensue in the rom-com drama from Clea DuVall, streaming now!
Amazon Prime Video
Sylvie’s Love: In Sylvie’s Love, the jazz is smooth and the air sultry in the hot New York summer of 1957. Robert (Nnamdi Asomugha), a saxophonist, spends late nights playing behind a less-talented but well-known bandleader, as a member of a jazz quartet. Sylvie (Tessa Thompson), who dreams of a career in television, spends her summer days helping around her father’s record store, as she waits for her fiancé to return from war. When Robert takes a part-time job at the record store, the two begin a friendship that sparks a deep passion in each of them unlike anything they have felt before. Written and directed by Eugene Ashe, the movie will launch on the streamer on Friday, December 25!
Netflix
Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey: From the imagination of writer-director David E. Talbert, Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey is a wholly fresh and spirited family holiday event. Set in the gloriously vibrant town of Cobbleton, the film follows legendary toymaker Jeronicus Jangle (Academy Award winner Forest Whitaker) whose fanciful inventions burst with whimsy and wonder. But when his trusted apprentice (Emmy winner Keegan-Michael Key) steals his most prized creation, it’s up to his equally bright and inventive granddaughter (newcomer Madalen Mills) — and a long-forgotten invention — to heal old wounds and reawaken the magic within. The feel-good holiday movie is now streaming on Netflix!
The Christmas Chronicles 2: It’s been two years since siblings Kate (Darby Camp) and Teddy Pierce (Judah Lewis) saved Christmas, and a lot has changed. Kate, now a cynical teenager, is reluctantly spending Christmas in Cancun with her mom’s new boyfriend and his son Jack (Jahzir Bruno). Unwilling to accept this new version of her family, Kate decides to run away. But when a mysterious, magical troublemaker named Belsnickel threatens to destroy the North Pole and end Christmas for good, Kate and Jack are unexpectedly pulled into a new adventure with Santa Claus (Kurt Russell). Written and directed by Chris Columbus (Home Alone, Harry Potter) and co-starring Goldie Hawn, The Christmas Chronicles 2 is an action-packed adventure for the whole family that’s full of heart, humor, and holiday spirit. The movie is now streaming!
The Midnight Sky: The Midnight Sky is a post-apocalyptic tale that follows Augustine (George Clooney), a lonely scientist in the Arctic, as he races to stop Sully (Felicity Jones) and her fellow astronauts from returning home to a mysterious global catastrophe. Clooney directs the adaptation of Lily Brooks-Dalton’s acclaimed novel Good Morning, Midnight, from a screenplay written by Mark L. Smith. The sci-fi fantasy drama is now streaming!
