Netflix’s December originals promise a festive and thrilling mix of romance, reckoning, comedy, and courage. With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration spreads holiday cheer with cozy décor, heartfelt recipes, and celebrity guests in a warm, festive gathering. My Secret Santa delivers a charming rom-com with a single mom disguising herself as Santa to make her daughter’s dreams come true, blending holiday magic with laughter and romance. Tension rises in The Abandons, a gritty Western drama of rival families battling for survival and legacy on the unforgiving frontier. Jay Kelly explores fame and regret as a Hollywood star confronts the cost of his life in the spotlight, mixing humor with introspective depth. Chaos ensues in Man Vs Baby, where Rowan Atkinson’s hapless caretaker tackles holiday mayhem, newborn misadventures, and slapstick disaster. Finally, Sean Combs: The Reckoning pulls back the curtain on ambition, power, and controversy, offering a gripping docuseries that examines the price of fame and the stories we tell, and those we hide.

This month’s must-watch releases

‘Sean Combs: The Reckoning’ (Dec. 2)

The four-part docuseries Sean Combs: The Reckoning promises to lay bare the rise and fall of Sean “Diddy” Combs, mixing past glory with damning allegations, and, perhaps most striking, never-before-seen footage from just days before his 2024 arrest. 50 Cent shares, “It shows you his character … that’s one of the moments where he forgot that he was on tape.”

‘With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration’ (Dec. 3)

With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration is a cozy, lifestyle-driven holiday special that invites viewers inside Meghan Markle’s Montecito home for an evening of festive cooking, décor, and heartfelt traditions. It follows Meghan as she hosts friends and celebrity guests for tree-decorating, wreath-making, shared meals, and handmade gift-crafting.

‘My Secret Santa’ (Dec. 3)

My Secret Santa is a light, feel-good holiday rom-com that follows a single mom who disguises herself as an elderly Santa to land a resort job and pay for her daughter’s dreams. Her plan unravels when she unexpectedly falls for the resort manager, creating a warm, snowy mix of comedy, romance, and Christmas charm

‘The Abandons’ (Dec. 4)

The Abandons is a gritty Western-drama series dropping on Netflix December 4, 2025. It pits two matriarchs (one wealthy and privileged, the other leading a chosen family of orphans and outcasts) against each other in 1850s Washington Territory as they fight over land, secrets, and survival. As heart-wrenching betrayals and moral compromises mount, the show explores what happens when loyalty, faith and desperation collide in a harsh frontier world. As producer Chris Keyser told Tudum: “This first chapter of The Abandons is a classic American story — the frontier, two families — both at war and in love with each other, a battle over who owns the land and who makes the rules.

‘Jay Kelly’ (Dec. 5)

Jay Kelly is a character-driven Netflix drama that follows a fading Hollywood star, played by George Clooney, as he confronts the personal fallout of a life spent chasing fame. When a trip across Europe with his longtime manager forces him to face old regrets and fractured relationships, Jay begins reckoning with what his success has cost him. Blending humor and introspection, the film explores the loneliness behind celebrity and the struggle to rediscover a sense of purpose beyond the spotlight.

‘Man Vs Baby’ (Dec. 11)

Man Vs Baby is a four‑part Netflix comedy miniseries premiering December 11, 2025, starring Rowan Atkinson as the hapless caretaker Trevor Bingley. Tasked with babysitting a newborn left behind during a school nativity play at a luxury London penthouse, Trevor’s holiday job quickly descends into chaotic mishaps. Packed with slapstick humor, festive chaos, and Atkinson’s signature physical comedy, the series blends heartwarming moments with laugh‑out‑loud disasters, making it a perfect holiday watch.

What’s new on Netflix in December?

All the Empty Rooms (Dec. 1)

Playing Gracie Darling (Dec. 1)

Troll 2 (Dec. 1)

A League of Their Own (Dec. 1)

As Good as It Gets (Dec. 1)

Bad Teacher (Dec. 1)

Big Momma’s House (Dec. 1)

Big Momma’s House 2 (Dec. 1)

Brightburn (Dec. 1)

Burlesque (Dec. 1)

Christmas Break-In (Dec. 1)

Godzilla (Dec. 1)

Hollow Man (Dec. 1)

Joy for Christmas (Dec. 1)

Kung Fu Panda (Dec. 1)

Kung Fu Panda 2 (Dec. 1)

Kung Fu Panda 3 (Dec. 1)

Little Women (Dec. 1)

Pulp Fiction (Dec. 1)

Stripes (Dec. 1)

The Ugly Truth (Dec. 1)

What Lies Beneath (Dec. 1)

The Wolf of Wall Street (Dec. 1)

Zero Dark Thirty (Dec. 1)

Matt Rife: Unwrapped — A Christmas Crowd Work Special (Dec. 2)

My Secret Santa (Dec. 3)

The Northman (Dec. 3)

With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration (Dec. 3)

The Abandons (Dec. 4)

Fugue State 1986 (Dec. 4)

I Wish You Had Told Me (Dec. 4)

Lali: Time to Step Up (Dec. 4)

A Lot Like Christmas (Dec. 5)

Forrest Gump (Dec. 5)

Mean Girls (Dec. 5)

Jay Kelly (Dec. 5)

Love and Wine (Dec. 5)

The New Yorker at 100 (Dec. 5)

The Night My Dad Saved Christmas 2 (Dec. 5)

The Price of Confession (Dec. 5)

Pro Bono (Dec. 6)

Babylon (Dec. 7)

Cast Away (Dec. 7)

Elmo and Mark Rober’s Merry Giftmas (Dec. 8)

Badly in Love (Dec. 9)

Masaka Kids, A Rhythm Within (Dec. 9)

The Fakenapping (Dec. 11)

Lost in the Spotlight (Dec. 11)

Man Vs Baby (Dec. 11)

The Town (Dec. 11)

The Fakenapping (Dec. 11)

The Manny (Dec. 17)

Murder in Monaco (Dec. 17)

What’s in the Box? (Dec. 17)

10DANCE (Dec. 18)

Goodbye June (Dec. 24)

Eden (Dec. 23)

Cover-Up (Dec. 26)

Cashero (Dec. 26)

Members Only: Palm Beach (Dec. 29)

Evil Influencer: The Jodi Hildebrandt Story (Dec. 30)

Ricky Gervais: Mortality (Dec. 30)

Sleeping with Other People (Dec. 31)

What’s leaving the streamer?

Austin Powers in Goldmember (Dec. 1)

Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (Dec. 1)

Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (Dec. 1)

Back to the Future (Dec. 1)

Back to the Future Part II (Dec. 1)

Back to the Future Part III (Dec. 1)

Beverly Hills Cop (Dec. 1)

Beverly Hills Cop II (Dec. 1)

Beverly Hills Cop III (Dec. 1)

Billy Madison (Dec. 1)

Clueless (Dec. 1)

Cold Pursuit (Dec. 1)

The Dark Tower (Dec. 1)

Downton Abbey (Dec. 1)

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (Dec. 1)

Edge of Tomorrow (Dec. 1)

Escape Room (Dec. 1)

Game Night (Dec. 1)

The Goonies (Dec. 1)

The Happytime Murders (Dec. 1)

Inglourious Basterds (Dec. 1)

Kicking and Screaming (Dec. 1)

The Nutty Professor (Dec. 1)

The Nutty Professor II: The Klumps (Dec. 1)

Paddington (Dec. 1)

Wonka (Dec. 1)

Compliance (Dec. 5)

Gods of Egypt (Dec. 7)

Daddy’s Home (Dec. 9)

Daddy’s Home 2 (Dec. 9)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Dec. 17)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 (Dec. 17)

Transformers (Dec. 25)

Transformers: Age of Extinction (Dec. 25)

Transformers: Dark of the Moon (Dec. 25)

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (Dec. 25)

10 Things I Hate About You (Dec. 29)

Idiocracy (Dec. 29)

Sweet Home Alabama (Dec. 29)

Ready Player One (Dec. 30)