It is Halloween week, and the streaming schedule has the scares to match: Dexter Morgan returns, the dead rise again in Apocalypse Z: New World, a Filipino island hides dark secrets and Sky conjures a witch hunt for 31 October. There is plenty for calmer evenings too, from Bill Murray’s Irish golf odyssey to a moving look at Matthew Perry, plus Apple TV+ and the best of the week’s British drama.
This Week’s Highlights
Dexter: Resurrection: Season 2
- Platform: Paramount+
- Content type: Crime thriller series
- Release date: Friday 30 October
- US availability: Paramount+ (Paramount+ Premium), weekly episodes
- UK availability: Paramount+, weekly episodes
Viewer Match
- Best for: Long-time Dexter fans and anyone who enjoys a charismatic antihero.
- Maybe skip if: Graphic violence and dark humour are not for you.
- Mood and pace: Tense, wry and blood-soaked.
- Time commitment: A weekly series; settle in for the season.
Michael C. Hall returns as Dexter Morgan for a second season in New York, where he finds himself caught between two very different serial killers, played by Brian Cox and Dan Stevens. Jack Alcott is back as his son Harrison, now with the NYPD, and Uma Thurman returns as Charley.
Movieversalfilm watch note: The week’s biggest returning crime series, and perfectly timed for Halloween-weekend viewing.
Apocalypse Z: New World
- Platform: Prime Video
- Content type: Zombie horror film
- Release date: Friday 30 October
- US availability: Prime Video
- UK availability: Prime Video
Viewer Match
- Best for: Zombie fans who want a big, action-led Halloween night in.
- Maybe skip if: You prefer slow-burn horror to full-scale survival action.
- Mood and pace: Relentless, gory and propulsive.
- Time commitment: A single feature film.
The sequel to Prime Video’s 2024 hit Apocalypse Z: The Beginning of the End picks up the story of a world overrun, based on the novels by Manel Loureiro. Carles Torrens returns to direct, and the film launches worldwide on Halloween weekend.
Movieversalfilm watch note: Our pick for the week’s Halloween horror night in, especially if you enjoyed the first film.
Balaraw: Blood Island
- Platform: Netflix
- Content type: Filipino horror-mystery series
- Release date: Thursday 29 October
- US availability: Netflix
- UK availability: Netflix
Viewer Match
- Best for: Viewers who love folk horror and island-set mysteries.
- Maybe skip if: Subtitled series are not for you.
- Mood and pace: Atmospheric, eerie and secretive.
- Time commitment: Eight episodes, released together.
A young woman travels to an uncharted island in search of her missing mother and finds herself confronting dark family secrets. Janine Gutierrez and Charlie Dizon lead this atmospheric Filipino horror-mystery.
Movieversalfilm watch note: A fresh, far-flung alternative to the usual Halloween fare, and an easy weekend binge.
The Boulet Brothers’ Dragula: Season 7
- Platform: Shudder and AMC+
- Content type: Horror drag competition series
- Release date: Tuesday 27 October
- US availability: Shudder and AMC+
- UK availability: Shudder
Viewer Match
- Best for: Fans of drag, horror and gloriously gruesome spectacle.
- Maybe skip if: Body horror and extreme challenges turn your stomach.
- Mood and pace: Theatrical, macabre and defiantly outrageous.
- Time commitment: A weekly competition series.
The Boulet Brothers celebrate a decade of their genre-bending competition, in which drag artists battle through horror-themed challenges for the title of the world’s next drag supermonster.
Movieversalfilm watch note: A suitably ghoulish weekly treat that launches just in time for Halloween.
Minions & Monsters
- Platform: Peacock
- Content type: Animated family comedy film
- Release date: Wednesday 28 October
- US availability: Peacock
- UK availability: Not yet on UK subscription streaming; available to rent or buy on digital platforms
Viewer Match
- Best for: Families looking for a not-too-scary Halloween film.
- Maybe skip if: Slapstick and Minion gibberish wear thin for you.
- Mood and pace: Silly, warm and fast-moving.
- Time commitment: A single feature film.
Directed by franchise co-creator Pierre Coffin, Illumination’s latest takes the Minions to 1920s Hollywood, where they set out to make their own monster movie and accidentally create a real monster along the way. The film leans into silent-era comedy.
Movieversalfilm watch note: The safest family pick for the Halloween weekend in US homes.
A Couple of Lies
- Platform: Netflix
- Content type: Swedish psychological thriller series
- Release date: Friday 30 October
- US availability: Netflix
- UK availability: Netflix
Viewer Match
- Best for: Nordic noir fans who like their thrillers claustrophobic.
- Maybe skip if: You want a light, easy watch.
- Mood and pace: Uneasy, twisty and suspicious.
- Time commitment: Four episodes, released together.
Based on a novel by Stefan Ahnhem, this tense thriller follows two couples who swap homes for a holiday, only to find themselves caught in a dangerous web of surveillance and manipulation. Emma Appleton, Fares Fares, Frida Gustavsson and Jakob Oftebro star.
Movieversalfilm watch note: Short enough to finish in a single evening, and ideal for a weekend binge.
Collision Course
- Platform: Netflix
- Content type: Spanish thriller film
- Release date: Friday 30 October
- US availability: Netflix
- UK availability: Netflix
Viewer Match
- Best for: Fans of twist-filled Spanish thrillers.
- Maybe skip if: Subtitles keep you from settling in.
- Mood and pace: Pacy, tense and full of surprises.
- Time commitment: A single feature film.
Daniel Sánchez Arévalo turns to the thriller with a twisting, action-packed mystery in which nobody is quite who they appear to be. Laia Costa, Karra Elejalde and Luis Zahera lead the cast.
Movieversalfilm watch note: One to watch knowing as little as possible.
The One About Matthew Perry
- Platform: Netflix
- Content type: Documentary series
- Release date: Tuesday 27 October
- US availability: Netflix
- UK availability: Netflix
Viewer Match
- Best for: Friends fans and anyone who grew up with Chandler Bing.
- Maybe skip if: Stories of addiction and loss feel too heavy right now.
- Mood and pace: Affectionate, candid and moving.
- Time commitment: Three episodes, released together.
This three-part docuseries looks back at the life, career and enduring legacy of the much-loved Friends star.
Movieversalfilm watch note: A gentler, reflective choice for a week otherwise dominated by horror.
The Mob
- Platform: Hulu and Disney+
- Content type: Reality competition series
- Release date: Monday 26 October
- US availability: Hulu
- UK availability: Disney+
Viewer Match
- Best for: Fans of social strategy games and celebrity reality.
- Maybe skip if: Scheming and betrayal TV is not your thing.
- Mood and pace: Glamorous, devious and playful.
- Time commitment: A multi-episode competition series.
Parker Posey hosts a new competition in which a group of celebrities gather at an Italian villa to scheme, bluff and betray their way towards a prize of up to $250,000.
Movieversalfilm watch note: A stylish change of pace for anyone who needs a break from the scares.
A Course Called Ireland
- Platform: Paramount+ (US) and BBC Two and BBC iPlayer (UK)
- Content type: Travel documentary series
- Release date: Sunday 25 October
- US availability: Paramount+
- UK availability: BBC Two, 9.30pm, and BBC iPlayer
Viewer Match
- Best for: Golf lovers, Ireland lovers and Bill Murray fans.
- Maybe skip if: You have no patience for a gentle travelogue.
- Mood and pace: Easygoing, funny and scenic.
- Time commitment: Six episodes.
Bill Murray joins author Tom Coyne and friends on a journey around the golf courses of Ireland, in a six-part series built on landscapes, local characters and plenty of Murray’s dry humour.
Movieversalfilm watch note: The week’s most relaxing watch, and a perfect Sunday-evening antidote to the Halloween line-up.
Apple TV+
Nocturne
- Platform: Apple TV+
- Content type: Crime thriller series
- Release date: Friday 30 October
- US availability: Apple TV+
- UK availability: Apple TV+
Viewer Match
- Best for: Fans of dark Scandinavian-rooted crime fiction.
- Maybe skip if: Grisly serial-killer stories are not for you.
- Mood and pace: Brooding, intense and procedural.
- Time commitment: Ten episodes; two on 30 October, then weekly until 25 December.
Liev Schreiber, Zazie Beetz and Stephen Graham star in this crime thriller adapted from the Lars Kepler novels.
UK Picks
This City Is Ours: Series 2
- Platform: BBC One and BBC iPlayer
- Content type: Crime drama series
- Release date: Sunday 25 October
- UK availability: BBC One, Sundays and Mondays at 9pm; every episode on BBC iPlayer from 25 October
- US availability: No US release announced
Viewer Match
- Best for: Fans of gritty, character-driven British crime drama.
- Maybe skip if: Gangland violence is not for you.
- Mood and pace: Tense, raw and emotional.
- Time commitment: A full series, available to binge on iPlayer.
Stephen Butchard’s Liverpool crime saga returns as Michael and Diana are pulled back from Spain into the world they tried to leave behind. Shaun Evans joins the cast for the new series.
Movieversalfilm watch note: The UK’s biggest drama return of the week, and the whole series is ready to binge.
Adultery
- Platform: ITV1 and ITVX
- Content type: Drama series
- Release date: Sunday 25 October
- UK availability: ITV1, 9pm (episode two on Monday); all six episodes on ITVX from 25 October
- US availability: No US release announced
Viewer Match
- Best for: Viewers who love a twisty, emotionally charged relationship drama.
- Maybe skip if: Infidelity storylines make you uncomfortable.
- Mood and pace: Intense, messy and gripping.
- Time commitment: Six episodes.
Dominic Cooper and Romola Garai star in Danny Brocklehurst’s six-part drama about a chance encounter that ignites an intense affair, made all the more complicated because their teenage children are in a relationship with each other.
Movieversalfilm watch note: The kind of drama that sparks conversation, and the full series is ready on ITVX.
YAGA
- Platform: Sky Atlantic and NOW
- Content type: Supernatural mystery thriller series
- Release date: Saturday 31 October
- UK availability: Sky Atlantic and NOW, three-episode premiere
- US availability: AMC+, already streaming from Friday 23 October
Viewer Match
- Best for: Fans of folk horror and small-town mysteries with a supernatural edge.
- Maybe skip if: Witchcraft and dark magic are not your cup of tea.
- Mood and pace: Eerie, sensual and unsettling.
- Time commitment: Eight episodes.
A private investigator looking into the disappearance of a fishery heir uncovers something far older and stranger, in a mystery thriller rooted in the legend of Baba Yaga. Noah Reid, Carrie-Anne Moss, Clark Backo and Hudson Williams star.
Movieversalfilm watch note: The perfect UK launch for Halloween night itself.
Movieversalfilm Weekly Selection
Make Dexter: Resurrection your returning-series priority, then save Halloween night for Apocalypse Z: New World or the first episodes of YAGA. Folk-horror fans should try Balaraw: Blood Island, families have Minions & Monsters, and UK viewers can binge both This City Is Ours and Adultery from Sunday. For a break from the scares, A Course Called Ireland is the week’s gentlest delight.
Which of this week’s premieres are you saving for Halloween night?