‘Wake Up Dead Man,’ ‘Jay Kelly’ and 11 More Must-See Movies on Netflix This December

Here’s a fun fact for you: The 2021 film Troll, a Norwegian monster movie about a literal sleeping giant that wreaks havoc on the country when he’s accidentally roused, is Netflix’s most-watched non-English-language film. That film is about a troll living deep in the Dovre Mountains who is not happy to be awakened from his slumber and seeks to destroy everything from DombÃ¥s to Dovrefjell. And this December, a new troll is in town and, just like the last troll, he’s got an angry side. Troll 2 arrives on Netflix on Dec. 1. 

In the new, devastating documentary short, All The Empty Rooms, CBS News reporter Steve Hartman and photographer Lou Bopp embark on a cross-country trip to visit and memorialize the bedrooms of children who were killed in school shootings. It’s a hard watch, to be sure, but a necessary reminder that we can be doing more to prevent future tragedies. 

Virgin River star Alexandra Breckenridge leads the cast of the new Netflix rom-com My Secret Santa, about a single mother, Taylor Jacobson, who’s strapped for cash and gets a job as a seasonal Santa at a luxury resort. Taylor goes full Mrs. Doubtfire, designing prosthetics so she can transform into that jolly old soul in order to get the job, but her ruse gets complicated when she falls for the manager of the ski resort, Matthew (Ryan Eggold). My Secret Santa arrives on Netflix on Dec. 3.

After a century in business, The New Yorker magazine opens up its office doors to a documentary crew for the first time in the upcoming The New Yorker at 100. Documentarian Marshall Curry and his team provide a rare glimpse at the inner workings and history of one of the nation’s most elite sources of journalism, fiction, poetry and cartoons. 

Director Noah Baumbach’s latest collaboration with Netflix is Jay Kelly, a dramatic comedy starring George Clooney as the titular character; a movie star who begins to reflect on his life during a trip through Europe with his manager Ron (Adam Sandler). The film was co-written by Baumbach and Emily Mortimer, who appears in the film. The supporting cast also includes Laura Dern, Riley Keough and Billy Crudup. 

Daniel Craig is returning once again as gentleman detective Benoit Blanc in Rian Johnson’s Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery. In the newest entry in the Knives Out franchise, the dapper and genial Blanc heads to a small church in upstate New York to solve a murder, alongside the local police chief Geraldine Scott (Mila Kunis). The list of suspects is lengthy; the cast includes Glenn Close, Josh O’Connor, Josh Brolin, Thomas Haden Church, Andrew Scott and Kerry Washington.

In the new Japanese-language film 10Dance, Ryoma Takeuchi and Keita Machida star as dancers who are champions in their respective fields. Fiercely competitive, the two end up teaming up for what’s known as the 10-Dance, a competition in which dancers perform five varieties of Latin dance and five varieties of Standard ballroom. As the two teach each other their specialties, their rivalry turns into friendship and eventually a deeper attraction between them develops. 

Director Morgan Neville has directed documentaries like 20 Feet From Stardom, Best of Enemies and Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, and now he’s back with a new feature. Breakdown: 1975 focuses on the lasting legacy of the year that gave us films like Taxi Driver, Jaws and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. The film is narrated by Jodie Foster and features interviews with Martin Scorsese, Albert Brooks, Ellen Burstyn and more. 

Director Kim Byung-woo helms this new disaster movie about the last group of survivors struggling to stay alive in the midst of a global flood. Squid Game’s Park Hae-soo and Kim Da-mi star in the film, which arrives on Dec. 19.

John Elway is regarded as one of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history. Elway is a new documentary from Skydance Sports that dives into his illustrious life and career, from his college days playing both football and baseball (he was drafted by the New York Yankees in 1981) to his eventual success in the NFL with back-to-back Super Bowl wins with the Denver Broncos and beyond.

Oscar-winning actress Kate Winslet makes her directorial debut with Goodbye June, a family drama that takes place just before Christmas as four adult siblings and their father are forced to reckon with their ailing mother, June, who is facing a health crisis. Winslet also stars in the film alongside Toni Collette, Andrea Riseborough, Timothy Spall and Helen Mirren. It arrives in theaters Dec. 12 and on Netflix Dec. 24.

Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist Seymour Hersh is responsible for exposing some of the largest cover-ups in US history, including the My Lai massacre perpetrated by US soldiers during the Vietnam War, and the torture of prisoners at Abu Ghraib. In the new documentary Cover-Up, Hersh’s own research documents and archival footage are used to further expose “what Hersh believes is a pattern of impunity within the US military and intelligence agencies,” and the film serves as a testament to the vital role that journalism plays in global and national affairs.

Jodi Hildebrandt and Ruby Franke collaborated on a parenting channel on YouTube, and were arrested and later convicted of aggravated child abuse in 2023 when two of Franke’s children were discovered abused and malnourished in Hildebrandt’s home. Evil Influencer: The Jodi Hildebrandt Story digs into the women’s relationship and Hildebrandt’s influence over Franke and her family.