Streaming in October: East of Eden, Carrie and VisionQuest
Every new show, returning season and movie worth knowing about this month, with the day and the service for each one.
October is a busy month for streaming. Here’s every new series, returning season, finale and movie worth knowing about, week by week, with our pick of the month at the end.
New and returning shows
Oct. 1 to 4
- THU1
Photo: Netflix East of Eden
John Steinbeck’s novel about two families in California’s Salinas Valley, spanning from the Civil War to World War I. Florence Pugh plays Cathy Ames, a woman who marries into the Trask family and turns the lives of brothers Adam (Christopher Abbott) and Charles (Mike Faist) upside down. Zoe Kazan wrote it, and all seven episodes drop at once.
- THU1
Photo: HBO Max War
A legal drama built around what the show calls the divorce case of the century. Dominic West plays tech entrepreneur Morgan Henderson and Sienna Miller plays his estranged wife, film star Carla Duval, while two rival London law firms fight over their split. It’s eight episodes from George Kay, who co-created Lupin.
- THU1
Photo: Freeform Coven Academy
A supernatural teen drama about a group of teenage witches-in-training at a magic boarding school. It premieres Thursday on Freeform, and the whole season hits Disney+ and Hulu on Friday.
- FRI2
Photo: AMC+ Kill Jackie
Catherine Zeta-Jones plays Jackie Price, a former international cocaine dealer who has spent 20 years quietly living as a fine art dealer. When she finds out a squad of seven elite hitmen has been hired to kill her, she decides to take them out first. It’s AMC+ in the US. Some listings say Prime Video, which is only right for the UK and Canada.
Oct. 5 to 11
- WED7
Photo: Prime Video Carrie
Stephen King’s story of Carrie White, a bullied high school girl with telekinetic powers and a deeply religious mother. Mike Flanagan’s eight-episode version looks at the story from a wider angle than the classic movie. Summer H. Howell plays Carrie and Samantha Sloyan plays her mother, Margaret.
- WED7
Photo: Apple TV Ted Lasso
The comedy about an endlessly upbeat American football coach who ends up in English soccer. Season 4 put a women’s soccer team at the center of the story, and Wednesday is the season finale.
- WED7
Photo: Apple TV Small Prophets
A gentle British comedy from Mackenzie Crook, the man behind Detectorists. Pearce Quigley plays Michael Sleep, a DIY store clerk still waiting for his girlfriend Clea seven years after she vanished. His dad, played by Michael Palin, hands him an old recipe for brewing homunculi, little spirits that predict the future. Six episodes; the first two land Wednesday.
- THU8
Photo: Netflix Below
Josh Hartnett plays Calvin Penney, a Newfoundland fisherman haunted by his father’s death, in a six-part creature thriller. When something in the water starts terrorizing his town, he teams with a visiting marine researcher played by Mackenzie Davis to find it. Charlie Heaton plays his son. Jesse McKeown created it.
- FRI9
Photo: Netflix Take Charge of My Heart
A Korean romantic comedy with a literal spark. Kim Young-kwang plays a chaebol heir kept alive by an artificial heart with a dying battery. Chae Soo-bin plays the drama writer whose touch carries an electric charge after a childhood lightning strike. She can recharge him. Ten episodes.
Oct. 12 to 18
- TUE13
Photo: Wikimedia Commons TYSON
Four hour-long episodes on Mike Tyson, from a rough childhood in Brooklyn to the youngest heavyweight champion in history, then through the fame, prison time, financial ruin and addiction that followed. Floyd Russ (Untold) directs, with Tyson telling it in his own words. He calls himself “addicted to chaos” in the trailer. Bill Simmons is an executive producer.
- TUE13
Photo: Disney+ VisionQuest
Paul Bettany is back as Vision, who has rebooted and escaped the people trying to turn him into a weapon. While hiding, he talks with the AI voices in his programming, including Jarvis and Ultron. Then a bounty forces him to run with a mysterious boy who may be his son reborn. It’s the last part of the story that started with WandaVision and Agatha All Along, with James Spader also in the cast.
- THU15
Photo: Peacock Crystal Lake
A prequel to the original 1980 Friday the 13th, told through the eyes of Jason’s mother, Pamela Voorhees, played by Linda Cardellini. The showrunner calls it a paranoid 1970s psychological thriller with slasher moments. It’s eight episodes from A24, and it’s a Peacock show even though some listings put it on Netflix.
- THU15
Photo: Netflix The Diplomat
Keri Russell plays Kate Wyler, a career diplomat who lands the job of U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom and has to handle world crises and a complicated marriage to fellow diplomat Hal, played by Rufus Sewell. Allison Janney co-stars. All of Season 4 drops at once.
- FRI16
Photo: Paramount+ Tulsa King
Sylvester Stallone plays Dwight Manfredi, a New York mob boss who gets out of prison after 25 years and is sent to Tulsa, where he builds a new crew from scratch. In Season 4, he tries to make his operation legit while new threats close in.
Oct. 19 to 25
- WED21
Photo: Prime Video The Terminal List
Chris Pratt plays Navy SEAL James Reece. Season 2 is based on Jack Carr’s novel True Believer and takes Reece across the Indian Ocean, Africa, the Middle East and Europe. All eight episodes drop at once.
- WED21
Photo: Apple TV Slow Horses
Gary Oldman plays Jackson Lamb, the boss of Slough House, the run-down office where MI5 sends agents who messed up. The spy series wraps Season 6 on Wednesday.
- WED21
Photo: Netflix The New Stanford Prison Experiment
Netflix restages the 1971 Stanford Prison Experiment as an unscripted series. Thirty volunteers enter a real prison and are randomly split into guards and prisoners, to see whether ordinary people fall into the roles they are given. It is six episodes of 45 minutes each. The original study was shut down after six days when the guards turned abusive, so expect this one to be talked about.
- THU22
Photo: Netflix Nobody Wants This
Kristen Bell plays Joanne, an agnostic podcast host, and Adam Brody plays Noah, a rabbi. The romantic comedy follows what happens when two people with very different lives fall for each other. All of Season 3 drops at once.
- FRI23
Photo: Netflix Lupin
Omar Sy is back as Assane Diop, the gentleman thief who takes his cues from Arsène Lupin. Part 4 continues the French heist series that became one of Netflix's biggest non-English hits. All episodes drop at once.
Oct. 26 to 31
- TUE27
Photo: ONDCP, via Wikimedia Commons The One About Matthew Perry
A three-part documentary on Matthew Perry, the Friends star who died in 2023. His sister Mia Perry Bowick and longtime friends Roger Castillo and David Pressman talk about him on camera for the first time. It covers his rise to fame, the $7 million he spent trying to get sober, and the recovery work he did for others. It arrives one day before the third anniversary of his death. Mary Robertson directs.
- WED28
Photo: Netflix The Gift of Deceit
A Brazilian melodrama about a mother and daughter caught in a web of deception. Art collector Lúcia Rossetti turns to a spiritual therapist to cure her daughter Maíra’s mysterious illness, then becomes the victim of a scam that pulls two families into a tangle of secrets. Marieta Severo and Alice Wegmann star, with Nanda Costta as the therapist. Ten episodes, set in Rio de Janeiro, directed by Mauro Mendonça Filho.
- FRI30
Photo: Netflix Dead-End Job
A mystery-horror series from South Korea. Lee Jae-wook plays Hyeok-jun, a young man drowning in debt who takes a part-time job from a staffing agency that pays 50 times the minimum wage. Every sweet gig turns into a nightmare: a moth swarm in a dark convenience store, a grotesque clown. Kim Da-min directs; Han Jun-hee of D.P. created it. Eight episodes.
- FRI30
Photo: Paramount+ Dexter: Resurrection
Michael C. Hall is back as Dexter Morgan, the serial killer who only goes after other killers. Season 2 stays in New York City, where Dexter and his son Harrison try to stay ahead of the law. Brian Cox and Dan Stevens join as two new killers, and Uma Thurman returns. It’s on the Paramount+ Premium plan.
- FRI30
Photo: Netflix How to Ruin Diwali: Meet the Parents
A hidden engagement puts a proud Zulu family and an Indian medical dynasty under one roof for Diwali. Rosemary Zimu plays Mmabatho, who just wants to impress her fiancé’s traditional Indian family — then the secrets and colliding customs threaten to derail the whole celebration. It’s from How to Ruin Christmas creator Rethabile Ramaphakela and The Kandasamys’ Jayan Moodley.
Movies hitting streaming
- THU1
The October horror drop
The Shining, Poltergeist, the Nightmare on Elm Street movies and Freddy vs. Jason all arrive for Halloween. The Departed lands the same day, which around here basically counts as a holiday.
- FRI2
Evil Dead Burn
A widow moves in with her late husband’s family at their remote home, and then her in-laws start turning into Deadites. Sébastien Vaniček directs, with Souheila Yacoub and Hunter Doohan.
- MON5
Lorne
Morgan Neville directs this documentary on Lorne Michaels, the man behind Saturday Night Live. Tina Fey, Conan O’Brien, Maya Rudolph and Chris Rock are among the comics who weigh in. It played theaters in the spring and had a Peacock run; now it lands on Netflix.
- WED7
Who Is Martin Mull?
The late Bob Saget co-directed this portrait of Martin Mull, the comedian, actor, musician and painter who died in 2024. Steve Martin, Tom Waits and David Alan Grier talk about the man behind Colonel Mustard in Clue and Gene Parmesan in Arrested Development.
- FRI9
The Housemaid
Sydney Sweeney plays Millie, who takes a live-in housemaid job with a wealthy couple and finds their perfect home hides something dangerous. Amanda Seyfried and Brandon Sklenar co-star in Paul Feig's take on Freida McFadden's bestselling novel. It pulled in over $400 million in theaters.
- FRI9
Animals
Ben Affleck directs and stars as Los Angeles mayoral candidate Milo Bradford, whose son is kidnapped. He and his wife, played by Kerry Washington, have only a few hours to pay the ransom. Gillian Anderson co-stars.
- FRI9
Oasis: Don’t Look Back in Anger
The documentary on the band’s 2025 reunion tour, written by Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight. It has the first joint interview Liam and Noel Gallagher have done in over two decades, and the streaming version adds footage the theaters did not get: a longer sit-down with the brothers and full performances of “Wonderwall” and “Slide Away.” It was the highest-grossing documentary in the UK and Ireland this year.
- WED14
Love of Your Life
Margaret Qualley plays Maya, a nurse whose chance meeting with Charlie (Gabriel Basso) turns into a sweeping romance. Then the future they planned gets upended, and she has to reckon with who she is and how to love again. Rachel Morrison, the cinematographer-turned-director, made it, with Aaron Pierre, Patrick Schwarzenegger and Catherine Keener. It premiered at TIFF and gets a week in theaters first, starting Oct. 7.
- FRI16
Norm: The Tale of Norm Macdonald
A documentary on Norm Macdonald, the SNL Weekend Update anchor whose dry delivery made him a cult favorite among comics. He died in 2021 at 61.
- FRI16
Sacrifice
Chris Evans, who grew up in Sudbury, plays an action star taken hostage at a charity gala by a doomsday cult leader, played by Anya Taylor-Joy, who believes three sacrifices to a volcano will stop the end of the world. Romain Gavras directs.
- FRI16
Scream 7
Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) has built a new life, and the new Ghostface targets her daughter. Kevin Williamson, who wrote the original 1996 Scream, directs this one. Courteney Cox, David Arquette, Matthew Lillard and Scott Foley return, with Isabel May as Sidney’s daughter. It holds a 30% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes, though audiences rated it considerably higher.
- FRI16
Masterplan
Stanley Tucci plays a legendary retired thief who sets his sights on the Mona Lisa. He recruits two young strangers — Chiara (Simona Tabasco), a cybercrime expert, and Jay (Victor Belmondo), an explosives specialist — then reveals they are long-lost siblings. And he is their father. Thomas Vincent directs. Prime says it goes out in more than 240 countries and territories.
- FRI16
The Disciple — A Wu-Tang Fable
Oscar winner Joanna Natasegara tells the story of Wu-Tang Clan’s Once Upon a Time in Shaolin, the secret album recorded over six years, sealed in a silver case and sold at auction for a reported $2 million on the condition it stay unreleased until 2103.
- TUE20
Theo Von: I’m Doing Fine
Theo Von returns to Netflix with his third stand-up special and his first in five years. The comic and podcaster talks about his back-road upbringing and what Netflix calls his acid-filled adventures. Kevin Morra directs.
- FRI23
The Bride!
Maggie Gyllenhaal’s take on Bride of Frankenstein. Jessie Buckley plays the resurrected Bride opposite Christian Bale’s Frankenstein, who travels to 1930s Chicago to have Dr. Euphronius (Annette Bening) make him a companion. Penélope Cruz, Peter Sarsgaard and Jake Gyllenhaal co-star. It opened theatrically in March and split critics, landing at 57% on Rotten Tomatoes.
- FRI23
Paralyzed by Hope: The Maria Bamford Story
Judd Apatow and Neil Berkeley profile Maria Bamford, the alt-comedy star who built her act on anxiety and mental illness. They filmed her life for nearly four years, mixing it with stand-up footage and testimonials from fellow comics. It premiered at Sundance.
- FRI23
Gajab Raat
A crime thriller that unfolds over a single night in Delhi. Manoj Bajpayee plays a morally grey police officer caught between a disturbing case and the temptation of money, with Saqib Saleem and Divya Dutta co-starring. It was originally titled Ghooskhor Pandat, then renamed after objections over the name. Neeraj Pandey produces it, and Netflix released the trailer on Oct. 15.
- FRI30
Apocalypse Z: New World
The sequel to 2024’s Apocalypse Z, which became one of Prime Video’s most-watched international films. The action moves to the Canary Islands, Europe’s last refuge after the TSJ virus, where a team has to go back to the infected mainland for supplies and the trust between them breaks down. Carles Torrens directs again, and it lands the day before Halloween.
- FRI30
SCTV: The Greatest Show You’ve Never Heard Of
Jason Hehir, who made The Last Dance, directs this look at SCTV, the Canadian sketch show that launched John Candy, Eugene Levy, Catherine O’Hara and Martin Short. Surviving cast members reunite in Toronto.
Pick of the month
East of Eden
This is the one, and it’s not close. Florence Pugh playing Cathy Ames, one of the coldest characters in American fiction, is the kind of casting that makes a show. Seven episodes also gives Zoe Kazan room the 1955 movie never had, since that film only covered the last part of the book. Everything else this month is a genre show or a sequel doing its job. This is the one worth clearing a night for.
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