Melissah Yang and Patricia Karounos share their picks of can’t-miss TV shows and movies that have them texting up a storm. Trust, you will be too.
Welcome to the beginning of awards season, a time during which we’ll see prestige project after prestige project debuting in hopes of eventually vying for Hollywood’s top prizes. This month, the race is getting off to a fast start with the debut of atmospheric Priscilla, Sofia Coppola’s biopic about Priscilla Presley and much-needed counterpart to last year’s Oscar contender Elvis. Emerald Fennell — who won a screenplay Oscar for her feature debut, Promising Young Woman — is also back with the opulent-looking psychological thriller Saltburn, while Emmy Awards juggernaut The Crown returns for its final season.
And that’s just the beginning — there’s even more to look forward to watching this November.
Priscilla
It might strike you as odd that just one year after the extravagant Elvis starring Austin Butler took over theaters, a brand new film involving the iconic star is hitting screens, but I’d argue that Priscilla is an essential follow-up. Last year’s Baz Luhrmann’s biopic obviously centered the King of Rock and Roll, which means his relationship with his teenage girlfriend-turned-wife was, understandably, seen only through his perspective — leaving no room for Priscilla to stand on her own or portray their dynamic in a nuanced way. Priscilla is the chance to offer the TK her side of the story with a sharper eye. And in the hands of acclaimed filmmaker Sofia Coppola — who has built a career on making insightful movies like The Virgin Suicides and The Beguiled that reshape the perspective we have about (usually affluent, white) girlhood and womanhood — Priscilla becomes a must watch.
The film stars Cailee Spaeny (Mare of Easttown) in the titular role, chronicling her life as she meets a 24-year-old Elvis (Euphoria’s Jacob Elordi) at a party when she’s just 14, experiences the exhilarating thrills of their whirlwind romance, only to be left feeling isolated and utterly alone in their marriage away from the public eye. Real life Priscilla is also an executive producer on the film, but Coppola was denied access to any of Elvis’ music by the Presley estate, which is probably a good indicator that the movie doesn’t glamorize the musical canon at its heart.
Where to watch: Theaters
When: November 3
Good if you like: Marie Antoinette, The Virgin Suicides, Elvis
Quiz Lady
In the age of superheroes movies, it’s refreshing to have a comedy just be, and that’s what Quiz Lady does. Estranged sisters Jenny (Sandra Oh) and Anne (Awkwafina) find themselves unexpectedly brought together after their mother disappears (don’t worry, she just skipped town to go to gambling capital Macau).
Where Jenny is impulsive and chaotic, younger Anne is serious and uptight. Anne has also been a devotee of game show “Can’t Stop The Quiz” since childhood, and when Jenny posts a video of her reciting all the correct answers, Anne goes viral as the Quiz Lady. Anne is pissed that her private life has been blown up, but when Anne’s dog is kidnapped as collateral for their mother’s gambling debts, it’s Jenny who has the answer to their problem: winning the game show and taking home the cash prize. The sisters journey to Philadelphia on a lighthearted adventure that’ll have you laughing and feeling warm and fuzzy. Oh shines as the reckless older sister, and Will Ferrell, who plays game show host Terry McTeer, offers a surprisingly touching take on what makes our TV host staples our faves. And honestly sometimes all you really want is an easy watch with no surprises.
For any couch Jeopardy! experts who’ve dreamed of winning it all on television, or if you’ve been wondering whether you should pick up the phone to call your sis, this one’s for you.
Where to watch: Hulu
When: November 3
Good if you like: Sisters, In Her Shoes, Crazy Rich Asians
World on Fire (Season 2)
Supported by PBS. If this summer’s Barbenheimer craze piqued your interest in World War II dramas, World on Fire is returning for its second season at the perfect time. The British series steps away from the whole tortured genius thing for a more grounded, human take on the genre: the show follows a group of characters around the world whose lives intertwine in unshakable ways because of the war, but also tracks them as they navigate family, life, and love away from the horrors of battle. The result? Characters that really stick with you, whether they’re in more intense environments, like on spy missions or trekking the desert as a member of the British Indian Army, or trying to figure out if they can save a relationship when the war has changed each party irreparably. Season 2 takes place in 1940 and 1941, which means The Blitz plays a key role.
A fun aspect of the show is the many recognizable faces in its cast, whether new or fueled by nostalgia. After transforming into a literal prince in The Little Mermaid, Jonah Hauer-King shows off a whole new dimension to his acting abilities as a translator with a romantic side, while English legend Lesley Manville (Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris, Phantom Thread) plays his formidable mother. Wizards of Waverly Place fans will also be delighted to learn that Gregg Sulkin (aka Mason) has joined the cast as a Jewish Royal Air Force fighter pilot.
Where to watch: PBS
When: Sundays at 9 p.m.
Good if you like: Oppenheimer, Dunkirk, Atonement
Fingernails
What would — or wouldn’t — you do to determine with unwavering certainty that you’ve found true, lasting love? That’s the question at the heart of Fingernails, a quiet sci-fi romance that will leave you thinking. The film is set in a world where partners can determine if they’re a genuine love match with a controversial test that involves each of them pulling out a fingernail. (Yes, that’s as gross and awful as it sounds.) Enter Jessie Buckley — known for roles in films like The Lost Daughter and I’m Thinking of Ending Things, and is quickly becoming an actor I’d watch in anything — who stars as Anna, a woman who receives a “positive” test with her current partner Ryan (The Bear’s Jeremy Allen White), but starts to have questions about their relationship. So she decides to secretly get a job at an institute that uses this technology with the goal of helping other couples grow their bond while also learning about how to strengthen her own relationship. But there she meets Amir (the charming Riz Ahmed), someone she can’t help but feel increasingly drawn to.
You’ll likely have quibbles with Fingernails — you never really quite understand how nails of all things can determine your love for another person, leaving you left to doubt the technology from the outset — but the performances are its strength. Buckley, White, and Ahmed form intimate bonds on screen, drawing you in; even when you may not agree with the characters’ choices, you won’t be able to resist empathizing with them because you can so plainly feel what it is they’re chasing.
Where to watch: Theaters, Apple TV+
When: November 3
Good if you like: The Lobster, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
A Murder At The End Of The World
There’s been a trend of whodunnit murder mysteries with an ensemble cast — Knives Out, Glass Onion, Murder Mystery — but FX’s A Murder At The End Of The World stands on its own.
The thriller stars Emma Corrin as tech savvy amateur sleuth Darby Hart, who goes to a remote compound in Iceland at the invitation of eccentric tech billionaire (Clive Owen). She’s not alone though. Eight other guests have joined them, but when one of the guests is murdered, it’s up to Darby to uncover the truth. Surprises and secrets lie ahead, and it goes without saying that this is one that’ll keep you on the edge of your seats.
The smart provoking series is the latest project from Brit Marling, who also stars, and Zal Batmanglij, one of my fave creative powerhouses whose credits also include Netflix’s The OA (which tragically ended too soon IMO). The duo’s storytelling deftly manages to feel grounded in reality yet still thrusts us into a near technological future. After the Year of AI, the limited series feels like it’s just within our grasp, and you can’t look away no matter how eerie it gets.
Save this in the queue because you won’t regret it.
Where to watch: Hulu
When: November 14
Good if you like: Knives Out, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
The Crown Season 6, Part 1
I am not a royalist by any means, but I do love The Crown as a fictionalized historical drama with incredible actors that looks and plays like a very fancy soap opera. (This, of course, does not negate the real British royal family’s awful colonial past and present.) The show’s sixth season (which is being split into two parts) will be its bittersweet last; I’ll be sad to see the show go, but it’s fair time because the timeline is getting too close to recent history and no one really wants that.
But, before we get to the end, the show does still have a lot of ground to cover. The first four episodes (which make up part one) are set in the late ’90s and will cover the events leading up to and the aftermath of Princess Diana’s (Elizabeth Debicki) tragic death. In part two, expect things to lighten up as the show explores the adolescence of Prince William (Ed McVey) and Prince Harry (Luther Ford), including the beginning of Will’s romance with Kate Middleton (Meg Bellamy).
Where to watch: Netflix
When: November 16
Good if you like: The Queen, Spencer, The Favourite
Saltburn
If Emerald Fennell’s new film is anything like her first, Promising Young Woman, it promises to be stylish, vicious and divisive. (If you don’t remember, that movie’s shocking ending led to a lot of online debate, but the script also won Fennell an Oscar.) But that’s exactly what makes the premiere of Saltburn so exciting: it genuinely feels impossible to predict both what will happen on screen and how audiences will react to it.
Led by a stacked cast that includes Barry Keoghan, Jacob Elordi, Rosamund Pike, Alison Oliver, Archie Madekwe, and Carey Mulligan, the psychological thriller follows lonely Oxford student Oliver Quick (Keoghan), who gets sucked into the aristocratic world of classmate Felix Catton (Elordi) and lands an invite to spend the summer at the Catton’s lavish family estate. Let’s just say that things get very weird very quickly. Saltburn is, as one reviewer wrote, “a movie about how Jacob Elordi is simply so fucking hot that his mere existence is enough to make someone legally insane,” and, really, who wouldn’t want to watch that?
Where to watch: Theaters
When: November 17 (limited), November 22 (wide)
Good if you like: Promising Young Woman, The Talented Mr. Ripley
Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?
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Best Movies To Watch After Promising Young Woman
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