Thrillers, Potential Oscar Winners Among November Recommended Streams

by Julian Spivey

Photos: Paramount & Netflix

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Emilia Perez (Netflix) – Wednesday, November 13
“Emilia Perez,” directed by Jacques Audiard, is being heralded as one of the best films of 2024. The musical-comedy stars Oscar front-runner Karla Sofia Gascon as a Mexican cartel leader who enlists a lawyer (Zoe Saldana) to help her disappear from cartel life and transition to a woman. Karla Sofia Gascon won the Best Actress prize at the Cannes Film Festival this summer. Saldana and Selena Gomez are also garnering potential Oscar buzz. 

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Landman (Paramount+) – Sunday, November 17
Taylor Sheridan’s latest drama of the many he has for Paramount+ is “Landman,” premiering Sunday, Nov. 17. Based on the popular podcast “Boomtown,” it’s a story set within the world of West Texas oil rigs and the money and politics involved in it. I’m generally not the biggest fan of Sheridan’s worldview, but it’ll be impossible not to give a cast led by Billy Bob Thornton and Jon Hamm a chance. 

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A Man on the Inside (Netflix) – Thursday, November 21
Ted Danson is one of the greatest comedic actors in television history, and I’ll follow him to any new series he stars in. His latest is Netflix’s “A Man on the Inside,” in which he portrays a retired man who answers an ad to become a private investigator going undercover at a nursing home seeking out mistreatment of the residents. The series, based on the 2020 Chilean documentary “The Mole Agent,” was created by Michael Schur, who had such great luck with Danson on NBC’s “The Good Place.” 

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The Piano Lesson (Netflix) – Friday, November 22
After being mesmerized by “Fences” (2016) and “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” (2020), two other films based on plays by August Wilson, I’m entirely in on any film adaptations based on his work. The latest is “The Piano Lesson,” directed by Malcolm Washington, about a Pittsburgh family and their heirloom piano in the aftermath of the Great Depression. The film stars Samuel L. Jackson, John David Washington, Ray Fisher and Danielle Deadwyler. 

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The Madness (Netflix) – Thursday, November 28
Colman Domingo is having quite the moment in 2024. He will almost certainly receive an Oscar Best Actor nomination for his performance in “Sing Sing,” now comes the starring role in Stephen Belber’s Netflix limited series conspiracy thriller “The Madness.” In the series, Domingo stars as a media pundit who must clear his name after accidentally stumbling upon a murder. The eight-episode series drops on Netflix on Thanksgiving. 

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The Agency (Paramount+ with Showtime) – Friday, November 29
"The Agency," from George Clooney and Grant Heslov's producing team, is an espionage thriller about the department in charge of training and handing out undercover agents. The incredibly talented cast stars Michael Fassbender as the lead and Jodie Turner-Smith, Jeffrey Wright, Richard Gere, John Magaro and Hugh Bonneville in supporting roles. "The Agency" is based on the 2015-2020 French series "Le Bureau des Legendes." 

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Senna (Netflix) – Friday, November 29
Ayrton Senna was one of the greatest Formula 1 drivers ever to live and one of the great tragedies in the sport’s history, as the most recent champion to die in competition. His life was featured in the terrific 2010 documentary “Senna. " Now, from his home country of Brazil, comes a biographical drama of his life and career. “Senna” stars Gabriel Leone as the three-time F1 champion.