What to stream when you’re home for the holidays in 2019

Deck the halls with streaming subscriptions! Fa-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-laaaa. 

It’s holiday season, and that means presents to pack, planes to board, then lots and lots of time to kill. Heading home for family festivities can be a mixed bag of joy and stress. (What will you talk about? What will your mother talk about it? Is your favorite Trader Joe’s still open? Oy, with the poodles already!)

To ease your holly-jolly anxieties, we’ve put together a list of 25 shows and films we’ll be bingeing this winter break. These are not holiday-themed picks (although we’ve got you covered there too), but a smattering of stuff we think you’ll dig — plus the best occasions for watching them and links for where they’re streaming. 

Listed alphabetically, here are 25 shows and films to check out this holiday season (fa-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-laaaa.)

1. 6 Underground (Netflix) 

Best for: Watching shit blow up while the ham/turkey/tofu cooks. 

Netflix’s biggest play in the action genre ever, 6 Underground tells the story of six operatives faking their own deaths to become vigilantes. Starring Ryan Reynolds, Ben Hardy, Dave Franco, Adria Arjona, Mélanie Laurent, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, and Corey Hawkins. 

Now streaming on Netflix. 

2. Atlantics (Netflix) 

Best for: Impressing your childhood friend who went to NYU Film School. 

A mind-bending tale of love, loss, fear, and ghosts, Atlantics won the Grand Prix at Cannes this year and will compete as Senegal’s selection for Best Foreign Film at the 92nd Oscars. A stunning lead performance by newcomer Mama Sané. 

Now streaming on Netflix. 

3. Big Mouth Seasons 1-3 (Netflix) 

Best for: Bonding with your nephew and pissing off your conservative aunt.

With stellar voice acting by comedians Nick Kroll, John Mulaney, Maya Rudolph, Jordan Peele, Jenny Slate, and more, Big Mouth is the most adult cartoon about puberty on the market. Whip-smart and wildly raunchy, you’ll laugh yourself into oblivion. 

Now streaming on Netflix. 

4. Blow Away Season 1 (Netflix) 

Best for: Connecting with your cousin who loves craft fairs.

Shake up your reality competition watching with a quick binge of Netflix’s Blown Away. In this series, professional glassblowers go head-to-head as their art is judged by a panel of renowned glass arts specialists. There’s fire, puns, fighting, and Deborah. Oh god, is there Deborah. 

Now streaming on Netflix. 

5. Captain Marvel (Disney+) 

Best for: Watching a Marvel movie without having to explain everything. 

As far as standalone Marvel films go, Captain Marvel is a pretty great one. Starring Brie Larson and Samuel L. Jackson, the origin story of Carol Danvers is worth watching again and again — if only for Goose the Flerken. 

Now streaming on Disney+. 

6. Cutthroat Kitchen Seasons 4-10 (Hulu)

Best for: Seeing others suffer because that trip to the mall was just too much. 

From the geniuses at the Food Network, catch re-runs of Alton Brown’s diabolical competition series Cutthroat Kitchen. In each episode, four professional chefs face-off not only in cooking, but in a bidding war that can place sabotages on other contestants. Think cooking with one hand, using a lighter instead of a stove, bobbing for supplies. Yeah, it’s wild. 

Now streaming on Hulu. 

7. Encore! (Disney+) 

Best for: Reconnecting with your high school friends who now have Tony Award-winning babies.

Frozen‘s Kristen Bell hosts this Disney+ reality series, reuniting former cast members from high school musicals for one stellar Encore! performance. Perfect for lovers of nostalgia, musicals, and disasters in the making. 

Now streaming on Disney+. 

8. Free Solo (Disney+) 

Best for: Getting everyone to stop talking, moving, (and maybe breathing.)

This Academy Award-winning documentary chronicles rock climber Alex Honnold’s effort to complete a free solo climb of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park in 2017. Terrifying, tense, and spectacular, this is one IRL thriller worth watching. 

Now streaming on Disney+. 

9. Good Time (Prime Video) 

Best for: Feeling something. Anything. 

Directed by brothers Benjamin and Joshua Safdie, Good Time is a heart-wrenching thriller that drags viewers through a terrifying and surreal night in New York City. Robert Pattinson stars as an unsteady robber attempting to get his brother out of jail. 

Now streaming on Prime Video. 

10. Into the Dark: A Nasty Piece of Work (Hulu)

Best for: When the Black Mirror Christmas episode just isn’t cutting it. 

From the devilish folks of Hulu’s Into the Dark, A Nasty Piece of Work brings the sadistic dinner party trope home for the holidays. Kyle Howard and Angela Sarafyan star as a mid-level employee and his wife attempting to survive one boss’s corporate celebration from hell. 

Now streaming on Hulu.

11. Katherine Ryan: Glitter Room (Netflix)

Best for: Mulled wine night with your cool older sister and socially liberal mom. 

The latest special from comedian Katherine Ryan cannot be missed. A feminist triumph with some delightful jabs at the [insert fanfare] state of things, Glitter Room is worth every minute and sip of wine you’ll spend on it. 

Now streaming on Netflix. 

12. Love Island Seasons 1-5 (Hulu) 

Best for: Chilling in your underwear with a pizza for one.

If you’re not already deeply engrossed in the best reality dating show known to humankind, now is the time. Love Island follows a cast of singles alone in an exotic house where they must find love or risk elimination. It’s… so, so, so great. 

Now streaming on Hulu.

13. My Favorite Shapes by Julio Torres (HBO Now)

Best for: After you and your high school art teacher absolutely, 100% did not smoke pot in the 7-Eleven parking lot.

Former Saturday Night Live writer Julio Torres stars in one of the strangest comedy specials ever created. Screamingly funny and increasingly bizarre, Torres walks the audience through all of his favorite “shapes” — complete with props, backstories, and varying levels of urgency. 

Now streaming on HBO Now. 

14. PEN15 Season 1 (Hulu)  

Best for: Burying the hatchet with your big sister.

Easily the most cringe-worthy item on this list, Pen15 is the kind of skin-crawling comedy middle school material was made for. Adult women Maya Erskine and Anna Konkle star as 13-year-olds battling the trials and tribulations of puberty. 

Now streaming on Hulu. 

15. Shazam! (HBO Now) 

Best for: When you want to watch something you feel like you’ve seen before, but haven’t.

Jack Dylan Grazer and Zachary Levi star in the D.C. Comics’ tale of a kid given super powers by an ancient wizard. Heart-warming and silly beyond compare, Shazam! is like Tom Hank’s Big, but with better action sequences. 

Now streaming on HBO Now. 

16. Succession Seasons 1-2 (HBO Now) 

Best for: Quietly roasting your corporate sell-out brother.

No show features more terrible people and nail-biting tension than HBO’s Succession. A company drama following the wealthy Roy family, this thriller is as nauseating as it is addicting. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll cry some more. 

Now streaming on HBO Now. 

17. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (Netflix) 

Best for: An afternoon to kill with your dad, grandpa, and/or recently divorced uncle.

From the Coen brothers, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs is comprised of six short films set in the Old West, all as moving as they are absurd. Starring Tim Blake Nelson, Tyne Daly, James Franco, Zoe Kazan, and more. 

Now streaming on Netflix. 

18. The Bold Type Seasons 1-3 (Hulu) 

Best for: Hanging with your cool nieces while they watch Insta stories.

A stylish, drama-filled comedy chronicling the adventures of best friends Jane (Katie Stevens), Kat (Aisha Dee), and Sutton (Meghann Fahy) as they explore their twenties while working at one of the world’s most well-known fashion magazines. 

Now streaming on Hulu. 

19. The Irishman (Netflix)

Best for: A second afternoon to kill with your dad, grandpa, and/or recently divorced uncle.

Another mob movie masterpiece from director Martin Scorsese. This three-and-a-half hour long journey is a big commitment, but with performances from Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, and Joe Pesci? It’s worth it. 

Now streaming on Netflix. 

20. The Leftovers (HBO Now) 

Best for: Bingeing by yourself after everyone else has gone to bed. 

Based on Tom Perrotta’s novel of the same name, The Leftovers imagines what would happen if a portion of the world’s population spontaneously disappeared. Highly addicting and wildly satisfying, this show is among the best HBO has to offer. 

Now streaming on HBO Now. 

21. The Mandalorian (Disney+) 

Best for: Feeding your TROS excitement in under half an hour. 

Featuring a badass warrior and the cutest baby the internet has ever seen, The Mandalorian is everything we wanted in a Star Wars series and more. Releasing week to week, the show will have its season finale Dec. 27. 

Now streaming on Disney+. 

22. The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel Seasons 1-3 (Prime Video) 

Best for: Honestly, whenever. Moms love Midge. Dads love Tony Shalhoub. It’s a win!

Starring Rachel Brosnahan, Alex Borstein, Tony Shalhoub, Marin Hinkle, and Michael Zegen, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel examines the world of 1950s stand-up comedy through the delightful lens of Amy Sherman-Palladino. 

Now streaming on Prime Video. 

23. The Morning Show (AppleTV+) 

Best for: Using your AppleTV+ subscription.

It’s hard to say no to any show featuring Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon, and Steve Carrell. Luckily, The Morning Show is also pretty good! Set in the tense world of morning broadcasting, this drama imagines what it’s like to be thrust into the national spotlight. 

Now streaming on AppleTV+. 

24. The Report (Prime Video) 

Best for: Starting a fight about national security.

Adam Driver stars in this dramatic take on the government’s investigation into the CIA’s use of torture following the 9/11 attacks. Although it’s a difficult watch, The Report moves deliberately through the evidence of a remarkably disturbing true account. 

Now streaming on Prime Video. 

25. Us (HBO Now) 

Best for: When you’re struggling with family drama. 

The second movie from horror genius Jordan Peele, Us tells the chilling story of a family suddenly faced with killer versions of themselves. Excellent performances by Lupita Nyong’o, Winston Duke, Shahadi Wright Joseph, Evan Alex, Elisabeth Moss, and Tim Heidecker.  

Now streaming on HBO Now.