Hulu’s November Releases: Historical Dramas, True Crime, and Underrated Films

Hulu makes its nod this month to the coming holiday season with a certain Christmas classic starring Will Ferrell and a docuseries about really bad behavior around the holidays.  But the real action in November can be found in the hotly anticipated series and acclaimed films making their debut on the streamer.

There’s Juliette Binoche starring in a highly acclaimed historical drama of food and romance.  An adaptation of a National Book Award-winning novel lets a guy permanently pigeonholed into a Hollywood stereotype role get a chance to step into the spotlight, for good and ill.  Another mini-series recounts an unsolved kidnapping/murder that’s tied to a notorious period of political turmoil.  And there’s an acclaimed film which shows why screwing around with a feisty 93-year-old grandmother is a really bad idea. 

Whether you’re catching one of the above-mentioned premieres or catching up with such acclaimed but underrated films as James Gray’s foray into science fiction, Hulu will make the start of the holiday season a fun one.

Now Available

Ad Astra–James Gray’s underrated psychological science fiction film now makes its way to Hulu.  Major Roy McBride (Brad Pitt) is heading for Mars to establish contact with his AWOL father Clifford McBride (Tommy Lee Jones).  29 years ago, McBride Senior was working at the Neptune-orbiting research space station called the Lima Project when circumstances led to his being presumed dead.  Now, a series of mysterious and dangerous power surges on Earth have been traced back to the Project and possibly McBride Senior.  Roy’s job is to convince his father to stop the Project and return to Earth.   

Crazy Heart–Scott Cooper’s (“Out Of The Furnace”) directorial debut stars Jeff Bridges as former country music star Otis “Bad” Blake.  The musician lives nowadays for performing in small-town venues thanks to heavy drinking, a string of failed marriages, and an estranged son.  When Blake meets divorced journalist Jean Craddock (Maggie Gyllenhaal) and her son Buddy, the relationship that develops among them catalyzes Blake to try getting his life back on track.  Will life’s hardships cause Blake to retreat to the bottle again?

Eddie Murphy Raw–Eddie Murphy’s second stand-up comedy film, directed by Robert Townsend, is as far from Bill Cosby’s style of clean comedy as you can get.  His raw comedy style may share with Richard Pryor’s work a freewheeling use of profanity, but Murphy is clearly his own man.  However, Murphy’s frequent use of the f-word and jibes about the materialism of American women may be turnoffs for present day audiences.  Then again, this film was released in 1987, so YMMV. 

Endurance–Sir Ernest Shackleton’s 1914 polar expedition set out to do the first crossing of the Antarctic continent by establishing a base on Antaractica’s Weddell Sea coast.  However, even before Shackleton’s ship The Endurance reached the Antarctic coast, it wound up getting trapped in the pack ice surrounding the continent.  The vessel stayed trapped for nearly a year before Shackleton and his crew were forced to abandon ship.  Amazingly, the expedition leader managed to keep his crew of 27 men alive for over a year until help could be found.  (Ship’s cat, Mrs. Chippy, was not so lucky.)  In 2022, an expedition located the Endurance’s remains on the Weddell Sea seabed.  This documentary recounts the tales of both expeditions.

The Last Duel–Ridley Scott’s underrated historical drama centers on France’s last legally sanctioned trial by combat in 1386.  The combatants are Sir Jean De Carrouges (Matt Damon) and Jacques Le Gris (Adam Driver).  What brings them to fatal blows is an accusation from Marguerite de Carrouges (Jodie Comer) aka Sir Jean’s wife that Le Gris raped her.  Yet the two men used to be friends and even comrades on the battlefield.  What soured their relationship?  It could be Le Gris’ relationship with the king’s salacious cousin Pierre d’Alencon (Ben Affleck).  It could be resentment over a promotion denied to Sir Jean.  But the only thing clear about this case is that Marguerite, being a woman, will draw the short straw in this patriarchal society.

Waitress–Keri Russell (“The Diplomat”) delivered one of her greatest performances in this tale from the late Adrienne Shelly.  Jenna (Russell) bakes luscious pies while working at a small Southern diner.  However, she’s very unhappily married to the loutish Earl Hunterson (Jeremy Sisto), a situation worsened by her learning that she’s pregnant with an unwanted baby and will be forced to keep it.  A passionate affair with married gynecologist Dr. Pomatter (Nathan Fillion, “The Rookie”) ironically begins Jenna’s small steps towards independence and happiness.     

Whip It–Pre-transition Elliot Page gave one of her greatest performances in this sports dramedy directed by Reese Witherspoon.  Small town Texas teen Bliss Cavendar (Page) wants something better in life than being pressured by her mother to compete in beauty pageants.  The answer comes after seeing the roller derby team the Hurl Scouts in action.  Bliss winds up joining the close-knit team of losers and becomes new member Babe Ruthless.  Roller derby will soon give the teen an opportunity to live up to her team name…and even change her life outside the arena.

November 6

Gagnam B-Side–Enter the dark side of Gagnam, Seoul’s entertainment district, in this crime drama.  Jae Hui, a bar worker, has crucial evidence related to a series of disappearances that have rocked Gagnam.  When she disappears, a trio of people search for her whereabouts.  They are: Yun Gil Ho, an entertainment district fixer; Kang Dong U, a cop demoted for exposing corruption; and Min Seo Jin, a promising prosecutor.  What nasty secrets will be revealed in the course of the search?

November 7

Beyond The Pole–This reality series follows a sextet of Atlanta-based strippers as they attempt to transition to life beyond the stripper pole by, for example, starting their own businesses.

November 8

The Fiery Priest Season 2–It’s the return of the action comedy about Father Kim Hae-il, a former National Intelligence Service agent turned Catholic priest.  Father Kim may be great at crime solving and pursuing justice, but he really has anger management issues.  In the new season, Father Kim leaves his Gudum stomping grounds to head to Busan to pursue an illegal drugs case. 

November 14

Say Nothing–This adaptation of Patrick Radden Keefe’s book of the same name is set in Northern Ireland during The Troubles.  During that period, Northern Ireland remained under British rule, which led to friction between the area’s Irish Catholic residents and their British overlords.  In 1972, mother of 10 Jean McConville was kidnapped from her home and never seen alive again.  What’s the connection between the kidnapping and Dolours Price, a woman who with her sister Marian become key members of the Irish Republican Army?  Both sisters believe they’re nobly fighting for justice in the name of the Irish people.  Yet brutality and violence soon become go-to tactics for the sisters’ cause.

The Stanford Prison Experiment: Unlocking The Truth–In August 1971, Dr. Philip Zimbardo of Stanford University conducted a psychological study in which volunteers were divided into either prisoners or guards.  The study would supposedly look at the psychological effects of prison life on the two groups.  The official conclusion was that the power imbalance led to the guards abusing their authority and psychologically torturing the prisoners.  This documentary interviews some of the actual participants in the experiment, whose accounts add some intriguing details about what really happened.  For instance, the rules and punishments the guards operated under were given to them by Zimbardo, not devised on their own.  Nor did the guards realize Zimbardo was also studying them.

November 15

It’s All Country Season 1–In this docuseries, country music singer Luke Bryan talks with several country legends about the untold stories behind their music, particularly the songs that became classic tracks.  In doing so, he hopes to reveal the hidden depths of Nashville and the country music scene.  Among the stars slated to appear are Luke Combs, Sheryl Crow, Mickey Guyton, Kane Brown, and Wynonna Judd.

The Taste Of Things–Tran Anh Hung’s Cannes award-winning historical drama is set on a French country estate in the year 1889.  Eugenie (Juliette Binoche) may work as a cook for the gourmand Dodin Bouffant (Benoit Magamel).  But her culinary skills approach the level of artistry.  The two middle-aged adults are in a long-term romantic relationship, but it has never reached the level of marriage because the cook prefers things to stay as they are.  The closest the duo come to intercourse is developing new recipes and preparations together.  A planned meal for a visiting prince and Eugenie’s mysterious fainting spells herald the beginning of fateful changes in the Bouffant household.

Thelma–This acclaimed comedy-action film shows that even 93-year-old grandmothers should not be messed with.  Thelma Post (June Squibb) may live alone in Los Angeles, but she feels the constant assistance offered by her grandson Daniel “Danny” Markowitz is patronizing.  A phone scam involving Danny’s supposed arrest results in Thelma getting tricked out of $10,000.  Determined to get her money back, she’s eventually forced to seek the help of old estranged friend Ben (Richard Roundtree in his last role)…and his expensive scooter.  Yet as the duo’s odyssey continues, the biggest blocks to their success might be guilt or at least Thelma’s unwillingness to accept help.

November 16

Harriet–Kasi Lemmons’ historical biopic depicts the heroic life of abolitionist Harriet Tubman.  After slave Araminta “Minty” Ross (Cynthia Erivo) is denied release from her involuntary servitude on the Brodess plantation, she successfully escapes to freedom.  With the aid of abolitionist William Still (Leslie Odom, Jr.), Minty is reborn as Harriet Tubman and eventually becomes the conductor known as “Moses” for the Underground Railroad, leading slaves to liberty in the free states of the U.S.  But the passage of the vile Fugitive Slave Act threatens to undo Tubman’s work in helping free slaves.  And Gideon Brodess, the current owner of the plantation Tubman ran away from, vows to bring an end to Moses’ work.   

November 18

The Honorable Shyne–This documentary recounts the amazing life of Moses “Shyne” Barrow, who went from hit rap singer to member of Belize’s House of Representatives.  Barrow had a promising rap career thanks to a gold-selling self-titled debut on Sean “Diddy” Combs’ Bad Boy Records.  But a 1999 nightclub shooting resulted in Shyne spending eight years in prison while Diddy got acquitted.  What happened next, viewers must see for themselves.

November 19

Interior Chinatown–Charles Yu adapts his National Book Award-winning novel for television.  Willis Wu is a Chinese-American character actor whose apparent role on the police procedural show “Black And White” (and in life) is to be the prop Generic Asian Man.  That is, always the living stereotype, never the protagonist.  Then one day, he accidentally witnesses a crime and winds up in the spotlight.  His investigation will reveal family secrets and result in a far too close encounter with Chinatown’s criminal underground.

November 20

Missing–In this thriller produced by Timur Bekmambetov (“Searching”), June (Storm Reid) is a Gen-Z’er who’s totally at ease with her tech-heavy life and her ability to ferret out information that adults try to hide from her.  Those traits come in handy when her mother Grace (Nia Long) goes missing during a vacation in Colombia with boyfriend Kevin (Ken Leung).  But will there actually be information online that June can use to find out what happened to her mother?

November 21

Christmas Wars Season 2–It’s the docuseries about holiday-related behavior guaranteed to earn its participants a place on Santa’s naughty list.  Whether it’s a fistfight on Black Friday or a Santa’s unfortunate collision with a power line, these true tales will make you rethink the idea of Christmas as a time to encourage good will towards one’s fellow humans.  The new season’s stories include: the attempted burning of a dried-out Christmas tree leading to the burning of a family tiki bar, a mall Santa who passes on intervening in a fistfight among four women, and someone who discovers the price of re-enacting a famous Christmas movie scene.

November 25

Tsunami: Race Against Time–This year marks 20 years since the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami made landfall and left a path of destruction.  This docuseries offers a 360-degree view of the disaster via personal accounts from scientists trying to understand what was happening, first responders trying to save people from the effects of the tsunami, journalists trying to break the news of the unfolding disaster, and actual survivors of the tsunami.

November 26

Robot Dreams–This animated adaptation of Sara Varon’s graphic novel of the same name takes place in a parallel 1980s New York City.  Single Manhattan resident Dog has had it with living alone.  So he builds himself a companion called Robot.  The two become inseparable…until one fateful summer night where Dog reluctantly abandons Robot on the Coney Island beach.  Will they meet again?  Should they meet again?

Vow Of Silence: The Assassination Of Annie Mae–Annie Mae Aquash was a Mi’kmaq woman hailing from Nova Scotia, Canada.  Besides being a mother and a teacher, Aquash was also a revolutionary who fought for indigenous rights.  When she was murdered, her case gained notoriety in Indian Country for remaining unsolved for almost 30 years.

November 27

Elf–Will Ferrell stars in this Christmas comedy classic directed by Jon Favreau.  Despite being three times taller than the average elf, Buddy (Ferrell) thinks he’s an elf.  In truth, he was an orphaned human baby who wound up at the North Pole after crawling into Santa’s sack.  Buddy’s mother is dead, and Buddy’s father is cynical children’s book publisher Walter Hobbs (James Caan) who doesn’t realize Buddy exists.  Can Buddy redeem his father with some Christmas spirit so the older man can get off Santa’s naughty list?