A “Fraggle Rock” special and an adaptation of an Algernon Blackwood ghost story may be this column’s main holiday season nods.  But that doesn’t mean the rest of the streaming month lacks surprises or treats.  

December sees the streaming debuts of Brad Pitt’s F1 racing movie and Rian Johnson’s new “Knives Out” mystery.  Elsewhere, Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Seymour Hersh talks about US government misdeeds of the last 60 years while a neglected 1990s British Afrofuturist drama will surprise viewers.  Whether the viewer’s in the mood for a mix of Bollywood and martial arts or prefers catching a near-future spy thriller starring Simu Liu, here are some suggestions for great watches this month.

All The Empty Rooms (Netflix)--Joshua Seftel’s powerful documentary short follows broadcast journalist Steve Hartman and photographer Lou Bopp on a cross-country trip in America.  Their destinations: the childhood bedrooms of kids whose lives were cut short by school shootings.

Architecton (HBO Max)--Victor Kossakowsky’s new documentary considers the use of stone and concrete as building materials, and their effects on present day architecture.  Given the environmental toll of producing cement, should that material still be used in humanity’s buildings?  Is it possible to build better and improve the way we live?

Didi (Peacock)--In Sean Wang’s Sundance Award-winning coming-of-age dramedy set in 2008 Fremont, California, 13-year-old Chris “Didi” Wang is not a popular kid at school and feels inadequate.  But as he navigates first crushes and generally being around other people, he slowly notices that his mother Chungsing (Joan Chen) and sister Vivian aren’t exactly living trouble-free lives either.

The Haunted Season:  The Occupant Of The Room (Shudder)--Kier La-Janisse continues the tradition of ghost stories told at Christmas with this adaptation of a famed Algernon Blackwood tale.  When a schoolteacher makes a late-night arrival at a Swiss Alps hotel without a reservation, the only rooming option belongs to a guest who has mysteriously disappeared.  Will the room’s strange and uncanny occurrences make the schoolteacher regret his choice?

Influencer (Netflix)--Social media influencer Madison’s solo backpacking trip in Thailand has been an exercise in misery.  Things look up when CW enters her life and takes Madison to some great hot spots.  But before the Kurtis David Harder-directed tale is over, there will be identity theft and even a corpse or two in the mix.  

It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley (HBO Max)--Jeff Buckley was a rising 1990s musical star with an otherworldly voice who had just released one album, “Grace.”  Tragically, he would die at age 30 thanks to a drowning accident in Memphis’ Wolf River.  Amy Berg’s documentary examines the outsized influence and boundary-pushing artistry of this gifted singer taken too early in life.

Kajillionaire (Peacock)--In Miranda July’s crime comedy, Old Dolio Dyne (Evan Rachel Wood) is more an accomplice than a daughter to con artist parents Robert (Richard Jenkins) and Theresa (Debra Winger) Dyne.  When the elder Dynes let the friendly Melanie (Gina Rodriguez) in on their latest scam, Old Dolio starts to see her relationship to her parents in a far different light.   

Keanu (Tubi)--Peter Atencio’s action comedy explains its title when recently dumped Rell Williams (Jordan Peele) names the stray kitten he finds on his doorstep Keanu.  Life proves good again until Rell’s place gets ransacked and Keanu goes missing.  Along with cousin Clarence Goobril (Keegan Michael Key), the catnapping trail will lead Rell and Clarence into encounters with the notorious 17th Street Blips gang and being mistaken for the fearsome assassins known as the Allentown Boys.

Mother India (Criterion)–Mehboob Khan directed this classic Indian epic about the years-long struggles of  Radha, a farmer’s wife who fights to survive inhospitable land, disastrous flooding, the loss of relatives’ lives, and above all financial servitude to the moneylender Sukhilala.  Despite the hardships life throws at Radha, she will eventually become the village’s “mother.” 

 Only Lovers Left Alive (Tubi)—Jim Jarmusch’s gothic romance concerns two married vampires, Adam (Tom Hiddleston) and Eve (Tilda Swinton), who live a world apart in Detroit and Tangiers, respectively.  Despite centuries of influencing musicians and scientists, Adam’s caught between his desire to reconnect to people through his music and his contempt for ordinary humans.  When Eve notices Adam’s despondency, she pays him a visit and discovers he’s been considering suicide.  Will Eve’s presence be enough to give Adam the proverbial lease on life?  Or will Eve’s younger vampire sister Ava (Mia Wasikowska) screw things up?

Together (Hulu)--Closeness to loved ones turns to body horror in Michael Shanks’ film.  Millie Wilson (Alison Brie) moves to the countryside for a new teaching job while bringing along her longtime boyfriend, aspiring musician Tim Brassington (Dave Franco).  If Millie wanted the move to help her have a deeper connection with Tim, having parts of their bodies physically fuse together at odd times definitely isn’t what she asked for.  Why these mysterious events are happening have answers that Millie will definitely hate.

Welcome II The Terrordome (Criterion)--Ngozi Onwurah’s overlooked debut feature is set in a near-future Britain where the country’s Black inhabitants are essentially confined to the Transdean ghetto (aka The Terrordome).  Angela lives in the Terrordome along with drug dealer brother Spike and his white pregnant girlfriend Jodie (Saffron Burrows).  Spike suggests his drug gang achieve supremacy in the Terrordome by selling to white neighborhoods.   But the death of Angela’s son Hector sparks simmering racial tensions underneath the Terrordome..  Told with an astounding mix of African history, magic realism, and Black anger.

The Family McMullen (HBO Max)--Edward Burns’ sequel to his breakout hit “The Brothers McMullen” returns to the Irish-American McMullen clan three decades later.  Barry McMullen (Burns) is now in his 50s as is brother Patrick (Patrick McGlone) and widowed sister-in-law Molly (Connie Britton).  Barry also has some 20-something kids.  Yet all of them are dealing with unexpected romantic hurdles and big questions about life and family.

The First Snow Of Fraggle Rock (Apple TV)---This holiday special featuring the beloved Jim Henson characters concerns a holiday season that’s one of unexpected firsts.  This is the first holiday season where Gobo lacks inspiration to write the annual holiday song.  (It’s not his fault, as the usually inspirational first snow consisted of just one snowflake this year.)  To get his creative juices flowing, Gobo will make his first trip to Outer Space aka the human world.  And at the Gorgs’ castle, the arrival of a new baby Gorg throws off Junior.

The New Yorker At 100 (Netflix)--Marshall Curry’s (“Street Fight”) documentary takes viewers behind the scenes of the legendary magazine which has contributed to the image of New York City as a sophisticated metropolis.  Not only will viewers see such New Yorker personnel as editor-in-chief David Remnick and art editor Francoise Mouly, but they’ll meet such celebrity fans as Jon Hamm, Molly Ringwald and Ronny Chieng (“The Daily Show”).  They’ll also get reminiscences of some of the magazine’s greatest stories including Rachel Carson’s “Silent Spring” and Truman Capote’s “In Cold Blood.”

Emily The Criminal (Tubi)--Emily Benetto (a fantastic Aubrey Plaza) has student loan debt, yet she’s stuck doing gig delivery work thanks to a felony conviction for aggravated assault.  A “dummy shopper” service seems to offer a better way to rake in the bucks.  But it turns out to actually be a front for a credit card fraud ring.  Yet given that “legitimate” employers seem more interested in paying little to nothing to Emily, learning how to make fake credit cards doesn’t seem that bad by comparison.  

Fanny And Alexander (Tubi)--In 1907 Sweden, siblings Fanny and Alexander live with their theater-minded family the Ekdahls.  When father Oscar dies from a stroke, mother Emilie remarries widower bishop Edvard Vergerus and moves Fanny and Alexander in with Edvard’s family.  It turns out the bishop is a controlling authoritarian who’s especially cruel towards Alexander for his habit of inventing stories.  However, Emilie’s efforts to get a divorce and liberate herself and her children from Edvard’s clutches fall flat.  Is there another alternative to rescue Fanny and Alexander?

Man vs. Baby (Netflix)--In this sequel to the comedy series “Man vs. Bee,” Rowan Atkinson returns as Trevor Bingley, who’s now a school caretaker.  He winds up stuck with a baby left behind at the school’s Nativity scene thanks to the parents’ having disappeared.  When a Christmas house-sitting gig at a luxurious London penthouse opens up, Bingley’s forced to bring the baby along.  But he’s about to find out how much damage a baby can innocently cause.  

F1 The Movie (Apple TV)--Thanks to a career-ending crash at the 1993 Spanish Grand Prix, former Formula 1 (F1) driving prodigy Sonny Hayes (Brad Pitt) has been reduced to being a racer for hire.  Possible salvation comes in the form of former teammate Ruben Cervantes.  A second driver is needed for Cervantes’ struggling F1 team APXGP.  The team’s investors threaten to sell APXGP unless it wins one of the season’s nine remaining Grand Prixs.  Can the aging Hayes ride this opportunity to publicly show everyone he’s the best F1 driver in the world?  

The Mastermind (MUBI)--Kelly Reichardt directs this anti-heist movie set in 1970 Framingham, Massachusetts.  James Blaine “J.B.” Mooney (Josh O’Connor) is an unemployed carpenter who plots to steal four Arthur Dove paintings from the local museum.. The good news is, the heist pretty much goes off as planned.  The bad news is, what happens afterward is one disaster after another, from Mooney getting ratted out to having to hide out with art school friends to running short of bus fare money.  

Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery (Netflix)--Your feelings about the new Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) mystery may depend on your feelings about writer/director Rian Johnson skewering religion.  Young former boxer turned priest Jud Duplenticy (Josh O’Connor) has been sent to a troubled New York parish called Our Lady Of Perpetual Fortitude.   The parish is being run by the nutbag Monsignor Jefferson Wicks (Josh Brolin), who uses anger and guilt-tripping to keep his small flock in line.  Wicks’ harsh view of God conflicts with Duplenticy’s vision of God as love, and leads to friction between the two religious officials.  But did that friction and Duplenticy’s vow to “cut [Wicks] out like a cancer” lead to the older man being found dead in a locked room?   Blanc is asked to figure things out.

Chevalier (2023) (Hulu)--Who is Joseph Bologne, the Black man who beats Mozart in a duel of competing violin cadenza pieces?  This son of a French slaveowner and an African slave would eventually parlay such skills as fencing and violin playing to become the Chevalier de Saint-Georges and a favorite of Queen Marie Antoinette.  But does Joseph’s success come at the cost of rejecting his true self and turning a blind eye to the period’s growing social discontent?

Polite Society (Peacock)--Nida Manzoor’s (“We Are Lady Parts”) hilarious action comedy centers on the relationship between British-Pakistani sisters Ria and Lena Khan.  High-schooler Ria dreams of growing up and becoming a movie stuntwoman while Lena dreams of being an artist.  Lena’s decision to abandon her art dreams and marry Salim, the geneticist son of the wealthy Raheela, spurs Ria to sabotage the nuptials.  But are the two sisters really growing apart, or has Lena been targeted by a sinister agenda?

10 Dance (Netflix)--In this live action adaptation of Inoue Satoh’s hit manga, Shinya Sugiki and Shinya Suzuki are rival expert dancers.  Sugiki is a champion Standard Ballroom dancer; Suzuki is a champion Latin Dancer.  Sugiki spurs Suzuki to agree to compete together in the 10 Dance competition, where dancers who have mastered both Standard Ballroom and Latin dancing compete in 10 different dances.  To win, the two Shinyas must master each other’s dance specialty.  But what happens when the two dancers become lovers?

Breakdown: 1975 (Netflix)--Morgan Neville (“Piece By Piece”) directs this look back at American cinema in 1975.  It may have been a year of social and political upheaval.  But it was also the year that gave Americans such iconic movies as “One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest,” “Taxi Driver,” “Jaws,” and “The Godfather: Part II.”  Jodie Foster narrates this documentary, which features interviews with such period luminaries as Martin Scorsese, Ellen Burstyn, and Joan Tewkesbury.

Queens Of The Dead (Shudder)--Tina Romero (yes, as in daughter of “NIght Of The Living Dead”’s director George Romero) helms this zombie comedy.  It shows what happens when the big Brooklyn warehouse drag show known as Club Yum gets rudely interrupted by a zombie outbreak.  Can such characters as returning drag performer Sam, jealous drag queen Nico, and homophobic handyman Barry somehow get along with each other, survive the zombie attacks, and even go out with a song?

Strange Harvest (Hulu)--Who is “Mr. Shiny,” an elusive serial killer who’s committed a string of grotesque murders in California’s Inland Empire over the course of three decades?  Detectives Joe Kirby and Lexi Taylor must sift through a trail of particularly bloody killings, a mysterious symbol found at several sites, and the possibly occult nature of these slayings.

Made In Korea (Hulu)--This 1970s-set Korean political drama pits two men against each other.  Korean Central Intelligence Agency operative Baek Ki-tae controls illicit businesses whose operations add to his power and wealth.  Principled public prosecutor Jang Geon-young’s determination to clean out government corruption leads him to examine Ki-tae’s smuggling operations.  A deadly rivalry between the two men is soon sparked.

Cover-Up (Netflix)--Laura Poitras and Mark Obenhaus’ new documentary delivers a biographical portrait of legendary Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Seymour Hersh.  Unlike what’s accepted as political reporting in America nowadays, Hersh has fearlessly reported on the US government’s misdeeds over the course of decades.  Among Hersh’s scoops were the My Lai massacre (hundreds of Vietnamese adults and infants raped and murdered by US soldiers), American military torture at Abu Ghraib, and US underwriting of Israel’s massacring Palestinian civilians in Gaza.  

The Life Of Chuck (Hulu)--Could accountant Charles “Chuck” Krantz’ (Tom Hiddleston) death from a brain tumor herald the end of the universe?  If so, why?  Mike Flanagan’s adaptation of Stephen King’s story of the same name goes backwards through Chuck’s life to answer this question.  Keys to this answer include Chuck’s talent for dance, Carl Sagan’s Cosmic Calendar, and a famous phrase from the Walt Whitman poem “Song Of Myself.”

The Copenhagen Test Season 1 (Peacock)--Alexander Hale (Simu Liu) is a first-generation Chinese-American intelligence analyst who discovers his brain has been hacked by persons unknown.  The result: everything he sees and hears is now open to his mystery hackers.  Yet he can’t turn to his shadowy agency’s higher-ups for help.  If it’s suspected that he’s compromised, he’s dead.  So in this near-future world, Hale must maintain a 24/7 performance that will allow him to find out who’s responsible and to show he’s not betraying his country.  Will the mysterious yet deceptive Michelle (Melissa Barrera) be Hale’s ally or an enemy?