It’s still a week to go before Valentines Day, but you can find something to love in this week’s streaming release list, headlined by awards-buzz-worthy The Order, new animated film The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep, and the final episodes (for real this time!) of Cobra Kai.
SERIES
The Franchise S1
10 February 2025 – Showmax
Franchise filmmaking rules Hollywood at the moment. But while studios chase big cinematic universe properties to make big money, the little people on the ground forced to churn out these projects don’t always have such a good time. In new satirical comedy series The Franchise, we follow second-unit director Daniel (Himesh Patel) and the rest of the crew, desperately trying to finish their work on “Tecto: Eye of the Storm”, a minor entry in a massive superhero franchise in which everybody actually just cares about the next tentpole team-up movie. Co-created by acclaimed filmmakers Armando Iannucci (The Thick of It, The Death of Stalin) and Sam Mendes (Skyfall, American Beauty), The Franchise also stars Aya Cash and Richard E. Grant.
Surviving Black Hawk Down
10 February 2025 – Netflix
This may come as a surprise, but when director Ridley Scott released Black Hawk Down in 2001, it was only ever so slightly profitable. Depicting the events of the 1993 Battle of Mogadishu during which an American Military chopper was shot down in the middle of the Somalian city while on a rescue mission, the star-studded gritty war film would eventually earn two Oscars, and become well known enough to enter the cultural lexicon. The one sticking point though was its many inaccuracies. Working with the constraints of a feature film running time, Scott and his team had been forced to compress the testimonials of the many US troops interviewed into something that could play for a general audience. So, what really happened? Surviving Black Hawk Down is a new docuseries, removed from the filter of Hollywood filmmaking, that turns the camera on the actual soldiers – and the Somali people – who survived the Battle of Mogadishu, allowing them to tell audiences exactly what happened in their own words. Featuring interviews, reenactments, and shocking footage captured on the ground before, during, and after the bloodshed, this three-episode series provides a multifaceted perspective on a day that forever changed the lives of everyone involved.
Cobra Kai S6 – Part 3
13 February 2025 – Netflix
COBRA KAI FINALLY DIE! Yes, in what has to be one of the most dragged-out seasons of any show that I can recall in recent memory (Part 1 debuted back in July 2024!), Part 3 of Cobra Kai’s sixth and final season is finally hitting screens next week. Billed by Netflix as “The final episodes of the greatest karate saga of all time”, this five-episode batch will conclude this incredible underdog tale of a show that began life almost as a bit of a joke on YouTube (where it got cancelled) before going on to become a global phenomenon. How ever the series ends, take note that this is not the end of the road for Ralph Macchio’s Daniel-san, as he will be reprising the role opposite Jackie Chan’s Mr. Han in Karate Kid: Legends in May, which will finally see the world of the original franchise crossing over with the characters from the 2010 remake.
MOVIES
The Order
6 February 2025 – Prime Video
In case you haven’t noticed, Nicholas Hoult has been on an absolute tear as of late. In the space of just a few months, the young actor has not just headlined but put in fantastic work in Clint Eastwood’s Juror #2, Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu, and – most relevant to us now – Justin Kurzel’s The Order. And it’s this latest offering that is earning him the most awards buzz. Not that he doesn’t have stiff competition in his co-star Jude Law, who is reportedly also putting in career best work here. Based on the true events covered in the 1989 non-fiction book The Silent Brotherhood: The Chilling Inside Story of America’s Violent, Anti-Government Militia Movement by Kevin Flynn and Gary Gerhardt, The Order sees Law as a veteran FBI agent who moves to a smalltown to escape the pressures of his city job, only to stumble into an investigation about a potential white supremacist group. Led by Hoult’s charismatic family man, this group is acting out of the ordinary for its ilk, seemingly following a chilling doctrine that would see its ambitions grow to full-blown terrorism. With a support cast featuring Tye Sheridan, Jurnee Smollet, and Marc Maron, this is not a movie to miss by all accounts, with many critics putting it on their top 10 lists.
Diddy: The Making of a Bad Boy
7 February 2025 – Showmax
Speaking of dangerous cults… Once one of hip-hop music’s most respected and beloved artists, Sean Combs aka Puffy aka P. Diddy has seen his entire world come crashing down. Since his one-time girlfriend Cassie Ventura filed her explosive lawsuit in November 2023, Combs has been the target of dozens of similar lawsuits from various parties, all with allegations of being drugged, sexually assaulted and threatened if they were ever to go public with their experiences. The exposure of the now infamous “Diddy Parties” have made global headlines and threaten to take down more A-celebs as they are linked to cases of underage sex and other deviant crimes. This begs the question: What happened? How did it come to this? Diddy: The Making of a Bad Boy is a raw, exclusive look at Sean Combs long before he was known as Puff or Diddy. Featuring never-before-seen footage and stories from those who know him best, this 90-minute feature documentary sheds light on his childhood, rise to fame, and recent criminal allegations, challenging viewers to rethink everything they thought they knew about the mogul behind the music – and the mugshot.
The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep S1
11 February 2025 – Netflix
Once one of the crown jewels in Netflix’s crown, The Witcher franchise has seen its popularity seriously wane over the last few years, especially following the brouhaha of star Henry Cavill parting ways with the live-action series. That hasn’t stopped the streamer from still putting out entries in the series, including new animated feature film The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep. Unlike previous animated offerings which did their own thing though, this film will be a direct adaptation of one of original author Andrzej Sapkowski’s many The Witcher books and also sees heroic monster-hunting mutant Geralt of Rivia, voiced by Doug Cockle, the same voice actor from the best-selling award-winning The Witcher video game series. He’s not the only familiar voice though, as Anya Chalotra also reprises her live-action role of Yennefer of Vengerberg in this animated feature, which sees Geralt hired to investigate a series of attacks in a seaside village and finds himself drawn into a centuries-old conflict between humans and merpeople.
Harold and the Purple Crayon
11 February 2025 – Showmax
Chances are that if you’re reading this, you probably didn’t watch Harold and the Purple Crayon in cinemas. The live-action adaptation of Crockett Johnson’s beloved 1955 children’s book was one of 2024’s biggest box office bombs, and also seemingly hastened the public downward spiral of star Zachary Levi who had just previously suffered another Hollywood dud in Shazam! Fury of the Gods. There were some that believed it was Levi’s outspoken politics that kept audiences away, while others said that the movies were just not good. In the case of Harold and the Purple Crayon, you can decide for yourself now if the latter criticism is true. The film sees Levi playing the grown-up version of Harold, a young boy who can make anything come to life simply by drawing it. After he grows up and draws himself off his book’s pages and into the physical world, Harold finds he has a lot to learn about real life – and that his trusty purple crayon may set off more hilarious hijinks than he thought possible.
La Dolce Villa
13 February 2025 – Netflix
Next Saturday is Valentine’s Day, but if you want to get a slightly early head start on the romantic proceedings, Netflix has you covered. Most of us have heard about small Italian towns, looking to revive their flagging population by offering houses up for sale for just $1. In upcoming romcom La Dolce Villa, Scott Foley plays a successful businessman who travels to Italy to stop his daydreaming daughter (Maia Reficco) from buying and restoring one of these dirt-cheap crumbling villas for herself. But what he plans to be a short trip in which turns into something unexpected once he meets the beautiful mayor (Violante Placido) of the town his daughter would like to call home. Cue the beauty, magic, and romance of Italy!