Picture: Paramount Pictures

Greetings from Los Angeles where I’m wrapping up a two week road trip and will be back on What’s on Netflix duties next week! Before then, it’s time to do a recap of everything new on Netflix in the US over the past seven days. We’ll also touch on some highlights, the full list of every new movie, series and game plus the top trending titles in the Netflix US daily top 10s. 

Want to see what’s still in store for the rest of October 2024? We’ve got you covered with our full list of titles coming up here. Now, let’s get into some highlights from the past seven days:

Best New Movies and Series on Netflix This Week

Scream (2022)

Rating: R
Language: English
Genre: Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Director: Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett
Cast: Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, David Arquette
Writer: James Vanderbilt, Guy Busick, Kevin Williamson
Runtime: 114 min / 1h 54m

Netflix has gone all out this year in acquiring some pretty major licensed Halloween titles from distributors from across Hollywood. One of two major reboots that has now dropped on Netflix includes Scream which features a huge ensemble cast of familiar faces from the original 90s classic and newer stars including Netflix Wednesday star, Jenna Ortega. 

Released to critical acclaim, the continuation of the original is set 25 years after a streak of brutal murders hit the quiet town of Woodsboro. Presumed to be put to bed, that all changes when a new killer emerges with the Ghostface mask, targeting a new group of teenagers to resurrect secrets from the town’s deadly past. 

Kubo and the Two Strings (2016)

Rating: PG
Language: English
Genre: Animation, Action, Adventure
Director: Travis Knight
Cast: Charlize Theron, Art Parkinson, Matthew McConaughey
Writer: Marc Haimes, Chris Butler, Shannon Tindle
Runtime: 101 min / 1h 41m

Yep, we’re once again primarily focusing on movies for our what to watch section this week and given that Kubo and the Two Strings is one of the finest animated movies from the past decade, we absolutely had to feature it here despite it being a returning movie for the streamer. Written by Shannon Tindle, who was behind Netflix’s stellar Ultraman: Rising earlier this year, the movie is a stop-motion epic. The word masterpiece is often thrown around willy-nilly but we don’t do it lightly here. The plot revolves around a gifted storyteller from a fishing village who accidentally summons a vengeful spirit and embarks on a quest to uncover the mystery of his fallen samurai father, his mystical weaponry, and his own magical powers.

Lonely Planet (2024)

Rating: R
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Romance
Director: Susannah Grant
Cast: Laura Dern, Liam Hemsworth, Diana Silvers
Writer: Susannah Grant
Runtime: 94 min / 1h 34m

Although Netflix’s movie slate for October is primarily focused on thrills for the Halloween season, Lonely Planet certainly bucks that trend with Laura Dern and Liam Hemsworth leading the cast of the romance drama. 

Here’s what our own critic, Andrew Morgan, had to say about the film this morning in a three-star review: 

“Overall, Lonely Planet is a well-paced, slow-burn romance that leans into the strengths of its Oscar-nominated writer. The ever-radiant Dern is in her snarky intellectual bag with a useful volley partner in Liam Hemsworth. Their chemistry improves as the story progresses and limits the attention paid to the film’s more aimless or less engaging features.”

Full List of New Releases on Netflix This Week

17 New Movies Added This Week

• Ali Wong: Single Lady (2024) Netflix Original – TV-MA – English
• Bad Boys: Ride or Die (2024) – R – English
• Breaking the Silence: The Maria Soledad Case (2024) Netflix Original – TV-14 – Spanish
• Girl Haunts Boy (2024) – PG – English
• Her Blue Sky (2019) – TV-PG – Japanese
• In Her Place (2024) Netflix Original – PG-13 – Spanish
• Khel Khel Mein (2024) – TV-14 – Hindi
• Kubo and the Two Strings (2016) – PG – English
• Lonely Planet (2024) Netflix Original – R – English
• Mathu Vadalara 2 (2024) – TV-MA – Telugu
• Pixels (2015) – PG-13 – English
• Scream (2022) – R – English
• See For Me (2021) – TV-MA – English
• Temurun (2024) – TV-MA – Indonesian
• That Kind of Love (2024) – TV-14 – Tagalog
• The Menendez Brothers (2024) – TV-MA – English
• Uprising (2024) Netflix Original – TV-MA – Korean

11 New TV Series Added This Week

• Deceitful Love (Limited Series) Netflix Original – TV-MA – Italian
• Dinner Time Live With David Chang (Season 2 – LIVE) Netflix Original – TV-MA – English
• Halloween Playlist (Season 1) Netflix Original – – English
• Love Is Blind, Habibi (Season 1) Netflix Original – TV-MA – Arabic
• Orb: On the Movements of the Earth (Season 1 – New Episodes Weekly) – TV-MA – Japanese
• Outer Banks (Season 4 – Part 1) Netflix Original – TV-MA – English
• Ranma 1/2 (Season 1 – New Episodes Weekly) – TV-MA – Japanese
• Starting 5 (Season 1) Netflix Original – TV-MA – English
• The Life and Movies of Er?an Kuneri (Season 2) Netflix Original – TV-MA – Turkish
• The Secret of the River (Limited Series) – TV-MA – Spanish
• Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft (Season 1) Netflix Original – TV-14 – English

1 New Game Added This Week

• Rollercoaster Tycoon Touch (iOS and Android)

Most Popular Movies on Netflix US This Week

Picture: Illumination Pictures

A bunch of movies featured in the Netflix top 10s this week including a bunch that were added on the first of the month. Topping the charts though is Sing which thankfully came into replace The Super Mario Bros Movie which departed Netflix after 10 months on the service. The Platform 2, the Spanish sequel with unfavorable reviews features second. 

1. Sing (71 points)
2. The Platform 2 (57 points)
3. The Garfield Movie (41 points)
4. 2 Guns (40 points)
5. The Menendez Brothers (37 points)
6. The Mechanic (35 points)
7. Trouble (30 points)
8. Bad Boys: Ride or Die (30 points)
9. It’s What’s Inside (25 points)
10. Escape Plan (23 points)
11. Robin Hood (18 points)
12. It Chapter Two (14 points)
13. Jailbreak: Love on the Run (9 points)
14. Halloween (4 points)
15. Over the Hedge (3 points)
16. 22 Jump Street (2 points)
17. Kung Fu Panda (1 points)

Most Popular Shows on Netflix US This Week

Picture: Netflix

Topping the US charts this week again is Nobody Wants This, the romantic comedy that’s received a relatively quick season 2 order in the past few days. Netflix Originals make up the majority of the top 10 with The Amazing Digital Circus and Yellowjackets being the two notable exceptions to that rule. 

1. Nobody Wants This (77 points)
2. Love Is Blind (70 points)
3. Monsters (66 points)
4. Unsolved Mysteries (41 points)
5. The Great British Bake Off (34 points)
6. The Amazing Digital Circus (29 points)
7. The Perfect Couple (21 points)
8. Mr. McMahon (16 points)
9. Yellowjackets (15 points)
10. Heartstopper (14 points)
11. Deceitful Love (10 points)
12. Outer Banks (10 points)
13. Starting 5 (7 points)
14. Dan Da Dan (5 points)
15. Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft (2 points)
16. S.W.A.T. (3 points)

What are you watching on Netflix this weekend? Let us know in the comments.