As the autumn nights grow longer and temperatures drop, audiences have every excuse to stay indoors and enjoy exceptional cinema and television. Here is a curated selection of premier releases hitting screens this week.

Minions & Monsters (Peacock) – Wednesday, Oct 28

Kicking off the lineup with a family-friendly option, this fresh installment arrives just in time for the Halloween festivities. Boasting an impressive 89% Rotten Tomatoes rating, the latest Minions feature follows the yellow mischief-makers as they take over Hollywood and accidentally unleash various creatures upon the globe.

Dexter: Resurrection – Season 2 (Paramount+) – Friday, Oct 30

Michael C. Hall returns this Friday for the second season of Dexter: Resurrection. Following a stellar debut season packed with star-studded cameos like Uma Thurman and Peter Dinklage, the upcoming run welcomes heavy hitters Brian Cox and Dan Stevens. Expect more vigilante justice right on schedule for the Halloween weekend.

Nocturne – New Series (Apple TV) – Friday, Oct 30

Liev Schreiber and Stephen Graham lead this gripping serial killer detective mystery alongside Zazie Beetz, Rory Culkin, and Bill Camp. Evoking the psychological chess match of Silence of the Lambs, this intense cat-and-mouse drama sets a high bar for crime television.

The Only Living Pickpocket In New York (In Theaters)

John Turturro stars as Harry Lehman, a veteran pickpocket navigating an era where cash and credit cards give way to digital technology. When he mistakenly targets Dylan (Will Price), a young man tied to a powerful crime family, trouble ensues. The stellar cast also features Steve Buscemi as fence Ben, Tatiana Maslany as estranged daughter Kelly, and Giancarlo Esposito as Detective Allan Warren.

The Gilded Age – Season 4 Premiere (HBO Max) – Sunday, Nov 1

The acclaimed historical drama returns for its fourth season with an eight-episode run concluding on December 20, 2026. Featuring lavish costumes, sprawling sets, and a massive ensemble cast, the series continues to captivate period drama enthusiasts.

Essential Halloween Horror Classics

For those seeking traditional chills ahead of Halloween, several timeless masterpieces remain essential viewing:

  • The Exorcist (Directed by William Friedkin | 78% Rotten Tomatoes): When young Regan MacNeil (Linda Blair) displays disturbing behavior, her mother Chris (Ellen Burstyn) enlists two priests (Jason Miller and Max von Sydow) to combat a demonic entity in this seminal horror classic.
  • The Shining (Directed by Stanley Kubrick | 83% Rotten Tomatoes): Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) accepts a winter caretaking job at the isolated Overlook Hotel, where snowy entrapment and dark supernatural forces push him toward terror, while his son Danny (Danny Lloyd) utilizes his psychic abilities.
  • Alien (Directed by Ridley Scott | 93% Rotten Tomatoes): The crew of the commercial spaceship Nostromo investigates a distress signal, encountering a lethal extraterrestrial organism that forces warrant officer Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) into a desperate fight for survival.
  • Halloween (Directed by John Carpenter | 97% Rotten Tomatoes): Fifteen years after his initial crime, Michael Myers escapes confinement to stalk high school student Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) in Haddonfield, establishing the modern slasher genre.
  • A Nightmare On Elm Street (HBO Max | 94% Rotten Tomatoes): Wes Craven introduces Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund), a burned killer who slays teenagers within their dreams, prompting Nancy Thompson (Heather Langenkamp) to fight back in a legendary feature film debut that also stars Johnny Depp.

More Streaming Highlights

In addition to this week's fresh debuts, viewers can dive into binge-worthy library titles like FROM (Seasons 1-3, Netflix), a chilling supernatural mystery following stranded residents trapped in a perilous American town protected by ancient talismans.