What’s New to Stream on Amazon Prime for November 2022

Crossing the Streams is our series of guides looking at all the offerings hitting the big streaming services each month. This time we’re checking out what’s new to streaming on Amazon Prime in November 2022, including a western series with Emily Blunt, a new Harry Styles acting effort, and more!

Amazon Prime Pick of the Month for November 2022

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again — there can never be enough westerns. Sure, audiences in the 30s through the 50s might disagree as they were inundated by western films, but they’re far too rare these days. Kudos then to Prime Video for its new series, The English. The six-episode (already loving it!) series follows a woman’s (Emily Blunt) quest for vengeance as she hunts down the man responsible for the death of her son. Blunt’s action skills are as proven as her acting talent, so we’re absolutely in the bag for her revenge-fueled journey. The Englishwoman is a fish out of water in America’s wild west, but she might just stand a chance alongside a man (Chaske Spencer) she meets along the way. Early reviews have been positive, so that’s a good sign, and we’re betting with the talent involved it’ll be a great entry into the western genre.

Prime Originals for November 2022

His pop music stardom is assured, but critiques of Harry Styles’ acting chops have left him in sketchier waters. 2022 sees him take on leading roles in two films. The higher profile one is Olivia Wilde’s Don’t Worry Darling, a film that caught more press before release than after, and now the focus turns to My Policeman. Michael Grandage’s dramatic romance is currently underwater over at Rotten Tomatoes, but some kind words have seeped through the criticisms. The film follows three friends, as adults in the 90s and as their much younger selves back in the 50s. Drama, betrayal, and infidelity rear their head on the road toward forgiveness and reunion. Linus Roache, Rupert Everett, and Emma Corrin co-star.

Attention all Bob’s Burgers/The Great North fans — the wildly talented Lizzie Molyneux and Wendy Molyneux are making their live-action feature debut this year with The People We Hate At The Wedding (premieres November 18th). It’s a comedy about adult siblings clashing in and around a weekend wedding in the country, and it features some familiar faces Randall Park, Lizzy Caplan, Kristen Bell, Allison Janney, Ben Platt, Jorma Taccone, and more. The trailer suggests it should be a good time with some zingy one-liners and banter-filled beats. And heads up, the Molyneuxs’ next film? A little something called Deadpool 3?!

Halloween Is Over, But You Can Still Watch Horror!

Director Adrian Lyne is better known for his saucy thrillers (Fatal Attraction) and sexy comedies (Deep Water), but he also delivered one hell of a chiller in Jacob’s Ladder (1990). Tim Robbins stars as a Vietnam veteran living in New York City with Elizabeth Pena, but both his days and nights are haunted by visions and beings from somewhere else. There are suspense and scares a plenty, but it’s the emotional punch the film lands that will have you thinking about it for weeks afterward.

If there’s one subgenre in horror that’s underrepresented these days, it’s the monster movie. Forget ghosts, demons, possessions, and zombies — sometimes you just want a good old-fashioned creature feature. Peter Hyams’ The Relic (1997) gives us that and more thanks to a generous studio budget and a game cast (Tom Sizemore, Penelope Ann Miller, Linda Hunt). The monster is a rhino-sized lizard thing eating people with abandon around a popular museum, and Hyams infuses the hunt with plenty of action along the way.

Jennifer’s Body (2009, freevee) may have been maligned upon release, but Karyn Kusama’s film has gained only new fans in the years since. Amanda Seyfried and Megan Fox play besties in high school, but all bets are off when the latter is turned into a succubus. Funny, sad, and sharp as a tack in its skewering of male expectations, it’s a film that deserves reevaluation and confirmation as a wickedly dark thriller with both humor and heart.

It’s suffered something of a backlash in recent years, mostly fueled by understandable anger towards one of its co-writers, but Drew Goddard’s The Cabin in the Woods (2012) remains an absolute banger of a horror/comedy. The setup unfolds as expected when five friends head to a remote cabin in the woods only to unleash hell, but the devil’s in the details as the film explodes into a hilariously meta tale of the impending apocalypse. Just genius from start to finish, with one of the genre’s best endings ever.

Remakes You Understandably Missed!

This column typically aims towards recommendations for readers to seek out on the streaming service at hand, but this entry is a little bit different. I wouldn’t exactly recommend any of these four films as they’re all pretty meh, so consider this a public service message instead — did you know these even existed?! Down To Earth (2001) is an 87-minute remake of 1978’s Heaven Can Wait. That’s right. One of the American Pie filmmakers remade something written by Elaine May and cast Chris Rock in the Warren Beatty role. So, enjoy.

Jonathan Demme was a beloved filmmaker who dabbled brilliantly in numerous genres, but you’ll still have trouble finding someone to defend The Manchurian Candidate (2004) with anything resembling real passion. You can’t argue with the talent pool as Demme wrangled Denzel Washington, Jeffrey Wright, Anthony Mackie, Liev Schreiber, Meryl Streep, and more for the film, but it still feels like a pale imitation of John Frankenheimer’s 1962 original.

Okay, you’re forgiven for not knowing that Gridiron Gang (2006, freevee) is a remake because, technically speaking, it’s a narrative adaptation of a 1992 documentary. Still, though, there’s little reason to rush out to see it. Phil Joanou directs a pre-blockbuster era Dwayne Johnson as a football-loving counselor at a juvenile detention center. He works to bring the teens together and in line through discipline, sportsmanship, and celebration of hard work. It’s a sports drama that sends a positive message, so that has to count for something.

Speaking of outsized egos, Mark Wahlberg stars in Contraband (2012), a remake of an Icelandic thriller from four years earlier. He plays an ex-smuggler forced back into the game to protect his brother-in-law. The film is the epitome of a standard action/thriller, something that would have gone straight to home video if not for Wahlberg’s presence. It’s fine?

The Complete Amazon Prime List for November 2022

Follow all of our monthly streaming guides.