Start with Animals, on Netflix October 9. You can finish it before bed. Ben Affleck directs and stars with Kerry Washington as a Los Angeles mayoral candidate and his wife. Their son is kidnapped, and they have to raise a ransom after the campaign has already eaten the money they thought they had. Gillian Anderson and Steven Yeun are in the cast too.
Carrie is already on Prime Video with all eight episodes, so leave that series off the weekend plan.
The other titles worth a night
Below, a Netflix horror film out October 8, is set in a Newfoundland town dealing with a sea creature. Josh Hartnett plays the fisherman trying to hold the place together. Watch it if you want horror that lives in the water. Skip it if open water already bothers you.
Matchbox: The Movie is on Apple TV on October 9. John Cena plays a spy whose childhood friends are accused of stealing a nuclear weapon they didn't take, with Jessica Biel and Sam Richardson in the crew. Clearing their names still means getting that weapon into the right hands. Put it on when you want jokes and a chase, not another kidnapping.
Oasis: Don't Look Back In Anger arrives October 9 on Disney+ internationally and, in the US, on both Hulu and Disney+. Steven Knight created it, and Dylan Southern and Will Lovelace directed it. You get the Oasis Live '25 rehearsals, the backstage, and the shows, plus the first joint Gallagher interview in more than 20 years. Open it if you missed the tour and still want the footage.
Benefits with Friends season 2 puts every episode on Disney+ and Hulu on October 9. It's a romantic comedy starring Bruna Marquezine and Sérgio Malheiros, about two friends who take too long to notice each other. Start there when you want a full binge that's lighter than the thrillers.
Also out on October 9: Disclosure Day on Peacock, Steven Spielberg's alien-disclosure film with Emily Blunt, Josh O'Connor, and Colin Firth; Avatar: Seven Havens on Paramount+, with Pavi learning she's the reincarnation of Korra; and The Housemaid on HBO Max, the Amanda Seyfried and Sydney Sweeney thriller.
Hunger Games leaves, then the Disney bill
All five Hunger Games films leave Netflix in the US on October 14 (Decider), from the first film through The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. The same five land on Hulu that day (Disney's October calendar). Watch whichever ones you'd miss while they're still on Netflix. If none of them are urgent, let Hulu take the set and start there later.
The other change is the bill. The U.S. ads plans for Disney+ and for Hulu are $12.49 a month, from $11.99, and both ad-free Premium plans are $21.49 a month, from $18.99 (Variety). The Disney+ and Hulu bundle with ads stays at $12.99. New subscribers have been on the higher rates since September 23. If you were already subscribed, the new price lands on a billing cycle on or after October 21 (iDrop News). The date on your account is the one that matters.
Start with Animals if one tense film is enough. If the Hunger Games movies are the library title you'd miss, watch them on Netflix while you still can, or pick them up on Hulu after they move. If a Disney+ or Hulu renewal is about to post, look at that ads bundle before you pay a standalone rate.
Photo: Government & Heritage Library, State Library of NC / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.
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