New Movies and Shows Coming to Netflix in November: ’Emilia Pérez’ and More

Every month, Netflix adds movies and TV shows to its library. Here are our picks for some of November’s most promising new titles for U.S. subscribers. (Note: Streaming services occasionally change schedules without giving notice. For more recommendations on what to stream, sign up for our Watching newsletter here.)

‘Emilia Pérez’

Starts streaming: Nov. 13

A winner of multiple prizes at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year, this genre-bending, gender-bending movie has Zoe Saldaña playing Rita, a lawyer enlisted to help a cartel boss formerly known as Juan begin her new life as Emilia (Karla Sofía Gascón), while also helping Emilia’s wife, Jessi (Selena Gomez), adjust to the change. Written and directed by the accomplished French filmmaker Jacques Audiard — and featuring songs by the composer Clément Ducol and the singer Camille — “Emilia Pérez” is at once a comedy, a musical and a crime drama, shifting approaches freely as it tells the story of a woman aiming for a profound transformation of a messy life.

‘The Piano Lesson’

Starts streaming: Nov. 22

Following “Fences” (2016) and “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” (2020), Denzel Washington’s latest film adaptation of the plays in August Wilson’s “Pittsburgh Cycle” tackles one of the playwright’s most popular works. Produced by Washington (with Todd Black) and directed by Washington’s son Malcolm, “The Piano Lesson” has John David Washington (another son) as Boy Willie, who hatches a plan to buy some land by selling his family’s hand-carved piano, currently in the possession of his Uncle Doaker (Samuel L. Jackson) but held dear by Willie’s sister, Berniece (Danielle Deadwyler). Set in the 1930s, the film is a lively and complex drama about a Black family debating the best way to honor its enslaved ancestors — either by preserving their history as-is or by using their legacy as a way to get ahead.

‘Spellbound’

Starts streaming: Nov. 22

One of the first feature film projects announced by Skydance Animation (way back in 2017) finally makes it to the screen after a production complicated by Covid and distribution difficulties. Rachel Zegler voices Ellian, a princess of the kingdom of Lumbria, which is being torn apart after a spell transformed the king (Javier Bardem) and queen (Nicole Kidman) into monsters. Featuring songs by Alan Menken and Glenn Slater, and direction by Vicky Jenson (best-known for her work on “Shrek”), “Spellbound” follows Ellian’s multi-step quest to save her family and her people.

‘Our Little Secret’

Starts streaming: Nov. 27

The 2022 Netflix movie “Falling for Christmas” saw the return of Lindsay Lohan as a leading lady in a film for the first time in nearly a decade; and the movie went on to become one of the streamer’s biggest hits that holiday season. Two years later, Lohan is once again surrounded by wreaths, ribbons and twinkling lights for the romantic comedy “Our Little Secret.” She play Avery, who gets stuck at a holiday gathering with her boyfriend’s family, where she discovers that her man’s sister is dating Logan (Ian Harding), with whom Avery had a messy breakup 10 years earlier. Since the exes both want to make a good impression for their new significant others’ fussy mother (Kristin Chenoweth), they decide to pretend they don’t know each other — which becomes increasingly complicated as the Christmas togetherness rolls on, day after day.

‘Senna’

Starts streaming: Nov. 29

This flashy Brazilian mini-series dramatizes the too-brief career of the Formula 1 champion Ayrton Senna. Gabriel Leone plays Senna, who took the F1 circuit by storm in the late 1980s and early ’90s before dying at 34 from injuries sustained during a race. “Senna” is packed with fast-paced racing scenes, but the show’s creator, Vicente Amorim, is just as interested in the backroom politicking that sprung up once Senna’s more aggressive racing style put him in the winner’s circle ahead of the more established (and more conservative) European stars. While getting into Senna’s family and personal life, the series also documents how one of Brazil’s national heroes argued that the sport’s financiers and governing bodies too often kept the drivers from competing at their best.