A mystery lover’s guide to what’s new to streaming this weekend.
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New and Returning Mystery and Thriller Series
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Oasis
(Netflix)
In a sense this is kind of a Spanish White Lotus ripoff, but without any of the uncanniness that makes the Mike White show work so well. Really we’re more in the realm of nighttime soap with this one: it’s a lot of rich young people at a coastal resort on lockdown after the resort owner’s daughter goes missing. It’s dishy and campy and at times pretty steamy, and meanwhile there’s a big mystery unfolding. But more than any of that, this is just an excuse to watch affluent young Spaniards doing one another dirty. There are worse ways to spend an evening when the World Cup games don’t entice you. (No guest appearance from Lamine Yamal, so far as I can tell.)
House of the Dragon, season 3
(HBO)
Okay, so I’ll just say with this one, right off the bat, that the series has been, to this point, pretty disappointing. Pretty lackluster. No real personality to it. A bit drab, a bit bland in its drama. But…it’s still a Game of Thrones show, and to me feels like event television, and I find myself getting excited when a new season rolls around, so I wanted to flag it for everyone, on the very off chance you’ve missed it, or gave up on it somewhere in the endless table-setting of the early seasons. It actually gets a bit better now, so might be worth some time this weekend.
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Movie Night
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Newly available to rent/buy this week is Obsession (2025), which is the big horror-ish movie you’ve been hearing about, the one directed by twenty-something wunderkind director, Curry Barker, that earned so much unexpected money at the box office this year. It’s sort of a throwback to a 90s style thriller about, as you may have guessed, obsession. The movie doesn’t reinvent anything, it’s not going to win an Oscar, but if you’re looking for a satisfying couple hours locked into an immersive story, this might be the right one for you. Or, perhaps, you’re ready for a romp with familiar characters and a world that’s tried and true for mystery fans, in which case you’d do well to fire up Enola Holmes 3 on Netflix. There’s a winning quality to the young sleuth that powers the series, and the mystery/adventure elements are always well handled. That said, with these two leading the offerings, nobody will fault you in the least if you opt this weekend instead to go looking for something a little older and more proven in the streaming libraries.
Plus 5 new additions to the streaming libraries…
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) (Tubi)
A Time to Kill (1996) (Tubi)
Zodiac (2007) (Pluto)
Nightcrawler (2014) (Pluto)
The Usual Suspects (1995) (HBO/Max)
