Netflix adding 16 new movies and shows this week (Feb. 16, 2025)

Your favorite streamer and mine is adding over a dozen new shows and movies this week. We are talking about Netflix, right? *Author checks input in AI prompt.* Yep, it's Netflix.

Hello there, happy people. After a couple of weeks of massive amounts of new content, Netflix has calmed down a bit. We'll "only" get a little over a dozen new releases this week. Yay, that's more time to warm up another mug of hot chocolate.

Alright now, here's what you do. Skip that Swiss Miss and Carnation junk. Get yourself a quart saucepan and fill it to within an inch of the top with some rich, full-fat milk. Straight from the farm, if you can. Now chop up a 70 percent cacao chocolate bar, and melt that bad boy into a pot of liquid joy. Toss in some chipotle chilis for the real stuff.

Now, just keep that heat low and stir until you've achieved the true Aztec perfection, my friend. Now read that aloud in Matthew McConaughey's voice, and you'll realize just how right that is.

Netflix starts the week with a trio of very different films

Yessir, that McConaughey reference was a bit of foreshadowing. His 2016 film Gold arrives on Sunday. It's directed by Michael Gaghan, who also helmed the excellent thriller Syriana. In Gold, McConaughey plays prospector Kenny Wells, who convinces a geologist to help him uncover vast deposits of gold in the Indonesian jungles. The drama earned a solid 6.7 rating on imdb.com.

If you're looking for some chills, check out Don't Let Go, a sci-fi thriller that pits a detective and his murdered niece in a race against time to prevent her murder. Yes, it's been done before, but it's very well done here. Plus, it stars the magnetic David Oyelowo, star of shows like Lawmen: Bass Reeves, Silo, and of course, as Dr. Martin Luther King in Selma.

If you're in the mood for a bit of over-the-top comedy, Netflix has you covered there, too. It would be difficult to be more outrageous than some of Seth McFarlane's best work. He reteams with Mark Wahlberg for Ted 2, a decidedly less family-friendly bear than Paddington. If you like your talking teddy bears rude and more than a little crude, this one's for you.

Several original series debuts on Monday and Tuesday. We'll start with American Murder: Gabby Petito. Detailing the true story of the victim travel vlogger Gabby Petito, this will be a must for the true crime devotees of Netflix. another docuseries premieres on Tuesday as well, this with a more savory topic. Court of Gold follows four basketball teams at the Paris Olympics in 2024.

It's already earned rave reviews from former NBA stars Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson.

We'll stick with sports for 2021's Heart of Champions. The drama stars Michael Shannon as the coach of a college rowing team. Most reviews say the movie's plot creaks worse than the oars on a half-rotted rowboat, but hey, it's got Michael Shannon. On a brighter note, the wildly popular children's series Gabby's Dollhouse returns for season 11. That seems a bit sweeter, now doesn't it?

Tuesday wraps up with a pair of reality dating series and a standup special. Offline Love challenges Gen...whatever the heck we're in now...to survive 10 entire days with no digital devices. The Japanese series sends 10 romantic souls to Nice with the goal of finding each other and true love. Without their phones, watches, and tablets, they'll be lucky to find French bread. Thanks, I'll take Love is Blind.

The other reality series is season 2 of Too Hot to Handle: Germany. It's a spinoff of, oh, I guess a spinoff of a ripoff of an homage to the Dating Game. There are 200,000 euros at stake, along with a small piece of each contestant's soul. Thank heavens for Rosebud Baker: The Mother Lode.

This is the Saturday Night Live writer's second standup special on Netflix. As she told Deadline, “If you have kids, this special is for you. If you absolutely do not want kids, this special is also for you.”

It's Hum - nope, I hate that term. It's Wednesday, and Netflix has more good stuff.

The 19th is pretty light with just a pair of premieres. First up is season 1 of the Italian comedy-drama series My Family. Across six episodes, it tells the story of Fausto on the last day of his life, and the unexpected extended family that has to deal with the aftermath. Hilarity ensues when Lucy arrives to stomp on the grapes. I'm not explaining my arcane TV references, so just Google it.

The other offering is decidedly darker. 2023's To Catch a Killer stars Shailene Woodley and Ben Mendelsohn as a police detective and FBI agent on the trail of a serial killer in Baltimore. The iconic film critic Rex Reed wrote it's "a thriller that thrills more than other similar films do," and praised both Woodley and Mendelsohn for lifting the film to three of four stars.

Thursday brings the overlooked historical drama Operation Finale. It follows a team of agents determined to track down rat-bastard Nazi Adolf Eichmann, one of the directors of the Holocaust. I suppose the rat-bastard adjective wasn't really needed, but these days, some people need a reminder. Ben Kingsley and Oscar Issac lead a great cast.

A pair of documentaries debut as well. The Brazilian street dance originating in the slums of Rio de Janeiro is documented in Uncredited: The Story of Passinho. For those who couldn't get enough of the can't-miss series Apple Cider Vinegar, there's the two-part doc The Search for Instagram’s Worst Con Artist. I'll take my health advice from Benjamin Franklin, thanks.

The biggest debut of the week is the original Netflix series Zero Day. Robert De Niro stars as a former U.S. President called on to chair a commission investigating a global cyber attack. The cast of the six-episode series is stacked. Dan Stevens, Matthew Modine, Jesse Plemons, Lizzy Kaplan, Joan Allen, Connie Britton, and Clark Gregg are all part of the brilliant ensemble.

I'm psyched just to watch Clark Gregg again, but I should probably mention that freaking Angela Bassett also stars as the sitting President. So this week, six hours of acting lessons are included with your Netflix subscription. How cool is that?

Only one show debuts after that. Season 2 of Pantheon, a sci-fi anime series, hits your screens on Friday. And that, dear friends, wraps up the third week of the coldest month. Just a sneak peak for those who love awards shows: the Screen Actors Guild Awards will be shown live on Netflix on Sunday the 23rd.

New on Netflix this week: Feb. 16-22

February 16

Don't Let Go
Gold
Ted 2

February 17

American Murder: Gabby Petito limited series
Gabby’s Dollhouse season 11
Heart of Champions

February 18

Court of Gold season 1
Offline Love season 1
Too Hot to Handle: Germany season 2
Rosebud Baker: The Mother Lode

February 19

My Family season 1
To Catch a Killer

February 20

Operation Finale
The Search for Instagram’s Worst Con Artist limited series
Uncredited: The Story of Passinho
Zero Day limited series

February 21

Pantheon season 2