Forget about mommy kissing Santa Claus, mommy is Santa Claus in the new original Christmas movie My Secret Santa, which ho-ho-hoed its way to No. 1 on the English film list with 18.1 million views. The rom-com — about a down-on-her-luck single mother, Taylor (Alexandra Breckenridge), who disguises herself as Santa to get a seasonal job at a ski resort to help pay for her daughter’s snowboarding lessons — joins Netflix’s many holiday offerings.
Those who prefer to deck the halls with demogorgons have kept Stranger Things 5 at No. 1 on the English TV list with 23.6 million views. For a second record-making week, all five seasons of the hit series are in the Top 10, with Season 1 at No. 3 (8.2 million views), Season 2 at No. 5 (6.8 million views), Season 3 at No. 6 (5.9 million views), and Season 4 at No. 7 (5.3 million views). Fans continue to devour Volume 1 of the final season, along with behind-the-scenes anecdotes from the cast and crew — including this Episode 4 table read (spoiler alert if you haven’t yet watched the episode) — as they await Volume 2, which comes out on Christmas Day, with The Finale landing on Netflix and in select theaters on New Year’s Eve at 5 p.m. PT.
Work out where the stars shine.
Solve the classic numbers game.
Piece together the big picture.
Turn shapes into something bigger.
Swap letters and emojis into words.
Find the path hidden in words.
Just add vowels.
Put the words back together.
Also on Santa’s nice list last week was rom-com caper Jingle Bell Heist, which took the No. 2 spot on the English film list with 10.4 million views. The movie stole hearts with its tale of two financially strapped hourly workers who team up to rob a posh London department store. For a more irreverent twist on the holidays, viewers tuned in for Matt Rife Unwrapped: A Christmas Crowdwork Special, putting the comedian’s unscripted performance at No. 10 on the English TV list with 4.6 million views.
The extensive four-part docuseries Sean Combs: The Reckoning grabbed the No. 2 spot on the TV list with 21.8 million views in its opening weekend. From Emmy Award–winning director Alexandria Stapleton and Emmy and Grammy Award–winning executive producer Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, the series features never-before-seen footage of Sean “Diddy” Combs in the days leading up to his 2024 arrest, as well as interviews with former associates, childhood friends, artists, and employees.
Also new last week was the female-led Western epic The Abandons, starring Gillian Anderson and Lena Headey as opposing matriarchs in contention over land and legacy in the Washington Territory of 1854. The series won the No. 4 spot on the English TV list with 7.3 million views.
Audiences went monster hunting in Norway as they watched an earth-shaking showdown between two trolls in the sequel adventure Troll 2. The movie roared its way to No. 1 on the non-English film list with 29.3 million views. Ensuring they have their Norse lore down, viewers also returned to the first Troll movie, putting the 2022 film at No. 2 on the list with 5.3 million views.
Dynamite Kiss again topped the non-English TV list, collecting 4.8 million views in its fourth week since its debut. The Korean rom-com series follows a woman who pretends to be a mother in order to work at a children’s products company, only to discover that her new boss is an old flame. The Price of Confession launched in the No. 2 spot with 2.2 million views. The Korean thriller series centers on an art teacher who, accused of killing her husband, is offered a way out by a mysterious stranger — but at a deadly price.
Several of this week’s Top 10 titles earned Golden Globe Award nominations on Monday. KPop Demon Hunters, which took the No. 3 spot on the English film list with 8.6 million views, was nominated for Best Animated Motion Picture, Best Cinematic and Box Office Achievement, and Best Original Song from a Motion Picture (“Golden”). Also among the nominations are George Clooney and Adam Sandler, who were nominated for their lead and supporting performances in Jay Kelly, which was also nominated for a Critics Choice Award for Best Picture. The comedy-drama about life’s regrets and second chances, won the No. 5 spot with 5.1 million views.
Frankenstein, which nabbed the No. 9 spot with 3.7 million views, received five nominations, including for Best Motion Picture — Drama. Actor Oscar Isaac and supporting actor Jacob Elordi, along with director Guillermo del Toro and composer Alexandre Desplat, all received nominations for their contributions to the adaptation of Mary Shelley’s novel.
Claire Danes and Matthew Rhys both received nominations for their performances in The Beast in Me, which also was nominated for Best Television Limited Series, Anthology Series, or Motion Picture Made for Television. The crime drama took the No. 9 spot in the English TV list with 4.8 million views.
Additionally, a few Top 10 titles received Critics Choice Awards nominations on Friday. In Your Dreams, which was recognized in the Best Animated Feature category alongside KPop Demon Hunters, won the No. 6 spot on the English film list with 4.8 million views. Best Foreign Language Film nominee Left-Handed Girl, about a mother who moves her family to Taipei to open a night market stall, held the No. 8 spot on the non-English film list with 1.5 million views. And Best Foreign Language Series nominee Last Samurai Standing, about hundreds of samurai fighters vying for a cash prize in 1878, seized the No. 3 spot on the non-English TV list with 1.7 million views.
