LIST: Films and TV series to watch this December 2023
It's the most wonderful time of the year!
While December is overall filled with love and delight, it can also be quite stressful as it also involves hosting and attending parties here and there, buying gifts that your nearest and dearest will love, dealing with heavy traffic on the road and large crowds in malls, among others.
Thankfully, there are new shows and movies coming out in theaters and your favorite streaming platforms that can keep you sane throughout the holiday season. Here are some that you can add to your watchlist before 2023 ends.
Sweet Home 2
Status: Starts streaming on Netflix on Dec. 1
Starring: Song Kang, Lee Jin-wook, Go Min-si, and Lee Si-young
Song Kang fans must be the happiest. Just last month, his fantasy-romance series My Demon was released. This month, he is back on the small screen via the monster action-horror Sweet Home 2, featuring new faces and challenges that could keep you on the edge of our seats in every episode. Here, special infectees, including Cha Hyun-su (played by Song Kang), get targeted as Bamseom HQ spearheads experiments for a vaccine.
My Man is Cupid
Status: Starts streaming on Prime Video on Dec. 1
Starring: Nana and Jang Dong-yoon
If you’re looking for a feel-good fantasy romance-comedy, the Amazon Original series My Man is Cupid could be your next watch. Here, a cupid (Jang Dong-yoon) meets a veterinary surgeon named Oh Baek-ryun (Nana). After dozens of misfortunes her suitors experience, Oh Baek-ryun prays a thousand times atop a mountain for "The One" to appear before her. Will this hit you straight to the heart? Looks like it.
Welcome to Samdal-ri
Status: Starts streaming on Netflix on Dec. 2
Starring: Ji Chang-wook and Kim Hye-sun
If you enjoyed watching healing K-dramas like Hometown Cha Cha Cha and Our Blues, you might love Welcome to Samdal-ri just as much. After playing challenging characters in their latest projects, top Hallyu stars Ji Chang-wook and Kim Hye-sun are back in their romance-comedy roots with this series, which follows a top photographer who returns to her hometown after being involved in a scandalous issue that shook the nation. She reunites with her best friend-turned-ex-lover upon her arrival. Will sparks fly once more for the childhood sweethearts?
Wonka
Status: Showing in cinemas starting Dec. 6
Starring: Timothee Chalamet with Calah Lane, Hugh Grant, Keegan-Michael Key, Paterson Joseph, Matt Lucas, Mathew Baynton, Sally Hawkins, Rowan Atkinson, Tom David, Jim Carter, and Olivia Coman
It's time to reintroduce the beloved Wonka to the new generation! Witness how the world’s greatest inventor, magician, and chocolate maker became the well-loved Willy Wonka. This is the type of film that kids would enjoy watching with their parents in tow.
Soundtrack #2
Status: Starts streaming on Disney+ on Dec. 6
Starring: Noh Sang-hyun and Geum Sae-rok
Disney+ is offering a limited romantic series for Christmas—the second installment of the romantic anthology Soundtrack #2. If you fell in love with the romance between a photographer (Park Hyung-sik) and a songwriter (Han So-hee) in its first entry, get ready to get kilig as you witness a vocalist (Geum Sae-rok) and a pianist (Noh Sang-hyun) reunite this time. Could Christmas be the best time for ex-couples to reignite the fire?
Maestra: Strings of Truth
Status: Starts streaming on Disney+ on Dec. 9
Starring: Lee Young-ae
Remember Jewel in the Palace? Iconic K-drama superstar Lee Young-ae is back in yet another challenging role, this time as a legendary conductor with a dark past. In Maestra: Strings of Truth, she gets involved in a controversy involving her orchestra.
Ikaw at Ako
Status: Showing in cinemas nationwide starting Dec. 6
Starring: Rhian Ramos and Paolo Contis with Ronaldo Valdez and Boots Anson Roa
In the mood for a local romantic drama? Ikaw at Ako features three love stories involving the effects of Alzheimer’s disease: one about two seniors who are in love, another on a married couple on the verge of breaking up, and another on two youngsters on the puppy love phase. Sounds interesting, doesn't it?
Hopeless
Status: Showing on cinemas nationwide starting Dec. 13
Starring: Song Joong-ki, Hong Xa-bin, and BIBI
Song Joong-ki returns on the big screen via Hopeless, a neo-noir thriller movie about a teenage boy who wants to escape the hellish place he lives in. He later on meets a leader of a local gang who would change his perception about life and survival forever.
Death’s Game
Status: Starts streaming on Prime Video on Dec. 15
Starring: Seo In-guk, Park So-dam, and more
Thrill seekers no need to fret as the highly anticipated ensemble Death’s Game will finally arrive on Prime Video this month. It follows the story of a young man who commits suicide, meets Death at the gates of hell, and gets punished by experiencing life 12 more times in different bodies. There are so many K-drama favorites featured in this star-studded project, including Lee Jae-Wook, Lee Do-hyun, Choi Si-won, Go Yoon-jung, Kim Ji-hoon, and Oh Jung-se.
Gyeongseong Creature
Status: Starts streaming on Netflix on Dec. 22
Starring: Park Seo-joon and Han So-hee
Netflix is ending the year with a bang with the release of the first part of the action-horror period series Gyeongseong Creature—starring superstars Park Seo-joon and Han So-hee. Set in 1945, the lead characters encounter a mysterious creature in a hospital with a suspicious situation. Will the two survive?
Metro Manila Film Festival
Status: Arriving in cinemas on Dec. 25
This December list wouldn't be complete without the Metro Manila Film Festival, which will run from Dec. 25 to Jan. 7. It will feature 10 local films—from comedy to drama to horror and beyond. This year's movie lineup includes A Family of 2 (A Mother and Son Story), (K)Ampon, Penduko, Rewind, Becky and Badette, Broken Heart’s Trip, Firefly, GomBurZa, Mallari, and When I Met You in Tokyo.