Whats new to streaming this week? (Feb. 20, 2026)
Looking for something great to watch at home? Streaming subscribers are spoiled for choice between Hulu, Netflix, HBO Max, Disney+, Apple TV, Prime Video, Shudder, Paramount+, Peacock, and more. And that's before you even look at the vast libraries of movies and television programs within each streamer!
Don't be overwhelmed or waste an hour scrolling through your services to determine what to watch. We've got your back, whatever your mood. Mashable offers watch guides for all of the above, broken down by genre: comedy, thriller, horror, documentary, and animation, among others. But if you're seeking something brand new (or just new to streaming), we've got you covered there, too.
16. Wild Boys: Strangers in Town
Documentarians Rita Baghdadi and Jeremiah Hammerling explore the bizarre story of two "wild boys," a pair of brothers who wandered out of the forests of British Columbia in 2003, claiming they'd been raised off the grid by their parents. A caring mother took them in, trying to get them acclimated to modern society. But when the brothers began to push back against her efforts to help them, she started doubting their story.
Wild Boys: Strangers In Town begins the story by jumping from talking head interviews with the boys, this mom, and a local police officer, who had his suspicions from the start about the brothers. From there, the two-part series touches on themes of social pressure, mental health, and more. But where the story goes isn't as compelling as you might expect or even hope. Personally, when the second episode ended, my biggest reaction was, "Why did I waste my time on this?" — Kristy Puchko, Entertainment Editor
How to watch: Wild Boys: Strangers in Town is now streaming on Paramount+.
15. Strip Law
Cullen Crawford is a comedy writer who's had a hand in such adult-centric animated series as M.O.D.O.K., Paradise PD, the 2024 Ren & Stimpy relaunch, and Star Trek: Lower Decks. Now, he's created his own proudly crass cartoon with Strip Law.
Set in Las Vegas, this new Netflix animated series centers on Lincoln Gumb, Esq. (voiced by Adam Scott), who's trying to make his name in law while caught in the shadow of his late, great mom, a titan in the field. Fired by her former business partner, Steve Nichols (Keith David), Lincoln looks to start his own firm, with the help of a magician named Sheila Flambé (Janelle James), plucky teen investigator Irene (Shannon Gisela), and Glem Blorchman (Stephen Root), a chaotic old coot who is also a disgraced/disbarred lawyer. Together, they'll take the cases too weird for more reputable firms. So, yeah, if you like a workplace comedy about underdogs and the unique culture of Vegas, queue up Strip Law. — K.P.
Starring: Adam Scott, Janelle James, Stephen Root, Shannon Gisela, and Keith David
How to watch: Strip Law debuts on Netflix on Feb. 20.
14. 56 Days
Who doesn't dream about an exciting love affair that can sweep you off your feet and change your life forever? Well, 56 Days suggests be careful what you yearn for, because this one ends with a "body in the bathtub."
Who's the corpse? That's the question of the thriller series adapted from Catherine Ryan Howard's best-selling novel of the same name. After meeting in a supermarket, Oliver Kennedy (Avan Jogia) and Ciara Wyse (Dove Cameron) fall fast and hard for each other. Some may even say they're obsessed. 56 days later, homicide detectives find a body in his apartment and have to ask, who killed who? And who's in the tub? Dare you dive in? — K.P.
Starring: Dove Cameron, Avan Jogia, Megan Peta, Dorian Crossmond Missick, Karla Souza, Patch Darragh, Kira Guloien, Jesse James Keitel, Matt Murray, David Klein, and Alec Albert
How to watch: 56 Days is now playing on Prime Video.
13. Watching You
Seeking something sexy and thrilling? Watching You could please.
Adapted from J.P Pomare's novel The Last Guests, this Australian series is a psychological thriller about a woman whose one night stand has been caught on tape. A mysterious voyeur is threatening to ruin her life by releasing the footage. They send her threatening texts. She fears she's always being watched. So, to what lengths will she go to make it stop? We can't wait to find out. — K.P.
Starring: Sara Wiseman, Aisha Dee, and Josh Helman
How to watch: Watching You debuts on Hulu on Feb. 20.
12. Murder in Glitterball City
HBO's two-part documentary Murder in Glitterball City examines the mysterious murder of Old Louisville resident Jamie Carroll. After disappearing in 2009, Carroll was found dead and buried in 2010 in the basement of a mansion shared by couple Joey Banis and Jeffrey Mundt. Each partner had a different story about what happened, leading to a twisting investigation and two separate murder trials. Directors Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato, the team behind 2000's The Eyes of Tammy Faye, examine the murder through the eyes of the surrounding queer community in Louisville, Kentucky, showing how Carroll's murder rippled outward through the city. — Belen Edwards, Entertainment Reporter
How to watch: Murder in Glitterball City debuts on HBO and HBO Max on Feb. 19 at 8:00 p.m. ET.
11. Portobello
An unbelievable true story comes to the small screen in Portobello, HBO's latest Italian language series. Fabrizio Gifuni stars as real-life television presenter Enzo Tortora, who hosts the popular variety series Portobello. However, his career falls apart when the associate of a crime boss (and avid Portobello fan) names Tortora as part of the criminal organization. See how his arrest unfolds and brush up on your Italian with the rest of Portobello. — B.E.
Starring: Fabrizio Gifuni, Lino Musella, Romana Maggiora Vergano, Barbora Bobuľová, Carlotta Gamba, Alessandro Preziosi, Fausto Russo Alesi, and Salvatore D'Onofrio
How to watch: Portobello debuts on HBO Max on Feb. 20.
10. Dead of Winter
Emma Thompson embraces her inner Liam Neeson in Dead of Winter, a thriller that's chock-full of snow, action, and Midwestern accents. Thompson plays Barb, a grieving widow who's heading to a lake in Minnesota to scatter her husband's ashes. Trapped in a blizzard, she stumbles upon an armed couple (Judy Greer and Marc Menchaca) holding a young woman named Leah (Laurel Marsden) hostage. Cue snowy fight scenes as Barb fights tooth and nail to save Leah and herself. — B.E.
Starring: Emma Thompson, Judy Greer, Marc Menchaca, Laurel Marsden, and Brían F. O'Byrne
How to watch: Dead of Winter debuts on HBO Max on Feb. 20.
9. Adventuring Academy, Season 7
Dropout returns with a seventh season of Adventuring Academy, a comedy podcast where Dimension 20 game master Brennan Lee Mulligan invites on a guest to discuss the pleasures and pains of TTRPG (tabletop role-playing games).
Shot in the Dimension 20 dome, Season 7 will welcome several of the Gladlands cast, including Oscar Montoya, Kimia Behpoornia, and Say More guest Vic Michaelis. So you know it's going to be a silly good time. — K.P.
Starring: Brennan Lee Mulligan, Vic Michaelis, Robbie Daymond, Oscar Montoya, Kimia Behpoornia, Aabria Iyengar, Emily Friedman, Mica Burton, Quinns Smith, and Jasper William Cartwright
How to watch: Adventuring Academy Season 7 premieres on Dropout on Feb. 20.
8. Being Gordon Ramsay
What does it take to be Gordon Ramsay? Find out in Being Gordon Ramsay, Netflix's docuseries centered on the world-famous chef and TV star. Over six episodes, Being Gordon Ramsay brings viewers into Ramsay's latest ambitious restaurant project: opening five restaurants in one building, London's 2 Bishopsgate. If you thought watching a fictional restaurant opening in The Bear was stressful, you can bet watching the real thing go down will be even more harrowing. — B.E.
How to watch: Being Gordon Ramsay is now playing on Netflix.
7. The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants
SpongeBob SquarePants is the gift that keeps on giving. Created by the late Stephen Hillenburg, the Nickelodeon cartoon series that debuted in 1999 has offered over 300 episodes, spin-off shows like Kamp Koral and The Patrick Star Show, plus a growing list of movies. And it just doesn't get old to see this gleeful fry cook giggle.
In The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants, the titular hero is on a quest to become a swashbuckler, like his mentor/boss Mr. Krabs. The ghost pirate known as The Flying Dutchman promises he can get SpongeBob to his goal. But curiously, it's not the goofy goober's bravery or swordsmanship that attracts the attention of this nefarious figure, it's his outstanding bubble-blowing abilities.
This adventure is supremely silly, action-packed, and ultimately sweet. If you're looking for a movie to shut your brain off and just enjoy, you'd be hard-pressed to make a better choice than this.* — K.P.
Starring: Tom Kenny, Mr. Lawrence, Jill Talley, Bill Fagerbakke, Carolyn Lawrence, Clancy Brown, Ice Spice, Arturo Castro, Mark Hamill, Regina Hall, and Rodger Bumpass
How to watch: The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants is now streaming on Paramount+.
6. The Night Agent, Season 3
Peter Sutherland (Gabriel Basso) is back! The spy at the heart of Netflix's thriller The Night Agent returns with a new assignment, new enemies, and probably zero sleep. Now a full-fledged Night Action operative, Peter is on the trail of a young Treasury agent (Suraj Sharma) who's taken sensitive government secrets to Istanbul following an attack from his boss. What follows is an international chase with ties to a seriously shady dark-money network. — B.E.
Starring: Gabriel Basso, Ward Horton, Jennifer Morrison, Fola Evans-Akingbola, Louis Herthum, Amanda Warren, Genesis Rodriguez, David Lyons, and Stephen Moyer
How to watch: The Night Agent Season 3 debuts on Netflix on Feb. 19.
5. Rental Family
Writer/director Hikari thrilled Netflix subscribers in 2023 with the darkly comic limited series Beef. In her follow-up, she offers a radical shift in tone and message with Rental Family, a feel-good drama about finding one's home.
Brendan Fraser stars as American actor Phillip Vanderploeg, who moved to Japan for work but has been struggling for years to get gigs. So, when an unconventional acting job comes along, he reluctantly takes the role(s). Rental Family is a curious company, where its employees fill in for their clients as whatever people they need: a friend, a husband, a mistress, or even a dad. While Phillip is uncomfortable deceiving people, like the little girl whose single mom has hired him to play the father the child has never met, he finds joy and purpose in becoming a facet in these lives, however unusual the path there. But as Phillip grows too comfortable in certain roles, he risks not only his job but also the well-being of those who've come to love him. While Rental Family veers into sentimental, and even simplistically preachy territory, it is a charming story of personal growth and enduring love.* — K.P.
Starring: Brendan Fraser, Takehiro Hira, Mari Yamamoto, Shannon Mahina Gorman, and Akira Emoto
How to watch: Rental Family is now streaming on Hulu.
4. No Other Choice
Boasting a corporate jargon title long-deployed to evade responsibility, Park Chan-wook's anti-capitalist parable No Other Choice might feel a little too real to those burned by the job market. This wicked social commentary is one of the director's most comedic films to date, but that doesn't mean it's not dark as hell.
Based on Donald E. Westlake's 1997 novel The Ax and written by Park, Lee Kyoung-mi, Jahye Lee, and Don McKellar, the film follows hardworking paper company employee Yoo Man-soo (an outstanding Lee Byung-hun), who gets the chop in a merciless company restructure. With his family to provide for, including his wife Mi-ri (Crash Landing on You's Son Ye-jin) and two kids, Man-soo scrambles to find a job — and when the perfect opportunity comes along, he takes drastic measures to ensure he'll land it.
Critics praised No Other Choice for its moral ambiguity and biting social satire. As I wrote in my own review, "As a viewer, we're simultaneously rooting for Man-soo and unnerved by his capacity for calculated manipulation and murder. No Other Choice poses the question: Would you kill for the life you want? In fact, the film doesn't even ask it, instead presenting a man believing himself forced into making such a decision due to cold, hard corporate strategy. It's out of his hands."* — Shannon Connellan, UK Editor
How to watch: No Other Choice is now available for rental or purchase on Prime Video.
3. Dreaming Whilst Black, Season 2
Adjani Salmon's critically acclaimed comedy Dreaming Whilst Black returns for Season 2 this week, where it will continue to skewer the entertainment industry's treatment of Black filmmakers. Salmon plays Kwabena, an aspiring director who might just get his big break this season. The project? A historical series with color-blind casting. But as Kwabena embarks on what seems like a dream gig, he soon realizes that nothing is quite as it seems.
Dreaming Whilst Black has earned praise for its spot-on satire of the entertainment industry. In his Season 1 review, Mashable contributor Robert Daniels called the series "one of the best looks behind the curtain of the struggle in making Black cinema for mass appeal." — B.E.
Starring: Adjani Salmon, Dani Moseley, Jo Martin, Demmy Ladipo, Rachel Adedeji, Babirye Bukilwa, Martina Laird, and Roger Griffiths
How to watch: Dreaming Whilst Black Season 2 debuts on Paramount+ on Feb. 20.
2. Reality Check: Inside America's Next Top Model
Since debuting on Monday, Reality Check: Inside America's Next Top Model has quickly sparked controversy across social media. Viewers are outraged over the comments America's Next Top Model host/judge Tyra Banks offered,when questioned about the show's most scandalous moments. Plus empathy outpoured for Miss J. Alexander, who in the final episode revealed the reality he's struggling with since the show ended.
Having watched all three episodes of Reality Check: Inside America's Next Top Model, I'm torn on whether to recommend it. Reality Check's directors Mor Loushy and Daniel Sivan (also co-executive producers) definitely know what their audiences want, resurrecting ANTM's most shocking photoshoots, dramatic judging sequences, and horrifying moments. Watching the show is downright addictive, as it offers not only the contestant's perspective of their viral moments, but also Banks and her co-stars facing the critiques that have been plastered across TikTok following the show's availability on streaming.
Reality Check probes these old wounds, but it doesn't give audiences the solace or justice they might crave. So, watch if you dare, but be warned: This doc series is made to hate-watch. — K.P.
Starring: Tyra Banks, Nigel Barker, Miss J. Alexander, and Jay Manuel
How to watch: Reality Check: Inside America's Next Top Model is now playing on Netflix.
Best of Streaming this week:
28 Years Later: The Bone Temple
Danny Boyle and Alex Garland resurrected the 28 Days Later film series with 28 Years Later, a zombie thriller so scary it ranked high on both our best horror films of the year and our best films of the year list. For its sequel, Boyle steps aside, entrusting the helm — and Garland's script — to Hedda director Nia DaCosta, who takes zombie horror to a wild, musical new place.
Picking up with young runaway Spike (Alfie Williams) having joined the vicious gang led by Jimmy (Jack O'Connell), Bone Temple is a tale of the darkest impulses of humanity, balanced by the brilliant humanity of Dr. Kelson (Ralph Fiennes) and his Alpha buddy, Samson (Chi Lewis-Parry). As I raved in my review, "28 Years Later: The Bone Temple is a phenomenal film. As a sequel, it builds the saga of Spike without retreading its predecessor's steps. As a zombie movie, it delivers scenes of gut-churning violence and haunting loss. As a horror film, it is sublime, gorgeous, rich in visual splendor, surging with feeling, and intoxicating in its unexpected twists. Simply put, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple fucking rules. I left the theater rattled and elated. I can't wait to go again." — K.P.
Starring: Alfie Williams, Ralph Fiennes, Jack O'Connell, Alfie Williams, Erin Kellyman, and Chi Lewis-Parry
How to watch: 28: Years Later: Bone Temple is now available to rent or purchase on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, and Apple TV.
(*) denotes a blurb came from a prior list.