Best TV Shows and Movies to Stream Right Now — Netflix, Disney, and HBO Max Content Offer Solace and Escapism

This holiday season, several streaming services brought us TV shows and movies that offered escapism and solace in a time it is greatly needed. Pixar and Disney’s newest animated film gave insight and perspective, and two new adapted dramas from Netflix and HBO Max brought perfect escapism. These are the best TV shows and movies to stream right now.

Soul (Disney +)

If you have not yet streamed Pixar’s newest heartwarming and surprisingly complex animated film, Soul, — you must get on it. Available on Disney +, the film follows middle-school band teacher Joe Gardner (voiced by Jamie Foxx) and his goal of becoming a professional jazz musician. But, after an unfortunate accident, Joe finds himself in a sort of afterlife limbo where he must then help a new soul named 22 (voiced by Tina Fey) find her own spark for life. An uplifting mix between Pixar’s Inside Out and Coco, Soul explores the idea of death and what it actually means to have a soul.

The Flight Attendant (HBO Max)

Based on the 2018 novel by Chris Bohjalian of the same name, this new thriller-mystery series stars Kaley Cuoco as a flight attendant whose life gets derailed by the murder of a man she spent the night with in a Bangkok hotel room. It doesn’t help that she was blackout drunk and doesn’t remember much of the evening — just that she woke up next to the bloody body and thoroughly cleaned up the crime scene out of panic. The eight-episode series follows Cassie (Cuoco) as she works to find the killer and prove her innocence (which is in question by the FBI) — all while taking shots of vodka non-stop. Not taking things too seriously, the show offers comedic elements as well as incredibly artsy visuals. Highly entertaining, the twists and turns of the “whodunnit” make The Flight Attendant a must-watch miniseries.

Bridgerton (Netflix)

The only reason I ultimately decided to watch this show was Shonda Rhimes. Known for ABC hits such as Grey’s Anatomy and Scandal, Shondaland has now branched off into Netflix territory with its latest hit. This new period drama offered the perfect amount of escapism I was looking for in my after-Christmas gloom. Filled with dazzling, high-society gatherings, and narrated by British-icon Julie Andrews, Bridgerton is like Downton Abbey with a modern twist. Based off Julia Quinn’s best-selling historical romance novels, the first season follows Daphne Bridgerton (Phoebe Dynevor) as she attempts to find a husband to become part of Regency London’s high society. After meeting the Duke of Hastings (Regé-Jean Page), Daphne and her seven siblings find themselves in many scandalous encounters.