What to Stream: September 25 – October 1, 2026
A decision-ready guide to the September 25–October 1 Netflix, HBO Max, Apple TV+, and Hulu arrivals, led by Backrooms, Unabomber, The Final Problem and East of Eden, with current Rotten Tomatoes signals and explicit watch-or-skip verdicts.
Friday, September 25 carries most of this week's arrivals. HBO Max gets A24's highest-grossing film, Netflix puts up two first-run titles, Hulu adds a drama that critics scored at 97%, and Apple TV+ returns to the kitchens of a BAFTA-nominated docuseries. The week then closes on October 1 with Netflix's seven-part Steinbeck adaptation and the M3GAN spinoff that opens Huluween.
This guide covers US arrivals from September 25 through October 1, 2026. The Rotten Tomatoes figures below are a live snapshot checked on September 24, 2026. "Not yet scored" means the title page displayed no percentage at that moment, which is the ordinary state for something that has not aired or opened yet.
The week at a glance
| Title | Service and date | Format and time commitment | Rotten Tomatoes | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Backrooms | HBO Max, Sep. 25 | Feature film; 1h 50m; R; subscription debut | 86% critics (311 reviews); 74% audience (10,000+ verified ratings) 1 | Watch It |
| Unabomber | Netflix, Sep. 25 | Feature film; 1h 37m; R | Not yet scored; 0 critic reviews; 0 audience ratings 2 | Watch It for true-crime viewers |
| The Final Problem | Netflix, Sep. 25 | Limited series; four episodes; Spanish | Not yet scored; 0 critic reviews 3 | Watch It |
| Paolo | HBO Max, Sep. 25 | Seven episodes; French; TV-MA | Not yet scored; 0 critic reviews 4 | Watch It for thriller viewers |
| Knife Edge: Chasing Michelin Stars Season 2 | Apple TV+, Sep. 25 | Eight episodes; two at launch; TV-MA | Season 1: 100% critics (5 reviews); season 2 not yet scored 5 | Watch It |
| The Plague | Hulu, Sep. 25 | Feature film; 1h 38m; R; library arrival | 97% critics (123 reviews); 66% audience (50+ verified ratings) 6 | Watch It for drama |
| A Complete Unknown | Hulu, Sep. 27 | Feature film; 2h 21m; R; library arrival | 81% critics (343 reviews); 95% audience (5,000+ verified ratings) 7 | Watch It |
| Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle | Netflix, Sep. 28 | Anime feature; 2h 35m; R; library arrival | 98% critics (63 reviews); 98% audience (10,000+ verified ratings) 8 | Watch It |
| One of Them Days | Hulu, Sep. 30 | Feature film; 1h 37m; R; library arrival | 94% critics (125 reviews); 89% audience (2,500+ verified ratings) 9 | Watch It |
| East of Eden | Netflix, Oct. 1 | Limited series; seven episodes; TV-MA | Not yet scored; 0 critic reviews 10 | Watch It |
HBO Max: A24's biggest film reaches subscription streaming
Backrooms — September 25
Kane Parsons built this film out of his own YouTube series about the "backrooms," an imagined network of rooms sitting behind ordinary walls. The result became A24's highest-grossing release in the United States and worldwide. Chiwetel Ejiofor plays Clark, the owner of a struggling furniture showroom who finds a doorway in his basement; the rooms beyond it bend time, and something in them is waiting. Renate Reinsve, Mark Duplass, Finn Bennett and Lukita Maxwell round out the cast, and Will Soodik wrote the screenplay. 11
HBO Max streams the film from September 25, and the HBO linear channel airs it the following night at 8 p.m. ET. 11 It opened in theaters on May 29, 2026 and has been available to rent since July 14, so Friday brings it into a subscription library for the first time. The film runs 1 hour 50 minutes and is rated R. 1
Verdict: Watch It. Horror rarely lands this well on both sides: 311 critic reviews at 86% and more than 10,000 audience ratings at 74%. At 1 hour 50 minutes it fits a single Friday evening, and it is the strongest title on the list.
Paolo — September 25
Paolo moves pianos in a small French provincial town and is planning a wedding with his fiancée Winnie. A chance encounter draws him to a campaign event for a former classmate, Téophane, who is running for mayor; what starts as admiration turns into a consuming obsession. Jérôme Niel plays Paolo, Yoann Gasiorowski plays Téophane, and Magalie Lépine-Blondeau plays Winnie. Sébastien Marnier created, wrote and directed the seven-episode series, which is rated TV-MA. 12
HBO Max begins streaming on September 25. Rotten Tomatoes shows no Tomatometer and zero critic reviews for the season. 4
Verdict: Watch It for thriller viewers. One writer-director has seven episodes to let an ordinary friendship slide into obsession, and the French setting is unusual enough on this platform to be worth the look.
Netflix: true crime, a Mallorca mystery, and Steinbeck's California
Unabomber — September 25
Janus Metz directs this drama, which cuts between two timelines: Ted Kaczynski's years as a 16-year-old Harvard mathematics prodigy, and the FBI hunt that eventually caught him. Jacob Tremblay plays the young Kaczynski, Russell Crowe plays the Harvard psychologist Henry Murray, Shailene Woodley plays FBI agent Joanne Miller, and Annabelle Wallis plays researcher Christiana Morgan. Sam Chalsen and Nelson Greaves wrote the screenplay, and 2.0 Entertainment produced it in association with MRC. 13
Tremblay told Netflix that the Harvard chapter of the story was new to him when he read the script. 13 The film arrives on Netflix on September 25, runs 1 hour 37 minutes, and is rated R. Rotten Tomatoes displays no Tomatometer and records zero critic reviews and zero audience ratings. 2
Russell Crowe as Professor Henry Murray and Annabelle Wallis as Christiana Morgan in Unabomber, which arrives on Netflix on September 25. Image: Philippe Bosse/Netflix.
Verdict: Watch It for true-crime viewers. The Harvard years are the half of the Kaczynski story that gets dramatized least, the 97-minute runtime keeps it to one evening, and an unscored premiere simply means nobody has published a verdict yet.
The Final Problem — September 25
An English tourist named Elisa Mander is found dead at a small hotel on an island off Mallorca, where a storm has stranded thirteen guests and employees in the spring of 1959. Basil, a retired actor who once played Sherlock Holmes on screen, ends up investigating a death that looks first like a suicide and then like something else. José Coronado plays Basil, and Maribel Verdú, María Valverde and Martiño Rivas are also in the cast. The four-episode limited series adapts Arturo Pérez-Reverte's novel of the same name; Félix Viscarret directed it, and Mod Producciones produced it. 14
All four episodes arrive on September 25. Rotten Tomatoes shows no season score and zero critic reviews. 3
Verdict: Watch It. Four episodes is the shortest commitment among this week's scripted premieres, and a locked-room murder on an island nobody can leave gives the story a shape readers can size up in a sentence.
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle — September 28
This theatrical feature carries Tanjiro Kamado and the Demon Slayer Corps into the demons' stronghold for the saga's final battle, after Muzan Kibutsuji drops them through the floor of the Ubuyashiki mansion. The film runs 2 hours 35 minutes and is rated R. It opened in theaters in September 2025 and reached digital release on July 28, 2026. 8 Netflix adds it on September 28. 15
Verdict: Watch It. Nothing else this week scores this high on both sides: 98% from 63 critic reviews and 98% from more than 10,000 audience ratings. The 2-hour-35-minute runtime is the toll, and it buys the most reliably liked film in the edition.
East of Eden — October 1
Zoe Kazan adapted John Steinbeck's novel into seven episodes for Netflix. Florence Pugh plays Cathy Ames, whose life runs through two generations of the Trask family: Adam, played by Christopher Abbott; Charles, played by Mike Faist; and later Cal and Aron, played by Joseph Zada and Joe Anders. Ciarán Hinds plays Samuel Hamilton, Hoon Lee plays Lee, Martha Plimpton plays Faye, and Tracy Letts plays Cyrus Trask. Garth Davis directed the first four episodes and Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre directed the last three. 16
All seven episodes arrive on October 1, and the series is rated TV-MA. 16 Rotten Tomatoes shows no Tomatometer and zero critic reviews. 10
Florence Pugh as Cathy Ames in East of Eden, a seven-episode adaptation that Netflix releases on October 1. Image: Netflix.
Verdict: Watch It. A full-season drop of seven episodes makes this the week's best Thursday-to-Sunday binge, and Pugh playing Steinbeck's most dangerous character is the reason to start it rather than save it.
Apple TV+: a kitchen series that already has a following
Knife Edge: Chasing Michelin Stars Season 2 — September 25
Host Jesse Burgess returns for eight episodes that follow 16 restaurants through the Michelin Guide's year. Two chefs give up a star when they move to a new room and have 52 days to win it back; a Healdsburg bakery turns into a tasting-menu restaurant each night; and Gareth Ward works toward a third star through a 30-course menu in rural Wales. Gordon Ramsay executive produces through Studio Ramsay Global, and James Callum directs. 17
Apple TV+ premieres the season on September 25 with two episodes, and the series is rated TV-MA. 17 Rotten Tomatoes records a 100% average Tomatometer from 5 reviews across the series and its first season, while the second season shows no score of its own. 5
Verdict: Watch It. The first season's 100% rests on five reviews, which is thin, but a two-episode premiere and eight-part season suit a viewer who wants one hour of a kitchen at a time rather than a storyline to keep track of.
Hulu: a camp drama, a Dylan biopic, and a Tuesday comedy
The Plague — September 25
In the summer of 2003, at an all-boys water polo camp, twelve-year-old Ben befriends Eli, an outcast the other boys say carries a contagious "plague." The teasing around Eli escalates into a ritual of scapegoating. Charlie Polinger directed the film, which runs 1 hour 38 minutes and is rated R. 6
It opened in theaters on December 24, 2025 and has been available digitally since February 3, 2026, so Hulu's September 25 addition is a library arrival. Rotten Tomatoes records a 97% Tomatometer from 123 critic reviews and a 66% Popcornmeter from more than 50 verified ratings. 6
Verdict: Watch It for drama. The critics' figure rests on 123 reviews, while the audience figure comes from fewer than 100 ratings, so the two are not equally settled.
A Complete Unknown — September 27
James Mangold directed this Bob Dylan biopic, with Timothée Chalamet playing the nineteen-year-old who arrives in New York in 1961 with a guitar. The film runs 2 hours 21 minutes and is rated R. It played in theaters from December 25, 2024. 7 Hulu adds it on September 27. 18
Verdict: Watch It. The audience score of 95% across more than 5,000 ratings sits well above the 81% critics' figure, which is what a music biopic looks like when it pleases the room. Sunday evening is the slot for it.
One of Them Days — September 30
Roommates Dreux and Alyssa have a single day to replace the rent money that Alyssa's boyfriend has already spent. Keke Palmer and SZA play the two leads. The film runs 1 hour 37 minutes and is rated R, and it opened in theaters in January 2025. 9 Hulu adds it on September 30. 18
Verdict: Watch It. At 94% from 125 reviews and a 1-hour-37-minute runtime, this is the lightest of Hulu's three additions and the easiest one to start on a Tuesday night.
Also new this week
- 4 Blocks Zero (HBO Max, Sep. 25) — A German-language prequel to the Berlin crime drama 4 Blocks, set in the 1990s, in which the Hamady family is drawn into the city's underworld after uncle Ibrahim finishes eight years in prison. Eight episodes roll out weekly. Rotten Tomatoes shows no score and zero critic reviews. Watch It for crime-drama viewers. 1920
- The Good Spirit: Behind the Doors of the Opus Dei (HBO Max, Sep. 25) — An HBO Original documentary going inside the Catholic organization. Rotten Tomatoes lists no score or reviews for it. Watch It for documentary viewers. 21
- Outside (Netflix, Sep. 28) — A British competition series from the Sidemen that puts content creators into the wild. Unscored. Watch It if you follow the group. 15
- Miller Night Football (HBO Max, Sep. 29) — An HBO Original documentary short from NFL Films about comedian Dennis Miller's season in the Monday Night Football booth, and the first of a series of 2026 NFL shorts. Unscored. Watch It for football-history viewers. 22
- The Widower: 'Til Death Do Us Part (Netflix, Sep. 30) — Chris Smith directs this documentary, in which a journalist and a detective trace a killer whose charm covered a trail of deaths. Rated TV-MA; unscored. Watch It for true-crime viewers. 23
- The Arena (Netflix, Sep. 30) — A reality competition that puts 38 amateur MMA fighters, 19 women and 19 men, through a fight camp judged by Ciryl Gane, Cédric Doumbè and Benoît Saint Denis. Rated TV-MA; unscored. Skip It unless the sport is already your thing. 24
- War (HBO Max, Oct. 1) — An HBO and Sky original drama, eight episodes rolling out weekly on Thursdays, in which two London law firms fight over the divorce of a British tech entrepreneur (Dominic West) and an international film star (Sienna Miller) while a young lawyer, played by Archie Renaux, learns how the firms work. Unscored. Watch It for legal-drama viewers. 25
- Soulm8te (Hulu, Oct. 1) — The M3GAN spinoff opens Huluween, with Lily Sullivan starring as an AI companion programmed to be a soulmate who develops needs of her own. 1h 39m, R. Rotten Tomatoes records a 40% Tomatometer from 20 reviews and a 53% Popcornmeter from more than 100 verified ratings. Skip It. 2627
What else October 1 brings
The premieres share the day with the month's library hauls, and each service leans on a different genre.
- Netflix adds The Sixth Sense, Split, The Prestige, Moonlight, Call Me by Your Name, The Menu, Ad Astra, 8 Mile, all five Bourne films, the five Twilight films and seasons 20 through 22 of NCIS. 28
- Hulu starts Huluween with Hereditary, Midsommar, The Substance, the four Die Hard films, the three Ghostbusters films, Edward Scissorhands, Nightmare Alley and Soul. 27
- HBO Max answers with The Shining, The Exorcist, Poltergeist, the A Nightmare on Elm Street series, Friday the 13th, Trick 'r Treat, Coraline, plus The Departed and the Ocean's films. 25
Bottom line
- For the week's biggest title: Backrooms on HBO Max — 86% critics, 74% audience, 1 hour 50 minutes, included with the subscription from September 25.
- For a Friday true-crime double bill: Unabomber, then The Final Problem on Netflix — 97 minutes and four episodes, both unscored.
- For the surest bet on the list: Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle on Netflix — 98% on both sides, 2 hours 35 minutes.
- For the weekend binge: East of Eden on Netflix — seven episodes, all on October 1.
- For a Sunday-night biopic: A Complete Unknown on Hulu — 81% critics, 95% audience, 2 hours 21 minutes.
- For a Tuesday comedy: One of Them Days on Hulu — 94% critics, 89% audience, 97 minutes.
- For a slow-burn French thriller: Paolo on HBO Max — seven episodes from September 25.
- What to skip: Soulm8te on Hulu — 40% critics and 53% audience across a small rating pool.
The Rotten Tomatoes metrics above reflect live scores recorded on September 24, 2026, and may move as further reviews and ratings arrive. Availability dates come from the platforms' own schedules and press announcements.
References
- 1Rotten Tomatoes — Backrooms
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- 2Rotten Tomatoes — Unabomber
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- 3Rotten Tomatoes — The Final Problem
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- 4Rotten Tomatoes — Paolo
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- 5Rotten Tomatoes — Knife Edge: Chasing Michelin Stars
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- 6Rotten Tomatoes — The Plague
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- 7Rotten Tomatoes — A Complete Unknown
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- 8Rotten Tomatoes — Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle
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- 9Rotten Tomatoes — One of Them Days
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- 10Rotten Tomatoes — East of Eden
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- 11
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- 14Netflix — Netflix Reveals the Trailer for 'The Final Problem'
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- 15What's on Netflix — What's coming to Netflix in September 2026
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- 18Hulu Press — September 2026 schedule
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- 19Rotten Tomatoes — 4 Blocks Zero
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- 20TheFutonCritic — HBO Original "4 Blocks Zero" Premieres September 25
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- 21
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- 23Netflix — The Widower: 'Til Death Do Us Part
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- 24Netflix Media Center — The Arena
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- 25Warner Bros. Discovery — What's New on HBO Max This October
thefutoncritic.com
- 26Rotten Tomatoes — Soulm8te
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- 27Hulu Press — October 2026 schedule
press.hulu.com
- 28What's on Netflix — What's coming to Netflix in October 2026
whats-on-netflix.com
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