From Netflix’s ‘Animals’ to Hulu’s new horror hit: 7 must‑stream movies this week

As we head into the second week of October, several major streamers are dropping high‑profile films at once. A recent feature from a U.S. tech outlet highlights seven new movies across Netflix, Hulu, Apple TV+ and other platforms that are worth prioritizing, and several of them are likely to be accessible from Japan.

The standout pick is “Animals,” a new crime thriller on Netflix directed by and starring Ben Affleck, best known to many viewers as the Oscar‑winning filmmaker behind Argo. The film is described as a gritty descent into the criminal underworld, following a man whose life unravels as he becomes entangled with a dangerous organization. As a Netflix original, it’s expected to roll out globally, which means Japanese subscribers should see it on their local catalog as well.

The same article also calls attention to an Apple TV+ action‑comedy based on a classic Mattel toy line, plus a horror film arriving on Hulu that the writer calls one of the scariest releases of 2026 so far. Hulu’s U.S. lineup doesn’t always match Hulu Japan’s catalog, but these titles are still useful signposts: if they gain traction overseas, they often migrate later to Japanese platforms or local distributors. With Halloween around the corner, it’s clear that streamers are leaning hard into horror and thriller programming, giving movie fans plenty of fresh options to line up for their next movie night.