So, you already worked your way through all eight episodes of Cross, rewatched Hannibal for the third time, and now you’re looking for something new — or even old — to watch. We have you covered with three underrated shows on Amazon Prime Video you need to watch in December.
Two of these shows are new, while the third is a hidden gem that stars Nathan Fillion. You might not even have heard of it as it was initially launched as a web series following a successful crowdfunding campaign.
Need more recommendations? Then check out the best new shows to stream this week, as well as the best shows on Netflix, the best shows on Hulu, the best shows on Amazon Prime Video, the best shows on Max, and the best shows on Disney+.
Cruel Intentions (2024)
This show is based on the cult classic 1999 movie starring Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe, Reese Witherspoon, and Selma Blair. Both that film version of Cruel Intentions and this new series are modern retellings of the 1782 novel Les liaisons dangereuses by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos. Naturally, it’s impossible not to watch this series and draw comparisons to the movie, which raised the Hollywood profiles of its four main cast members. Featuring an episodic format for a new generation, Cruel Intentions is a solid revival of the salacious story.
It centers around two stepsiblings and college students who are intent on maintaining their social status, despite an incident that threatens their position within the superficial social hierarchy. Their big plan involves seducing the daughter of the school’s vice president, which leads to steamy, manipulative debauchery.
Viewers rate the show far higher than critics, according to review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes. Laura Nowak of TV Fanatic says the show maintains “the original’s fun, entertaining vibe, but adds some more psychological cruelty to the mix.” If you loved the movie, it’s worth checking out the series as a guilty pleasure.
Stream Cruel Intentions on Amazon Prime Video.
Citadel: Honey Bunny (2024)
Citadel premiered in 2023 and has since launched numerous non-English language spinoffs, including this one. Told with Indian Hindi-language with subtitles, Citadel: Honey Bunny serves as a prequel to the American version. The central characters in the spy action thriller are Honey (Samantha Ruth Prabhu) and Bunny (Varun Dhawan), the mother and father of Priyanka Chopra’s character, Nadia. Bunny is a Bollywood stunt double who secretly works as a spy. Honey is a struggling actor he meets and asks to join him on a mission. The job goes wrong, however, and Bunny is forced to reveal his true identity, all while a love story is brewing.
Action-packed with fun ties to the American series, Citadel: Honey Bunny provides interesting context if you watched and loved Citadel. Put simply, Decider’s Meghan O’Keefe calls the show a “hell of an entertaining ride you should not overlook.”
Stream Citadel: Honey Bunny on Amazon Prime Video.
Con Man (2015-2017)
If you’re a fan of Nathan Fillion, you’ll really love Con Man. The main character in the series is Wray Nerely (creator Alan Tudyk), a struggling actor who once starred on an unpopular sci-fi series called Spectrum that later went on to achieve cult status. (If it sounds a lot like Firefly, in which both Tudyk and Fillion starred, that’s not by accident.) As art imitates life, his old friend, Jack Moore (Fillion), starred on the show with him.
But while Wray found himself typecast in smaller roles in the sci-fi genre once Spectrum was canceled, Jack has become an A-list movie star. Grappling with his anger, resentment, and jealousy, Wray starts to travel the sci-fi convention circuit, making public appearances to entertain the small group of loyal fans he still has in this space.
Con Man is a fun comedy that was crowdfunded through Indiegogo, raising more than $1 million in 24 hours. It originally streamed on Vimeo and then was acquired by Syfy. It’s one of those hidden gems now on Amazon Prime Video that will make you wonder how you hadn’t found earlier.
Stream Con Man on Amazon Prime Video.