Amazon Prime Video UK December 2021: All the new movies and shows

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It's the festive period and, with decorations going up and Christmas shopping beginning in earnest, there are plenty of opportunities to spend an evening with a new film or TV show.

Fortunately, Amazon Prime Video UK has some eye-catching additions on the way this month. There are three very different original movie releases, led by Guy Ritchie's long-awaited reunion with Jason Statham for Wrath of Man. Elsewhere, Riz Ahmed leads the thought-provoking sci-fi thriller Encounter and Being the Ricardos courts Oscar attention with its take on Hollywood history.

On the telly front, Anthony Horowitz's teenage spy Alex Rider is back for a second season of the show based on the beloved novels. Elsewhere, there's a seasonal family drama and the sixth and final season of The Expanse.

Here's everything new to Amazon Prime Video UK in December...

New movies coming to Amazon Prime Video in December

Encounter (10 December)

Michael Pearce made a huge splash in 2017 with his terrific feature directorial debut Beast, starring Jessie Buckley and Johnny Flynn. Four years later, he's back with sci-fi thriller Encounter — another knotty, psychological piece of work.

Riz Ahmed plays the lead role as a father who takes his children away from their mother, whom he believes to have become infected with extra-terrestrial bugs as part of an Invasion of the Body Snatchers-style alien invasion. Octavia Spencer is also in the cast for this one.

Wrath of Man (10 December)

Jason Statham hasn't worked with Guy Ritchie since Revolver all the way back in 2005. The duo will now join forces for two movies within the space of a year. But before Statham and Aubrey Plaza share the screen in the film which was once called Five Eyes, Amazon is unveiling Wrath of Man, which landed in American cinemas over the summer.

Statham plays a character known as H, who gets a job working for a security firm responsible for transporting armoured trucks packed with valuable assets. Initially, he's simply a capable member of the team, but it soon becomes clear he has an ulterior motive for taking the job.

Being the Ricardos (21 December)

Domestic sitcom I Love Lucy was once one of the biggest TV shows on the planet, teaming real-life husband and wife duo Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball together as a dynamite screen pairing. Aaron Sorkin's latest directorial effort takes audiences right into the heart of the show during one of its most turbulent behind-the-scenes periods, when Ball (Nicole Kidman) was accused of being a member of the Communist Party and also suspected Arnaz (Javier Bardem) of having an affair.

It's a pressure cooker environment, which is very much the sort of world in which Sorkin's screenwriting thrives. Add to that a terrific ensemble of Hollywood's funniest and most reliable performers — including JK Simmons, Alia Shawkat and Tony Hale — and this is a recipe for fun.

New TV coming to Amazon Prime Video in December

Alex Rider S2 (3 December via IMDb TV)

Anthony Horowitz's famed Alex Rider series made its way to the small screen last year, with the first season of Amazon's show following the plot of second novel Point Blanc. Vicky McClure and Stephen Dillane were part of the cast in supporting roles. This second run, in which Otto Farrant returns to lead the cast, focuses on fourth book Eagle Strike, pitting Alex against egotistic villain Damian Cray. Toby Stephens — best known as the baddie in Bond adventure Die Another Day — plays the role of Cray.

Harlem (3 December)

Tracy Oliver, who wrote the script for the ace 2017 comedy Girls Trip, is the creator of this new sitcom set in the titular Manhattan neighbourhood. It follows a group of four women navigating life in the Big Apple, with Sex and the City comparisons inevitably arising.

FC Bayern Munich: Behind the Legend (8 December)

Footballing documentaries have become a staple of Amazon Prime's offering and German behemoth Bayern Munich is the latest club to find itself in the spotlight. Starting with the team's Champions League victory in 2020 and following the subsequent 2020/21 season, the series delves deeply into the inner workings of Bayern, from the players to the ground staff.

The Ferragnez (weekly from 9 December)

Fashion influencer Chiara Ferragni and her rapper husband Fedez are the subject of this unscripted docuseries, which opens the doors to their world. The series will provide fans with unfiltered access to the glamorous and unglamorous portions of their lives.

The Expanse S6 (weekly from 10 December)

Set in a future in which the human race has colonised the rest of the solar system, The Expanse has been running since 2015. But this sixth season will bring the show to an end, with the solar system at war and asteroid attacks being launched against Earth and Mars. It's high-stakes stuff.

Play-Doh Squished (10 December, via IMDb TV)

This one-hour festive special follows three teams made up of children and adults as they take on a series of creative challenges linked to the eponymous building material — the scourge of parents everywhere.

The Grand Tour Presents: Carnage A Trois (17 December)

Jeremy Clarkson might be spending a lot more time on his farm recently than before, but that hasn't stopped him joining forces once again with Richard Hammond and James May for this lockdown special. This time, the trio are tackling everything to do with French motoring.

With Love (17 December)

Big holidays are often the most fraught and dramatic moments for families, with relatives crammed into spare rooms and around crowded dinner tables, catching up and falling out in roughly equal measure. That's the central conceit of five-part series With Love, with each episode focusing on the central Diaz family on a different holiday event.

Yearly Departed (23 December)

Last year, a selection of female comics joined forces to offer a eulogy to the dismal year that was 2020. 12 months on, it has been another turbulent period and so the Yearly Departed special is back on screens. This year's special will be fronted by Yvonne Orji, with the cast including Jane Fonda, Chelsea Peretti, Meg Stalter, DulcéSloan, Aparna Nancherla and X Mayo.

Other films and TV to watch on Amazon Prime Video in December

1 December

A Christmas Melody (2015, via IMDb TV)

A Street Cat Named Bob (2016, via IMDb TV)

The Big C (S1-4, via IMDb TV)

Captain Corelli’s Mandolin (2001, via IMDb TV)

Christmas in Conway (2013, via IMDb TV)

Crown for Christmas (2015, via IMDb TV)

Damages (S1-5, via IMDb TV)

Focus (2015, via IMDb TV)

Fun with Dick and Jane (2005, via IMDb TV)

Good Will Hunting (1997, via IMDb TV)

Into the Wild (2007, via IMDb TV)

Joyeux Noel (2005, via IMDb TV)

Julie & Julia (2009, via IMDb TV)

Louis & Luca and the Snow Machine (2013, via IMDb TV)

Missing (1982, via IMDb TV)

The Parole Officer (2001, via IMDb TV)

The Portrait of a Lady (1996, via IMDb TV)

Sleepless in Seattle (1993)

Splitting Heirs (1993, via IMDb TV)

The Swan Princess: Christmas (2012, via IMDb TV)

3 December

Spiral: From the Book of Saw (2021)

19 December

The Town (2010)

21 December

Sing (2016)

Watch: Trailer for Sing

23 December

The Big Short (2015)

28 December

The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard (2021)

31 December

The Protégé (2021)

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Watch: Trailer for The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard