Halloween weekend’s streaming slate has a notably strange range: a returning serial-killer drama, a locked-room murder mystery, Sacha Baron Cohen’s Ali G back in hybrid comedy mode, and the Minions making a monster picture. The four releases are not interchangeable—and that is the point. Depending on whether the household wants a tense weekly mystery, a grim crime continuation, an adults-first comedy, or an all-ages animated option, Prime Video, Paramount Plus, Apple TV and Peacock each have a distinct lane covered.

Availability is not uniform. Ali G: Who Iz I?, Dexter: Resurrection season 2 and Nocturne are listed for viewers in both the US and UK. Minions and Monsters is listed for the US on Peacock. For anyone scheduling an October 30 through November 1 watchlist, that regional difference is the first practical detail to check before settling on a pick.

Ali G: Who Iz I? puts the character back into unpredictable territory

Ali G: Who Iz I? arrives on Prime Video in the US and UK shortly after its theatrical release. The film returns to the Staines character as he deals with his pregnant girlfriend, Me Julie, while trying to restart his long-cancelled HBO show.

Its central format is important to understand. Like the Borat films, Who Iz I? combines scripted scenes with candid-camera material involving real people. A scripted sequence is performed around a planned story; candid-camera material derives its energy from encounters whose participants are not playing conventional fictional roles. Bringing the two together can make the line between plot machinery and uncontrolled public interaction deliberately slippery. In an Ali G project, that tension is a large part of the joke: the character’s absurd confidence meets people and situations that cannot be fully choreographed.

That makes this the most comedy-forward selection here, though it is not presented as a simple repeat of an old formula. The premise ties the character’s personal life to a professional comeback attempt, while the real-person interactions promise the kind of volatile situations associated with Sacha Baron Cohen’s character work. It is the choice for viewers looking for something fundamentally less ominous than the serial-killer programs, even if “candid camera” also means embracing a more confrontational and unpredictable style of comedy than a conventional scripted sitcom or studio comedy.

Dexter: Resurrection season 2 moves its hunt to New York

On Paramount Plus, Dexter: Resurrection returns for season 2 in the US and UK. Dexter is now in New York and turns his attention toward the New York Ripper. Brian Cox plays that target, while Dan Stevens appears as the Five Borough Killer. Uma Thurman also returns as Charley.

The setup follows a first season in which Dexter had already killed a group of serial killers. Season 2 therefore continues a franchise built around a deliberately uncomfortable contradiction: its central figure is himself a killer, but one positioned against other killers. Calling Dexter “morally minded” does not make the premise morally simple; it describes the show’s enduring dramatic engine. The story asks viewers to follow a character with lethal methods as he selects people who are framed as worse threats.

The New York setting and names such as the New York Ripper and Five Borough Killer signal a wider urban canvas for the new run. At the same time, the material provided does not establish how those threats relate to one another, who is the season’s principal antagonist, or the exact shape of Dexter and Charley’s partnership. Those are reasons to approach the season as an ongoing thriller rather than a complete, one-night streaming drop.

For viewers deciding whether it fits their Halloween plans, this is the most direct continuation pick: prior events matter, Dexter has an existing history with a cabal of killers, and returning character Charley is part of the draw. It is likely best reserved for people already comfortable with the franchise’s violent serial-killer premise rather than anyone seeking light seasonal horror.

Nocturne builds its horror around an apparent impossibility

Nocturne, on Apple TV in the US and UK, begins with a remote Pennsylvania town under attack from a serial killer. Liev Schreiber plays a former homicide detective, Stephen Graham plays the suspected killer, and Zazie Beetz plays undercover FBI agent Saga Bauer. The major complication is an immediately compelling one: the suspected killer seems to be confined in the basement of a psychiatric hospital when the murders happen.

That is a classic locked-room-style premise, even though the supplied details do not define it as a literal locked-room mystery. In mystery storytelling, a locked-room problem is an event that appears impossible under the known conditions—often a crime seemingly committed by someone unable to access the scene. Here, the question is not only who is responsible, but how the physical constraints can coexist with the killings. That makes the show’s early hook more than a search for a killer. It is a challenge to the audience’s understanding of the evidence.

The show’s cast arrangement also creates several investigative angles without confirming where the narrative will go. A former homicide detective suggests experience with murder cases but distance from official authority. An undercover FBI agent suggests an active investigation whose full purpose may not be visible on the surface. And the institutional confinement of Graham’s character places the suspected criminal in a setting that should, at least in theory, make fresh violence difficult to explain.

Two episodes are available now, with later episodes arriving weekly. That release structure matters. Weekly rollout gives a mystery room to breathe: viewers can dwell on clues, question assumptions, and reassess the apparent impossibility between episodes. It also means viewers who prefer to wait for a full season may want to hold off. Anyone ready for an unfolding puzzle, however, has the opening two episodes available as an entry point.

There is also a notable casting change in the show’s background. Tom Hardy had originally been set to play the serial killer before leaving the project, with Graham taking the role instead. The relevant on-screen fact now is Graham’s performance as the figure at the center of the mystery. For more on the premise and the character Jurek Walter, see our look at Nocturne’s town and its unresolved trauma.

Minions and Monsters takes a different kind of Halloween route

For a less severe seasonal option, Minions and Monsters is streaming on Peacock in the US. The latest entry connected to the Despicable Me/Minions franchise has the yellow characters attempting to make their own monster movie. Its hook is not straight horror but homage: the film is described as a tribute to silent cinema and old Hollywood.

That framing helps distinguish it from a standard franchise adventure. A homage is a work that deliberately nods to or celebrates earlier artistic traditions. Silent cinema is film storytelling made without synchronized spoken dialogue in the modern sense, leaning heavily on visual performance, editing, physical comedy and expressive staging. An old-Hollywood monster-movie angle can therefore be a natural fit for Minions, whose jabbering has always pushed them toward physical, visual comedy rather than dialogue-driven wit.

The film is positioned as something younger viewers and adults can watch together, while still making room for the chaotic Minions style. Its reported 90-minute runtime is also a practical advantage for families after a shorter, self-contained Halloween diversion rather than an episodic thriller. George Lucas makes a cameo, another detail that gives viewers a specific piece of pop-culture spotting to anticipate.

Of these four choices, this is the clearest answer to a family movie night, provided the group enjoys the Minions’ distinctive vocal antics. It uses monsters as a movie-making subject, not as the basis for the grim serial-killer tension that defines the Paramount Plus and Apple TV options.

How to choose the right pick for the weekend

  • Choose Ali G: Who Iz I? for a US/UK Prime Video comedy built from scripted material and candid-camera encounters.
  • Choose Dexter: Resurrection season 2 for a US/UK Paramount Plus continuation centered on Dexter’s New York pursuit of the New York Ripper.
  • Choose Nocturne for a US/UK Apple TV mystery with two episodes available immediately and further episodes releasing weekly.
  • Choose Minions and Monsters for a US Peacock animated feature that plays Halloween through silent-film and old-Hollywood monster-movie affection.

There is no single “best” use of the weekend here because the titles are solving different viewing problems. Nocturne offers an ongoing mystery with a seemingly impossible crime at its core. Dexter: Resurrection offers a darker return to an established antihero and a new city-scale threat. Ali G: Who Iz I? offers discomfort-driven comedy and the instability of real-person interactions. Minions and Monsters offers a compact animated alternative with monster-movie styling. The useful move is to pick the tone first, then the service—and to remember that only the Minions film is listed as US-only among these four.