This is one of those weekends where every platform decided to swing at once. A starry Bollywood anthology, a father-daughter stand-up special, a scrappy scam dramedy and Ryan Murphy's newest true-crime chapter are all landing within two days of each other. They're not all fighting for the same slot on your OTT watchlist, so here's the order we'd actually queue them up in.
Series, 8 episodes on Netflix, streaming now
Ryan Murphy's true-crime anthology returns for a fourth season, with Ella Beatty as the franchise's first female monster, playing the woman acquitted of the 1892 axe murders of her father and stepmother in Massachusetts. Charlie Hunnam, Rebecca Hall and Vicky Krieps round out the household, and Sarah Paulson shows up as a reported surprise. All eight episodes dropped at once, so this is the weekend's real event watch — start it Friday night and there's a genuine shot at finishing by Sunday.
Anthology film on Netflix, streams Sept 18
Vikramaditya Motwane, Kiran Rao, Shakun Batra and Vishal Bhardwaj each get a short film to themselves, with Radhika Apte, Konkona Sen Sharma, Vijay Varma and Aditi Rao Hydari among the ensemble untangling desire, marriage and the things people don't say out loud. It's one complete film rather than an episodic series, which makes it the easiest of the weekend's big titles to actually finish in a single sitting.
Stand-up special on Netflix, streams Sept 18
Zakir Khan turns the lens on his own father for this one. Expect his usual mix of observational comedy and personal storytelling. It's the shortest, lightest thing on this list, and the easiest to slot in whenever you want something warm rather than weighty.
Series, 7 episodes on Prime Video / MX Player, streaming now
Set in Patna, this one follows a newly minted railway police officer (Divyenndu Sharma) who notices something suspiciously fast about how certain Tatkal train tickets are getting confirmed, and traces it to a coder (Bhuvan Arora) who's built software that beats the system. It's flying under the radar next to the other three, but the premise has built-in stakes.
The short version
Only watching one thing? Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story is the weekend's headline act.
Want range across two days? Pair it with Lust Stories 3 for Saturday night and Papa Yaar for something lighter on Sunday.
Looking for the underdog? Waiting Hai is the one worth keeping an eye on before everyone else catches up.