November is a big month for adaptations across genres. There’s Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein on Netflix, HBO Max’s The Seduction, which is a retelling of Les Liaisons dangereuses/Dangerous Liaisons, and you may have heard that Wicked: For Good will be in theaters. That’s just to name a few.
So what do we have under the mystery, thriller, and true crime genres? There’s a dark suspense series, a missing child thriller series, an intense character’s unraveling film, and I added a backlist legal drama based on a true crime memoir in case you’ve yet to see it!
As You Stood By (Netflix)
Courtesy of Netflix
Naomi & Kanako by Hideo Okuda
Here’s a dark suspense series that is adapted from the Japanese novel Naomi & Kanako by Hideo Okuda. It currently doesn’t have an English translation, but maybe the adaptation will change that.
As You Stood By Me is a limited series adaptation that will drop on Netflix on November 7th. Jeogn So-nee and Lee You-mi play best friends who are separately affected by domestic abuse, and come together to kill one another’s husbands. What could go wrong?!
Watch the trailer here.
All access members continue below for more of the best mystery, thriller, and true crime adaptations to watch in November.
All Her Fault (Peacock)
Courtesy of Peacock
All Her Fault by Andrea Mara
This missing child case thriller is based on the same-titled 2021 novel by Andrea Mara. The book is set in a Dublin suburb and starts with Milo having his first playdate after starting a new school. When his mom, Marissa Irvine, shows up to pick him up, he’s not there. Worse, the mother who was supposed to be there is in France and has no idea of any playdate… (If, like me, you’re having déjà vu and thinking this was already adapted, you’re confusing it with Disney+’s The Stolen Girl, which was adapted from Alex Dahl’s Playdate.)
You can stream the eight-episode, limited series All Her Fault on Peacock on November 6th. While the core plot and mystery remain the same, the setting has moved from Dublin to Chicago. The cast includes Sarah Snook, Dakota Fanning, Michael Peña, and Jake Lacy.
Watch the trailer here.
Die My Love (Theaters)
Courtesy of YouTube screenshot
Die, My Love by Ariana Harwicz, Sarah Moses (Translator), Carolina Orloff (Translator)
Ariana Harwicz’s literary novella could fit under the recent “horrors of motherhood” subgenre as it mostly follows an unnamed wife and mother, living in the French countryside, whose behavior becomes more erratic the more stifled she feels in her life.
The adaptation, playing in theaters on November 7th, looks like it kept the novel’s intensity and the feeling that you’re watching an impending trainwreck. It has a lot of big names from production to cast: Lynne Ramsay directs; Jennifer Lawrence and Robert Pattinson star alongside LaKeith Stanfield, Sissy Spacek, and Nick Nolte.
Watch the trailer here.
Just Mercy (Netflix)
Courtesy of Netflix
Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson
Bryan Stevenson’s 2014 memoir about his legal practice, Equal Justice Initiative, and the people he’s represented is a front row seat to our legal system and who it’s designed to work for and who it isn’t. (If you already read it, you may be interested in 9 Books to Read After JUST MERCY)
In 2019, it was adapted into a legal drama film with a hell of a cast. It starred Michael B. Jordan, Jamie Foxx, and Brie Larson. If you’ve missed out on watching it, you can now stream it on Netflix.
Watch the trailer here.
Browse the books recommended in Unusual Suspects’ previous newsletters on this shelf, and see 2025 and 2026 releases! Until next time, come talk books with me on Bluesky, Goodreads, Litsy, and Multitudes Contained.
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