WHAT WE CAN’T WAIT TO WATCH
Stateless
Created, executive-produced by and co-starring Cate Blanchett, this six-episode Australian drama is inspired by the real-life story of Cornelia Rau, a local resident who was unlawfully detained under the Australian Government’s mandatory detention program. But her story is just the way in, as Stateless instead zeroes in on the experience of four strangers: an airline hostess escaping a cult, an Afghani refugee fleeing persecution, a struggling father and a bureaucrat at the centre of a national scandal. Their lives converge in an immigration detention centre in the middle of the Australian desert as they attempt to find their way out. Blanchett spent seven years working on the series, and as an ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, it’ll be interesting to see what she has to say about her country’s controversial immigration policies through the lens of the show. July 8.
The Old Guard
It seems comic-book projects are a summer staple even for streaming services this Netflix feature – adapted by DC and Marvel veteran Greg Rucka from the series he created with Leandro Fernandez – stars Charlize Theron, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Matthias Schoenaerts in a tale of immortal warriors turned modern mercenaries who find themselves on the run when their secret is exposed. The twist: it’s directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood, whose filmography favours subtle, emotional dramas like Love & Basketball and Beyond The Lights. What’s she going to do with this? We have no idea, but we’re keen to find out. July 10
Desperados
Nasim Pedrad is such a bright performer than she even made Guy Ritchie’s dreadful live-action Aladdin worth watching for a few minutes at a time. (She was Jasmine’s handmaiden, who built an entire relationship with Will Smith’s Genie in a handful of glances.) Now she’s front and centre in her own movie, playing a woman who recruits her best pals (Anna Camp and Sarah Burns, no slouches themselves) to race down to Mexico to delete an email and save a promising new relationship. The trailer makes it look like a mashup of Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Bridesmaids, which honestly doesn’t sound like a bad idea at all. Robbie Amell and Lamorne Morris, who had several seasons’ worth of chemistry with Pedrad on New Girl, are also around. July 3
Warrior Nun
Netflix’s latest supernatural action series stars Alba Baptista as Ava, an understandably cranky young woman drawn into an endless battle between a secret Roman Catholic order and the literal forces of Hell when she becomes the unwilling bearer of a holy relic. (Also she used to be dead, which may explain the crankiness.) Spun out of Ben Dunn’s long-running comic book series Warrior Nun Areala but telling an entirely new story, and featuring an international cast that includes Tristán Ulloa (Sex And Lucia), Joaquim de Almeida (Clear And Present Danger) and relative newcomers like Toya Turner and Kristina Tonteri-Young, this could be a fun summertime binge before Wynonna Earp returns. July 3
The Umbrella Academy (season 2)
After a first season that started strong but kinda struggled to justify its 10-episode order, the Netflix adaptation of Gerard Way and Gabriel Bá’s comic about a family of maladjusted superheroes whose emotional issues could literally destroy the world returns to set things right. (Literally: season 1 ended with the entire cast jumping back in time to rewrite their traumatic histories.) Everyone’s back, including Ellen Page’s tragic Vanya and Robert Sheehan’s mordant Klaus let’s just hope the plot moves a little faster this time. July 31
Down To Earth With Zac Efron
Just because non-essential international travel is out for the summer doesn’t mean we can’t do a little armchair globe-trotting. And who better to guide us than pretty boy Zac Efron, whose goal is to “search for healthy, sustainable ways to live.” The promotional pics show Zac handling a beehive honeycomb, helping prepare food and, ahem, laying on a table wearing only a towel as a woman blows on his face. Yeah, we’re definitely down for that. July 10
Good Girls (season 3)
A series you’ve absolutely been sleeping on, Good Girls has one of the best trifectas on TV right now: Retta, Christina Hendricks and Mae Whitman. As three Michigan moms just trying to make ends meet – even if that means working with the local gang and heisting their way to the bank – they’re equally delightful and dastardly. In its third season, a new member will join the crew, each of the women’s love lives becomes messier than ever, and whether one particular drug dealer/love interest is actually dead gets called into question. An updated Sugar & Spice, it’s time you said yes to Good Girls. July 26.
Skin Decision: Before And After
Admit it. You always click on those articles about people whose plastic surgery jobs are hot messes, right? Now there’s a docuseries that promises to get beneath the surface of patients’ cosmetic hopes. It follows a plastic surgeon and a skin-care expert as they guide their clients through life-changing procedures. Whether this will be an inspiring series or a hate-watch remains to be seen. But we like the premise. July 15
SOLID BETS
Tully
Charlize Theron might be known more for her ass-kicking ways, but in Jason Reitman’s Tully, a movie about a mother named Marlo struggling with postpartum depression and all the pressures of parenting a young child, she is an entirely other force. Searingly vulnerable, she plays her character’s relationship with sadness in an incredibly honest way. We watch as Marlo befriends her child’s new nanny, and through her, comes to reckon with all the ways herself, her body and her life have changed. It’s a brutal picture, but a uniquely moving one. Written by Diablo Cody, Tully is very funny though it weighs heavy long after the credits roll by in a way that might leave you changed for the better. July 1.
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street
Stephen Sondheim’s musicals, although continually revived onstage, don’t adapt very well to the screen. A Little Night Music is practically unwatchable, and Into The Woods doesn’t capture the magic of a decent stage production. Tim Burton’s version of Sondheim’s Grand Guignol masterpiece, however, is a good film, heightened by Burton’s scary-funny aesthetic and solid acting (if not singing) by Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham-Carter as the bloodthirsty villains. Definitely worth a look. July 1
List of new titles available in July by date:
TV Shows
Coming soon
Arashi’s Diary Voyage (episodes 9 & 10)
July 1
Chico Bon Bon: Monkey With A Tool Belt (season 2)
Deadwind (season 2)
Pokémon The Series: Sun & Moon – Ultra Legends
Say I Do
Trotro
Unsolved Mysteries
July 2
Thiago Ventura: Pokas
Warrior Nun
July 3
The Baby-Sitters Club
Cable Girls (final season, part 2)
Ju-on: Origins
Southern Survival
July 8
Stateless
Was It Love?
Yu-Gi-Oh! (season 1)
July 9
Japan Sinks: 2020
The Protector (season 4)
July 10
Down To Earth With Zac Efron
The Epic Tales Of Captain Underpants In Space
Hello Ninja (season 3)
O Crush Perfeito (Dating Around: Brazil)
The Twelve
July 14
The Business Of Drugs
Urzila Carlson: Overqualified Loser
July 15
Dark Desire
Skin Decision: Before And After
July 16
Indian Matchmaking
July 17
Boca a Boca
Cursed
July 20
Ashley Garcia: Genius In Love
July 21
How To Sell Drugs Online (Fast) (season 2)
Jack Whitehall: I’m Only Joking
Street Food: Latin America
July 22
Love On The Spectrum
Norsemen (season 3)
Signs
Sons Of Anarchy (seasons 3-7)
July 24
¡A cantar! (Sing On! Spain)
July 26
Good Girls (season 3)
July 28
Jeopardy! (Collection 6)
Last Chance U: Laney
July 29
Inside The World’s Toughest Prisons (season 4)
July 30
Transformers: War For Cybertron Trilogy
July 31
Get Even
Sugar Rush: Extra Sweet
The Umbrella Academy (season 2)
Vis A Vis: El Oasis (Locked Up)
Movies
July 1
The Amazing Spider-Man
#Anne Frank – Parallel Stories
The Art Of War
Beastly
The Big Short
Catch Me If You Can
Cleo & Cuquin (season 2)
The F**k-It List
Get Rich Or Die Tryin’
The Great Gatsby
Hellboy II: The Golden Army
The Italian Job
Jumping The Broom
Justin Bieber: Never Say Never
Last Action Hero
Legends Of The Fall
Little Odessa
Lord Of War
Mean Girls
Never Back Down 2: The Beatdown
Once Upon A Time In The West
Stand By Me
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street
The Terminal
True Grit
True Romance
Tully
Under The Riccione Sun
Zodiac
July 3
Desperados
July 4
The Girl On The Train
July 6
A Kid From Coney Island
Crazy Rich Asians
The Nun
July 8
Mucho Mucho Amor: The Legend Of Walter Mercado
July 10
The Claudia Kishi Club
The Old Guard
July 12
Paranormal Activity 2
Paranormal Activity 3
Paranormal Activity 4
July 14
On est ensemble (We Are One)
Slender Man
July 15
Gli Infedeli (The Players)
July 16
Fatal Affair
MILF
July 21
Ip Man 4: The Finale
July 22
Fear City: New York vs The Mafia
July 23
The Larva Island Movie
July 24
Dragons: Rescue Riders: Secrets Of The Songwing
The Kissing Booth 2
Ofrenda a la Tormenta
July 26
Banana Split
July 27
Elysium
July 29
The Hater
July 31
Latte And The Magic Waterstone
Seriously Single
The Speed Cubers
Last Call
TV series and movies leaving Netflix this month.
July 1
A Quiet Place
July 8
Solo: A Star Wars Story
July 28
Ant-Man And The Wasp
July 31
Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull
Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade
Indiana Jones And The Raiders Of The Lost Ark
Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom
The Godfather
The Godfather: Part II
The Godfather: Part III
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