We are in the midst of one seriously weird summer movie season. Ok, we are just in the midst of one seriously weird summer full stop, but if you’re a cinephile who looks forward to the tentpoles and surprise breakouts each summer, you’re probably missing your regular trip to the theater right about now. While you might not be able to find the usual marquee full of films at your local cineplex (or any films at all, depending on where you live,)Netflixhasn’t taken their foot of the gas for a second when it comes to new releases and July has one of the most jam-packed lineups of the year so far.
If you want a break down ofevery single new movie and TV show on Netflix this month, here’s the full list. But if you’re looking for something a little more curated, we’ve put together a handy list of the best new movies on Netflix this month, from the nostalgic favorites to the high-profile streaming debuts and a few under-the-radar gems to look out for. Check out the full list below and for more, head over to our regularly updated guide tothe best movies on Netflix right now.
Batman: Mask of the Phantasm
Available:July 1
Directors:Eric Radomski and Bruce Timm
Writers:Alan Burnett, Paul Dini, Martin Pasko, Michael Reaves
Cast:Kevin Conroy, Mark Hamill, Dana Delany, Hart Bochner, Abe Vigoda
If you’re a big fan of Batman movies but haven’t yet ventured beyond the live-action offerings, you’re gonna want to putBatman: Mask of the Phantasmon your watch-list ASAP. Created by the team behind the iconic 90s seriesBatman: The Animated Series, the 1993 animated feature was designed as a continuation of the series originally intended to go straight to home video, the film was rushed to a theatrical debut and underperformed at the box office before earning a massive fan following and heaps of acclaim. And it’s a heck of a good Batman story, stylishly animated in the beloved aesthetic ofB:TAS, featuring a great Joker arc, and highlighting the “world’s greatest detective” element of the Batman mythos. Don’t let the animated format fool you,Mask of the Phantomboasts complex adult story-telling and a noir-ific saga of Gotham’s criminal underworld, making it one of the most rightfully celebrated if unfortunately underseen Batman movies yet.
Definitely, Maybe
Writer/Director:Adam Brooks
Cast:Ryan Reynolds, Isla Fisher, Derek Luke, Abigail Breslin, Elizabeth Banks, Rachel Weisz
If you were one of the folks let down by the end ofHow I Met Your Mother, you might want to check outDefinitely, Maybe, the 2008 rom-com that shares a very similar premise (a dad tells his kid about the loves of his life, leading up to the reveal of which one is their mother) and weirdly kinda ends up in a similar destination, but lands the ending so much better.Ryan Reynoldsstars as the father in question, who regales his daughter (Abigail Breslin) with his stories of love and loss, framed around three key relationships in his life. The women on the other side of those relationships are played byRachel Weisz,Isla Fisher, andElizabeth Banks, so you really couldn’t ask for a more instantly endearing trio of romantic leads and Reynolds does some of his most earnest work here, making for a romantic dramedy that’s charming and heartfelt without veering into saccharine platitudes.
The Old Guard
Available:July 10
Director:Gina Prince-Bythewood
Writer:Greg Rucka
Cast:Charlize Theron, KiKi Layne, Matthias Schoenaerts, Marwan Kenzari, Luca Marinelli, Chiwetel Ejiofor
If you loved Netflix’sChris Hemsworthaction vehicleExtractionand are in the mood for some more A-list ass-kicking, set your sights onThe Old Guard.Love & BasketballandBeyond the Lightsthe lights filmmakerGina Prince-Bythewoodtakes the sun-drenched mercenary riff and gives it an epic sci-fi spin with the story of a team of immortal soldiers of fortune who have shaped the course of history. The ensemble is led byCharlize Theron, who we know damn well can handle an intense action scene, andthe trailer legit slaps. Netflix’s original action movies have been a mixed bag so far, some slight but entertaining a laExtraction, some heavy but thoughtful a laTriple Frontier, but in Collider’s official review, Matt GoldbergpraisedThe Old Guardas Netflix’s best original action movie yet, which isn’t quite a surprise with a filmmaker as skilled as Prince-Bythewood at the helm, but it sure is exciting.
Fatal Affair
Available:July 16
Director:Peter Sullivan
Writer:Rasheeda Garner and Peter Sullivan
Cast:Nia Long, Omar Epps, Stephen Bishop, Aubrey Cleland, Kj Smith
You had me at the title,Fatal Affair; an evocative but remarkably generic adjective-noun compound that calls back to the heyday of sexy domestic thrillers.Fatal Attraction.Basic Instinct.Original Sin.Fatal Affair. Heck yeah, I’m already in. But if you need to know fancy things likeplotandinformation, the thriller starsNia LongandOmar Eppsas former flames who reunite, threatening to destroy a marriage and perhaps… something more fatal. We shall see. Netflix hit an enjoyably pulpy if undeniably disposable stride with this year’s (also adjective-noun titled)Dangerous Lies, and at the very least,Fatal Affairshould deliver those frivolous, fleeting, so-called “guilty pleasure” thrills. (No shame in my game, however, I unabashedly love a B-thriller.) But my hope is one of these days, Netflix will tap into the provocative-yet-prestige energy that made the great sexy thrillers of the 80s and 90s so enduring. They certainly swung for thefenceswith the positively pornographic, outrageously and unapologetically problematic365 Days, so whatever direction their heading with the current trend of sexy/cheesy movies, they have my attention.
The Notebook
Available:July 18
Director:Nick Cassavetes
Writer:Jeremy Leven
Cast:Ryan Gosling, Rachel McAdams, James Garner, Gena Rowlands, James Marsden, Kevin Connolly, Sam Shepard, Joan Allen
DidEurovisionmake you fall in love withRachel McAdamsall over again? Well, she’s not just one of the great (and most underrated) comedic actors of her generation, she’s also a dramatic force, and if you’re in the mood to keep falling in love with her, you really can’t do better thanThe Notebook. There are many,manyNicholas Sparksadaptations, most as saccharine and star-studded as the next, butThe Notebookis pretty much the undisputed #1, blue ribbon-winning GOAT of the bunch. McAdams is perfectly matched by a powerfully charismaticRyan Gosling(who’s magnetic enough to make you almost ignore his character’s profound inability to respect boundaries) andNick Cassavetes’tender direction alchemically transforms all of the pious tragedy-porn tropes of Sparks adaptations into a bonafide break-your-heart (in all the best ways) love story.
It was also, to use the parlance of the times, a bit of acultural reset– or maybe that was just when Ryan Gosling strutted out onto the MTV Movie Awards stage in a “Save Darfur” shirt and publically made out with McAdams for…reasons?Glorious reasons – I digress. Point is,The Notebookholds up as a love story that will leave you swooning, but it’s also an iconic romance of its time that offers a welcome nostalgia trip back to the early 2000s when we were all shouting “I wrote you every day for a year!” instead of just shouting into the void.
Ip Man 4: The Finale
Available:July 20
Director:Wilson Yip
Writer:Edmond Wong, Dana Fukazawa, Chan Tai Lee, Jil Leung Lai Yin
Cast:Donnie Yen, Wu Yue, Vanness Wu, Scott Adkins, Kent Cheng, Danny Chan, Ngo Ka-nin
Animal Crackers
Available:July 24
Directors:Scott Christian Sava and Tony Bancroft
Writers:Scott Christian Sava and Dean Lorey
Cast:John Krasinski, Emily Blunt, Ian McKellen, Danny DeVito, Sylvester Stallone, Raven-Symoné, Patrick Warburton
IfAnimal Crackersseems vaguely familiar in a way you can’t quite place, it’s not the Mandela Effect! Netflix rescued this shelved 2017 Chinese-American co-production, which saw a festival debut and overseas release but got tangled up in distributor drama before it reached international audiences. Featuring a star-studded cast, the animated indie focuses on a family who discovers magical crackers that turn the people who eat them into animals and wind up trying to save a circus from their evil uncle who wants to use the cracker’s powers to take over the world. After a long nightmare journey through distributor hell, the film will finally hit screens this month, and it looks like just the kind of feel-good summer treat the whole family can enjoy.
The Kissing Booth 2
Director:Vince Marcello
Writer:Vince Marcello and Jay Arnold
Cast:Joey King, Joel Courtney, Jacob Elordi, Maisie Richardson-Sellers, Taylor Perez, Molly Ringwald, Meaganne Young
The Kissing Bootharrived back in 2018 as the streamer was kicking into high gear on reviving the rom-com genre. And it. was. ridiculous. An unabashedly over-the-top teen romance that felt like ever fan-fiction you’ve ever read come to life on the screen,The Kissing Boothrelished in the tropes of the genre and the act of embracing them so thoroughly made it a pretty dang fun movie, if not a very good one. A lot of that credit also goes to the wonderfulJoey King, who’s extremely game in the lead role, swooning and hamming it up with a gleeful goofiness as Elle, a teenage girl who sets up fundraising kissing booth at her high school fair and winds up falling in love with her best friends bad boy older brother (Jacob Elordi, doing a much more endearing version of toxic masculinity than his genuinely terrifying portrayal inEuphoria.) The sequel picks up with Elle trying to balance their long-distance relationship, the new dynamics with her BFF, and a sexy new classmate.
Ofrenda a la tormenta
Director:Fernando González Molina
Writer:Luiso Berdejo
Cast:Leonardo Sbaraglia, Marta Etura, Pedro Casablanc, Paco Tous, Elvira Mínguez
The final installment in the Baztan trilogy,Offering to the Stormwas originally supposed to hit theaters like the first two installments did before Netflix announced it would head straight to the streamer in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Inspired by the novels byDolores Redondo, the noir thriller trilogy starsMarta Eturaas inspector Amaia Salazar, and the third film finds her investigating the mysterious death of a young girl only to discover a pattern of similar deaths in a hunt to uncover the events that have terrorized the Baztan Valley.
Available:July 29
Director:Jan Komasa
Writer:Mateusz Pacewicz
Cast:Maciej Musialowski, Vanessa Aleksander, Danuta Stenka, Jacek Koman, Agata Kulesza
Polish directorJan Komasafollows up his Oscar-nominated featureCorpus ChristiwithThe Hater. The thriller dives into the darkness of social media through the story of an ambitious young man who takes a job at a high-profile but amoral PR firm and winds up orchestrating devious political online campaigns that have a real-world cost. The film took home the award for Best International Narrative Feature when it debuted at Tribecca this year and was quickly scooped up by Netflix for a streaming release. Digging into the ethics (or lack thereof) in online marketing and campaigns,The Haterpromises to be a timely thriller rooted in one of the most profound universal concerns of our era, tackling propaganda, misinformation, and the polarization of society.
