Heavens above, it’s August! The summer sun is in full blast, fall is on the horizon, Instagram is eager as hell to break out the Halloween memes, and Netflix, of course, is jamming out a bunch of new content. As usual, it’s a rather robust mix of vintage faves and eclectic new originals, from foreign thrillers to A-list action movies.
you’re able to check out the whole dang list ofevery movie and TV show that’s new on Netflix in August right here, but if you’re looking for an easy list to some of the highlights, we’ve got you covered! And there really is something for everybody in this month’s lineup. The “blockbuster” of the bunch, so to speak, is the upcoming superhero-ish crime dramaProject Power, which starsJoseph Gordon-LevittandJaime Foxxas a power duo trying to bring down an illegal drug that basically turns you into an X-Men mutant for five minutes. Elsewhere, there’s a lot of feel-good films to look forward to with the dance movieWork It, the family adventure filmThe Sleepover, and the inspirational dramaAll Together Now, starring Auli’i Cravalho as an unrelenting optimist with musical gifts who has to find a way to keep her shine during tragic times.
And that’s just the originals.Charlie Kaufmanfans are in this luck with not one, buttwoof his best films new to Netflix this month, and the same goes for fans of theJurassic Parkfranchise, who can get their rawrs in with all three of the original trilogy films arriving this month. Check out our picks for the best new movies on Netflix below, and if you need some more streaming recommendations, be sure to check out our massive, regularly updated guide to thebest movies on Netflix here.
Jurassic Park Trilogy
Available:August 1
Just in time to get you hyped for Netflix’s upcomingJurassic World: Camp Cretaceousseries (not an accident, I suspect,) the first three films in the Jurassic franchise land on Netflix August 1.Jurassic Parkis one of the best movies ever made and it’s phenomenal how well it holds up over time, not just from a technical element (thoughdamnnnnthose dinos still look good to the modern eye,) but as a standout piece of adventure storytelling. While I can’t give as glowing of reviews to the sequels,Jurassic Park: The Lost Worldstill has plenty of thatSteven Spielbergmagic (the scene in the truck trailer ranks among his most masterfully composed set-pieces,) and well, that cell phone sceneJurassic Park IIIis always good for a laugh. But really, if you like big rawrin' dinosaur action, there’s no better than theJurassicfranchise.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Director:Michel Gondry
Writer:Charlie Kaufman
Cast:Kate Winslet, Jim Carrey, Elijah Wood, Kirsten Dunst, Mark Ruffalo, Tom Wilkinson
Among the most touching, relatable, and inventive love stories ever put on filmEternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mindblew me away when I first saw it in theaters and it’s one of those movies that never seems to lose its impact. A stunning combination ofCharlie Kaufman’s mind-bending and heart-breaking storytelling,Michel Gondry’s impeccable eye and cinematic audacity, and two phenomenal performances fromJim CarreyandKate Winslet,Eternal Sunshine of the SpotlessMindis a technical marvel. But it’s also so damned grounded and emotionally cathartic. Rooted in the love between a meek cartoonist named Joel (Carrey) and a fearless, vibrant free spirit named Clementine (Winslet),Eternal Sunshineuses the concept of a memory-erasing machine to take a journey through the heart, mind, and soul of a man so desperate to escape his heartbreak, he almost erases the parts of himself he cherishes the most. But love isn’t that easy to root out, much like this film, which still lingers in my thoughts and touches my heart more than a decade after I saw it for the first time.
The Addams Family
Director:Barry Sonnenfeld
Writers:Caroline Thompson and Larry Wilson
Cast:Anjelica Huston, Raul Julia, Christopher Lloyd, Christina Ricci, Jimmy Workman, Elizabeth Wilson
As summer starts to wind down, you can already see the enthusiasm for the fall season creeping into social media and if you’re looking to get an early jump on spookytimes, you can’t really do better thanThe Addams Family. The directorial debut fromBarry Sonnenfeldimmediately announced the filmmaker’s knack for crowd-pleasers, turning the classic creepy TV show into a family film for the ages, bolstered on the back of some iconic performances fromAnjelica HustonandRaul Juliaas Morticia and Gomez Addams. Romantic, adventurous, and a love letter to goth little weirdos around the world,The AddamsFamilyis all together ooky in the best way.
Being John Malkovich
Director:Spike Jonze
Cast:John Cusack, Cameron Diaz, Catherine Keener, and John Malkovich
Being John Malkovichis certainly one of the weirdest movies ever made, but I can guarantee you’ve never seen anything like it. From the mind ofCharlie Kaufman, the film starsJohn Cusackas an unemployed puppeteer who finds work as a file clerk at an office building, where he discovers a door that lets anyone who enters control the mind of actorJohn Malkovichfor a short period of time. The story snowballs from there and concerns love, ego, and power, and everyone involved gives an absolutely terrific performance. –Adam Chitwood
Available:August 7
Director:Laura Terruso
Writer:Alison Peck
Cast:Sabrina Carpenter, Liza Koshy, Jordan Fisher, Keiynan Lonsdale, Drew Ray Tanner, Michelle Buteau
You know what sounds absolutely delightful right about now? An old-fashioned escapist dance movie. You know the deal. An outsider joins a new dance crew and has to prove themselves, the dance montages, the longing slow dances, the choreography that only comes together at the last minute before the big show. I love it all, and Netflix’sWork Itlooks like it’s leaning into that formula full-on with a cast of talented up-and-comers on-screen andAlicia Keysbacking the show as a producer. The set-up sees a valedictorian-type over-achiever looking to beef up her extra-curricular roster by joining the dance team. When they shut her down, she starts a new team of her own, determined to take home the top prize at the upcoming “Work It” dance contest.
Netflix’s teen films range from delights likeTo All the Boys I’ve Loved BeforeandThe Half of Itto shocking misfires likeSierra Burgess Is a Loserto the growing catalogue of movies I deadass have never even heard of, but for the most part, they’re usually very effective escapist entertainment. If you were happy to letThe Kissing Booth 2transport you to a sunny happy world where Harvard is just a good cover letter and a Dance Dance Revolution contest away,Work Itlooks like it will scratch the same silly feel-good itch, with the added bonus of flash dance scenes.
Nightcrawler
Available:August 10
Writer/Director:Dan Gilroy
Cast:Jake Gyllenhaal, Rene Russo, Riz Ahmed, Bill Paxton
In the prolific pantheon of Oscar snubs, few have bewildered me so much as the failure to nominateJake Gyllenhaalfor his mesmerizing, terrifying portrayal of Louis Bloom in 2014’sNightcrawler. Without question one of the best performances of his career, and easily towards the top of my list for the best of the 21st Century so far, Gyllenhaal is a force of lean and hungry fury as an ambitious and unethical oddball who discovers he has a gift for capturing and selling gruesome crime scene footage. And things go from “stay away from that guy” to “run for your life” when Louis channels his enterprising machiavellian mind into making sure he always has new footage. A chilling indictment of how the American Dream can turn into a nightmare in the hands of the wrong person,Nightcrawleris a tight, focused, fantastically shot thriller that you may never quite shake.
Project Power
Available: August 14
Directors:Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman
Writer:Mattson Tomlin
Cast:Jamie Foxx, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Dominique Fishback, Rodrigo Santoro, Amy Landecker, Courtney B. Vance
Netflix’s batch of original action movies is pretty hit-and-miss so far, with a tendency to fall in the “yeah, I guess that was ok” zone. They’ve had a bit of a hot streak this year withExtractionandThe Old Guard, both flawed films that I still enjoyed immensely, and the trailer for their newest A-list actionerProject Powerlooks like it might just be extremely my shit. For one thing, it’s damn good to seeJoseph Gordon-Levittback in action on screen after his welcome return with Amazon’s thriller7500, and he’s got a better-than-average track record when it comes to picking the right scripts.
ButProject Poweralso has a great hook; set in the ever-cinematic city of New Orleans, the film sees a new pill making the rounds that gives people superpowers for five minutes. As you can imagine, that starts wreaking havoc on the city and perhaps even less surprising, it’s not long before the wealthy, powerful, and corrupt set out to get their hands on the technology and turn it into more wealth, power and corruption. That leads Gordon-Levitt’s local cop to team up with a veteran on a mission of vengeance (Jamie Foxx) and a teenage dealer (Dominique Fishback) to “fight power with power” using the pills to help stop them. DirectorsHenry JoostandAriel Schulmanhave shown a knack for subverting genre storytelling from their documentaryCatfishtoParanormal Activity 3, a standout in the franchise, and I’m stoked to see with they do with a clever take on the ever-popular superhero genre. Throw in the fact that the script comes fromThe Batmanco-writerMattson Tomlin, and the curiosity factor on this one is very high indeed.
The Sleepover
Available:August 21
Director:Trish Sie
Writer:Sarah Rothschild
Cast:Sadie Stanley, Malin Akerman, Ken Marino, Maxwell Simkins, Joe Manganiello
If Netflix’s genuinely excellentThe Baby-Sitters Clubupdate has you in the mood for some family-friendly pre-teen antics, keep an eye out forThe Sleepoverthis month. The action-adventure comedy starsSadie StanleyandMaxwell Simkinsas a pair of siblings who discover that their overprotective suburban stay-at-home mom is actually a retired expert thief, who gets kidnapped by her ex (Joe Manganello) to do one last job. Which means it’s up to the kiddos to rescue their parents and save the day! That’s a pretty charming cast and a cuteSpy Kids-adjacent set-up,Pitch Perfect 3directorTrish Sie(who also directed a bunch of those kickass OK Go videos) takes the helm for the family adventure, which might just be the perfect late-summer treat for the kiddos in a summer that didn’t leave a lot of room for real-life sleepovers.
Unknown Origins
Available:August 28
Directed byDavid Galán Galindo
Written byDavid Galán Galindo y Fernando Navarro
StarringJavier Rey, Verónica Echegui, Brays Efe, Antonio Resines, Ernesto Alterio, Carlos Areces, Juanfra Juárez, Alex García, Leonardo Sbaraglia
Spanish thrillers have been absolutelycrushingit for the last decade or so, with pulse-pounding dramas likeThe Invisible Guest,Julia’s Eyes, andSleep Tight, among many others. Heck, Netflix’sThe Platformis one of the best movies of the year so far. Which gives me a lot of hope for the upcoming Spanish-Argentinian co-productionUnknown Origins, which has a bit of a wild set-up. Set in Madrid, the thriller sees a serial killer targeting people with no obvious connection and staging their deaths to resemble the appearances of famous superheroes. You had my curiosity but now you have my attention! Using the classic cop duo dynamic of a jaded senior officer about to retire and his ambitious young gun partner,Unknown Originssends the officers undercover as cosplayers in their mission to stop the killer. That all sounds like an offbeat thriller I can get behind, and what evokes the sweaty, sticky hit of summer like serial killers and cosplay?
All Together Now
Director:Brett Haley
Writers:Marc Basch, Brett Haley, Matthew Quick, Ol Parker
Cast:Auli’i Cravalho, Fred Armisen, Justina Machado, Carol Burnett, Rhenzy Feliz, Judy Reyes, Taylor Richardson, C.S. Lee, Anthony Jacques Jr., Gerald Isaac Waters
Brett Haley’sHearts Beat Loudbeautifully fused inspirational feel-good drama with a love of music, so I’m very excited to see what he delivers with Netflix’sAll Together Now.MoanabreakoutAuli’i Cravalhostars as a musically gifted and relentlessly optimistic teenage girl living on a bus after her mother’s boyfriend kicked them out. But when tragedy strikes, she has to learn how to overcome new obstacles and rekindle her determined spirit with the help of her chosen family. I think we could all use a little motivational heart-warming tale about now, and Cravalho is due for a live-action hit after nailing, not just her performance in the film, but abreathtaking performance at the Oscars.
