It’s officially summer, which means it’s hot, hot, hot. We’d be plastered to our sofas with the air conditioning going non-stop even if there wasn’t a spike in coronavirus cases spreading across the U.S. So we’re damn lucky that July is shaping up to be one of the best months of TV in a while. After the relatively barren landscape of May and June, we could not be more grateful for the plentiful month ahead.
In July, Netflix has a nice variety of new and old content. We’re recommending a few excellent TV shows and movies of the fantasy variety, as well as revisiting an exceptional family drama you likely missed the first time around, and a decade-old heist film that just arrived on the streaming service.
Our list of suggestions is below, but here’s the full list of what’s new on Netflix in July. We also have our picks for what to watch on Hulu in July, as well as a list of everything coming to streaming in July. If you’re looking for even more hand-picked recommendations, click over to our Watch This Now! page.
The Best Shows and Movies on Netflix This Month
Kingom
Kingdom
Available July 1
We like to throw around hyperbolic phrases like “the best show you’re not watching,” but in Kingdom‘s case, it is probably true. The MMA-themed drama aired for three seasons on DirecTV/AT&T’s Audience Network, which meant if you subscribed to a different cable provider, you literally couldn’t watch it. The show is finally coming to Netflix, though, so lack of access is no longer an excuse not to watch. Set in Venice, California, the series stars Frank Grillo as Alvey Kulina, a former champion fighter who runs a gym where he trains current fighters, including sons Jay (series standout Jonathan Tucker) and Nate (Nick Jonas) and former champion Ryan Wheeler (Matt Lauria). It is a rich, thoughtful drama about the complicated nature of family, the raw and tiring fight for glory, and the never-ending battle of addiction. This should be your first stop in July. (Trailer)
Ben Affleck and Jeremy Renner, The Town
The Town
Available July 1
Say what you want about Ben Affleck as a person, but The Town, the 2010 film he co-wrote, directed, and starred in, is an undeniably great heist film with a hearty chunk of emotion thrown in to make you feel something along the way. The movie, set in Boston (naturally), follows Doug MacRay (Affleck), a bank robber from Charlestown who hopes to pull off one final score with a group of lifelong friends by robbing Fenway Park and then skipping town for greener pastures. The film features great direction and an excellent and truly memorable supporting turn from Jeremy Renner, who received his second Academy Award nomination for the performance. Hell, even Blake Lively is good in this. If you haven’t seen The Town yet, now is a great time to do so. (Trailer)
Alba Baptista, Warrior Nun
Warrior Nun
Available July 2
Fans of Syfy’s Wynonna Earp will likely love Warrior Nun, a new fantasy series based on the comic book character created by Ben Dunn. The show stars Alba Batista as Ava, a young woman who wakes up in a morgue to discover she has been given a new lease on life via an embedded angel’s halo in her back. Gifted with exceptional powers courtesy of the divine artifact, she discovers she is now part of an ancient order of nuns tasked with killing demons on Earth. However, things aren’t quite that simple, as the Catholic Church and even more sinister forces wish to control her. (Trailer)
Charlize Theron, The Old Guard
The Old Guard
Available July 10
After you’ve finished Warrior Nun, check out the thematically similar movie The Old Guard. Charlie Theron stars in the adaptation of the graphic novel series of the same name as the leader of an ancient team of immortal mercenaries who’ve been saving the mortal world for centuries. Just as another immortal awakens, the team finds themselves on the run from those who’d like to steal the secrets of their immortality for financial gain. (Trailer)
Michael Jordan and Phil Jackson
The Last Dance
Available July 19
If you missed ESPN’s exceptional 10-part documentary about Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls’ thrilling, era-ending 1997-98 season when it aired earlier this spring, now you can binge it all on Netflix. The Last Dance is, as we described it in our review in April, “a Citizen Kane-like biography about Jordan’s relentless pursuit of greatness at all costs. It doesn’t shy away from his flaws, nor does it diminish any of his achievements.” Even if you’re Team LeBron in the endless GOAT debate, The Last Dance is must-see TV. (Trailer)
The Umbrella Academy
The Umbrella Academy
Available July 31
The second season of Netflix’s adaptation of the Umbrella Academy comics will pick up in the aftermath of Season 1’s massive cliffhanger, in which the Hargreeves siblings accidentally caused the very apocalypse they had wanted to prevent when they shattered the moon, raining asteroids down on Earth. They escaped to the past in order to rewrite history, and that is where the new season finds them. Specifically, they’ve traveled to 1960s Dallas, Texas, and you know what happened there. However, various members of the family arrived at different points in the past, which should make for an interesting new story. (No trailer yet)
Want to know what else is coming to Netflix? Here’s everything new on Netflix in July.