Are you looking for the best new shows and movies out on Netflix this week? Good, because here is a list of all the best new shows and movies released on Netflix the week of July 17-23.
This week, the new shows released on Netflix will make you cry, make you laugh, and make you hungry, which sounds like every single f***ing day for me during this quarantine. There’s a little bit for everyone this week, including an emotional wreck of a documentary, a farcical comedy about ancient warriors, and a teen drama that’s eerily similar to all the pandemic problems that teens are causing in real life. But there’s no big hit that’s a must-see for everyone, so you’ll have to dig around to find something that fits you.
All titles debut on Friday, July 17 unless otherwise noted. Here’s what came out on Netflix last week.
If you’re looking for even more hand-picked recommendations, we have plenty. If you’d like to see what’s coming out on Netflix in July, here are our Editors’ Picks for Netflix’s July releases and everything that’s coming to the service in the month.
The Biggest Releases
Father Soldier Son
Prepare to have your soul crushed with this emotional documentary from a pair of New York Times journalists that follows a soldier and his two sons over the course of 10 years. While it extensively covers the difficulties military families face, PTSD, and the scars of war, it is ultimately about masculinity as Sgt. 1st Class Brian Eisch heads to Afghanistan to fight while his children stay in the States, returns home injured and changed, and impacts the paths his sons take. If your dad was a soldier, are you supposed to be a soldier, too? Chew on that.
Cursed, Season 1
Netflix found a star-in-the-making when it signed Australian actress Katherine Langford to play the lead role in its teen drama 13 Reasons Why, so naturally it wanted to keep her in its fold. But Langford probably should have held out for a follow-up other than Cursed, a bland Arthurian fantasy in which she plays Nimue, a young woman who will become the famed Lady of the Lake. With a quest to meet up with Merlin (Vikings‘ Gustaf Skarsgard, being typecast) and the ability to control foliage (really), Nimue finds herself both hunting and hunted. (Trailer)
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Finally on Netflix
The Last Dance
A basketball god from another universe enters the NBA and toys with human mortals in this 10-part ESPN docuseries about the Chicago Bulls’ quest for their sixth NBA championship in a decade. If you’re a cord-cutter too cheap to pay for ESPN+, now’s your chance to see the year’s best sportsumentary. (Sunday, July 19 / Review)
Everything Else
Love on the Spectrum, Season 1
This British docuseries follows adults on the autism spectrum as they search for love. There’s always a chance that a show with this premise might be exploitative, and Love on the Spectrum at least appears to be a heartfelt tribute to romance and an honest look at autism. (Wednesday, July 22)
Norsemen, Season 3
Have you ever watched Vikings and thought, “Boy do I wish Ivar would slip on a banana peel and fall face first into a pile of cow manure?” This funny farce about Vikings is the closest you’ll get to that! (Trailer / Wednesday, July 22)
Street Food: Latin America, Season 1
You can’t travel, you can’t even go out for food. So stay in eating another box of mac n’ cheese for the 100th day in a row and watch someone else eat delicious street food in exotic locations in yet another Netflix food show. (Trailer / Tuesday, July 21)
Fear City: New York vs The Mafia, Season 1
“Ayyyy… I’m trying to watch Netflix here,” is what you’ll say as you watch this incredibly New Yorkian three-part docuseries from the producers of Don’t F*** With Cats about the war between the city’s biggest crime families and the law enforcement officials who opened an unprecedented case to take them all out. Grab a slice, watch it on fast-forward while running through a crowd, and go to bed at 3 a.m. to get the full New York experience. (Trailer / Wednesday, July 22)
Kissing Game (Boca a Boca), Season 1
Remember when we were all teens and went to slumber parties where everyone kissed each other and then we all got mononucleosis and missed a month of school? This Brazilian series is like that except it’s a real bad viral case of something worse than herpes and now the whole town is freaking out. Teens should be doing homework and writing college entrance essays, not kissing! Gosh! (Trailer)
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Ashley Garcia: Genius in Love, Part 2
A teenager with an interest in science and robotics also has an interest in the school’s jock in the second part of this new teen comedy. But this time, she also gets a little too close to her friend’s new boyfriend. She totally knows how to code, but she doesn’t understand girl code. (Trailer / Monday, July 20)
How to Sell Drugs Online (Fast), Season 2
The German drama that also happens to be funny returns for a second season of an awkward teen selling drugs online, and it looks like he might go full Heisenberg. This time, he adds a new member of the team who causes problems for a friend, and he gets into trouble when his ex-girlfriend gets close to learning his secret. (Trailer / Tuesday, July 21)
Jack Whitehall: I’m Only Joking
Comedian Jack Whitehall hits Wembley Stadium without his dad to tell jokes about his past relationships and other things that make him wildly popular in England. (Trailer / Tuesday, July 21)
Signs, Season 1
This Polish series follows a police commander tracking down the murderer of a young woman, and it has one of the most useless “trailers” that I have ever seen in all my years on Earth. (Incredibly weird “trailer” that isn’t even worth your time / Wednesday, July 22)
The Larva Island Movie
Apparently this kids show about a couple wormy things on an island is popular enough to make a movie out of it. In the movie, the human castaway who befriended the larvae meets with a reporter who wants to know his story. (Trailer / Thursday, July 23)
Stop searching, start watching! TV Guide’s Watch This Now! page has even more TV recommendations. And check out our picks for the best Netflix shows and movies to watch in July.
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