Each week our staff of film and television experts surveys the entertainment landscape to select the ten best new/newish shows available for you to stream at home. We put a lot of thought into our selections, and our debates on what to include and what not to include can sometimes get a little heated and feelings may get hurt, but so be it, this is an important service for you, our readers. With that said, here are our selections for this week.
15. Presumed Innocent (Apple TV Plus)
Presumed Innocent is guilty… of having an all-star collection of talent! Created by David E. Kelley and produced by Gracie Abrams‘ somewhat famous father, the legal thriller stars Jake Gyllenhaal as a chief deputy prosecutor who is suspected of murder. Per Apple TV Plus: “The series explores obsession, sex, politics, and the power and limits of love, as the accused fights to hold his family and marriage together.” Fun fact: Gyllenhaal’s character was played by Harrison Ford in the 1990 movie of the same name.
14. House of the Dragon (Max)
Before House of the Dragon premiered, I was concerned that it would be nothing more than a shameless extension of the Game of Thrones brand. A DLC to check out but not engage with. Those fears have been unfounded. House of the Dragon quickly proved itself a worthy successor to Thrones (which, disappointing finale aside, is still one of the best shows of the 2010s). It exists on its own terms; it’s possible to enjoy the high-budget soap opera without prior knowledge of Westeros. House of the Dragon won’t be the monoculture behemoth that Game of Thrones was. No show will anymore. But it doesn’t need to be. House of the Dragon is doing just fine out of Game of Thrones’ dragon-shaped shadow (you can read our review here).
13. Problemista (Max)
If you write “Papyrus,” you can get Tilda Swinton to be in your first movie, too. Problemista stars writer and director Julio Torres as Alejandro, “an aspiring toy designer from El Salvador struggling to bring his unusual ideas to life in New York City. As time on his work visa runs out, a job assisting an erratic art-world outcast becomes his only hope to stay in the country and realize his dream,” according to the A24 plot synopsis. Would you believe Tilda plays the erratic outcast? You would? Actually, yeah, that makes sense.
12. My Lady Jane (Prime Video)
Meet your summer TV obsession. My Lady Jane is a “radical retelling” of the life of Lady Jane Grey, who was the queen of England for nine days in 1553. She was executed soon after. But what if none of that happened? My Lady Jane, which stars Emily Bader in the title role, is “an epic tale of true love and high adventure, where the damsel in distress saves herself, her true love, and then the Kingdom.” Also, shape shifters (with some Buffy thrown in there, too).
11. The Imaginary (Netflix)
Studio Ponoc’s affectionately animated The Imaginary is about a young girl named Amanada and her make-believe friend, Rudger. Together, they visit a magical world filled with “creatures and places never before seen until a sinister force threatens to destroy their imaginary world and the friendship within it,” according to Netflix. The Imaginary is written by Yoshiaki Nishimura (The Tale of the Princess Kaguya, When Marnie Was There) and directed by Yoshiyuki Momose, who also worked on a few films you might have heard of: Porco Rosso, Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away. This one isn’t to be missed.
10. Sunny (Apple TV Plus)
Vulture recently pointed out that Rashida Jones has never hosted Saturday Night Live despite a) being friends with a lot of SNL folks, and b) she has the comedic chops. The campaign to get Rashida Jones in Studio 8H (with musical guest Vampire Weekend?) begins… as soon as I finish watching Sunny. The Apple TV+ series stars the Parks and Rec actress as Suzie, an American living in Japan who is gifted a robot following the disappearance of her husband and son. Together, they attempt to find out what happened to her family.
9. Sausage Party: Foodtopia (Prime Video)
Sausage Party, the 2016 movie that was the highest-grossing R-rated animated film of all-time until Demon Slayer: Mugen Train came along, has been reheated as a streaming series. Prime Video’s proudly vulgar Sausage Party: Foodtopia is set after the events of the movie, with Frank, Brenda, Barry, and Sammy, the characters voiced by Seth Rogen, Kristen Wiig, Michael Cera, and Edward Norton, respectively, attempting to build their own society. The rest of the voice cast includes Will Forte, Sam Richardson, Yassir Lester, and Natasha Rothwell. Expect lots of food puns and orgies.
8. My Spy: The Eternal City (Prime Video)
My Spy isn’t the first movie you would use to make the case for why Dave Bautista is the best wrestler-turned-actor, but it’s a surprisingly fun action-comedy. Now, Bautista and Chloe Coleman are back for another family-friendly adventure that involves fanny packs, the Vatican, and a terrorist plot. The rest of the cast includes Ken Jeong, Kristen Schaal, Anna Faris, and Craig Robinson.
7. Abigail (Peacock)
Longlegs this, Longlegs that. But don’t forget about another 2024 horror movie gem: Abigail. The film follows a group of kidnappers — played by Melissa Barrera, Dan Stevens, Kathryn Newton, Will Catlett, Kevin Durand, and Angus Cloud (in one of his final roles) — who are trapped in a house with a ballerina vampire, as one does. Abigail leans on the comedy more than the horror, and it’s a blast. Why isn’t Kathryn Newton in everything? She really should be.
6. Lady in the Lake (Apple TV Plus)
Created by Alma Har’el (Bombay Beach, Honey Boy), Lady in the Lake is a noir thriller about a housewife-turned-reporter (played by Natalie Portman) who becomes fixated on the death of Cleo Johnson (Moses Ingram), causing “a chasm [to open] that puts everyone around them in danger.” This is Portman’s first starring role in a TV show, and if she’s even half as good as she was in last year’s brilliant May December, add it to your watchlist.
5. Wicked Little Letters (Netflix)
A British mystery-comedy starring Olivia Colman and Jessie Buckley? Yeah, that’ll do. Wicked Little Letters is about an English seaside town in the 1920s that gets upended by scandalous mail (or whatever they call it there). A boisterous Irish migrant named Rose (Buckley) is charged with the crime, but as the townspeople, including buttoned-up local Edith (Colman) do their own investigation, “they suspect that something is amiss, and Rose may not be the culprit after all.” The trailer is very charming.
4. Love Lies Bleeding (Max)
Here’s one for the freaks (I’m one of you). Rose Glass’ Love Lies Bleeding can briefly be described as a love story between a gym manager (Kristen Stewart) and a bodybuilder (Katy O’Brian), but it’s much more than that. It’s also about organized crime, steroids, and Ed Harris in full creep mode. Love Lies Bleeding has a daring ending that needs to be seen to be believed.
3. Cobra Kai (Netflix)
What Netflix’s Cobra Kai has pulled off over the years is nothing less than magical. The underdog spin off (which revived a franchise that celebrates underdogs) has accomplished what few TV shows or movies could have ever hoped for: successfully rebooting a 1980s entity while appealing to Gen Z to an even greater degree than capturing the original The Karate Kid audience. (You can read the full review here.)
2. Time Bandits (Apple TV Plus)
Based on the Terry Gilliam movie of the same name, Time Bandits is about a lonely 11-year-old boy who joins a group of time-traveling thieves played by, among others, Lisa Kudrow. The fantasy-adventure series is created by Jemaine Clement (Flight of the Conchords), Iain Morris (The Inbetweeners), and Taika Waititi, who tends to do his best work — What We Do in the Shadows and Reservation Dogs — in a behind-the-scenes capacity.
1. The Decameron (Netflix)
Tony Hale has a pretty solid track record when it comes to comedies. Buster in Arrested Development, Gary in Veep, FORKY in Toy Story 4 (do not hold Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip against him). Next up is The Decameron, which is like if The White Lotus took place during the bubonic plague pandemic (or as actress Jessica Plummer described it, “Love Island, but back in the day”). The social satire is getting rave reviews for being “the best apocalyptic ensemble comedy since Clue.” Grab your juice and start watching.