Netflix
Happy Gilmore 2
Film, US, 2025 – out 25 July
Next up in sequels nobody asked for: the return of Adam Sandler’s cavalier golfer Happy Gilmore. Dennis Dugan’s 1996 comedy classic achieved the unthinkable by making the sport momentarily interesting. Kyle Newacheck’s belated follow-up tells a good ol’ fashioned comeback story, in which Gilmore reluctantly rises to a new challenge, here with the narrative justification that our over-the-hill hero needs moolah to send his daughter to ballet school. Expect many on-the-green outbursts and an inevitable golf ball to the groin.
Too Much
TV, UK, 2025 – out 10 July
The new comedy series from Lena Dunham – which she co-created, co-wrote and directed – follows Jessica (Megan Stalter), a bubbly New Yorker who moves to London and attempts to start again after a messy breakup. Initially disappointed that the big smoke doesn’t match the dreamy city in her head, she adjusts her expectations and encounters a potential love interest in a musician, Felix (Will Sharpe). I’ve watched the first two episodes; expect a moreishly paced, character-driven show told with energy and sass.
Nosferatu
Film, US, 2024 – out 26 July
The director Robert Eggers has a great way of taking cobweb-covered storylines – think witches, mermaids, vengeful Vikings – and injecting them with new life, with a visual style that is more painterly than flashy. A remake of FW Murnau’s great silent film fits Eggers’ oeuvre like a glove, opening up a space for more handsome gothic imagery, moody lighting and chunky moustaches. Lily-Rose Depp’s plays Ellen Hutter, a newlywed who draws intense attraction from the reclusive and downright vampiric Count Orlok (Bill Skarsgård).
Honourable mentions: The Sandman season 2 volume 1 (TV, 3 July), Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (film, 8 July), Sneaky Pete seasons 1-3 (TV, 10 July), The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (film, 12 July), Untamed (TV, 17 July), Glass Heart (TV, 31 July).
Stan
Project Nim
Film, UK/US, 2011 – out 13 July
James Marsh’s fascinating cradle-to-the-grave documentary follows Nim, a chimpanzee who was raised to be a human in a bold (some might say completely insane) experiment undertaken in the 1970s. Living with a bohemian US family, Nim was breastfed by his adopted human mother, taught to go to the toilet, and even smoked reefers. The aim was to test whether chimps could, through sign language, communicate like people. To say it didn’t go well is something of an understatement; Nim’s story is terribly sad and the film is fascinating throughout.
The Square
Film, Australia, 2008 – out 1 July
The oeuvre of Australian director and stuntman Nash Edgerton (brother of Joel) includes the great hitman series Mr Inbetween, some ripping music videos for Bob Dylan, and this smashing, tautly paced neo-noir. A pair of lovers – David Roberts’ Raymond and Claire van der Boom’s Carla – cook up a plan to run off with a big bag of cash procured by Clara’s husband. Things go terribly wrong, triggering a classic, very well told story of two people in over their heads.
Honourable mentions: Venom: Let There Be Carnage (film, 1 July), Buried (film, 3 July), Black Swan (film, 5 July), Queer (film, 6 July), The Final Quarter (film, 8 July), Looper (film, 10 July), The Institute (TV, 14 July), The Dark Emu Story (film, 23 July), Mother and Son season 1 (TV, 25 July), The Day After Tomorrow (film, 26 July), The Accidental President (TV, 27 July).
SBS on Demand
Another Country
Film, Australia, 2015 – out 1 July
Arriving in time for Naidoc Week, which runs from 6 July to 13 July, Molly Reynolds’ fascinating documentary explores David Gulpilil’s home community of Ramingining in the Northern Territory. Extensively narrated by the late and great actor, the remote town becomes a microcosm through which the film can explore “what happened to my culture when it was interrupted by your culture”. As I wrote in my original review: “The richness of the film arises from the earthy elegance of Gulpilil’s narration matched with the uncluttered beauty of Reynolds’ photography.”
Boogie Nights
Film, US, 1997 – out 18 July
Paul Thomas Anderson’s porn industry-set period drama, which begins in the late 70s, is an epic rise-and-fall narrative chock-full of drugs and bonking. Mark Wahlberg plays Eddie Adams, a busby who is discovered by a porn director, Jack Horner (Burt Reynolds), and turned into an adult movie star on account of his very substantial, erm, work ethic.
The film is equally funny as sad, and great at evoking big and small picture details – peppering a large multi-year arc with all sorts of small, memorable moments. Reynolds is irresistible as the veteran quasi-artist, who longs to make a porno with a great story, and Philip Seymour Hoffman is amazingly awkward as a stammering boom operator.
Honourable mentions: Mad Dog Morgan (film, 1 July), The Goonies (film, 1 July), May December (film, 1 July), Gulpilil: One Red Blood (film, 1 July), After Hours (film, 1 July), Under the Bridge (TV, 1 July), Gravity (film, 4 July), The Big Steal (film, 4 July), Sasquatch Sunset (film, 4 July), Ablaze (film, 6 July), The Piano Teacher (film, 11 July), Harry Brown (film, 12 July), Gremlins (film, 15 July), The Sommerdahl Murders seasons 1-5 (TV, 17 July), The Cranes Call (TV, 24 July), The Embers (TV, 24 July).
ABC iview
Laurence Anyways
Film, Canada, 2012 – out 1 July
Xavier Dolan’s aesthetically daring drama follows a transgender high school teacher, Laurence (Melvil Poupaud), as she undergoes the transitioning process, navigating relationship issues with her girlfriend, Fred (Suzanne Clement), and encountering discrimination at work. The film looks beautiful but, like in much of Dolan’s work, it’s an unusual, askew kind of beauty, with a knack for visual embellishments that take you by surprise. My only complaint is that, at 168 minutes, it’s far too long.
Honourable mentions: Do Not Watch This Show (TV, 4 July), Patience (TV, 4 July), That Blackfella Show (TV, 5 July), Penn & Teller: Fool Us season 11 (TV, 14 July), The Mysterious Benedict Society (TV, 14 July).
Amazon Prime Video
Better Man
Film, Australia/US, 2024 – out 26 July
Never have you seen a monkey snorting so much blow. Michael Gracey’s take on the life of Robbie Williams is a biopic with a difference, featuring the singer-songwriter being played by a CGI chimpanzee. This novelty has a curious, othering effect, helping the film feel fresh despite rehashing a familiar star-is-born template. Williams experiences a downwards spiral of sex and drugs from which he will, of course, eventually emerge, important life lessons learned. Check out the Rock DJ scene for an example of its thrilling visual staging.
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Blue Velvet
Film, US, 1986 – out 1 July
Rewatching this lurid classic from David Lynch feels like re-experiencing an old nightmare, our fears and twisted visions lighting up the screen. The same can be said of many of his films, though this one is different because its key visual motif is a severed ear, which represents … hmm … well … good luck ascertaining meaning from a Lynch production. (To quote Roger Ebert’s review of Mulholland Drive: “There is no explanation. There may not even be a mystery.”)
The story has shades of hard-boiled noir, the life of a college student, Jeffrey Beaumont (Kyle MacLachlan), intersecting with a femme fatale, Dorothy Vallens (Isabella Rossellini), and her abusive boyfriend, Frank Booth – played by Dennis Hopper with his signature brand of vein-bulging mania.
Honourable mentions: Rocky 1-6 (film, 1 July), Creed (film, 1 July), Creed II (film, 1 July), Twister (film, 1 July), Heads of State (film, 2 July), Ballard (TV, 9 July), The Chosen: Last Supper (TV, 13 July), Blade Runner (film, 26 July), The Equalizer (film, 26 July).
Disney+
Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story
Film, US, 2025 – out 11 July
It’s hard to overstate the impact of Jaws, which ushered in the era of the “summer blockbuster” and changed the face of cinema. Steven Spielberg’s film has been revisited, reinterpreted and appreciated ad nauseum – and now, to mark its 50th birthday, a documentary arrives promising to tell the “definitive inside story.” Speilberg et al discuss how the film was made and a conga line of high-profile appreciators heap praise on it including JJ Abrams, Emily Blunt, James Cameron, George Lucas and Jordan Peele.
Honourable mentions: ZOMBIES 4: Dawn of the Vampires (film, 11 July), Transformers 1-5 (film, 16 July), Bumblebee (film, 16 July), Washington Black (TV, 23 July).
Max
Sinners
Film, US, 2025 – out 4 July
Ryan Coogler’s already legendary vampire movie is set in 1930s Mississippi and stars Michael B Jordan in two lead roles, as gangster twins Smoke and Stack. Inspired by the legend of Robert Johnson – the highly influential blues musician who, according to folklore, sold his soul to the devil – the buzz surrounding this genre-flipping film has been pretty damn effusive.
Numerous Guardian writers have lined up to praise it. Peter Bradshaw called it a “gonzo horror-thriller mashup” told with “energy and comic-book brashness”; Wendy Ide a “wild, untrammelled and thrillingly unpredictable” film; and Andrew Lawrence a “a Jim Crow period piece that frames the Black experience in America as a horror show”.
Billy Joel: And So It Goes
TV, US, 2025 – out 19 July
This two-part documentary looks back on the life and career of Billy Joel, featuring commentary from the Piano Man himself plus insights from old friends and associates. I’ve watched the first part, which is long (almost two and a half hours), dense and conventionally structured, but quite well paced. It’s more warts-and-all than most authorised films, touching on various challenges in the subject’s life including his mental health and romantic indiscretions.
Honourable mentions: Dear Ms: A Revolution in Print (film, 3 July), Batman Ninja vs Yakuza League (film, 3 July), The Lego Movie (fillm, 5 July), The Hunger Games 1-4 (film, 5 July), Superman Through the Years (film, 8 July), Cabin in the Woods (film, 8 July), Back to the Frontier (TV, 10 July), Joker (film, 12 July), Bookish (TV, 16 July), Chespirito: Not Really on Purpose (TV, 28 July).
Binge
Arrested Development seasons 1-5
TV, US, 2003-2019 – out 29 July
Perhaps no popular television series has broken the “show, don’t tell” screenwriting dictum as spectacularly as this great, Ron Howard-narrated sitcom about an affluent US family undergoing a series of crises. Jason Bateman provides the anchoring presence as Michael, the most reasonable of the Bluth clan, who are a nasty, narcissistic and incompetent bunch – a dangerous combination for them, and a very good one for the audience. The fifth and last season took a dive so feel free to stop at the fourth.
Sold! Who Broke the Australian Dream
TV, Australia, 2025 – out 21 July
The producers of ABC’s 7.30 made a terrible decision when they cut the comedian Mark Humphries from the program; the man is rare talent. He fronts this sometimes laugh-out-loud funny investigation into Australia’s housing affordability crisis. It’s unpacked diligently, with everybody acknowledging that there’s no magic bullet solution, only measures (including cutting negative gearing) that might help a little. At several points the ABC journalist Alan Kohler appears, in a suit, in a bath, clutching a glass of champagne – a homage to Margot Robbie’s appearance in The Big Short?
Honourable mentions: Vertigo (film, 1 July), Rear Window (film, 1 July), Sabrina (film, 1 July), The Game (film, 1 July), Emilia Perez (film, 4 July), Suits seasons 1-9 (TV, 17 July), Nosferatu (film, 26 July).
Apple TV+
The Wild Ones
TV, UK, 2025 – out 11 July
In this six-part documentary series, a small team of adventurers head into remote areas of the world on a mission “to find and film some of the most endangered animals on the planet and help scientists save them”. A noble expedition, to be sure, with what looks like (going by the trailer) a bit of grandstanding and chest-thumping.
Honourable mentions: Foundation season 3 (TV, 11 July), Snoopy Presents: A Summer Musical (TV, 18 July).