We’ve already reached the end of June - I don’t know about you but the summer is just zipping by! Unfortunately, the bad weather has made an unwelcome return but that just means there’s more time for Netflix... and it’s definitely time to clear your schedules!
We’ve got a complete list of everything being released on Netflix in July which you can find down below as well as our top five picks of the bunch.
But first, let’s take a quick look at two hotly anticipated releases that came out earlier this week:
Okja
Here’s one we’ve been waiting a while for! From Korean director Bong Joon Ho (Snowpiercer, The Host) comes an intercontinental action-packed adventure story that premiered at the Cannes film festival earlier this summer.
Mija, a young Korean girl, has spent the last ten years taking care of a most unusual pet; a massive, friendly fictional beast that looks like a cross between a hippo and a pig called Okja. Their mountain forest life is idyllic until the head of a multinational conglomerate (played here by Tilda Swinton) kidnaps Okja, stealing the animal away to New York. With no particular plan but bald faced determination, Mija sets out on a rescue mission. Her already daunting journey quickly becomes more complicated when she crosses paths with disparate groups of capitalists, demonstrators and consumers, each battling to control the fate of her beloved friend.
Okja holds a strong score of 85% on Rotten Tomatoes and has been lauded by many critics as the best of Netflix’s original films to date. Newsweek says “It's a testament to Bong's sprawling ambition that Okja manages to be so many things at once -- a caustic satire of corporate evil, an intercontinental action/adventure epic, a coming-of-age narrative for the girl.”
Give it a go: If you love “a girl and her pet” kind of stories à la Lassie.
Give it a miss: If you like your cinema a little more grounded.
Gypsy
After directing the marmite-like world phenomenon that is Fifty Shades of Grey, director Sam Taylor-Johnson has apparently found her niche, turning her directorial sights on Gypsy, a Naomi Watts led steamy drama series that sees a therapist forming troubling relationships with people connected to her patients.
Released just today, the 10 episode series has already received mixed reviews from critics. Many criticise the narrative for taking itself too seriously, lacking focus as well a lack of compelling characters. As one critic put it; “Intended as an exploration of a middle-aged woman's unrestrained desires, the new series never elevates its drama to anything thematically challenging or narratively titillating.”
...yikes! Well, as big Naomi Watts fans we’re prepared to give it the benefit of the doubt - for now.
Give it a go: If you liked Fifty Shades of Grey.
Give it a miss: If you want a more focused saucy tale.
Netflix Ireland July releases
Now let’s move onto the main event; what’s coming out this July? Below you’ll find our top five upcoming picks for the month, followed by a complete list of everything else that’s being released.
Promising new comedy series: Friends from College (July 14)
Gathering a talented comedy cast together including Keegan Michael Key of Key & Peele, Cobie Smulders of How I Met Your Mother fame, and 80s child star legend Fred Savage, Friends from College centres on a married couple (Key & Smulders) who move back to New York and reunite with their old college buddies from the ‘90s. The only problem is they’re not as chummy as they used to be back in the day; as Lisa puts it, they’re now carrying around “20 years of grievances, built up and ready to explode.”
Something to fill the Breaking Bad shaped hole in your life: Ozark (July 21)
Jason Bateman directs and stars in this upcoming dark and moody drama about a financial planner and money launderer for a massive Mexican drug cartel. When things go from bad to worse, Bateman must uproot his family from suburban Chicago to a summer resort community in the Missouri Ozarks to pay off a debt to a Mexican drug lord.
Uplifting drama based on a true story: To the Bone (July 14)
Based on the real-life experiences of writer/director Marti Noxon, To the Bone tells the story of 20-year-old Ellen’s (Lily Collins) battle with anorexia. Ellen enters a group home run by an unconventional doctor (Keanu Reeves) where she and the other residents go on a sometimes funny, sometimes harrowing journey - navigating their addictions and finding the path to choosing life.
Inspirational documentary: Daughters of Destiny (July 28)
Established in 1997, the Shanti Bhavan school has provided free education for some of India's most impoverished and underrepresented children – the "poorest of the poor." In Daughters of Destiny: The Journey of Shanti Bhavan, director Vanessa Roth tells viewers the unforgettable story of a school that has changed countless lives for the better. With any luck, it might even inspire others to do the same.
Truly innovative horror: It Follows (July 29)
It Follows, if not the best horror film of the last decade, is certainly up there as far as I’m concerned.
After having sex with her boyfriend, teenage girl Jay is left with a rather unusual and nasty STD; that is, a sexually transmitted... DEMON. The trailer nicely sums up the premise for what makes for, as one critic put it “a compelling evolution in how studios and audiences can (and should) conceive of its monsters”:
“Jay, this thing is going to follow you. Somebody gave it to me and I’ve passed it to you. Wherever you are, it’s somewhere walking straight for you. All you can do is pass it along to someone else.”
Bonus: it’s got a killer soundtrack.
Complete list of Irish Netflix releases for July:
Netflix Original Series
Friends From College: Season 1 (14 July)
Ozark: Season 1 (21 July)
Castlevania: Season 1 (7 July)
Netflix Original Film
Before I Fall (7 July)
To The Bone (14 July)
The Incredible Jessica James (28 July)
Netflix Original Comedy
The Standups: Season 1 (4 July)
Aditi Mittal: Things They Wouldn't Let Me Say (18 July)
Ari Shaffir: Double Negative: Collection (18 July)
Joe Mande's Award-Winning Comedy Special (25 July)
Netflix Original Documentary
Chasing Coral (14 July)
Last Chance U: Season 2 (21 July)
Daughters of Destiny (28 July)
Netflix Original Series For Kids
Dawn of The Croods: Season 4 (7 July)
Luna Petunia: Season 2 (7 July)
Degrassi: Next Class: Season 4 (7 July)
Buddy the Thunderstruck: The Maybe Pile (14 July)
The Adventures of Puss in Boots: Season 5 (28 July)
Weekly Episodes
Shadowhunters: The Mortal Instruments: Season 2B (New episodes every Tuesday)
Orphan Black: Season 5 (New episodes every Sunday)
Shooter: Season 2 (New episodes every Wednesday starting 19 July)
Power: Season 4 (New episodes every Monday)
TV Shows
Sherlock: Series 3: "The Abominable Bride" (1 July)
Wallander: Seasons 1-4 (1 July)
QI: Season 13 & 14 (15 July)
Gavin & Stacey: Season 3 (15 July)
Suits: Season 6 Episodes 1-10 (18 July)
Offspring: Season 6 (1 July)
Asian Provocateur: Season 1 (1 July)
Hitler: The Rise of Evil: Season 1 (1 July)
El Chema: Season 1 (1 July)
Zoo: Season 2 (17 July)
Intelligence: Season 1 (19 July)
Movies
It Follows (29 July)
The Breakfast Club (6 July)
Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (7 July)
Blair Witch (9 July)
Scary Movie 2 & 3 (14 July)
The Illusionist (15 July)
Beyond Borders (15 July)
Dear Frankie (30 July)
Cocaine Cowboys and Cocaine Cowboys 2 (1 July)
Rent (19 July)
Ricki and The Flash (28 July)
Emperor (1 July)
Birdman of Alcatraz (1 July)
Deepwater Horizon (23 July)
Kid's Netflix
Agent Cody Banks (1 July)
Sonic Boom: Season 1 (1 July)
Kate and Mim-Mim: Season 1 (1 July)
Wild Kratts: Season 2 (15 July)
Top Cat: The Movie (31 July)
Documentaries
Given (1 July)
Extraordinary: The Stan Romanek Story (3 July)
Innsaei: The Sea Within (15 July)
Fittest on Earth: A Decade of Fitness (17 July)
Looking for more?
Check out last week's recommendations.
