The Best New Movies And TV Shows To Watch On Netflix In July 2020

Summer is in full swing, and, as evidenced by the omnipresent fireworks lately, Independence Day is nearly upon us. Sure, you might go to the park or the beach — you might take a holiday, even! But let's be honest, a lot of us are still cooped up in our houses and sore about not going to the park/beach/private island resort.

Thank goodness there's still Netflix, and double thank goodness that a new month means all new things to watch — returning series we love, brand-new shows, documentaries, or, you know, movies starring Charlize Theron as an immortal mercenary. There are fresh television series, new films, and a ream of classic entertainment all about to arrive on the streaming platform over the course of the next month. Looking for a place to start? Good news — you're exactly where you need to be.

Consider this your personal guide to the best of what's coming to Netflix in July 2020, plus all the stuff you'll need to watch before it leaves this month.

There aren't a ton of new action movies coming to Netflix in July 2020, but there's one notable comic book adaptation on the horizon that's a must see.

On July 10, Netflix will unveil The Old Guard, a kind of superhero-esque sci-fi actioner about a group of immortal assassins for hire. Starring (and produced by) Charlize Theron, The Old Guard is based on writer Greg Rucka and illustrator Leandro Fernandez's Image Comics miniseries of the same name. Rucka, whose list of comic book credits feature a number of other women-led action stories like White Out and Queen and Country, also wrote the screenplay for The Old Guard.

In the film, Theron plays Andy, the oldest member of the titular Old Guard, who in part takes on the role of mentor to a new immortal, Nile Freeman (KiKi Layne). The Old Guard also features a queer romance between two other immortals, Joe (Marwan Kenzari) and Nicky (Luca Marinelli), who first met as soldiers on opposites sides of the Crusades. When Rucka collaborated with director Gina Prince-Bythewood (Love & Basketball), the two agreed that the best way to adapt The Old Guard was to do so through the bright eyes of Nile Freeman. With a huge cast and a fresh, new representation of the curse of immortality, The Old Guard is definitely the action movie to watch on Netflix this July.

Of course, if you're excited about Zack Snyder's Justice League coming to HBO Max in 2021, you can sate your hunger by rewatching his 2011 action-fantasy flick Sucker Punch. And, naturally if you want to get to Mars (and who doesn't these days?), you can take a trip there with Arnold Schwarzenegger in 1990's Total Recall.

July 1

Sucker Punch

Swordfish

Total Recall (1990)

July 10

The Old Guard

Things are looking to get dramatic over on Netflix in July 2020. Whether its romantic drama, historical drama, or the kind of unsettling drama that makes you want to crawl out of your skin and run for the hills, Netflix has the all the bases covered.

The Nicholas Sparks-adapted 2004 film The Notebook is coming to Netflix on July 18 — and, let's be honest, even though you've probably seen it many times before, watching Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams have a love affair is something you can always watch again.

Speaking of Rachel McAdams, the McAdams-starring, Oscar-winning film Spotlight, which dramatizes the incredible true story of how The Boston Globe uncovered decades of hidden abuse within the Catholic Church, arrives on Netflix July 22. Spotlight may take some dark turns, but the film (also featuring Mark Ruffalo and Michael Keaton) is ultimately a triumphant tale of what good journalism can do to protect a community from predators.

If you're a stateside subscriber looking for a foreign flick, the Polish film The Hater hits Netflix on July 29. The Hater centers on Tomasz Giemza (Maciej Musialowski), a young man from a poor background who discovers power and success through manipulating individuals and groups online. A thriller plucked from the headlines, The Hater deals with not just how, but also why someone would destroy an individual's good name or galvanize a movement with false propaganda.

There are plenty of classics to check out on Netflix in July 2020 as well. Catch Will Smith's take on the the famous boxing champ Muhammad Ali in Ali, dropping on Netflix on July 1. That same day, Netflix will release for streaming the mend-bending sci-fi reincarnation flick Cloud Atlas and the Edward James Olmos classic Stand and Deliver, which still inspires us to remember what a great teacher is capable of doing for their community.

July 1

A Walk to Remember

Ali

Cloud Atlas

Stand and Deliver

Under the Riccione Sun 

July 16

Fatal Affair 

July 18

The Notebook

July 22

Spotlight

July 29

The Hater

Obviously, you can't spend all of July getting your face melted off by action scenes or worrying about the guy from The Hater somehow being real — you also need some light-hearted comedies in your life. Netflix has those this July.

The month kicks off with the great disaster movie spoof Airplane!, starring Robert Hays as former fighter pilot Ted Striker and Julie Hagerty as Ted's ex-girlfriend-slash-flight-attendant Elaine Dickinson. If you're more in the market for the dulcet tones of a magic Tom Hanks, there's the timeless romantic comedy classic Sleepless in Seattle, arriving on Netflix alongside Airplane! on July 1.

The big new comedy coming to Netflix on July 3 is Desperados. Starring Saturday Night Live alum Nasim Pedrad, Desperados is a girl trip flick about a woman, Wesley (Nasim Pedrad), who falls in love with a guy, Jared (Robbie Amell). Shenanigans ensue after Wesley writes a nasty email to Jared when she becomes convinced he ghosted on her after a one-night stand. But — romantic comedy twist — it turns out Jared got in an accident and is stranded in Mexico ... without his phone. Yes, Desperados is that classic "girl meets guy, girl falls for guy, girl has to get to Mexico and delete hastily written email before guy dumps girl" story — but if you're looking for a goofy, off-beat take on a road-trip story, this is probably the movie for you.

Netflix is also heading back to familiar film territory with The Kissing Booth 2, coming out July 24. It's the sequel to the 2018 film about Elle Evans (Joey King), her crush, and the titular kissing booth that brings them together. The burgeoning Kissing Booth series like the summertime equivalent of those light-hearted holiday rom-coms you see around December: It's breezy, fun, and a pretty solid way to literally Netflix and chill.

If you're looking to double-dip on road-trip movies in lieu of leaving the house, the Jason Mantzoukas comedy The Long Dumb Road hits Netflix on July 8. Wrap up the month with Banana Split, the critically adored coming-of-age comedy about an unlikely female friendship, arriving on July 26.

July 1

Airplane!

Sleepless in Seattle

July 3

Desperados 

July 8

The Long Dumb Road

July 15

Gli Infedeli (The Players) 

July 16

MILF

Pride and Prejudice (2005) 

July 24

Animal Crackers

The Kissing Booth 2

July 26

Banana Split

If there's one type of entertainment that became unbelievably big in 2020, it's the educational kind — specifically documentaries. It turns out that when people have a lot of free time on their hands, they start wondering about stuff — how do things work, what's the backstory of my favorite athlete, and what do people do to cope with huge cultural changes? You're asking questions, and Netflix is bringing the answers in July 2020 with a host of documentaries.

Arriving July 19 is the complete ten-part docu-series The Last Dance, which chronicles the end of Michael Jordan's basketball career. No matter how many ball players come and go in the NBA, Michael Jordan's story remains the most synonymous with what makes basketball great. Jordan is a living legend who inspired other living legends — and he left basketball at the top of his game. The Last Dance is a great look into the pressures of being Michael Jordan at that time, and it's riveting stuff.

The classic series Unsolved Mysteries is getting a fresh coat of paint beginning July 1. Much like the original, the revamped show will take on cases of crime, death, the supernatural, and more through the prism of the detectives and journalists who study those cases. Of course, the new Unsolved Mysteries is still about the audience — might someone watching be able to solve an unsolved mystery?

July 1

Unsolved Mysteries

July 10

The Claudia Kishi Club

July 14

The Business of Drugs

July 19

The Last Dance

July 21

Street Food: Latin America

July 22

Fear City: New York vs. The Mafia

Love on the Spectrum

July 28

Last Chance U: Laney

July 31

The Speed Cubers

The only thing consistently capturing people's attention as much as documentaries in the last six months is horror movies. People can't get enough of horror, probably because it's much more cathartic to watch it than to live it. And you better believe that Netflix is bringing in a ton of horror movies in July 2020.

In the world of Japanese horror, there are few franchises more popular than JU-ON – or, as you might know it, The Grudge. On July 3, Netflix will release JU-ON: Origins, a TV series based upon the film franchise that explores the inception of this particular haunting. As Netflix bills it, Origins sees a paranormal researcher obsessively searching "for a cursed home where something terrible happened to a mother and her child long ago."

On the other side of the proverbial pond, there are a slew of classic horror films coming on July 1 — including Tobe Hooper's Poltergeist, as well as gems like the satanic Al Pacino film The Devil's Advocate and the found-footage-defining Paranormal Activity.

If you want to subject your children to something terrifying, there's the British classic The Witches, which is, deceptively, not so much about witches as it is the children those witches transform into mice. The Witches is a great starter-kit horror movie, perfect to hide behind the sofa with.

July 1

Poltergeist

The Devil's Advocate

The Witches

Sleepy Hollow

Paranormal Activity

Winchester

July 3

JU-ON: Origins

Obviously, Netflix's big focus and the thing that shot it into the stratosphere of success after starting out as a DVD rental service is original programming, particularly television. From the very first binge of Orange Is the New Black, people knew Netflix would be one of the best places to get new shows. In this regard, July 2020 will be no different on the streamer.

On July 2, Warrior Nun, the live-action adaptation of the comic series Warrior Nun Areala, drops on Netflix. The series is about a group of fighting sisters who do battle with the forces of darkness. In a similar vein, to book-end the month, the second season of the graphic novel adaptation The Umbrella Academy comes out July 31; then, we can finally find out what happened to Vanya Hargreeves (Ellen Page) and the rest of our favorite super-powered (and semi-dysfunctional) family after the end of the world.

While we're steeped in the world of the other, let's talk about Frank Miller's Cursed, which comes out July 17. Cursed is a what-if story centered on the Excalibur-and-King-Arthur legend, spun in the direction of a young woman instead. Instead of a typical Arthurian story, this version is focused on Nimue — the mythical Lady of the Lake. 13 Reasons Why and Knives Out star Katherine Langford leads Cursed, becoming a "symbol of courage and rebellion against the terrifying Red Paladins, and their complicit King Uther."

If you happen to be looking for a little more slice-of-life goodness in your TV series, there's an adaption of the classic play 12 Angry Men coming July 10 called The Twelve. And if you're looking for love, there's a fun wedding reality series dropping on July 1 called Say I Do.

July 1

Deadwind: Season 2

Say I Do

Cleo & Cuquin: Season 2

Kingdom: Season 1-3

July 2

Warrior Nun

July 3

The Baby-Sitters Club

Cable Girls: Final Season: Part 2

Souther Survival

July 8

Stateless

Was it Love

Yu-Gi-Oh!: Season 1

July 9

Japan Sinks: 2020

The Protector: Season 4

July 10

Down to Earth with Zac Efron

Hello Ninja: Season 3

Dating Around: Brazil

The Twelve

July 15

Dark Desire

Skin Decision: Before and After

July 16

Indian Matchmaking

July 17

Boca a Boca (Kissing Game)

Cursed

July 18

Gigantosaurus: Season 1

July 21

How to Sell Drugs Online (Fast): Season 2

July 22

Norsemen: Season 2

Signs

July 29

Inside the World's Toughest Prisons: Season 4

July 30

Transformers: War for Cybertron Trilogy

July 31

Get Even

Sugar Rush: Extra Sweet

The Umbrella Academy: Season 2

Vis a vis: El Oasis (Locked Up)

The Netflix lords give, and the Netflix lords taketh away. For all the brand0new, exciting movies and shows you'll get to see in July 2020, there are a lot that will leave.

Solo: A Star Wars Story is punching into hyperspace and heading off to another streaming service (Disney+) on July 8. Arguably the best horror movie of the last decade, Under the Skin, leaves Netflix on July 11. And speaking of scary, the intense Brie Larson drama Room will exit Netflix on July 18. Inglourious Basterds will no longer be killing Nazis on Netflix after July 21, and your favorite see-through robot from Ex Machina bids adieu to Netflix on July 25. Perhaps saddest of all, the Back to the Future trilogy is out of time on Netflix as of July 31.

So many things you love, so little time, but make a game of it — see if you can watch them all before the sands of the hourglass run down on July 2020.

Leaving July 4

Blue Valentine

Leaving July 5

The Fosters: Seasons 1-5

The Iron Lady

Leaving July 8

Solo: A Star Wars Story

Leaving July 9

47 Metres Down

Leaving July 11

A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III

The Adderall Diaries

Enemy

Ginger & Rosa

Locke

The Spectacular Now

Under the Skin

Leaving July 12

Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain

Leaving July 15

Forks Over Knives

Leaving July 18

A Most Violent Year

Laggies

Life After Beth

Obvious Child

Room

Tusk

Leaving July 21

Bolt

Inglourious Basterds

Leaving July 25

Dark Places

Ex Machina

Mississippi Grind

Leaving July 26

Country Strong

Leaving July 28

Ant-Man and the Wasp

Her

Leaving July 29

The Incredibles 2

Leaving July 31

Back to the Future

Back to the Future Part II

Back to the Future Part III

Can't Hardly Wait

Casper

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Chernobyl Diaries

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial

Freedom Writers

Godzilla

Guess Who

Hancock

Hitch

Jarhead

Jarhead 2: Field of Fire

Jarhead 3: The Siege

Open Season

QB1: Beyond the Lights: Season 1

Resident Evil: Extinction

Romeo Must Die

Salt

Scary Movie 2

Searching for Sugar Man

Sex and the City 2

Stuart Little

The Edge of Seventeen

The Interview

The Pianist

The Pursuit of Happyness

Twister

Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory