The best new shows to stream in July

Welcome to the second half of the streaming television year. I was quite happy with the varied offerings in the first half of 2024 – here’s my report card, if you need to do some catch-up viewing – and I’m keen on what lies ahead.

Just this week I got confirmation that a series I’m excited to see, the Cate Blanchett literary thriller Disclaimer, will debut on October 11 on Apple TV+. And that’s definitely not the only high-profile release on the way.

July has plenty to offer, whether it’s the gladiatorial battles and serpentine plot of ancient Rome in Amazon Prime’s big budget spectacle Those About to Die, the 1980s movie-star documentary Brats on Disney+, or Natalie Portman making the leap to streaming with Apple TV+’s 1960s drama Lady in the Lake. Your watchlist should be full, but my bonus tip is Netflix’s returning espionage black comedy, Kleo. If you dig the macabre, check it out.

Enjoy your winter viewing, and please hit send on an email to let us know what is your binge of choice. No judgment here.

In television there’s no such thing as a guilty pleasure – enjoying a show is all that matters. Hopefully, we’ll have plenty of candidates to compare over the rest of this year.

Apple TV+

My top Apple TV+ recommendation is Lady in the Lake (July 19).

Natalie Portman headlines her first streaming series with this kaleidoscopic period drama, set in 1960s Baltimore as historical racial divisions break down and distinct communities start to interact. The star of Black Swan and Thor plays Maddie Schwartz, an unsatisfied Jewish-American wife and mother whose existential crisis sees her return to journalism, obsessively investigating a child’s murder while a black wife and mother, Cleo Sherwood (Moses Ingram), tries to escape her connections to the city’s long-standing crime syndicates. Israeli filmmaker Alma Har’el (Honey Boy) wrote and directed this adaptation of Laura Lippman’s 2019 novel of the same name, and the result is a torrid, involved mystery where the grim realities for those involved are touched by dreamy flourishes and stylised interludes. It’s a lot, but Portman and Ingram expertly keep it aloft.

Also on Apple TV+: Following on from the AI assistant that served as a most modern Doctor Watson in Disney+’s A Murder at the End of the World, Sunny (July 10) is a darkly comic and grief-laden mystery about a woman investigating the deaths of her husband and son with the help – and possibly hindrance – of the family robot he designed. Set in near-future Japan, with Rashida Jones (Parks and Recreation) as the despairing but determined widow and cultural outsider, Suzie Sakamoto, the show strikes a bittersweet, intriguing tone – it can be absurd and wrenching, sometimes in close proximity.

Time Bandits (July 24) asks the question: should anyone remake Terry Gilliam’s exuberant 1981 feature film, a children’s fantasy about a curious boy romping through time with misfit criminals? There’s a case for and against, but if it has to be done, a creative team of Taika Waititi (Thor: Ragnarok), Jemaine Clement (Flight of the Conchords), and Iain Morris (The Inbetweeners) is who you would want to empower. The two-thirds Kiwi crew stay true to the film’s outline, as British schoolboy and history fanatic Kevin (Kal-El Tuck) discovers that his bedroom is a portal through which a group of temporal thieves are fleeing, resulting in him tagging along as they practise larceny and affect history. The gang’s leader is played by Friends star Lisa Kudrow, who hits a silly, satiric sweet spot.

June highlights: Jake Gyllenhaal headlined the gripping remake of the courtroom thriller Presumed Innocent, while Eva Longoria was back in front of the camera for the romantic caper Land of Women.

Binge

My top Binge recommendation is The Twelve (July 11).

Adapted from a Belgian legal thriller, the first season of this Australian drama delivered a fix for devotees of courtroom twists and legal machinations, with a labyrinthine plot and perspectives that moved between the accused, those defending them, and individual jurors. The second season brings back Sam Neill’s barrister, Brett Colby, SC, who this time is working in rural Western Australia, defending a young woman accused alongside her boyfriend of killing her mother, the town’s matriarch. Done right, this timeless genre delivers a satisfying mystery told through its twists, although this season of The Twelve does offer an extra wrinkle. Frances O’Connor (The End) joins the cast as barrister Meredith Nelson-Moore, who is defending the boyfriend while involved in a covert relationship with Colby. Is post-coital jury evaluation common in the legal world? Because it’s in the show.

Also on Binge: A bestseller back in 2002 and a commercial breakthrough for African-American authors, Stephen L Carter’s legal mystery The Emperor of Ocean Park (July 15) went through decades of Hollywood development that could never adequately squeeze into a movie. Now that it’s a limited series, created by Sherman Payne (Shameless), the book’s story of the adult children of a controversial former federal court judge, Oliver Garland (Forest Whitaker), asking difficult question following his death, has room to breathe. Like American Fiction earlier this year, the story uses a privileged black family as the lens, although here the focus is conspiracy theories and historic scandal.

June highlights: The new season of fantasy blockbuster House of the Dragon swiftly exceeded the first, Ren Faire was a compelling oddball documentary that played like a Christopher Guest mockumentary, and Fantasmas was a one-of-a-kind surreal gem.

Netflix

My top Netflix recommendation is The Decameron (July 25).

Could a show set in the 14th century be more connected to the 21st century? It’s 1348 and plague is literally in the air, so a bunch of Italian nobles and their servants stock up on wine and retreat to a villa. Extreme partying ensues before the outside world intrudes. This spunky limited series was adapted from Giovanni Boccaccio’s almost 700-year-old collection of short stories by Kathleen Jordan, whose last Netflix series, Teenage Bounty Hunters, was cancelled far too soon. The cast includes Zosia Mamet (Girls) and Saoirse-Monica Jackson (Derry Girls), and you can expect a thoroughly ahistorical telling of the tale that, like the original texts, is told from a female perspective.

Also on Netflix: 40 years ago, Beverly Hills Cop was a blockbuster sensation, a fish out of water action-comedy that confirmed Eddie Murphy as Hollywood’s most popular new star. A pair of sequels went through the motions, but Netflix is betting – based on its vast collection of viewing data – that it’s time to bring back Murphy’s irreverent Axel Foley. Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F (July 3) is the reboot, with Australian director Mark Molloy making his feature film debut. Does the plot matter? Possibly not! But Judge Reinhold and John Ashton return as Foley’s exasperated local counterparts, with Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Kevin Bacon added to a story that introduces Foley’s estranged, but at-risk daughter, Jane (Taylour Paige).

I’ll continue to say it: Germany is Netflix’s secret weapon. The country’s productions nabbed by the streaming giant have included Dark, Babylon Berlin, Dear Child, 1899, and the returning Kleo (July 25). The first season of this darkly comic revenge thriller introduced Jella Haase in the titular role of the memorably dedicated 1980s East German assassin. Framed by her own people, then suddenly released when the Berlin Wall comes down, Kleo left a lot of bodies along the way to exacting revenge for her betrayal. With its sardonic Killing Eve tinges, the show was an unexpected success, setting up a new mystery for the formidable protagonist upon her return.

June highlights: Richard Linklater’s Hit Man was a brilliant twist on the romantic-comedy headlined by Glen Powell, documentary How to Rob a Bank detailed a prolific, if unexpected, 1990s stick-up artist, and Under Paris was the pro-shark B-movie that became the month’s cult hit.

Stan*

My top Stan recommendation is A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder (July 1).

The indicators are promising for this British teenage take on the obsessed detective murder mystery, with nods to Veronica Mars and One of Us Is Lying, in an adaptation of Holly Jackson’s bestselling novel about a true crime-obsessed 17-year-old, Pip Fitz-Amobi (Wednesday’s Emma Myers). Determined to prove that the wrong young man was convicted of a local young woman’s murder, Pip turns her quest into a school project and a crusade for justice, stirring up family and friends of all involved. This is a tricky type of series to pull off, as it needs a blithe adolescent spark and a genuine sense of culpability to be interwoven. It’s up to actor turned writer and now director Dolly Wells, who was one half of the team behind the terrific Doll & Em, to tie it all together.

Also on Stan: In the past 15 years there has been a steady stream of period dramas about the fractious, family-led royal politics of Europe’s ruling families. They started out as Renaissance versions of The Sopranos, with antihero protagonists such as Jeremy Irons’ Pope Alexander VI in The Borgias, but they’ve steadily shifted focus to their female characters, leading to Samantha Morton’s power-wielding turn as French queen Catherine de’ Medici in The Serpent Queen (July 12). The first season introduced Catherine as the outsider who gained control over the throne, and the new episodes set up a whole new slate of 16th-century adversaries for her. It’s a showcase for Morton (Minority Report, Harlots), who grasps the corseted conspiracies with delicious ease.

June highlights: The new Australian mystery Exposure put an unexpected, complicated female protagonist at its core, Hotel Cocaine delivered more of the 1970s Narcos crime-drama feel, while Otto by Otto was a tender act of documentary dedication from daughter to father.

Amazon Prime

My top Amazon Prime recommendation is Those About to Die (July 19).

The sword-and-sandal genre is always ripe for revival, whether it’s a blockbuster such as Ridley Scott’s Gladiator or a long-running television series such as Spartacus. It’s a dependable genre, and by dependable I mean a surplus of bloody fights to the death for a baying crowd, intrigue in the imperial box, and a liberal serving of nudity. The latest take comes from director Roland Emmerich (Independence Day) and writer Robert Rodat (Saving Private Ryan). Set in first century Rome, it moves from the Colosseum’s costly spectacle to the struggle for dominance around ageing Emperor Vespasian, who is played by the show’s headline talent, Anthony Hopkins. The supporting cast includes Iwan Rheon, memorably despicable on Game of Thrones, but it’s the action that jumps out at first glance.

Also on Amazon Prime: In 2016, the most fun I had in a cinema was seeing Sausage Party, an exuberantly gross and licentious animated comedy about the misadventures of anamorphic foodstuffs in an American supermarket. A sequel never eventuated, but co-creators Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg have put together an entire series. Sausage Party: Foodtopia (July 11) follows on from the movie, with Frank the sausage (Rogen) and Kristen Wiig’s Brenda the bun now living in the safe haven – i.e. no humans can eat them – of Foodtopia. When it’s threatened, they have to find allies to ensure their brethren survive. To work this needs to be as hilariously suggestive and flagrantly crude as the original movie. One positive indicator: Edward Norton’s Sammy Bagel Jr will be returning for the show.

June highlights: Superhero satire The Boys was back for a new season, bloody, demented, and full of American political commentary, plus a revisionist spin on a young woman’s place at royal court in the 16th century with My Lady Jane.

Disney+

My top Disney+ recommendation is Brats (July 5).

What’s it like to be young and almost famous and suddenly have everything you do summed up by a less than complimentary nickname? In 1985 a group of young Hollywood actors – most notably Emilio Estevez, Rob Lowe, Demi Moore, Ally Sheedy, Judd Nelson, and Andrew McCarthy – found out. Having starred in movies such as The Breakfast Club and St Elmo’s Fire, a magazine cover collectively labelled them as the Brat Pack. They did not like it. This documentary could easily be merely nostalgic or consumed by grievances, but because it’s skilfully directed by McCarthy, who’s also onscreen interviewing his youthful comrades, it has a good measure of historic detail, personal insight, and even self-deprecation. Did I watch Pretty in Pink after previewing this? Absolutely.

Also on Disney+: Futurama (July 29) barely skipped a beat when it reappeared last July, with Matt Groening’s animated science-fiction sitcom getting back to screw-loose scenarios a mere decade after it originally wrapped. In 2023 we got 10 new episodes, featuring 20th-century misfit Fry (Billy West) and his 30th-century hosts led by Leela (Katey Sagal) and cantankerous robot Bender (John DiMaggio), and now there’s an equal number of fresh instalments on the way. The best indicator for the show’s health is that on the whole, fans of the original are happy to have it back, even while it has acquired a taste for parodying current events.

June highlights: The Star Wars franchise got a welcome – Skywalker-free! – new instalment with the Jedi conspiracy thriller The Acolyte. Under the Bridge was a sombre, intimate true crime drama, and Clipped profited from all sides of an American professional sports scandal.

ABC iview

My top ABC iview recommendation is Troppo (July 5).

The ABC hit upon a great screen combination – both fractious and galvanising – in the first season of this far Northern Queensland detective noir: exiled American ex-police officer Ted Conkaffey (Thomas Jane, The Punisher) and local ex-con Amanda Pharrell (Nicole Chamoun, Safe Harbour). The two actors were aces together for creator Yolanda Ramke (Cargo), and they’re reunited for the show’s second season. Set six months after the events of the first, the pair are put to work when a wealthy retreat owner and a bikie gang leader are found dead together in suspicious circumstances, setting up a mystery that’s intertwined with the respective pasts of the unorthodox investigators.

June highlights: It was a father and son meet-up in the new comedy Austin, which introduced a pompous British author to his neurodivergent adult Australian son.

SBS On Demand

My top SBS On Demand recommendation is The Marvelous Mrs Maisel (July 18).

Here’s a treat. For the first time on a free-to-air platform a box set to binge comprising the first four seasons of this terrific comedy-drama about a 1950s New York housewife who discovers that she’s a natural-born stand-up comedian. Created by Amy Sherman-Palladino (The Gilmore Girls), the series is built around a breakthrough performance from Rachel Brosnahan as Miriam ‘Midge’ Maisel, a seemingly respectable for the era Jewish-American wife and mother whose exasperations with her family and life give her a high-voltage voice in front of audiences who aren’t aware female comics are a thing. We’re talking screwball energy, volleys of dialogue, and immaculate production design.

June highlights: Led by a commanding Martin Freeman performance, The Responder continues to be a can’t miss policing drama, Tiny Beautiful Things was a Kathryn Hahn masterclass, while Wisting delivered the best of Nordic noir.

Other streamers

My top recommendation for the other streaming services is Paramount+’s Fake (July 4).

Made with thoughtful, wrenching detail, this Australian drama dissects the turbulence and eventual trauma that comes with an online match between a magazine writer, Birdie Bell (Asher Keddie, never better) and a too-good-to-be true wealthy grazier, Joe Burt (David Wenham). It’s a deception thriller, but the question is not just what is Joe up to, but why Birdie lets herself fall into his unstable orbit. In adapting Stephanie Wood’s 2019 memoir of the same name, creator Anya Beyersdorf has crafted a limited series that explores societal pressure, personal recrimination, and the power bestowed on those we trust. It’s can’t-look-away viewing.

Also: It’s a great pairing of artists – both restless, creative practitioners in their respective fields trying to get at deeply held truths. DocPlay’s In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon (July 4) sees Academy Award-winning documentary filmmaker Alex Gibney, responsible for numerous acclaimed works including Taxi to the Dark Side and The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley, chronicling the life and work of Paul Simon, a revered musician who has sold millions of albums. Told over two lengthy episodes, it covers every aspect of Simon’s 82 years, including his hits in the 1960s with Art Garfunkel and his epochal 1986 chart-topper Graceland. No shortcuts here.

June highlights: The restored Talking Heads concert film, DocPlay’s Stop Making Sense, dazzled four decades after it was first released, while Men Up was an empathetic comic-drama about the Welsh men who underwent the first clinical trials of Viagra.

* Nine is the owner of Stan and this masthead.

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