Streaming highlights in July: the films and shows you can look forward to

Luca Fontana

1/7/2024

Translation: Patrik Stainbrook

New month, new streaming recommendations. From Netflix to Apple TV+: find out which shows and movies are showing on streaming services this July.

Dentist: «You need a crown.» Man: «That’s what I’m saying!» Sure, I’d love to crown the movie and series highlights for July too. But I’m afraid we’re in the middle of the infamous summer slump. Luckily, I still found something to watch. Here we go!

Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F (movie)

Think Will Smith and Martin Lawrence are old? Just because they’ve hit the streets of Miami as the Bad Boys for the fourth time since 1995? Think again. In 1984, over ten years before that, Eddie Murphy played the iconic Axel «F» Foley. He was the original cop causing more chaos than order with his special investigative style – but in the end he still managed to catch the bad guys.

In what’s also the fourth adventure in the series, Axel F returns to Beverly Hills to investigate corruption within the police force when he learns that an old friend of his died there under shady circumstances.

Release date: 3 July
Where: Netflix

The Imaginary (anime movie)

Without question, the animation style is reminiscent of legendary Japanese studio Studio Ghibli – with a touch of 3D. This isn’t a coincidence. Studio Ponoc, which produced The Imaginary, was founded in April 2015 by Yoshiaki Nishimura, a former Studio Ghibli film producer.

In fact, Nishimura worked there on films such as Howl’s Moving Castle and Princess Kaguya. Nishimura also brought along some Ghibli illustrators, including Hiromasa Yonebayashi, who’s worked on Oscar-winning films such as Spirited Away and The Boy and the Heron, released just last year.

Hiromasa Yonebayashi is also making his directorial debut with The Imaginary. The story’s based on the novel of the same name by A.F. Harold and revolves around Rudger, a boy who no one can see because he’s the imaginary friend of one young Amanda. But when Rudger suddenly arrives alone in the city of Imaginaries, where forgotten imaginary friends live, he’s confronted with a mysterious threat.

Release date: 5 July
Where: Netflix

Sunny (movie)

Looks like Rashida Jones, who I know mainly from the US version of The Office, gets to shine again. She plays Suzie, an American woman in Kyoto whose life is thrown into chaos after the mysterious disappearance of her family following a plane crash. Her only consolation is Sunny, a state-of-the-art household robot she receives as compensation from her husband’s company.

At first, Suzie resists Sunny’s attempts to fill the gap. But then an unexpected friendship develops that leads them both on a search for truth – and into the dangerous world of her husband, which Suzie had no idea existed.

Release date: 10 July
Where: Apple TV+

Lady in the Lake (Series)

«I saw you once, Maddie Schwartz. Before any of this began, I saw you. Alive, I was Cleo Johnson, but in my death – I became the Lady in the Lake,» a mysterious voice off-screen says at the beginning of the trailer. It’s Cleo’s voice.

Baltimore, the 1960s. Maddie Schwartz, a Jewish housewife, finally wants to make a difference. When the body of Cleo Sherwood, a missing woman, is discovered in the fountain of a city park lake, Maddie finally sees her chance. As an investigative journalist, she wants to leave her past behind and reinvent herself. After all, Cleo’s mysterious death leads to a story that, suspiciously, no one is telling – or rather, wants to tell.

But when Maddie begins to poke around in the young black woman’s life, Cleo’s ghost, of all things, is determined to keep her secrets – and her dignity – safe. The longer it goes on, the more it becomes clear that behind Cleo’s death lies a web of intrigue and lies in which the whole town seems to be involved.

Release date: 19 July
Where: Apple TV+

Dirty Pop: The Boy Band Scam (documentary)

What do the Backstreet Boys, *NSYNC, O-Town and many other mega-boy bands of the 1990s have in common? They never would’ve existed without Lou Pearlman. After all, the American music mogul didn’t just create them. He also launched the careers of pop stars such as Britney Spears and Aaron Carter. His artists trusted him blindly like a father, older brother or best friend. Pearlman even called himself «the sixth Backstreet Boy».

What they all didn’t know was that behind and on their backs, Pearlman was running one of the biggest Ponzi schemes in US history – at least until it collapsed.

Release date: 24 July
Where: Netflix

Have I missed a movie or show that we should definitely have seen this month? Put it in the comments.

Luca Fontana

Senior Editor

Luca.Fontana@digitecgalaxus.ch

I write about technology as if it were cinema, and about films as if they were real life. Between bits and blockbusters, I’m after stories that move people, not just generate clicks. And yes – sometimes I listen to film scores louder than I probably should.

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