The big news for Netflix in the month of August is the debut of its’ original series Narcos, based on the rise of the Colombian drug trade to the US. But that won’t happen until Aug. 28. Until then here are our picks for the best new programming coming to Netflix Instant Streaming in August, including our pick for the Best Movie of 2015 (So Far):
1. White God
Year: 2015
Director: Kornél Mundruczó
Available August 27
In the first five minutes of White God, viewers are greeted by two striking images. In the first, a teenage girl pedals vigorously through the middle of an empty city street, a fleet of dogs furiously chasing after her. In the other, a cow carcass is dispassionately stripped and gutted in preparation to be examined by a meat inspector. More indelible moments await in Hungarian director Kornél Mundruczó’s social parable, but these early scenes hint at everything that’s to come. White God isn’t the first film to suggest that humanity’s cruel treatment of others will one day come back to haunt us—but it certainly makes its point with potent force.—Tim Grierson
2. The Hurt Locker
Year: 2009
Director: Kathryn Bigalow
Available August 1
Kathryn Bigelow’s jerky, zoomy, dusty new film features 10 nail-biting displays of limb-risking bravery by an Army bomb squad, each one followed by two, maybe three minutes of downtime—tops. It’s a joyride across the desert, with the top down and a rattlesnake in the glove compartment. And yet The Hurt Locker hones in on the fatalistic psychology of the Iraqi war zone more convincingly than any other recent film about soldiers on the battlefield.—Robert Davis
3. Two Days, One Night
Year: 2014
Directors: Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne
Available August 11
Sandra takes time off from her job for health reasons; in her absence, she’s made redundant, and her coworkers reap a not-insignificant bonus as a result of her firing. The latest work from the brothers Dardenne is a work of compassion, but Two Days, One Night is as much about our sympathy for Sandra (played with heartbreaking brilliance by Marion Cotillard) as it is about posing questions of ethics. As Sandra drives all over town in an effort to convince her coworkers to give up the bonus pay in exchange for her reinstatement, we wonder how we would respond to her pleas. It’s an easy thing to judge the people we meet throughout the film for their reluctance, but in telling of Sandra’s plight, the Dardennes invite us to examine our own convictions.—Andy Crump
4. Seeking a Friend For the End of the World
Year: 2009
Director: Lorene Scafaria
Available August 16
Lorene Scafaria’s directorial debut came and went without much fanfare. To be fair, it was a hard sell. An apocalypse comedy/rom-com/road trip movie starring the likes of Steve Carell and Keira Knightley, two actors who don’t seem like they belong in the same world together let alone in a romantic pairing, the movie was never going to be a runaway hit. It’s certainly not without its flaws, with a tone that oscillates sharply between comedy and drama and a plotline that borrows heavily from other recent films. And yet, Carell and Knightley’s combined charm and chemistry make this one end-of-the-world road trip worth checking out.—Mark Rozeman
5. Pariah
Year: 2011
Director: Dee Rees
Available August 16
Like many teenagers before her and many who will follow, Alike flutters from one desire to another. On one hand, she yearns for the love and acceptance of her parents. On the other, she really wants to lose her virginity. Both matters are complicated further because she’s a lesbian. Pariah captures the scattered mind of youth and everything that comes with it. Writer/director Dee Rees’s film is about the hope, frustration, confusion, heartbreak and anger that comes with coming of age. It doesn’t rely on any single goal to give Alike’s story a tidy narrative conclusion, instead allowing its characters to live, breathe and figure out how they want to live. Pariah bulges with the rich atmosphere of Brooklyn and the yearning fragility of youth. It isn’t the kind of film in which everything is neatly wrapped up by the end. Instead, it allows its character to look for herself and, with any luck, choose her own future.—Jeremy Mathews
Also coming to Netflix Streaming in August:
Available 8/1/2015
Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet Frankenstein (1999)
Asylum (2005)
Back in Time/ Cong Cong Na Nian (2014)
Beneath the Helmet (2014)
Breakup Buddies/ Xin Hau Lu Fang (2014)
Bride and Prejudice (2004)
Casting By (2012)
Dancing on the Edge: Season 1
Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood: Season 2
Dear Frankie (2004)
Dogs on the Inside (2014)
Electric Slide (2014)
Enemy at the Gates (2001)
Flex is Kings (2013)
Lost and Love/ Shi Gu (2015)
Masha and the Bear: Season 1
November Rule (2015)
Odd Squad: Season 1
Outcast (2014)
Pants on Fire (2014)
Reading Rainbow: Volume 1
Russell Brand: End the Drugs War (2014)
Russell Brand: From Addiction to Recovery (2012)
Somewhere Only We Know/ You yi ge di fang zhi you wo men zhi dao (2015)
Sorority Row (2009)
The Code: Season 1
The Golden Era/ Huang Jin Shi Dai (2014)
The Hurt Locker (2008)
The Living (2014)
The Mind of a Chef: Season 3
Tyler Perry’s Meet the Browns (2008)
Utopia: Season 1
Vexed: Season 1-2
War (2007)
Wing Commander (1999)
Available 8/3/15
Chronic-Con, Episode 420: A New Dope (2015)
Available 8/4/15
Wyrmwood: Road of the Dead (2015)
Available 8/5/15
Yellowbird (2014)