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July 2026 brings a massive wave of blockbusters to Netflix. Here are the biggest original and licensed movies you cannot afford to miss this month.
By Kasey Moore • @kasey__moore
Picture Credit: Lionsgate
Welcome to your look at the best new movies hitting Netflix in the United States in July 2026. Summer is officially in full swing, and Netflix is heating up the mid-year lineup with an absolute mountain of blockbusters, highly anticipated sequels, and critically acclaimed library additions.
Whether you’re looking to escape the July heat with a terrifying horror prequel, swoon over the return of beloved characters, or catch up on Oscar-winning dramas, this month’s movie roster truly has something for everyone. From Millie Bobby Brown’s latest globe-trotting mystery in Enola Holmes 3 to the streaming debuts of massive theatrical hits like Wicked: For Good and A Quiet Place: Day One, we’ve sifted through the complete release schedule to bring you our top movie picks for the month.
As always, we’re going to split up our article into two sections: First up, we’ll cover all the big new Netflix Originals we’re most excited for and then dive deeper into some of the licensed titles on the way.
For the complete list of everything new on Netflix for July, keep it locked here on What’s on Netflix.
Director: Philip Barantini
Cast: Millie Bobby Brown, Henry Cavill, Louis Partridge
Genre: Action, Mystery, Adventure | Runtime: 122 Minutes
Coming to Netflix: July 1st
Millie Bobby Brown’s incredibly popular teen-sleuth franchise returns for a third outing, with Philip Barantini taking the helm for this darker, more mature mystery.
When her famous brother Sherlock (Henry Cavill) is unexpectedly kidnapped, Enola is drawn into a tangled and treacherous new case in Malta. The high-stakes international rescue mission puts her detective skills to the ultimate test and dangerously complicates her impending wedding to Lord Tewkesbury.
In our full review, published upon its release, we wrote:
“Watchable with a baseline of established characters and personalities, but Enola Holmes seems to be missing some of the magic and cinematic flair of the Harry Bradbeer era. Less use of Sherlock and Eudoria and more romantic distractions make the mystery and snappiness drop a level from the previous films. Definitely the least rewatchable entry in the franchise.”
Director: Tim Story
Cast: Kevin Hart, Marcello Hernández, Mason Gooding, Kam Patterson, Ben Marshall, Teyana Taylor
Genre: Comedy | Runtime: 104 Minutes
Looking for a laugh this summer? Kevin Hart returns to Netflix for his latest comedy feature directed by Tim Story (Ride Along, Think Like a Man). It’s another pure comedy play for Netflix following Eric Andre’s Little Brother, which got mostly positive reviews. Will this follow suit? We’re not sure on the critical front but if Hart’s previous Netflix efforts are to
Hart stars as a forty-year-old executive desperately hoping to save his flailing career. His plans are completely derailed when he is added to a group text by mistake, inadvertently joining a younger crowd of twenty-somethings on a wild, chaotic three-day bachelor party that spirals hilariously out of control.
Director: Wash Westmoreland
Cast: Kit Connor, Joe Locke
Genre: Romance, Drama | Runtime: 95 Minutes
For fans of the beloved series, this special feature-length film event acts as a beautiful, bittersweet continuation of the beloved story. Written by original creator Alice Oseman and directed by Wash Westmoreland, it brings back Kit Connor and Joe Locke to reprise their fan-favorite roles. As Nick prepares to leave for university, he and Charlie are forced to confront the daunting reality of a long-distance relationship, while their wider friend group must also grapple with the difficult challenges of growing up and moving on. This show has had a very special run on Netflix and has been particularly popular in the UK, where it’s been hailed since the first season. This final wrap-up will no doubt go down an absolute treat with fans and wrap up the story.
Director: Michael Sarnoski
Cast: Lupita Nyong’o, Joseph Quinn, Alex Wolff, Djimon Hounsou
Genre: Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller | Runtime: 100 Minutes
Thanks to a shared licensing agreement with Paramount, Netflix users will finally be able to stream the terrifying day the world went quiet.
Moving away from the Abbott family, Day One drops us right into the chaotic streets of New York City during the initial alien invasion. Lupita Nyong’o delivers a powerhouse performance as Sam, a woman who must team up with a frightened stranger (Joseph Quinn) to navigate the collapsing city in absolute silence. It’s a remarkably tense, emotional expansion of the blockbuster franchise that might not get to the same heights or scariness of the originals but definitely has a lot to say in its short runtime. Watch on a big screen and turn it all the way up.
Director: Jon M. Chu
Cast: Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey, Jeff Goldblum
Genre: Musical, Fantasy | Runtime: 135 Minutes
Hitting Netflix US via the highly lucrative Pay-1 window deal, which began much earlier than initially expected with Universal Pictures, this epic musical fantasy sequel brings us back to Oz, although sadly, the first (and much better) movie won’t be joining too.
Now demonized by the public as the Wicked Witch of the West, an exiled Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) must ultimately reunite with the beloved Glinda (Ariana Grande) to confront their intertwined pasts and change the future of Oz. Visually stunning and musically phenomenal, this massive theatrical release is guaranteed to dominate the Netflix Top 10 charts for weeks.
Director: Chloé Zhao
Cast: Jessie Buckley, Paul Mescal, Emily Watson, Joe Alwyn
Genre: Historical Drama | Runtime: 125 Minutes
Picture: Focus Features
Sticking with the theme of new Universal movies hitting Netflix, we move on to Hamnet (and we’ve got another clever throughline for the next pick, too!) Set against the backdrop of the bubonic plague in 1580s England, this emotional historical drama from Academy Award-winning director Chloé Zhao is a devastatingly beautiful must-watch.
The film explores the passionate marriage of William Shakespeare and his gifted wife Agnes as they grapple with the unthinkable, tragic loss of their young son. The movie was a consistent awards contender throughout the campaign leading up to the most recent Oscars and was universally beloved by audiences and critics alike. Writing for QBP Reviews, Amyana Bartley wrote, “Hamnet is one of the most beautiful, brilliant and moving films I have seen in decades. It is everything that the Oscar winning films of better days were.”
Director: Chloé Zhao
Cast: Frances McDormand, David Strathairn, Linda May, Swankie
Genre: Drama | Runtime: 107 Minutes
Making it a double-feature for director Chloé Zhao in July (told you!), her poignant, Academy Award-winning masterpiece is also making its way to the Netflix library on the first of the month. The film follows Fern (Frances McDormand in an Oscar-winning performance), a woman in her sixties who loses everything in the wake of the Great Recession. Packing her van, she embarks on a journey through the American West, exploring a life outside conventional society as a modern-day nomad alongside real-life transients.
Director: Nicholas Hytner
Cast: Ralph Fiennes, Roger Allam, Mark Addy, Alun Armstrong
Genre: Historical Drama, Music, Comedy | Runtime: 113 Minutes
Picture: Sony Pictures Classics
Making its global streaming SVOD debut on Netflix, this poignant and uplifting period drama. Set in a Yorkshire town in 1916, the story follows a depleted community choir that has lost most of its men to the trenches of World War I. Facing collapse, an uncompromising new choirmaster (a phenomenal Ralph Fiennes), it’s a deeply moving testament to the resilience of the human spirit and the power of art to heal during dark times.
Netflix will stream the movie for 18 months before it jumps over to Disney platforms.
Director: Chandler Levack
Cast: Barbie Ferreira, Devon Bostick, Stanley Simons, Juliette Gariépy, Jay Baruchel
Genre: Comedy, Romance, Coming-of-Age | Runtime: 112 Minutes
Another fantastic SVOD debut landing this July is Mile End Kicks, an indie-rock romantic comedy that serves as the highly anticipated sophomore feature from writer-director Chandler Levack (I Like Movies).
Set in the buzzing, musically rich 2011 Montreal indie scene, the film stars Euphoria breakout Barbie Ferreira as Grace, a young music critic who moves to the city to write a book about Alanis Morissette. Instead of writing, she unexpectedly finds herself taking a job as a publicist for an aspiring indie band and getting messily, romantically entangled with two of its members (Devon Bostick and Stanley Simons). It’s a hilarious, sharp, and nostalgic love letter to the 2010s music scene.
Director: Francis Lawrence
Cast: Tom Blyth, Rachel Zegler, Peter Dinklage, Hunter Schafer, Viola Davis
Genre: Action, Sci-Fi, Drama | Runtime: 157 Minutes
Finally, a blockbuster finish! Decades before becoming the tyrannical President of Panem, an ambitious young Coriolanus Snow (Tom Blyth) is assigned to mentor the defiant District 12 tribute, Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zegler), in the 10th annual Hunger Games. As their fates intertwine in a deadly, televised fight for survival, Snow is set on a dark and calculating path that will ultimately shape the brutal future of the games. Although popular, this movie never quite got its due compared to the others in the franchise but is easily become one of my favorites.
Even better for fans of the franchise, this hit 2023 prequel isn’t arriving alone. On July 14th, Netflix is dropping the entire Hunger Games collection into the library. You can marathon Katniss Everdeen’s complete journey from the original The Hunger Games all the way through the rebellion in Catching Fire and both parts of Mockingjay, making for the perfect dystopian summer binge.
That’s our picks of the best new movies hitting Netflix in July – how did we do? Let us know in the comments below.
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