It’s summer, and you know what that means. There’s a lot of time to watch movies. The major streamers are adding several noteworthy new movies this month to kick back with while the air conditioning is pumping, and we’ve put together a curated list of the very best movies newly added to Netflix, Prime Video, HBO Max, Paramount+ and more this month.
June’s highlights include a couple of Netflix rom-coms, a Glen Powell thriller that flew under the radar earlier this year, a smash-hit original from Pixar, a horror indie and, at long last, the streaming debut of “Avatar: Fire and Ash.”
See our picks for the best new movies streaming this month below.
“Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure” / “Bogus Journey” / “Face the Music”
Prime Video – June 1
There are few things as joyful as the “Bill & Ted” trilogy. The first film, 1989’s “Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure,” is a nifty time travel buddy movie, following two teenage heavy metal heads (Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter) who get embroiled in a plot to save humanity. (George Carlin is incredibly lovable as Rufus, their guide through the cosmos.) The sequel, 1991’s “Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey” actually upped the ante, with British director Pete Hewitt pushing the visuals to extreme and surreal places and the script, by franchise stalwarts Chris Mattheson and Ed Solomon, incorporating everything from aliens to cyborg doppelgängers.
The third film, technically a legacy sequel, followed nearly 30 years later and took on another, more contemplative tone, as Bill and Ted’s teenager daughters are tasked with a similarly important mission. If for some reason you didn’t see the third film, which is understandable because its theatrical release was all but shuttered (it was released in August 2020, in the first few months of the pandemic), now’s your time. The others are worth revisiting too. It’s a great trilogy that doesn’t get nearly the attention it deserves. In other words – these movies are rad as hell.
“Masters of the Universe (1987)”
Prime Video – June 1
With a big budget new movie hitting theaters this week from Amazon MGM Studios, why not revisit the original attempt at a live-action He-Man movie? “Masters of the Universe,” based on the beloved Mattel property and produced by Yoram Globus and Menahem Golan’s Cannon Group, starred Dolph Lundgren as He-Man and a fully committed Frank Langella as Skeletor. (Don’t Google director Gary Goddard. We warned you.) The production of “Masters of the Universe” was infamously fraught, with Cannon going bankrupt while the movie was being produced, meaning that the third act goes out with a whimper and not a bang (and most of the movie is set in modern day Los Angeles instead of the elaborate fantasy realm of Eternia).
Not that “Masters of the Universe” is without its charms; Lundgren is a convincing warrior and the cast, which includes Courtney Cox, Billy Barty and Meg Foster, seems to be having a good time. The score by “Rocky” composer Bill Conti is also pretty great. Listen – it might not all hang together. But sometimes you like your pizza with extra cheese, right?
“The Last Duel”
Paramount+ – June 1
Ridley Scott’s “The Last Duel” had some profoundly terrible luck. The movie was developed at 20th Century Fox, right before the studio’s assets were sold to Disney. At the time it was unclear if Disney would go through with making the film, considering the movie’s grim subject matter, period setting and large budget (it was rumored to cost more than $100 million). Disney ultimately did go through with the production, which began in early 2020 (before the pandemic caused a delay of several months), but when it was released in the fall of 2021, their interest in the project seemed halfhearted at best. It was released around the same time as another, glitzier Scott effort “House of Gucci,” which was also seen as the more likely Oscar contender; there was barely any press and the buzz was pretty much nonexistent. Even in the years since, “The Last Duel” has yet to be reappraised, which is a shame because it’s easily one of Scott’s very best movies. Top five for sure. It’s based on a nonfiction book (“The Last Duel: A True Story of Crime, Scandal, and Trial by Combat in Medieval France” by Eric Jager) and concerns the supposed rape of a young woman (Jodie Comer) at the hands of a squire (Adam Driver).
The titular battle is between the knight and the woman’s husband, a knight and the squire’s former friend (played by Matt Damon). Also Ben Affleck shows up as a count, in one of his very best roles. What made “The Last Duel” so unique is that it’s told in three chapters, from three competing points-of-view (ending with “the truth” aka Comer’s point-of-view), with each section written by a different writer – Damon, Affleck and the brilliant Nicole Holofcener. Full of breathlessly staged action sequences, gorgeous cinematography and occasionally shocking violence, it’s also one of Scott’s funniest, most human movies. It is a new classic. At least for those with the guts to see it as such.
“Hoppers”
Disney+ – June 3
Bizarre, hilarious and surprisingly political, “Hoppers” is Pixar’s funniest movie and also one of its sweetest. The movie centers around Mabel (Piper Curda), a college student and animal lover who infiltrates a secret program where scientists transmit their consciousness into robotic animals to understand how their societies work. Soon enough, Piper is masquerading as a robotic beaver, befriending a mammal king named George (Bobby Moynihan) and stoking an animal rebellion against a greedy mayor (Jon Hamm) who wants to get rid of the beavers’ dam in order to build an overpass.
Director Daniel Chong, who was at Pixar before leaving to create the wildly successful Cartoon Network series “We Bare Bears,” is innately gifted when it comes to creating cuddly, lovable characters and for putting those characters in what he calls “comedy-first” situations. This is all deeply funny, but “Hoppers” often zigs where you think it’s going to zag – a hilarious moment gives way to a burst of unexpected poignancy and then back again. The voice cast is excellent, the animation style, mixing cartoonish exaggeration with painterly backdrops, is beyond appealing and the whole enterprise feels like it’s both pushing the boundaries of what a Pixar movie can be and sitting snugly within its peerless filmography. In other words – it’s dam good. Get it?
“The Murder of Rachel Nickell”
Netflix – June 4
We’re just going to throw it to the synopsis: “In 1992, a young mother is killed in broad daylight on London’s Wimbledon Common, leaving her two-year-old toddler as the sole witness.” This documentary hails from BAFTA-nominated director Lucy Bowden and “examines the notorious, years-long police investigation that followed,” it features “exclusive archive footage, first-hand accounts from family members, and insights from leading forensic experts” and seeks to unpack “how a flawed, highly-publicized inquiry led to the wrong man’s prosecution, before a stunning breakthrough reignited a family’s fight for justice over a decade later.”
“Keeper”
Hulu – June 5
Osgood Perkins’ third film for NEON (at least until his latest opens this fall) is by far his strangest and more in line with his pre-“Longlegs” output – a sinister and haunting slow burn of a scary movie, that glides between domestic trauma and supernatural menace. Tatiana Maslany plays Liz, a young woman who goes with her boyfriend (Rossif Sutherland) to his vacation home in the woods. While there things altogether spooky begin to transpire. Liz starts to question not only her relationship but also her sanity, as a weekend getaway turns into something altogether unpleasant.
“Keeper” was made during the production of “The Monkey” – when the film was shutdown by the strikes, Perkins looked to keep the production working and hired Canadian cast and crew. As such, it’s a nifty little in-between movie, with Perkins embracing his more esoteric instincts after a pair of unexpectedly commercial hits. If you’re a fan of Perkins’ early output or just want to watch something extremely creepy, with some of the more unique creature designs in recent memory, you should embrace “Keeper.”
“Mexico 86”
Netflix – June 5
This new film from Netflix “is the untold story of Martín de la Torre, a Mexican bureaucrat whose devotion and passion for soccer led him to make Mexico – for the second time – the host of one of the most important sporting events in the world. But what he never imagined was that, to achieve this, he would have to break several rules and always live on the edge of a red card,” according to the official synopsis. Diego Luna stars in “Mexico 86” and executive produces the based-on-a-true-story drama that is “brimming with humor, audacity and Mexican ingenuity.” Karla Souza, Daniel Giménez Cacho, Álvaro Guerrero and Memo Villegas also star in the Gabriel Ripstein-directed film which, at the very least, will get you amped for this summer’s Los Angeles-based World Cup.
“Office Romance”
Netflix – June 5
Jennifer Lopez, who appeared in Netflix films “The Mother” and “Atlas” (where she’s inside a giant mech suit), returns to her streaming stomping grounds for a romantic comedy with “Ted Lasso” Brett Goldstein. Goldstein also produced and co-wrote “Office Romance” (with Joe Kelly), which Netflix describes as “a charming and raunchy romantic comedy about a secret office romance and the trouble two workaholics get in when they start thinking with their hearts.” The surprisingly stacked supporting cast includes Betty Gilpin, Bradley Whitford, Tony Hale, Amy Sedaris, Jodie Whittaker and Edward James Olmos, who starred alongside Lopez in “Selena” nearly 30 years ago (!), once again playing her father. Ol Parker, who directed “Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again” and “Ticket to Paradise,” helmed “Office Romance.”
“Lorne”
Peacock – June 5
If – for some reason – you haven’t had your fill of “Saturday Night Live”-related miscellanea following the onslaught of documentaries tied to the series’ 50th anniversary, here’s another one! “Lorne,” which was directed by Morgan Neville (who oversaw the suite of official “SNL” docs for Peacock and NBC), zeroes in on Lorne Michaels, the elusive mastermind behind the most influential comedy series of all-time. Michaels, a Canadian comic and counterculture personality, created and oversaw the show, which quickly took hold of the Ziegiest thanks to its singular personality and roster of stars-in-the-making. But as long as “Saturday Night Live” has been around, critics have cried that the series was tired, unfunny and out-of-date.
“Lorne” gracefully traces the broad strokes of his life, while maintaining the inner mystery of Michaels (almost nothing is revealed about his personal life or family). There are also nifty animated interstitial bits completed by “Saturday TV Funhouse” genius Robert Smigel. “Lorne” is a joy from start to finish, even if you don’t have a deeper understanding of the man when the credits roll. He’d probably prefer it that way.
“The Strangers: Chapter 3”
Starz – June 6
“The Strangers” remake trilogy, filmed in a dizzying 52-day shoot and released over the course of a couple of years, finally comes to an inglorious conclusion with the third film. If you’ve ever wondered about the masked home invaders from the 2008 original, here are all the details, meticulously spelled out, as we follow Madelaine Petsch as she faces the ultimate clash with her tormenters. It’s unclear who, exactly, stuck around with this new series of films, all directed by the underrated Renny Harlin, but if you’ve made it this far – might as well watch the final chapter, right? Right?
“Scarlet”
Netflix – June 6
Mamoru Hosoda is one of the world’s greatest living animation filmmakers, with several modern classics under his belt like 2009’s “Summer Wars,” 2018’s “Mirai” and, most recently, 2021’s “Belle.” Hosada’s latest, “Scarlet,” puts the gentle psychedelia of his earlier films at the forefront, reworking William Shakespeare’s classic “Hamlet” for an entirely new age. Scarlet (voiced by Mana Ashida in the original Japanese release and Erin Yvette in the English dub) is a Princess in 16th century Denmark who is murdered and travels to a phantasmagoric underworld, vowing revenge on those who killed her father (and, you know, her too). This is a space where timelines are mixed liberally (she meets and befriends a paramedic from modern day Japan) and where Scarlet struggles for both a literal compass and a moral one.
(When we talked to Hosoda earlier this year, he said that he was inspired by questions of how we break the cycles of revenge, both personally and generationally.) The animation style Hosoda employs in “Scarlet” similarly melds the old and the new, combining traditional 2D animation techniques with cutting edge computer animation. It’s unlike anything you’ve probably ever seen before. How often can you say that?
“Earth, Wind & Fire (To Be Celestial vs. That’s the Weight of the World)”
HBO Max – June 7
Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, founding member of celebrated hip hop band The Roots and part of the in-house band for Jimmy Fallon’s “The Tonight Show,” has become one of the most exciting documentarians in recent years. Between “Summer of Soul” (about the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival) and his documentaries devoted to Sly and the Family Stone and the music of “Saturday Night Live,” Questlove has brought his encyclopedic knowledge of music history and passion for the subject matter into an entirely new medium and is totally killing it.
His latest, “Earth, Wind & Fire (To Be Celestial vs. That’s the Weight of the World)” is all about the Grammy-winning band Earth, Wind & Fire “chronicling their evolution, highs and lows, and relevance from the 1970s into the present day while exploring the deep philosophical and spiritual meaning behind their message and music.” With Questlove at the helm, a typical musical documentary has quickly become one of our most anticipated movies of the summer. Groove on.
“I Am Frankelda”
Netflix – June 12
The first stop-motion animated feature fully produced in Mexico, “I Am Frankelda” hails from filmmaking brothers Arturo and Roy Ambriz. The movie is based on an animated series, “Frankelda’s Book of Spooks,” which was produced (in part) by Cartoon Network and premiered on HBO Max in 2021. That series was narrated by Frankelda (voiced by Mireya Mendoza), a character loosely based on Mary Shelley, and for the feature film, the brothers have decided to make her the main character.
Set in 1866 and serving as a prequel to the animated series, and follows a young character who eventually becomes Frankelda. An aspiring writer, she realizes that what she writes has a real parallel in another world just below our own. She eventually travels to the supernatural realm, to help aid in the world that she’s already imagined, forever changed by the experience. Full of lively animation, gorgeous camerawork and engaging characters, this is the kind of handcrafted gem that it’s easy to get lost in, again and again.
“How to Make a Killing”
HBO Max – June 19
Glen Powell slims down and evils up for this 2026 black comedy about the illegitimate child of a wealthy family who figures out he can gain an inheritance if he offs every other member in his blood line. Written and directed by “Emily the Criminal” filmmaker John Patton Ford, “How to Make a Killing” is inspired by the 1949 film “Kind Hearts and Coronets” but updates the story for the modern era, with plenty of darkly comedic beats to boot. Margaret Qualley, Ed Harris, Jessica Henwick and Bill Camp co-star.
“Voicemails for Isabelle”
Netflix – June 19
It’s another Zoey Deutch Netflix rom-com, except this time it’s also kinda sad! “Voicemails for Isabelle” stars the charming “Set It Up” actress as an aspiring chef whose sister and best friend suddenly dies. Trying to cope with the grief, she keeps calling her sister’s number and leaving voicemails as if she’s alive. But it turns out, that number has been transferred to a stranger played by Nick Robinson, who becomes charmed by Deutch’s messages. The film is funny and charming, but sweetly puts the focus on Isabelle’s relationship with her sister, offering something different than you usually see in these kinds of movies and giving Deutch the opportunity to stretch her dramatic muscles.
“Avatar: Fire and Ash”
Disney+ – June 24
The third – and, so far, final – film in James Cameron’s “Avatar” saga, “Avatar: Fire and Ash” at times feels less like a third installment and more like the second half of 2022’s “Avatar: The Way of Water.” That’s because it started out life as such, before being divided into two. That doesn’t take away from the elemental power of “Avatar: Fire and Ash” but it does give you an understanding of why, perhaps, it made less money than the first two films (still two of the most successful movies of all time).
In this entry, we get a killer new villain in Varang (Oona Chaplin), part of a fire tribe that wants to burn down Pandora. (She has a very Bonnie-and-Clyde relationship with Stephan Lang’s resurrected Quaritch.) There are more painfully touching moments with the space whales, more surprising deaths, more epic battles and the kind of action set pieces that only Cameron could dream up and design (one of our favorites is a near-death rescue inside the human’s compound on Pandora which plays like an updated version of the trench run from “Star Wars”). “Fire and Ash” is darker and less ethereal than “The Way of Water,” but it’s just as entertaining, in a more visceral, edge-of-your-seat way. We hope Cameron never stops making these movies.
“In the Hand of Dante”
Netflix – June 24
This one could really go either way. Directed by Julian Schnabel, the painter and filmmaker behind “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly,” and based on the 2002 novel by Nick Tosches, it concerns a handwritten manuscript of Dante Alighieri’s “Divine Comedy” that makes its way into the possession of a modern day New York City mob boss (and a writer named, you guessed it, Nick Tosches). The movie, co-written by Schnabel and Louise Kugelberg, features oscillating time periods and a truly insane cast that includes (but is not limited to) Oscar Isaac, Gal Gadot, Gerard Butler, John Malkovich, Martin Scorsese, Al Pacino and Jason Momoa.
The trailer gives off vaguely “Cloud Atlas”-y vibes and the movie, which premiered back at the Venice International Film Festival last September, but was only recently picked up by Netflix, which suggests that it wasn’t anybody’s first choice. At the very least “In the Hand of Dante” will be a fascinating curio, undoubtedly full of the kind of WTF-worthy moments that will lead to endless discussions on Letterboxd and in the lobby of your favorite arthouse movie theater. And sometimes that’s enough.
“EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert”
Paramount+ – June 24
While Baz Luhrmann was working on his 2022 film “Elvis,” he found a treasure drove of unseen Elvis Presley footage secreted away in a Kansas salt mine – material from “Elvis: That’s the Way It Is” and “Elvis on Tour,” and footage from a 1957 performance in Hawaii. Luhrmann was shocked and thrilled at the discovery, but the footage had no sound. Over the next two years, Luhrmann and a team restored the footage and synced it to existing audio sources. Thus, “EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert” was born.
The director claimed that it wasn’t exactly a documentary and wasn’t really a concert film either. “Our aim here is to make something new in the Elvis canon,” Luhrmann said shortly before the film was released. “EPiC” debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival last fall, where it received rapturous reviews, was picked up by NEON and Universal and hit theaters earlier this year, making more than $23.5 million worldwide. Not bad for a bunch of footage that was stuck in a salt mine and could have been lost to eternity. Thankfully, Luhrmann had the passion to rescue it. Now we can all enjoy this seemingly forgotten Elvis footage, looking and sounding like a million dollars – or at least a million peanut-butter-and-banana-sandwiches.
“Forbidden Fruits”
Shudder – June 26
Horror is having a moment in 2026. From the studio sequel “Scream 7” reaching a franchise high of $214 million to the low budget juggernauts like “Backrooms” and “Obsession,” the franchise is riding high this year. And “Forbidden Fruits,” which was released by IFC and Shudder earlier this spring after premiering at SXSW, should definitely be a part of the conversation. Co-written and directed by Meredith Alloway and based on a play by the co-writer Lily Houghton, “Forbidden Fruits” follows a “Mean Girls”-type pack of bitchy (or is that witchy?) young women working at a Free People-type store in an anonymous Texas mall. When the girls (coven?), played by a very game Lili Reinhart, Alexandra Shipp and Victoria Pedretti, introduce a new girl (Lola Tung) into the group, the balance of power shifts and the dynamics turn downright deadly. The movie was produced by Diablo Cody and you can feel the DNA of Cody’s “Jennifer’s Body” coursing through the very sassy veins of “Forbidden Fruits.” Haters be damned, this movie is a midnight movie classic in the making.
“Little Brother”
Netflix – June 26
Streaming has become a safe space for the kind of outré high-concept comedies that used to regularly populate the multiplex. (“There’s Something About Mary” made $370 million. In 1998.) Things like 2024’s “Brothers,” starring Josh Brolin and Peter Dinklage, and this year’s “Balls Up,” with Mark Wahlberg and Paul Water Hauser, proved that there are just as many LOLZ to be had from ribald jokes and gross-out humor as there was at the turn of the millennium. Even if, this time, you’re folding clothes while guffawing. “Little Brother” is built around an ingenious premise – Eric André is a screw-up who re-enters the life of his older brother, played by John Cena.
But this isn’t a blood relative situation. Or even an adoptive scenario. Instead, André is his little brother little brother, like from the social program, many years earlier. Cena’s wife (Michelle Moynahan) is understanding but soon their lives devolve into true chaos. Honestly, the trailer made us laugh, and when you factor in the ace supporting cast (which includes Christopher Meloni, Ego Nwodim and Sherry Cola) and below-the-line standouts (like cinematographer Brandon Trost and composer Dan Dean), well, we’re more than ready to meet this “Little Brother.”
“Undertone”
HBO Max – June 26
“Backrooms” might be A24’s horror smash for this year but “Undertone,” which trades in the creepy minimalist aesthetic, was also a sizable hit, earning $22 million on a reported budget of less than $500,000. Not too shabby. In “Undertone” Nina Kiri plays Evy, a woman who is in her childhood home tending to her ailing mother. While there she is also recording episodes of her spooky podcast, which, wouldn’t you know it, eerily dovetail with the events she’s dealing with in her life. “Undertone” doesn’t quite stick the landing, but there’s enough prevailing supernatural menace and uncanny sound design to make the journey worth taking. We must applaud ambitious, micro-budget genre exercises, even when they don’t totally connect, since the attempt was made – not just to create something cool but to genuinely push the genre in new directions. Headphones are optional but highly encouraged.
