11 can’t-miss movies coming to Netflix in August 2026

Brianna ZiglerFri, July 31, 2026 at 11:00 PM UTC

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Adam Scott in ‘The Whisper Man;’ Aubrey Plaza in ‘Ingrid Goes West;’ Diane Keaton in ‘Something’s Gotta Give’Credit: David Lee/Netflix; Neon; Bob Marshak/Columbia

Summer isn’t over just yet, so in between those last-minute beach trips, be sure to throw on some new heaters from your Netflix queue.

August brings with it some particularly excellent additions to the Netflix movie library. Alongside star-studded Netflix originals like The Whisper Man, with Robert De Niro and Adam Scott, and The Last House, featuring Greta Lee and Wagner Moura, the streamer will also host some older titles to check out if you missed them — or are in need of a rewatch. The social media satire Ingrid Goes West and James Gray’s powerful period drama Armageddon Time are a couple of particularly good options.

Read on as we highlight 11 must-see movies coming to Netflix in August.

01 of 11

The Kid Detective (2020)

Adam Brody in ‘The Kid Detective’’Credit: Courtesy Stage 6 Films

Available to stream: Aug. 1

When Abe Applebaum (Adam Brody) was a child, he was a local celebrity for being the “kid detective” who solved minor crimes around his hometown. But as an adult, Abe’s days of being a kid detective are all he has, having stagnated in both his life and his career as a local private detective. It’s partly due to the disappearance of his friend Gracie Gulliver, a case he was unable to solve as a child and one that left him filled with guilt. But when a high school student named Caroline (Sophie Nélisse) comes to him with a new case, Abe sees it as a chance to finally redeem himself and move on.

The Kid Detective was an excellent film that got lost in the chaos of movie releases during the COVID-19 pandemic. But it’s more than worth your time — a pitch-black comedy about arrested development, regret, and lost potential. Still, the movie isn’t without a funny bone, which attracted Brody to the material. “Even in the darkest of times, I’m drawn to this macabre sense of humor,” he toldEntertainment Weekly in 2020.

Director: Evan Morgan

Cast: Adam Brody, Sophie Nélisse, Wendy Crewson, Sarah Sutherland, Tzi Ma

02 of 11

Marie Antoinette (2006)

Kirsten Dunst in ‘Marie Antoinette’Credit: Leigh Johnson/Columbia

Available to stream: Aug. 1

“I don’t want to put down period movies. But sometimes [they have] a formality that I don’t really respond to. I tried to make something youthful and alive,” director Sofia Coppola told EW upon the release of 2006’s Marie Antoinette. While some criticized the film for being ahistorical and valuing “style over substance,” those qualities are ultimately assets, not detriments.

The movie is intentionally presented like a piece of bubblegum, and Coppola masterfully creates a superficial, dreamlike world that entrances viewers as much as it does our doomed antiheroine (played by Kirsten Dunst). But it’s all window dressing, slyly presenting another commentary on the unique isolation and exploitation of being a woman.

Director: Sofia Coppola

Cast: Kirsten Dunst, JasonSchwartzman, Judy Davis, Rip Torn, Steve Coogan

03 of 11

Nightcrawler (2014)

Jake Gyllenhaal in ‘Nightcrawler’Credit: Chuck Zlotnick/Open Road Films

Available to stream: Aug. 1

Jake Gyllenhaal deeply unsettles as Lou Bloom, a craven, skeletal bottom-dweller in Los Angeles who stumbles into a career as a freelance videographer of late-night crime. In his undaunted quest to get better and better footage to sell to a local news station, Lou goes to shocking lengths to obtain grisly material for a news director (Rene Russo) desperate to boost ratings.

Nightcrawler is a blistering neo-noir thriller led by a deeply disturbing tour-de-force performance from Gyllenhaal. EW’s critic declared that Gyllenhaal “delivered what could be his best — and creepiest — performance to date,” and praised the film as “a 21st-century takedown of the media’s pandering ‘if it bleeds, it leads’ ethos and the ghoulish nightcrawlers who live by it.”

Director: Dan Gilroy

Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Rene Russo, Bill Paxton, Riz Ahmed

04 of 11

Something’s Gotta Give (2003)

Jack Nicholson and Diane Keaton in ‘Something’s Gotta Give’Credit: Bob Marshak/Columbia Pictures

Available to stream: Aug. 1

Wealthy music executive Harry Sanborn (Jack Nicholson) only dates women under 30, and is currently seeing 29-year-old auctioneer Marin (Amanda Peet). But when the couple heads to Marin’s family beach house for a romantic weekend, they’re interrupted by her mother, Erica (Diane Keaton), and her aunt, Zoe (Frances McDormand). Disgusted by his overt misogyny and penchant for younger women, Erica ends up having to care for Harry when he has a heart attack and is ordered to recuperate at the house. During that time, Harry begins to fall for the more age-appropriate Erica — who’s far too good for him.

This Nancy Meyers classic finds an irresistible rom-com pairing in Nicholson and Keaton, and despite the cringey goofiness of the plot and dialogue, it’s hard to resist its good-natured charm. EW’s review declared that “every moment spent in the company of Keaton is such a joy that the whole is more delightful than the sum of the formulaic ingredients. Keaton makes Nicholson bounce the way Shirley MacLaine once did in Terms of Endearment.”

Director: Nancy Meyers

Cast: Jack Nicholson, Diane Keaton, Frances McDormand, Amanda Peet

05 of 11

Ingrid Goes West (2017)

Aubrey Plaza in ‘Ingrid Goes West’Credit: Neon

Available to stream: Aug. 2

After the social media-obsessed Ingrid Thorburn (Aubrey Plaza) experiences a series of personal setbacks, including the death of her mother, she decides to strike out and make it big in Los Angeles. But Ingrid’s definition of success is stalking and befriending her Instagram fixation, the influencer Taylor Sloane (Elizabeth Olsen). As Ingrid infiltrates Taylor’s inner circle and sees her own social media status rise, it becomes harder for both women to maintain their carefully manicured images.

Ingrid Goes West is a blistering social-media satire from director and cowriter Matt Spicer, who also directed the Netflix original Little Brother. At the time of its release, EW’s critic called the film a “shiny pop satire with a humming undercurrent of existential dread” and “a clever, corrosive little trick of a movie, a neon candy heart dipped in asbestos.”

Director: Matt Spicer

Cast: Aubrey Plaza, Elizabeth Olsen, Billy Magnussen, Wyatt Russell, Pom Klementieff, O’Shea Jackson Jr.

06 of 11

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The Last House (2026)

Noah Alexander, Wagner Moura, Greta Lee, Riley Chung in ‘The Last House’Credit: Chris Baker/Netflix

Available to stream: Aug. 7

A family of four suddenly finds itself trapped inside its own home with no way out in this sci-fi thriller from Now You See Me director Louis Leterrier. Together, the family members struggle to survive amid dwindling resources and the mysterious threat keeping them imprisoned.

The Last House stars Brazilian actor Wagner Moura, who received an Academy Award nomination earlier this year for his performance in The Secret Agent (2025). He stars alongside Greta Lee, who broke out in 2023’s Past Lives and recently lent her voice to this year’s Toy Story 5.

Director: Louis Leterrier

Cast: Wagner Moura, Greta Lee

07 of 11

The Ribbon Hero (2026)

‘The Ribbon Hero’Credit: Netflix

Available to stream: Aug. 8

The Japanese anime film The Ribbon Hero comes from veteran animator Yūki Igarashi in his feature directorial debut. Based on Osamu Tezuka’s 1953 manga Princess Knight, the film centers on Sapphire, who loses her kingdom of Silverland to a catastrophe. After settling into a new home, she strives to protect it from the same threat that claimed her former home.

Director: Yūki Igarashi

08 of 11

A Child of My Own (2026)

Ana Celeste Montalvo and Armando Espitia in ‘A Child of my Own’Credit: Netflix

Available to stream: Aug. 13

This ambitious true-crime documentary blends fiction and fact to dramatize a real incident that generated a tabloid media frenzy in Mexico during the 2000s. When young Alejandra (Ana Celeste) endures multiple miscarriages and mounting pressure to have a child, she fakes a pregnancy — but the lie quickly spirals out of control. A Child of My Own comes from Chilean director Maite Alberdi, who previously received an Oscar nomination for her 2020 film The Mole Agent.

Director: Maite Alberdi

Cast: Ana Celeste

09 of 11

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)

Rooney Mara in ‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’Credit: Everett Collection

Available to stream: Aug. 15

The best feel-bad Christmas movie of all time is David Fincher’s adaptation of Stieg Larsson’s best-selling novel The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. It follows disgraced journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig), who is hired by retired CEO Henrik Vanger (Christopher Plummer) to solve a decades-old family murder in exchange for crucial info about the man who ruined Blomkvist’s career. Blomkvist eventually teams up with troubled hacker Lisbeth Salander (Rooney Mara) to solve the case, but the more they uncover about the mysterious death of Harriet Vanger, the more dangerous their investigation becomes.

Although Fincher’s adaptation failed to meet box-office expectations and plans for a trilogy never came to fruition, he said during a master class conversation at the 2023 Tribeca Film Festival that he remained “proud” of the film.

“We wanted it to be true to its essence,” he explained. “You shoot in Sweden, you’re shooting for eight or nine-hour days, if you’re lucky. And so the movie took 140 days to shoot. I was proud of it. I thought we did what we set out to do.”

Director: David Fincher

Cast: Rooney Mara, Daniel Craig, Christopher Plummer, Stellan Skarsgård, Robin Wright, Joely Richardson, Joel Kinnaman

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10 of 11

Armageddon Time (2022)

Banks Repeta and Anthony Hopkins in ‘Armageddon Time’Credit: Anne Joyce / Focus Features

Available to stream: Aug. 17

This coming-of-age period drama was inspired by director James Gray’s childhood experiences growing up in a Jewish-American family in Queens, New York City, during the 1980s. When young Paul Graff (Banks Repeta) befriends a Black classmate named Johnny Davis (Jaylin Webb), he finds himself struggling with his parents’ expectations, his Jewish identity, and the stark differences between his upbringing and Johnny’s life amid a prejudiced culture.

Armageddon Time’s excellentcast also includes Anne Hathaway, Jeremy Strong, and Anthony Hopkins. An earnest, unabashedly personal, and uniquely tragic film, it was described by EW’s critic as “a nuanced exploration of situational ethics tinged with guilt” and a “small, near-perfect New York story.”

Director: James Gray

Cast: Jeremy Strong, Anne Hathaway, Banks Repeta, Anthony Hopkins

11 of 11

The Whisper Man (2026)

Robert De Niro. Adam Scott, and Michelle Monaghan ‘The Whisper Man’Credit: David Lee/Netflix

Available to stream: Aug. 28

It seems like Adam Scott has found himself a nice little niche playing writers in horror movies, and thus he follows this year’s Hokum with The Whisper Man. In the film — based on the best-selling 2-10 novel by Alex North — Scott plays a crime writer searching for his kidnapped son. He teams up with his father (Robert De Niro), a retired detective, and they discover that the kidnapping is connected to an old serial killer called the Whisper Man.

Alongside Scott and De Niro,the cast of The Whisper Man includes Michelle Monaghan (The White Lotus), Hamish Linklater (Midnight Mass), and Owen Teague (Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes). It will be directed by New Zealander James Ashcroft, who made an impression on horror fans with his 2021 debut, Coming Home in the Dark.

Director: James Ashcroft

Cast: Robert De Niro, Michelle Monaghan, Adam Scott, Hamish Linklater, Owen Teague

on Entertainment Weekly

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