5 (Actually Good) Things Coming to Netflix in August

Netflix be damned, this has been a summer for the ages at the multiplex. Literally everyone has headed out to see Christopher Nolan go full Christopher Nolan in his mythic epic The Odyssey, indie horror has had its time in the sun with Obsession and Backrooms, and just a week into its run, the new Spider-Man film has already hoarded piles of cash bigger than the Himalayas.It’s great that we’re all going out again, especially to the movies; I for one missed the constant rustling of bags and low-level chatter from the people in the row ahead (they’re always in the row ahead). But a night in is always good value, too—and there’s plenty coming to Netflix in August to keep us entertained.Past Lives’s Greta Lee and Civil War’s Wagner Moura, both stars whose stocks are on the rise, lead a twisty new thriller in The Last House, which sounds very M. Night Shyamalan-coded (complimentary). For football nuts missing the World Cup, there’s a three-part docuseries about José Mourinho, a figure of endless fascination—and brilliant, soap-worthy controversy. And if you want to catch a big historical sword fest without paying to see The Odyssey again, catch Gladiator II, which arrives in the middle of the month. Read on for all of our picks of the best stuff hitting Netflix in August.Big Chicken: A Fast Food Conspiracy (2026)August 5Just as the shock-documentarian Morgan Spurlock discovered in 2004 that it was probably not a good idea to follow a diet consisting entirely of McDonald’s, comedian Mo Gilligan has embarked on his own culinary experiment with a similarly predictable outcome. For 28 days, he exclusively lived on fried chicken—the results of which were captured by Netflix cameras—in an odyssey that took him from the UK to the US. Beyond just chomping down on wings and drumsticks, Gilligan also examines the social, cultural, and economic factors driving its mass consumption, as well as the racist stereotypes that linger around the dish to this day.The Last House (2026)August 7It’s a twisty—and devilishly simple—B-movie concept that would make M. Night Shyamalan punch a wall in jealous rage: owing to a mysterious external force, a family find themselves trapped inside their home. That’s pretty much it, apparently sustaining an entire sci-fi thriller that is 110 minutes long. Still, consider us intrigued, at least as screen fodder to accompany Friday night takeout. The main draw has to be the cast: you’ve got Greta Lee, of Past Lives and Russian Doll fame—plus, arguably, the best cameo in The Studio—and Civil War’s Wagner Moura as the parents who must find a way out, lest they all starve to death. Let’s just hope they’ve stocked up on beans.Mourinho (2026)August 11For a good couple of decades, no soccer manager was more synonymous with sheer dominance—nor a proclivity for parking the bus and rage-baiting his touchline rivals, not least Arsene Wenger—than José Mourinho. He’s kind of dropped off since, but still: the guy was a walking soap opera, and that’s got to make for great docuseries material. Which is the aptly titled Mourinho, a three-parter retelling the story of his halcyon years through exclusive interviews with both the man himself, those he came up against (such as Sir Alex), and the players who lined up for him (John Terry, Didier Drogba, and Frank Lampard among them).Gladiator II (2024)August 12Paul Mescal leads this sweeping sequel to Ridley Scott’s swords-and-sandals masterwork, a barmy, blistering epic with plenty of bloody sword fights—and a full-on naval battle inside the Colosseum, because that apparently happened in the olden days. It might not hit the heights of the Russell Crowe classic, but this one is still a good time at the (home) movies. And look, you’re rarely going to be let down by a cast that includes Mescal, Pedro Pascal, and Denzel Washington.The Whisper Man (2026)August 28De Niro may not be churning out Taxi Driver-grade masterworks, but his Netflix jobs—including the very bingeable political potboiler Zero Day—have been entertaining enough, and he still scowls like the best of ’em. The Whisper Man has him playing a retired detective who is brought back to the job after the seeming reemergence of a serial killer he once put behind bars. And this time, it seems, it’s personal: Adam Scott plays his estranged son, a widowed crime writer whose own 8-year-old is abducted. Based on the best-selling novel by Alex North. Hey, it’s hard to go wrong with a classic crime thriller.This article originally appeared in British GQ.