With a slew of new movies and TV shows lined up as well as several notable classics scheduled to drop throughout the month, July is probably Netflix’s best month yet.
OK, I say that every month, but I really mean it this time.
In addition to such highly anticipated shows like the Little House on the Prairie reboot and Ransom Canyon season 2, the streamer has slated some great movies for you to watch in July.
You can stream the Ben Affleck thriller Gone Girl right now, but if you’re watching it with a romantic partner, be prepared for some awkward conversations after it ends.
Watch With Us also recommends two 2025 films making their Netflix debuts: the Oscar-winning drama Hamnet with Paul Mescal, Jessie Buckley and Joe Alwyn and the French murder mystery A Private Life with Jodie Foster.
‘Gone Girl’ (2014) – Now Streaming
Nick and Amy Dunne (Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike) have a picture-perfect marriage, which is why it’s so devastating to those around them when Amy suddenly disappears one day. Their families and friends are heartbroken, but Nick, oddly, isn’t – he doesn’t cry and doesn’t seem as upset as she should be. Suspicions quickly arise – why is Nick so calm? Did he have something to do with Amy’s disappearance? And why did Amy keep a diary exposing her fears that Nick might kill her?
If you don’t know Gone Girl’s twist, that’s just the tip of the iceberg. And if you do, you know the movie is even more rewatchable on the second, third and fourth go-around. Directed by David Fincher, Gone Girl starts as a standard crime mystery that turns into something more: a portrait of a toxic marriage, an exposé of our need to believe in the fantasy of love rather than its reality and a damning chronicle about the unrealistic expectations men place on women to be perfect. All that sounds heavy, but the genius of the film is how entertaining and morbidly funny it turns out to be – and how great Pike is starring as a woman who knows exactly what she wants – and gets it.
‘Hamnet’ (2025) – July 6
In 1590s London, William Shakespeare (Paul Mescal) is working hard on his next play when the bubonic plague strikes. It quickly spreads to the countryside and claims the life of his young son, Hamnet (Jacobi Jupe). Will is distraught, but his wife, Agnes (Jessie Buckley), is inconsolable. While time passes and Will continues to develop his next play, Agnes remains in the countryside, still dealing with her grief that only seems to grow the more she thinks about her dead son.
A critical and commercial hit last year, Hamnet is a moving drama about how death impacts the living and how the loss of a loved one can inspire different kinds of rebirth. Will deals with his grief by burying himself in his work. Agnes has no career to turn to, so she turns inward to deal with Hamnet’s death and what that means for her marriage going forward. Buckley won a Best Actress Oscar for her devastating performance, and her scene at the end, when she finally comes to terms with her loss, is one for the ages.
‘A Private Life’ (2025) – July 29
Dr. Lilian Steiner (Jodie Foster) is going through a lot right now. One of her patients, Paula (Virginie Efira), just killed herself, and her personal life is in shambles. After attending Paula’s funeral, Lilian listens to one of their last sessions, when she confesses her suspicions that her daughter, Valerie (Luana Bajrami), is plotting to kill her. Was Paula right? It certainly seems like Valerie’s father, Simon (Mathieu Amalric), is hiding some secrets, but is he covering for his daughter or hiding evidence that he caused his wife’s death?
A Private Life is an old-school mystery grounded more in character development than in outrageous plot twists. While the mystery is indeed intriguing, what’s more interesting is to observe Lilian evolve as a character throughout the movie. She starts as a mess, but gradually gets her act together when she discovers she’s the only one who can find out who killed Paula and why. Foster doesn’t act much, so it’s always a gift when she does, and A Private Life is one of her most entertaining movies in decades.
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