Because some stories don’t just entertain, they awaken, they affirm, and they linger. July is the perfect month to slow down, sit with yourself, and lean into meaning. Whether you’re curled up solo with your matcha, hosting an intimate watch party with your girls, or simply craving art that reflects you, this curated watchlist blends soul-stirring movies with substance and style. From genre-bending dramas to laugh-out-loud comedies with quiet wisdom, here are films and series across genres that are binge-worthy.
Series
The Sandman (Netflix)
A dark fantasy masterpiece based on Neil Gaiman’s comics, following Dream (Tom Sturridge), the embodiment of dreams, as he embarks on a metaphysical journey across dimensions to reclaim what was stolen from him. It weaves myth, magic, and melancholy with electrifying visuals and emotional depth.
Kings of Jo’Burg (Netflix)
This South African crime thriller centers on the Masire family, Johannesburg’s crime dynasty, whose power is threatened by a supernatural curse. Season 3 intensifies the stakes with mystical forces and power struggles, making it a bold fusion of urban drama and occult intrigue.
Baby Farm (Netflix)
A chilling 5-episode thriller about a pregnant woman who finds herself ensnared by the sinister “Evans Foundation,” a front for child trafficking. Heart-wrenching and rooted in reality, it exposes a disturbing underbelly shrouded in trust and betrayal.
The OA (Netflix)
When Prairie Johnson returns after seven years with her sight fully restored and haunting scars across her back, she becomes both miracle and mystery. This genre-defying psychological odyssey questions memory, identity, and the nature of storytelling.
Upload (Amazon Prime Video)
In 2033, digital afterlife is real and expensive. When Nathan is uploaded to Lakeview, he navigates love, loss, and corporate control, while his living customer service rep, Nora, questions everything she thought she knew. Satirical and oddly tender.
To Kill a Monkey (Netflix):
This July, a gripping Nigerian crime-thriller that strips ambition bare comes to screens. Under the sleek direction of Kemi Adetiba, the series follows a man grappling with financial desperation who gets drawn into cybercrime when an old friend reenters his life. As he spirals further into digital betrayal, his moral compass shatters.
Beauty in Black (Netflix)
Tyler Perry’s controversial soap‑style drama exposes the glossy yet gritty underside of Black beauty culture. The story threads together the lives of Kimmie, a young woman forced into the dark world of underground survival, and Rain, who grapples with the physical and psychological costs of a dangerous cosmetic surgery trend. Rich in social critique and emotional upheaval, the series is part cautionary tale, part opulent vision of dreams at a steep price.
Film
Straw (Netflix)
Taraji P. Henson stars in this tense psychological drama about Janiyah, a single mother whose life spirals amidst hardship and tragedy. A gut-wrenching, emotionally wrenching tale of resilience pushed to its breaking point.
Heads of State (Amazon Prime Video)
John Cena and Idris Elba play a bickering US President and UK Prime Minister forced into a globe-trotting crisis. It’s comedic geopolitical absurdity, cross-continental rescue missions, and a buddy dynamic too charming to resist.
Madea’s Destination Wedding (Netflix)
Madea takes chaos to the Bahamas when her great-niece announces a shotgun wedding. With secrets, trust funds, and family drama in tow, Tyler Perry delivers comedic chaos wrapped in sharp commentary on loyalty and legacy.
The Old Guard 2 (Netflix)
Immortality, morality, and high-octane action continue in this immersive sequel with ethical stakes as intense as the choreography, this July.
Brick (Netflix)
An atmospheric German sci-fi thriller showing residents of a Hamburg apartment complex awakened one morning sealed inside by unmoving, magnetized black brick walls. Among them: Tim and Olivia, navigating grief and isolation as they join other trapped neighbors in a desperate escape mission.
Cinema Movie
Final Destination: Bloodlines:
When fate is inescapable, how do you cheat death? This horror-thriller is a tense ride, shocking, relentless, and guaranteed to make you check over your shoulder.
Sinners
Twin veterans Smoke and Stack return from Chicago with stolen mob money to build a community juke joint from a former sawmill. But a sinister presence lurks: Remmick, an Irish vampire, seeks to steal their music, culture, and spirit under the guise of unity. When their club transforms into a battlefield, the battle becomes survival for identity.
Eddington
Ari Aster’s explosive neo-Western satire set in pandemic-era New Mexico. Sheriff Joe Cross (Joaquin Phoenix) clashes with Mayor Ted Garcia (Pedro Pascal) over masking, misinformation, and identity. Tense, surreal, and darkly comic, it reflects society’s fractured realities.
In this month of July, there’s a call for stories that do more than entertain; they echo, educate, and elevate. Take your pick and enjoy.