10 New Movies & TV Shows to Watch in July 2023

Adele Lim, writer of Crazy Rich Asians, makes her directorial debut with raunchy comedy film, Joy Ride. An almost entirely Asian cast led by Ashley Park, Stephanie Hsu, and Sherry Cola, the film follows Park’s character, Audrey, as her business trip to China results in a frenzied quest for her birth mother. Road trips and an R-rating make Joy Ride a fun and raunchy feel-good film for summer.

Tom Cruise returns as superspy Ethan Hunt for the action-packed seventh film in the Mission: Impossible franchise. This time around, Hunt and his team race against the clock to track down their most dangerous threat yet: a deadly weapon that threatens the fate of humanity as an evil villain (Esai Morales) puts the world at stake. The second part of the film will be released in June 2024.

The Apple TV+ hit show The Afterparty switches the setting in its second season. The anthology comedy series returns with new cast members and a brand new murder mystery, this time at a wedding. Each episode takes viewers through a new suspect’s perspective on what happened, stylized in hilarious and unique ways. Luckily, Tiffany Haddish’s Detective Danner is still on the case. 

Vampire roommates Nador, Laszlo, Nadja, and Colin have been getting into antics for centuries. Now, they continue taking on New York with their human familiar, Guillermo, in the beloved mockumentary’s fifth season.

Comedian Michelle Buteau plays Mavis Beaumont, a plus-sized Black woman who rebuilds her life and career after a breakup, in Netflix’s new comedy-drama, produced by A24. Based on Buteau’s own memoir of the same name, the show tackles relationship and career problems with a fresh body-positive perspective. 

Making her directorial debut as well as starring in the film, actress Molly Gordon actually met co-writer and co-star Ben Platt in a theater group as kids. Now, the pair joins an ensemble cast of eccentric acting teachers and their hopeful thespian campers in the comedy film about a theater camp in upstate New York.

Returning for its second season, The Summer I Turned Pretty continues following Belly (Lola Tung) as she navigates romance between Conrad (Christopher Briney) and Jeremiah (Gavin Casalegno) during summer break. With the trailer featuring a theatrical edition of “August” by Taylor Swift, this next season is sure to provide all of the coming-of-age wistfulness of our teenage dreams. Stream the 8-episode season on Amazon Prime.

Arguably the event of the summer, as the release of director Greta Gerwig’s newest film, Barbie, draws closer and closer we’re buying all the hot pink we can and bringing our old dolls out of the closet. As Barbie (Margot Robbie) begins discovering changes in Barbie Land, she travels with Ken (Ryan Gosling) beyond what she’s always known to explore a brand new world, real life. Barbie has become more than a film, it’s a summer lifestyle and aesthetic, and we certainly won’t be missing it.

Perhaps the only film capable of rivaling the hype of Barbie is Cristopher Nolan’s drama film about the development of the atomic bomb. Cillian Murphy leads a talented cast full of stars like Robert Downey Jr., Florence Pugh, Matt Damon, and Emily Blunt. With an incredibly elaborate atomic bomb scene without CGI to an ending similar to Inception, according to Nolan, Oppenheimer is sure to be a theatrical event for the ages.

After HBO Max’s cancellation and removal of content in December 2022, Minx seemed to be on the chopping block despite its renewal by the streaming service. Luckily, Starz has picked up the bawdy and riotous comedy show about Joyce (Ophelia Lovibond) who works to create the first women’s erotic magazine in the 1970s along with help from publisher Doug, played by the charming Jake Johnson.