This new batch of Umbrella Academy episodes — which premieres on Friday, July 31 — follows the dangerously dysfunctional Hargreeves siblings on a new zany, emo(tional), and bloody adventure into the past. At least a single one-liner of Umbrella Academy is destined for meme greatness, if not many more smart lines of dialogue.
If Umbrella Academy isn’t your cup of time traveling tea — or you finish speeding through your season binge on Friday night — there are still many more new shows and movies for you to watch on Netflix this weekend. First up, there is Get Even, a British teen murder mystery for all the bored Riverdale and Elite fans out there. There is also a delightful South African rom-com (Seriously Single), another season of a Netflix baking show (Sugar Rush, now with more rules), a ton of fearlessly nerdy content, and so much more.
These are all the new Netflix offerings broken down by plot, genre, and whether you should watch something immediately or skip for now. Keep reading for the lowdown on all of these Netflix treats, including their trailers.
Get Even (Season 1)
What is it?: Netflix’s newest teen murder mystery.
What is it about?: The shadowy D.G.M. squad. To the students and faculty of posh British private school Bannerman, D.G.M. — or “Don’t Get Mad” — is an enigmatic vigilante determined to unmask the greatest injustices going down on campus. Viewers know D.G.M. is actually a quartet of Bannerman girls: Kitty (Kim Adis), Margot (Bethany Antonia), Bree (Mia McKenna-Bruce), and Olivia (Jessica Alexander). While the D.G.M. crew comes from different social circles — and its members don’t consider each other friends — they are united in their vision to end bullying at Bannerman.
After the intimate photos of another Bannerman girl (Emily Carey) are stolen and disseminated, D.G.M. teams up to take the culprit down. However, when their target is murdered, the tables turn on the D.G.M. girls, who are framed for the crime. Now they’re the ones being hunted — and they’ll only protect their names if they can find the true killer.
See or skip?: See! The twists and turns of Get Even are exactly what you need to liven up your most dull summer days. Also, it’s extremely easy to binge the British YA series since all 10 episodes are 28 minutes or fewer.
The Umbrella Academy (Season 2)
What is it?: A major improvement on season 1.
What is it about?: Stopping the apocalypse. Again. Umbrella Academy season 1 wrapped with the superpowered Hargreeves siblings jumping somewhere back in time to stop the armageddon that Vanya (Ellen Page) started. When we check back in with the lovable misfits, we find them in 1963 Dallas.
The six living Hargreeves — and their ghost brother Ben (Justin H. Min) — were sprinkled throughout the timeline and therefore left to their own devices before reuniting in ‘63. Over season 2, the Umbrella Academy must reunite and stop the latest threat to the end of the world. Oh, and maybe stop the Kennedy assassination, which also looms in the Hargreeves’ immediate future.
See or skip?: See! While Umbrella Academy season 1 premiered as a fandom success, the freshman outing often felt haphazard and overstuffed. Season 2 doesn’t suffer from those narrative issues. It’s laser focused on a few very specific storylines, thereby offering many more touching personal moments for the Hargreeves and memorable sibling set pieces.
Umbrella Academy also builds on the series’ already established bizarre world to sublime effect. No one should spoil a particularly fun goldfish-based subplot for you.
Seriously Single
What is it?: A South African rom-com.
What is it about?: Dineo (Fulu Mugovhani), a social media expert and serial monogamist. Dineo believes she has found the perfect guy in Lunga (Bohang Moeko). And then they break up. After the split, Dineo’s commitmentphobe best friend Noni (Tumi Morake) urges her to embrace the seriously single life (get it?!).
Seriously Single follow the BFF pair’s misadventures on their way to figuring out exactly what kind of romance they actually want.
See or skip?: See on a Friday night via Netflix Party with your own BFFs. You might not be able to be barhopping together right now, but Seriously Single will be the next best thing.
Sugar Rush (Season 3)
What is it?: Nailed It’s more complicated, polished sister.
What is it about?: Beating the clock while making decadent, over-the-top desserts. Sugar Rush — this season with the added, Extra Sweet moniker — tasks baking pairs with surviving multiple rounds of competition. Bakers can use any time saved in one round to prolong their subsequent, more difficult round.
We told you Sugar Rush was involved. In Extra Sweet, contestants have the choice between adding $15 extra minutes to their cake round or ensuring they definitely go home with $1,500 in the bank.
See or skip?: If you haven’t watched newly-minted Emmy nominee Nailed It yet, start with that. Then find time for Sugar Rush in your life if you absolutely love baking competitions. Otherwise you can skip.
Connected: The Hidden Science of Everything (Season 1)
What is it?: Turning stoner ideology — “like, woah, everything’s connected” — into entertaining science programming.
What is it about?: Dust. Clouds. Even poop. Science journalist Latif Nasser travels the globe exploring how these subjects intertwine societies that are thousands of miles apart.
See or skip?: See the episodes with topics you’re most curious about. Then keep watching if Nasser holds your interest. If Zac Efron’s Down to Earth was Goop for bros, Connected is Down to Earth for unapologetic nerds.
The Speed Cubers
What is it?: More proudly geeky content.
What is it about?: A very sweet competitive rivalry, involving Rubik’s Cubes. Australian Feliks Zemdegs and American Max Park are two of the best “speedcubers” in the world, which means they can solve an entire Rubik’s Cube in seven seconds or less. They’re also pals.
Speed Cubers investigates both men’s childhoods and their paths to becoming champion speedcubers, all while leading up to their final showdown.
See or skip?: See, when you’re looking to learn something while also feeling a ton. Speed Cubers is a rare exploration of a time-old question: whether rivals can ever truly be friends as well.
The documentary also continues the conversation about autism that Love on the Spectrum began last week. Park has autism and Speed doesn’t shy away from talking about his diagnosis, his family’s experience, or that fact that Park is thriving with a disability.
Last Chance U (Laney: Part 1)
What is it?: Another season of painful and uplifting sports drama.
What is it about?: The desire to better your life through athletic achievement. Last Chance U — which is a long-running anthology series — follows Oakland’s Laney junior college football team. The new season explores the ways gentrification effects the spirit of a team in a traditionally Black neighbourhood — and whether Laney’s players will ever be able to create the lives they dream of for themselves and their families.
See or skip?: See, if you love Michael Jordan docuseries The Last Dance. While Last Chance isn’t about a sports icon, it is yet another compelling sports docuseries.
Also, see if you’ve been trying to watch more stories about Black and brown people in the wake of the current civil rights movement. Not all #BlackLivesMatter viewing has to be about past injustices (à la When They See Us) and racist historical sagas (like The 13th). It is just as important to learn the ways present day prejudice is impacting Black lives right this second.
The Hater
What is it?: A Polish-language film that might be a little too real.
What is it about?: Tomasz Giemza (Maciej Musiałowski), a failed law student with a talent for spreading hateful misinformation on social media. Tomasz’s infectious skills flourish when he takes a job at a PR firm that specialises in peddling digital lies for their clients. However, tragedy strikes when Tomasz fans his country’s deadly nationalistic flames far too well.
See or skip?: The Hater has a disturbing connection to a real-life Polish tragedy, which caused a delay in the film’s original release date. Clearly, we are already living in the terrifying world shown in The Hater — you can skip without guilt if you don’t want to throw yourself further into the darkness of dangerous trolls.
Inside the World’s Toughest Prisons (Season 4)
What is it?: The state of affairs in some truly frightening prisons.
What is it about?: Watching journalist Raphael Rowe experience some of the most punishing prisons in the world. In season 4, we see Rowe enter Tacumbu in Paraguay, Schwalmstadt in Germany, Melrose in Mauritius, and Maseru in Lesotho. Each prison presents Rowe with new challenges and concerns.
See or skip?: Toughest Prisons is an eye-opening look at the extreme brutality happening in prisons around the world. See, if you’re expanding your knowledge on the current prison abolition movement. Otherwise you can skip if Toughest Prisons simply feels too overwhelming for an already traumatising era.
Transformers: War for Cybertron (Season 1: Siege)
What is it?: New anime with very recognizable branding.
What is it about?: The Transformers origin story. War for Cybertron unravels the initial civil war that ravaged the Transformers’ home world of Cybertron. In an uncompromising battle of wills between Optimus Prime and Megatron, the former must consider a devastating option to save his planet.
See or skip?: See, if “Girls in the Hood” has you considering the consumption of more anime.
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