To be honest, I don’t know anything about “The Dink” that the first few lines of its Wikipedia page haven’t told me. It’s a seemingly ’90s-styled comedy about an aging tennis pro (Jake Johnson) who has to pick up the devil’s paddle and play pickleball to save his local club. It naturally co-stars Ben Stiller (I’m guessing/hoping as the villain?), Ed Harris as the hero’s dad, and the great Mary Steenburgen as his mom. Add in an inevitable John McEnroe cameo, a screenplay from “Hollywood Handbook” legend Sean Clements, and Patton Oswalt playing someone called “Skip,” and we’re cooking with gas. 

Available to stream July 24

The Criterion Channel’s July lineup may not be as robust as usual, but it packs a wallop. It kicks off with a deep and rewarding tribute to one of the most iconic faces of the last 100 years: the great Harry Dean Stanton. The Channel’s retrospective spans from Monte Hellman’s “Ride in the Whirlwind” in 1966 (in which Stanton leads a trio of outlaws that includes Jack Nicholson) to the actor’s final leading role in John Carroll Lynch’s wonderful “Lucky” in 2017. “Paris, Texas,” “Repo Man,” “Wild at Heart,” and other Criterion perennials fill out the space between. 

From there, we move on to “Murderous Melodramas,” which does exactly what it says on the tin. If you’ve seen Nicholas Ray’s unforgettable “Bigger Than Life,” then you’ll have a pretty good idea of this series’ operating principle, but the package is even more than the sum of its parts, as watching Douglas Sirk’s “Written on the Wind” in a shared context with the likes of Gerd Oswald’s “A Kiss Before Dying” acutely illustrates how melodramas were weaponized as tools of subversion at a time of American life when the status quo hid all manner of sins. 

The Channel’s July slate also celebrates the Blackstar Film Festival with a tribute that highlights one film from each of the festival’s 15 editions, a group that includes Shatara Michelle Ford’s searing drama “Test Pattern” (an IndieWire favorite when it premiered in 2019), and Jessica Beshir’s phenomenal documentary “Faya Diyi,” which hypnotically takes viewers inside a religious ritual in the eastern Ethiopia city of Harar. Oh, and lest we forget the reason for our pick of the month: There’s also a little series on the great Jonathan Demme, which includes a chance to see Anne Hathaway — Penelope herself — shine in one of the great performances of her career.

All films available to stream July 1

Spanish filmmaker Victor Erice has only made three films since debuting with his extraordinary “The Spirit of the Beehive” in 1973, and while all of them have argued for — and served to remind audiences of — cinema’s unique power as a medium, none have done so more powerfully or more plaintively than “Close Your Eyes.” Erice’s latest stunner tells the story of a retired director who becomes re-obsessed with the unfinished movie that ruined his career, and determines to solve the mystery of why his lead actor disappeared in the middle of the shoot. From that simple premise Erice unravels the most nakedly personal film he’s ever made. At times, it feels like the only film he’s ever made. Or maybe all of them at once. 

Sedate but ultimately shattering by dint of its simplicity (and its absolute slam-dunk of a final scene), “Close Your Eyes” is neither an autobiographical cine-memoir à la “The Fabelmans” nor a teary-eyed tribute to the magic of the movies in the vein of “Cinema Paradiso.” Yet, as if by accident and divine purpose all at once, it also manages to become both of those things by the end. Set at the dawn of the streaming age and shot with the funereal sterility that came with it, “Close Your Eyes” openly laments the loss of a more tactile film experience (the kind that included actual film), but only so that it can honor the way certain images take root inside us when seen under the right circumstances.

As he nears the end of a career that has always been fascinated by the liminal space between artifice and reality, however, Erice is somehow able to fulfill cinema’s miraculous promise as a vehicle of eternal return; as a magic trick capable of keeping the past alive long after it’s already died within us. The movies are real, “Close Your Eyes” insists with the intensity of an old master seizing what might be his last chance to say it. How much of ourselves will we lose if we forget how to project them properly?

Available to stream July 24

Other highlights:

– “Fancy Dance” (7/3)
– “Caro Diario” (7/10)
– “Under the Fig Trees” (7/17)

Imagine that you’re about to marry Zendaya, or at least a book editor who looks just like her. Imagine that you met her at a Boston coffee shop a few years earlier (where you clumsily — maybe even sleazily — schemed to make an introduction), embarked upon a storybook romance, and eventually began to live together in a leafy studio apartment with one of those adorable corkscrew staircases that scream “we’re not even thinking about children yet.” Imagine that you know everything you could ever think to ask about this kind, radiant, and loving fantasy of a forever partner. And then imagine what she could possibly let slip just a few days before the ceremony that would cause you to think about crashing out of the relationship altogether. 

Needless to say, there are very, very few things that could even semi-plausibly sour that dream into a nightmare with a single turn of phrase, and the wild secret that Emma (Zendaya) reveals to Charlie (Robert Pattinson) during an impromptu game of “What’s the Worst Thing You’ve Ever Done?” at a last-minute menu tasting is — upon first bite — indeed harder to swallow than even the driest of wedding cakes. But the brilliance of Kristoffer Borgli’s “The Drama,” or at least the brilliance of the sketch comedy-adjacent conceit that it exploits to mixed results, is rooted in the fact that Emma’s confession is impossible to laugh off completely. 

Like the impish anti-romance that crumbles around it, the movie’s twist is both transgressive enough to be pleased with itself and also rooted in a reality that refuses to be dismissed as a bad joke. It’s shocking, yes, but mostly because it’s rare to see a mainstream film so eager to stick out its tongue and lick one of the last genuine third rails of American discourse.

Available to stream July 31

Other highlights:

– “The Women” (7/1)
– “The Long Walk” (7/10)
– “Marc by Sofia” (7/16)

Here’s Christian Zilko on one of the best films of 2026 — and 2008.

“For the uninitiated, Nirvanna the Band couldn’t have less to do with Kurt Cobain. Launched as a webseries in 2008, the ongoing comedy project stars Matt Johnson and Jay McCarrol as fictional versions of themselves who are dying to break into the Toronto music scene. Specifically, they’re dying to play a show at a legendary club known as the Rivoli. The duo is so focused on landing a gig that they don’t have time to practice music. Instead, they spend every day engaging in complex publicity stunts that demonstrate a complete misunderstanding of the music industry and often end up mirroring tropes from classic films.

The scale of the project has gradually expanded as it morphed from a DIY webseries to a Viceland show to the feature film that premiered this week, but the format remains the same. The two friends start their day sitting around a piano and brainstorming an idea for a scheme to play the Rivoli. A documentary crew then follows them as they try and execute their plan on the streets of Toronto, utilizing unknowing actors in a format that might be described as ‘Nathan for You’ meets ‘This Is Spinal Tap.’ The joke only gets funnier the longer they remain unsuccessful. Here, it’s stretched to truly mind-bending — and questionably legal — proportions.”

Available to stream July 24

Other highlights:

– “Lady Bird” (7/3)
– “Moonlight” (7/3)
– “Daniel Isn’t Real” (7/10)

Ready for something a little lighter after “Rachel Getting Married” on Criterion? Here’s another Jonathan Demme classic, which IndieWire’s former Executive Editor Eric Kohn put in its proper place when we ranked the best movies of the 1980s:

Many summations of Jonathan Demme’s career point to the weepie AIDS drama ‘Philadelphia’ as his big ‘message movie,’ but the ideas of ‘Something Wild’ come through in far shrewder terms in part because it’s such satisfying escapism at the same time. The playful two-hander finds Jeff Daniels perfectly cast as a smug tax consultant whose attempt to dodge the bill at a diner catches the attention of troublemaker Melanie Griffith, a seductress so eager to yank the man into her trap she may as well be the devil in disguise. Yet after she tricks him into getting her car and takes him on a seedy road trip, the man gradually realizes that he’s been entranced by a complex and conflicted woman whose gentler side appeals to him in ways he didn’t think possible. But that itself is only half the story, as “Something Wild” careens into a violent second half with Ray Liotta turning up as Griffith’s criminal husband as Daniels’ character must grapple with the sincerity of heroism for the first time in his life.

From Demme, the movie bridged the gap between his early Roger Corman exploitation efforts and the more highbrow, character-based undertakings of ‘Melvin and Howard,’ cementing the identity of a seminal director capable of juggling the joy and substance of filmmaking in a single gratifying package. As a Regan-era movie about a Regan-era stiff getting a second chance to a decent man, the movie functioned as both satiric fantasy and an unabashed plea for a better world. The one we’re stuck with is a little bit better with ‘Something Wild’ in it.”

Available to stream July 17

Other highlights:

– “The Hidden Fortress” (7/24)
– “The Misfits” (7/31)
– “The Napa Boys” (7/31)

Here’s David Opie on what might be the most unexpected film of Fatih Akin’s career so far:

“There have been any number of World War II movies about children who are lost in the chaos of conflict, but Fatih Akin’s “Amrum” is something decisively different, as the young protagonist of his film — Nanning — isn’t just another child trying to make sense of a world that no longer makes sense. He’s a member of the Hitler Youth whose very pregnant mother Hille (Laura Tonke) is so distraught by the Führer’s defeat that she can’t even bring herself to eat. Should we sympathize with Nanning’s plight? And in turn, should we sympathize with Nanning’s own sympathies toward his ailing mother? 

“‘Amrum’ refuses to sway us outright either way. Instead, we’re simply asked to follow Nanning’s fairytale-like quest, searching for butter, honey, and white bread to soothe Hille on an island where such rations have been all but depleted by war. But when hunger and sadness propel our protagonist forward on a selfless task like this, there’s a risk of it becoming all too easy to empathize with the boy who lives in a house where a Nazi flag still flies high.

“This is the rare film that looks at wartime life in Germany with a focus on everyday Germans, specifically. All but oblivious to the darkest atrocities committed during that time, these characters are about as far removed from the action as you could get. Yet the war’s impact is entrenched in them all, regardless, even if the island itself remains untouched by the evils of that time.”

Available to stream July 6

Other highlights:

– “The Souffleur” (7/14)
– “Trans-Europ-Express” (7/21)
– “Successive Slidings of Pleasure” (7/28)

There isn’t a horror director alive who wouldn’t kill to create frames as tense, ominous, and viscerally captivating as those of Georgian filmmaker Dea Kulumbegashvili, who applies her talents toward elemental character studies about rural women suffering under the yoke of patriarchy at the foot of the Caucasus Mountains. 

Her debut feature, 2020’s masterful “Beginning,” tells the story of a disillusioned Jehovah’s Witness who starts to unravel after her church is firebombed by extremists in the very first shot, a static tableau held for several minutes before its Haneke-like remove is shattered with a molotov cocktail. Kulumbegashvili’s even more accomplished and terrifying follow-up “April” — which concerns a hospital obstetrician (Ia Sukhitashvili as Nina) whose career is put at risk when a rare stillbirth threatens to expose her unsanctioned night job as an abortion provider — requires even less time to crush your entire being in its brace. It opens on the sight of a faceless (but visibly female) skin monster slouching through a void as Matthew Herbert’s asynchronous score breathes down your neck, and it only grows more arresting from there in a film where life and death are braided together in the tension of each moment, and Nina is suspended in the air between them like a songbird flying headlong into a window. 

Available to stream July 24

Other highlights:

– “The Great Silence” (7/1)
– “Transit” (7/1)
– “The Working Girls” (7/1)

Possibly the best thing to ever come from Twitter, Janicza Bravo’s “Zola” is one of the best films of the decade so far, as Eric Kohn recognized when IndieWire listed them all together:

“If the evolution of creativity in the 21st century means that Twitter feeds can fuel feature-length adaptations, ‘Zola’ is a terrific place to start. Director Janicza Bravo’s zany road trip comedy about a pair of strippers on a rambunctious 48-hour Florida adventure embodies its ludicrous source while jazzing it up with relentless cinematic beats. Bravo, who co-wrote the movie with ‘Slave Play’ breakout Jeremy O. Harris, applies the surreal and edgy sensibilities of her unsettling dark comic short “Gregory Go Boom” and the similarly outré ‘Lemon’ to another jittery look at anxious people driven to self-destructive extremes. Here, their antics result in a rambunctious crowdpleaser made all the more compelling because it’s true.

“Well, maybe. In October 2015, Detroit-based stripper A’ziah ‘Zola’ King unleashed 144 tweets chronicling her madcap journey with new pal Jessica, who invited her on a quick jaunt down south to hit the clubs. In King’s account, the impulsive odyssey took an oddball turn when Jessica picked her up with her boyfriend and pimp in tow, as the ensuing trip eventually involved prostitution, gunfights, and even a ridiculous suicide attempt. Though aspects of that drama were embellished, “Zola” embraces the opportunity to exist within their confines, beginning with its title character (a terrific Taylour Paige) gazing at a mirror as she recites the immortal tweet that kicked things off: ‘You wanna hear a story about why me & this bitch here fell out? It’s kind of long but full of suspense.’ And so it is.”

Available to stream July 10

Other highlights:

– “The Beguiled” (7/1)
– “Memento” (7/5)
– “Tár” (7/27)

Here’s Ryan Lattanzio on one of the most fascinating documentaries of recent years:

“Elizabeth Lo’s gripping and fascinatingly conceived nonfiction portrait ‘Mistress Dispeller’ looks at a love triangle from all sides focuses on a novel profession that is perhaps only offered in China, where the movie plays out: The titular dispeller is a woman hired to break up extramarital affairs, getting to the root of the infidelity by befriending husband, wife, and mistress, only to remind said husband and wife why they got together in the first place. And should stay together. And perhaps how the husband’s transgression can bring them closer to a newfound peace.

“Director Lo’s level of access is extraordinary here, with ‘Mistress Dispeller’ only ever breaking the fourth wall when the film‘s subjects, including Wang herself, address the crew behind the camera. Without those moments, you could just as easily interpret ‘Mistress Dispeller’ as a fiction feature, especially given the outlandishness of the premise for a Western audience. While “Mistress Dispeller” is light on historical context — the sacrifice, the secrecy, the long-held reverence to cultural norms that would compel a person to seek Teacher Wang out — the film’s fixation on everyday, private drama tells us it’s more interested in what’s happening in the moment rather than what led to it.

“A documentary about the making of this documentary would be in order once you start looking for the seams here — because there aren’t any. This level of intimacy and access is rare in any nonfiction film, guiding ‘Mistress Dispeller’ toward a profound and searching panorama of loneliness and partnership, where everyone gets a chance to be heard.”

Available to stream July 17

Other highlights:

– “Golden Years” (7/3)
– “Hello, I Must Be Going” (7/10)
– “Joyland” (7/24)

I’ve been thinking about “The Ring” a lot lately, and not only because of the recent news of Daveigh Chase’s tragic death (although it’s worth honoring the fact that few young actors have ever left such a generational impression). Maybe it’s because director Gore Verbinski finally made another movie with this year’s deliciously blunt “fuck AI” comedy “Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die.” Maybe it’s because of Sony’s decision to abandon physical copies of their video games, which points toward a bleak future where “The Ring” wouldn’t have nearly the same punch (a viral video that kills you in seven days would be both less exciting and distressingly plausible). Whatever the case, “The Ring” is one of the few commercial American horror movies of its time that holds up. More than holds up, actually. It anticipates the horrors of the digital media age, even as it remains violently analog in nature, and it’s somehow almost as scary as everything that would follow. 

Available to stream July 1

Other highlights:

– “City of God” (7/1)
– “Everybody Wants Some!!” (7/1)
– “She’s All That” (7/1)

IndieWire’s Kate Erbland hasn’t always understood the appeal of le cinema du Colleen Hoover, but “Reminders of Him” was enough to show her the light:

“I’ve been doing the work. As Colleen Hoover‘s books have suddenly become fast fodder for all manner of big screen adaptations — the legally fraught one about domestic violence, the soapy one about marital infidelity and first love, the upcoming one in which Anne Hathaway might be a lunatic — I’ve endeavored to keep an open mind about material that didn’t appeal to me on the page and mostly doesn’t appeal to me on the screen. Hoover has written over two dozen beloved books, surely there is something here for anyone and everyone. Even for me?

“Yes! While not a slam-dunk, Vanessa Caswill’s ‘Reminders of Him’ — in which Maika Monroe stars as an ex-con who returns to her tortured past in a small Wyoming town — is easily the best Hoover film adaptation yet, bolstered by strong performances and an emotional center that does not primarily rely on some kind of tortured romance (though, that’s there, too!). If these are the other dimensions on offer in Hoover’s books, perhaps there is life in those pages.”

Available to stream July 10

Other highlights:

– “Challengers” (7/1)
– “Jaws” (7/1)
– “Titanic” (7/1)

There’s never a bad time to catch up with one of the best films of the 1980s, which is streaming on Prime Video after years of being hard to find. Here’s Christian Zilko:

“It almost seems unfair that one of the true giants of the 1970’s New Hollywood revolution also managed to perfect the 1980’s crime movie aesthetic. But William Friedkin’s true genius was his ability to straddle the worlds of intimate character-based filmmaking and popcorn spectacle, which left him equally suited to working in the blockbuster era. ‘To Live and Die in L.A.’ saw him bringing his “French Connection” grit to the coke-riddled, sunset-hued, Wang Chung-blasting streets of 1980s Los Angeles.

“It might not be the least cringe-inducing piece of ’80s nostalgia that you could possibly seek out, but ‘To Live and Die in L.A.’ has endured because it backs up those immaculate vibes with gripping neo-noir storytelling.

“Friedkin’s script is fueled by the simplest of premises — a lawman is determined to find the bastard who killed his partner, even if he has to go outside the law to get him. But Friedkin found a fresh way to pull some of Hollywood’s tried-and-true emotional levers by centering the film around Secret Service agents instead of cops (it’s impossible to leave the film without the overwhelming feeling that making counterfeit $20 bills is a menace to society on par with murder and domestic terrorism).

“Throw in a perfect Willem Dafoe performance as a disturbingly sexy ’80s villain and Friedkin’s unparalleled knack for set pieces — the man wisely understood that a Los Angeles car chase would consist of as much sitting and honking as actual driving — and you’re left with a masterpiece that’s on par with the late director’s very best.”

Available to stream July 1

Other highlights:

– “Ronin” (7/1)
– “Showgirls” (7/1)
– “The Wild Robot” (7/24)

It’s a shame the “Scream” franchise has already bled out everywhere but the box office, because Daniel Goldhaber’s similarly meta “Faces of Death” is sharp enough to have cut that self-cannibalizing shibboleth down to size on its own. Much uglier and more pointed than Paramount’s stab-happy ATM of a movie franchise, this similarly meta reflection on media consumption — on the “rules” of the game, and our detached relationship to ubiquitous scenes of violence — exhumes one of the most notorious horror movies ever made in order to shudder at the banality that snuff films have come to assume in the age of social media. Here is a smart, fun, and deeply unsettling post-modern slasher that know it can’t manufacture anything scarier than what people scroll past on their phones every day, and leverages that awareness into a multiplex-ready meditation on the terror of living in a world where even the worst atrocities have been flattened into digital wallpaper.

Available to stream July 10

Other highlights:

– “The Evil Dead” (7/1)
– “Exit 8” (7/17)
– “Saccharine” (7/24)