I've pored over Netflix's release schedule to bring you the best movies and TV shows premiering on the service this month, a month in which Netflix is leaning into live events hard. To celebrate its annual "Netflix is a joke" festival in Los Angeles, the streaming platform is presenting a series of as-they-happen streams, including a series from comedian John Mulaney that will be live nightly, a stand-up show from Katt Williams, and the live roast of quarterback Tom Brady.
And that's all on top of a full slate of original movies and shows, including Jerry Seinfeld's Unfrosted, a new season of Bridgerton, and the premiere of A Man in Full, a drama from David E. Kelley and Regina King. Also: Atlas, in which Jennifer Lopez plays a kick-ass secret agent who fights computers.
John Mulaney Presents: Everybody’s in LA
As part of the "Netflix is a Joke" festival, stand-up comedian John Mulaney will hosts six nights of live broadcasts beginning on May 3. Described as a "celebration of LA" and featuring the biggest names in comedy (names to be announced), Everybody’s in LA promises Mulaney and his comedian pals descending on the City of Angels to create an anything-can-happen experiences that comedy fans will definitely want to watch in real time.
Starts streaming May 3.
Katt Williams: Woke Foke
Speaking of unpredictable live comedy, Kat Williams will be appearing live from Inglewood on Netflix on May 4 to deliver what should be an incendiary, history-making set. The fast-talking star of Friday After Next and the reigning king of stand-up is not known for holding anything back; like the man himself says in the Woke Foke trailer, "It's gonna be some shit."
Starts streaming May 4.
Bridgerton, Season 3 — Part 1
You know what's the opposite of a live, anything-goes Katt Williams stand-up performance? Bridgerton! The romance series set among high-society ladies and gentlemen of Regency London is going into its third season, and Netflix is dropping four episodes that tell the story of Colin and Penelope's friends-to-lovers romance. Series regulars Claudia Jessie (Eloise Bridgerton), Luke Thompson (Benedict Bridgerton), Golda Rosheuvel (Queen Charlotte), and Adjoa Andoh (Lady Danbury) are returning, and there will be new faces too, including Daniel Francis as dashing gentleman Marcus Anderson and James Phoon as the rakish Harry Dankwort.
Starts streaming May 16.
A Man in Full
Television powerhouses David E. Kelley and Regina King teamed up to create this emotionally gripping drama based on the best-selling novel by Tom Wolfe. Jeff Daniels plays Charlie Croker, a brash Atlanta real estate magnate facing bankruptcy and fending off white-collar adversaries eager to capitalize on his fall-from-grace. Diane Lane, Sarah Jones, and Lucy Lui round out A Man in Full's impressive cast.
Starts streaming May 2.
Unfrosted
If you like movies about brands, you're going to be very pleased with Unfrosted. Jerry Seinfeld co-wrote, directed, co-produced, and stars in this comedy that tells the origin story of Pop-Tarts, America's favorite breakfast rectangle. Set in Michigan in 1963, Unfrosted details the cutthroat competition between breakfast kingpins Kellogg's and Post, as each races to develop and market a breakfast pastry for the masses before the other guy steals the show.
Stars streaming May 3.
Atlas
In Atlas, Jennifer Lopez beats up AI. She plays agent Atlas Shepard, a wisecracking badass who's devoted her life to hunting down rogue artificial intelligence Harlan. Trapped on a distant planet with her life in danger, Agent J-Lo is forced to rely on a computer program named Smith to survive. But in classic Odd Couple style, agent Shepard hates all AI, so it's not going to be an easy friendship. I didn't have "Jennifer Lopez plays a science fiction action hero battling super computers" on my bingo card, but now that I've heard about it, it makes a weird kind of sense.
Starts streaming May 24.
Eric
Benedict Cumberbatch stars in this thriller series created by BAFTA and Emmy Award-winner Abi Morgan. Cumberbatch plays Vincent, a puppeteer who created wildly successful kids' show Good Day Sunshine. But when his nine-year-old son goes missing on the way to school, Vincent's world unravels and he descends into a personal nightmare of guilt, anger, obsession, and madness. According to Morgan, "Eric is a dark and crazy journey into the heart of 1980s New York—and the good, bad, and ugly world of Vincent." Sounds good to me.
Starts streaming May 30.
Power
The big-ticket Netflix originals this month may be comedy and historical costumes, but there's a serious side too, embodied by Power, a hard-hitting documentary that looks at our relationship with the cops and asks "Who is more powerful, the people or the police?" Directed by Academy Award nominee Yance Ford, Power examines the history of policing and asks tough questions about whether and how we're being oppressed by the boys and girls in blue.
Starts streaming May 17.
Roast of Tom Brady
Most football fans are eager to see ex-Patriots quarterback Tom Brady get taken down a few pegs, and this roast brings in Jeff Ross, Kevin Hart, and a host of the most vicious comedians on earth to hit Brady harder than a 260-pound linebacker. And they don't make helmets for your feelings. The show will be broadcast live and unedited, ensuring an anything-might-happen evening of insults and comedy.
Starts streaming May 5.
Secrets of the Neanderthals
Sir Patrick Stewart narrates this documentary that tries to figure out what those Neanderthals have been hiding from us for 300,000 years. In its quest for answers, Secrets of the Neanderthals takes viewers all over the world, examines the fossil record, and consults top researchers in the field to ask, "What is the deal with cavemen?"
Starts streaming May 2.
Rachel Feinstein: Big Guy—Netflix Comedy
The comedy will just absolutely not stop this month on Netflix, no matter how you might beg. Rachel Feinstein is a comedians' comedian who has won fans for her whip-smart observational comedy. She's the kind of always-on-it pro who gets laughs whether she's playing some dinky club on a Wednesday night or co-hosting The View. Don't miss her Netflix special.
Starts streaming May 21.
Ashley Madison: Sex, Lies & Scandal
When hackers called "The Impact Team" took over find-an-affair website Ashley Madison in 2015, they told its owners "welcome to your worst fucking nightmare," but the nightmare extended beyond the business owners. All of Ashley's Madison's users, from ordinary Joes to political figures and entertainment industry leaders, had their sordid details spilled to anyone who wanted to take a look. Ashley Madison: Sex, Lies & Scandal tells the entire sleazy story, but doesn't shy away from the real-world emotional devastation the imbroglio wrought.
Starts streaming May 15.
Dancing for the Devil: The 7M TikTok Cult
At the time of this posting, Netflix hasn't released a ton of details about original documentary Dancing for the Devil: The 7M TikTok Cult, but the Instagram post announcing it by co-creator Katie Paulson describes the doc as shining a light on "the exploitation that occurs in Hollywood" by nefarious people preying on "talented dancers and entertainers." There's also mentions of a lawsuit to shut the documentary down, and there are hints of a huge, tangled mess of internet drama too. As a super-fan of cult-related documentaries, I am compelled to watch this one.
Starts streaming May 29.
Living with Leopards
I'm a sucker for nature documentaries, so I'm psyched for this made-in-the-UK movie that details the lives of a pair of leopard cubs, from birth to adulthood. Living with Leopards promises an up-close-and personal look at a the coming-of-age of some of the most majestic creatures on earth.
Starts streaming May 10.
Tires
Stand-up comic Shane Gillis stars in this six-episode comedy series about the crazy goings-on inside an auto repair shop. Gillis is also Tires' executive producer and co-creator, so this has the potential to be one idiosyncratic, sleeper-hit shows that streaming is made for. We'll all know for sure when it debuts on May 23.
Starts streaming May 23.
Last month's picks
Ripley
Based on Patricia Highsmith’s novel The Talented Mr. Ripley, this series stars Dakota Fanning, Johnny Flynn, and Andrew Scott in the title role as Tom Ripley, a grifter and conman with too much charm and not enough morality. Director Steven Zaillian's moody black-and-white visuals set the tone of Ripley's chilling but glamorous life. After being hired by a wealthy industrialist to retrieve his wayward son from Italy, the ever-scheming Mr. Ripley sees an opportunity, and inserts himself into Dickie’s life, leading to a dark spiral of psychological abuse, mayhem, and murder. If you like plot twists and stylish wickedness, you’ll be very into Ripley.
Starts streaming April 4
Rebel Moon — Part Two: The Scargiver
The climax of Zack Snyder’s epic science fiction story promises a breakneck pace, larger-than-a-galaxy action sequences, and heroic characters battling impossible odds with everything on the line. Rebel Moon — Part Two: The Scargiver continues the story of Kora and her surviving allies as they face off against Admiral Atticus Noble and the Imperium legion. With the collective force of the Realm gathered to destroy them, this rag-tag band of rebels mounts a last stand to free the villagers of Veldt. In other words, it’s rip-roaring space adventure.
Starts streaming April 19
Scoop
This ripped-from-the-headlines films tells the story of how BBC’s Newsnight secured the TV interview with Prince Andrew that led to his downfall. Based on the account of Newsnight’s booker Sam McAlister, Scoop takes us behind the scenes of the scoop of the century, detailing how McAlister (played by Billie Piper) secured an “un-gettable” interview with Prince Andrew (Rufus Sewell), and how journalist Emily Maitlis (Gillian Anderson) grilled the prince on air about his connection to Jeffery Epstein, leading to his withdrawal from official royal duties.
Starts streaming April 5
Dead Boy Detectives
The ghosts at the center of Dead Boy Detectives don’t spend time haunting people; they solve crimes instead. Based on the comic from Neil Gaiman and Matt Wagner, and set in Gaiman’s Sandman universe, Dead Boy Detectives follows Edwin and Charles (George Rexstrew and Charles Rowland), best dead friends spending their afterlives solving supernatural crimes. With the help of their clairvoyant pal Crystal (Kassius Nelson), the Dead Boys will face off against witches, monsters, and other supernatural enemies to solve the earthly realms most baffling mysteries.
Starts streaming April 25
Good Times
With the help of executive producer Seth MacFarlane, Netflix has revived Norman Lear’s seminal 1970s sitcom Good Times and re-imagined it as an R-rated animated series. Featuring the voices of J.B. Smoove, Yvette Nicole Brown, Jay Pharoah, and more, Good Times tells the story of the latest generation of the Evans family who are scratching and surviving, hanging and jiving, in a Chicago housing project. The details have been modernized, but the theme of togetherness in the face of hard times remains the same.
Starts streaming April 12
Unlocked: A Jail Experiment
This documentary tells the fascinating story of a radical experiment conducted in an Arkansas jail. Faced with deteriorating conditions, mistreatment of prisoners, and a high recidivism rate, Sheriff Eric Higgins ordered all the cell doors opened and gave the prisoners the authority to make decisions about how the jail should be run. The goal was to see whether autonomy would result in a greater sense of community, a more humane lock-up, and fewer accused criminals returning to the clink. Check out Unlocked: A Jail Experiment to see how well it worked.
Starts streaming April 10
Baby Reindeer
This dark comedy series illustrates the adage “no good deed goes unpunished.” Written, directed, and starring comedian Richard Gadd, Baby Reindeer is a fictionalized version of real events in his life. Gadd plays bartender Donny Dunn, who shows kindness to a troubled customer named Martha. Dunn’s innocent altruism leads to Martha becoming obsessed and throwing both of their lives into chaos. Baby Reindeer consciously avoids the typical tropes of stories about stalkers, choosing to focus on the reality of what it’s like to be the center of an unhinged person’s world.
Starts streaming April 11
Files of the Unexplained
If you’re in the right mood, a docuseries about eerie encounters, unexplained disappearances, haunted houses, and UFOs hits the spot. Files of the Unexplained features eight episodes, with each exploring a different perplexing mystery including alien abduction, a spate of human feet washing up on beaches, and people seemingly vanishing into thin air. There’s probably a rational explanation for these events, but what if there isn’t?
Starts streaming April 3
Fern Brady: Autistic Bikini Queen
If you like stand-up comedy but you’re sick of the same old shizz, check out Fern Brady: Autistic Bikini Queen. The Scottish standup, podcaster, and writer's unique life story, personality, and neurodivergence guarantees unique and screamingly funny takes on sex, drinking, autism, feminism, and everything else.
Starts streaming April 22
What Jennifer Did
When a Vietnamese immigrant couple is brutally slain in their home, police are baffled. The sole survivor of the crime, the couple’s daughter Jennifer, lays the blame on masked intruders on a rampage, but there’s something suspicious about her account. What Jennifer Did digs deeply into this shocking crime through interrogation footage of Jennifer and interviews with the people involved, revealing a story with unexpected twists, baffling motives, and a most unlikely perpetrator.
Starts streaming April 10
The Antisocial Network: Memes to Mayhem
This Netflix documentary pulls open the metaphorical cabinet of 4Chan so we can watch the online roaches scurry. As told by The Antisocial Network: Memes to Mayhem, 4chan started as an online hangout for creative homebound miscreants but devolved into a hive of scum and villainy that pierced the veil between the online and real worlds, turning our entire culture into a message board flame war in the process.
Starts streaming April 5
Our Living World
Cate Blanchett narrates this family-friendly nature documentary that travels the world to explore the interconnectedness of nature. Our Living World’s stunning wildlife photography, breathtaking locations, and timely and trenchant observations about the beauty and fragility of the natural world probably won’t slow mankind’s destruction of the planet by a single second, but you never know, and we might as well look at it while it's here.
Starts streaming April 17