What to Watch in July 2024

Your monthly guide to all the best new films & TV shows coming in July 2024...

FILM

Longlegs (July 12)

Maika Monroe leads the cast of this taut mystery-thriller / horror from director Osgood Perkins. Set in the 1990s, this dark tale revolves around new FBI agent Lee Harker, who finds herself assigned to an unsolved case involving several deaths and a serial killer who goes by the name of Longlegs. Things get more serious when Harker uncovers a family connection to the killer and must act quickly if she is to prevent yet another murder.

Thelma (July 19)

Scams targeting the elderly have become more and more commonplace in recent years, with technology used in increasingly clever ways in order to hoodwink unsuspecting marks out of their valuables, but when thieves decide to pick on 93-year old Thelma Post, the protagonist of Josh Margolin’s heartwarming new comedy, it isn’t long before they realise they’ve messed with the wrong grandma.

June Squibb leads this enjoyable film in the role of the titular heroine, who finds herself victim to a ploy in which scammers use Artificial Intelligence to mimic the voice of her son in a phone call, convincing Thelma he needs $10,000 to be bailed out of jail. When Thelma realises she’s been conned, she sets out on a mission to get her money back – and get her revenge. Also featuring a brilliant supporting turn from former Shaft star Richard Roundtree, Thelma is one of the more unusual prospects heading to cinema screens this month, but one worth checking out when it arrives on July 19

Twisters (July 19)

With almost 30 years having passed since Jan du Bont’s natural disaster thriller Twister first arrived in cinemas, its sequel has certainly been a long time in the making. At one point during its long gestation, one of the original film’s stars, Helen Hunt, had designs on directing her own version featuring a story in which she planned to kill off her own character in the first act. Sadly, Hunt’s enjoyably mad proposal was declined and instead we’re offered a ‘standalone sequel’ starring an all-new cast that includes Daisy Edgar-Jones, Glen Powell and Anthony Ramos.

Lee Isaac Chung directs the action on Twisters, which sees Edgar-Jones’ character lured back into the world of studying the extreme weather phenomena to test a groundbreaking new tracking system that will allow them a deeper understanding of how to predict future disasters. Soon though the crew are fighting for their lives as multiple weather systems converge over the Oklahoma skies. More of an updated reboot than a sequel, Twisters is nevertheless worth a watch if disaster movies are your thing.

Fly Me to the Moon (July 12)

 Channing Tatum and Scarlett Johansson star in this retro rom-com set in the 1960s at the height of the space race between the United States and the Soviet Union. Tatum plays the man in charge of the Apollo 11 launch, while Johansson co-stars as a PR specialist brought in to revitalise NASA’s image – and stage a back-up ‘fake’ moon-landing, just in case the real mission fails. Naturally, romance ensues…

Directed by Greg Berlanti and also featuring the likes of Ray Romano and Woody Harrelson among its cast, this’ll be ideal for romantic comedy lovers and space nerds alike.

Despicable Me 4 (July 12)

Need something to entertain the family with this month? Or maybe you just enjoy a bit of silliness yourself? On both counts, the fourth film in the much-loved Despicable Me series is sure to deliver.

This time supervillain-tuned-good-guy Gru finds himself under threat when Maxime Le Mal returns and swears revenge on Gru for his incarceration. The Minions meanwhile try their hand at being superheroes after the Anti-Villain League provides them with superpowers, but their new careers look like they may be short-lived.

Steve Carrell, Kristen Wiig and Will Ferrell all return alongside a voice cast which also includes Stephen Colbert, Sofia Vergara and Steve Coogan, among many others, with Ice Age director Chris Renaud taking the helm for the fourth instalment. Despicable Me 4 is set to arrive in the UK on July 12.

TV

A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder (BBC One / iPlayer, July 1)

Based on the best-selling novel series by Holly Jackson, this hotly-anticipated TV adaptation arrives early on this month with the whole series set to land on BBC iPlayer on July 1. For those unfamiliar with the books, the plot centres around a 17-year-old true crime enthusiast named Pip who sets out to discover the truth about a murder-suicide that occurred five years earlier, involving the death of a popular student Andie Bell and the suicide of her supposed killer, Sal Singh.

Convinced that Sal is innocent and Andie’s real killer is still at large, Pip teams up with Sal’s younger brother Ravi and investigates under the guise of carrying out a school project, but soon finds herself caught in a web of intrigue and mystery – with her own life under threat. Starring Emma Myers alongside Ryan Davies, Jackson Bews and Anna Maxwell Martin, this one’s sure to be a treat for fans of the novels and whodunnit enjoyers alike.

The Decameron (Netflix, July 25)

Inspired by Giovanni Boccaccio’s famed collection of short stories written in the 14^th century, this new comedy series from Kathleen Jordan (Teenage Bounty Hunters) and Jenji Kohan (Weeds, Orange is the New Black) broadly follows the same basic premise. Set in 1348 as The Black Death ravages the Italian city of Florence, a group of nobles flee to a villa in the hills of Tuscany, where they plan to avoid the deadly disease and amuse themselves with copious amounts of wine, sex and storytelling. However, they soon find themselves fighting for their survival.

Zosia Mamet, Jessica Plummer and Arrested Development’s Tony Hale are among those cast as the Tuscan revellers, with Michael Uppendahl (Mad Men, Fargo) set to direct the show’s debut episode, which is due to arrive on Netflix on July 25.

Lady in the Lake (Apple TV+, July 19)

Natalie Portman stars in this adaptation of Laura Lippman’s 2019 novel, which in turn is inspired by two real-life murders that took place in 1960s Baltimore. Portman stars as Maddie Schwartz, a bored Jewish housewife who resolves to shed her past and reinvent herself as an investigative reporter after becoming obsessed with the unsolved murders of a young Jewish girl and a black bartender named Cleo (Moses Ingram). In trying to solve the two cases and land her first byline for the local newspaper, Maddie finds herself in jeopardy as she learns that not everybody wants the truth to emerge.

Directed by Alma Har'el (Honey Boy) with Lippman serving as an executive producer, Lady in the Lake is a tense and intriguing noirish thriller with enough twists and turns to keep you on the edge of your seat throughout.

Sunny (Apple TV+, July 10)

Another new mystery set to arrive on Apple TV+ this month, Sunny makes its debut on July 10 and follows the story of an American woman living in Kyoto, Japan with her husband and their son, whose life is turned upside down when both are killed in a plane crash.

After their deaths, she is visited by one of her husband’s former colleagues, who delivers an unexpected gift: an AI-powered robot named Sunny which, the colleague explains, was designed and built by her late husband. This comes as a surprise to her since as far as she knew, her husband designed refrigerators. With the help of the robot, she begins to investigate her husband’s secret life and soon discovers that his death may not have been as accidental as she had been led to believe.

Rashida Jones stars alongside Hidetoshi Nishijima, Jun Kunimura and Judy Ongg.

Exploding Kittens (Netflix, July 12)

Last but by no means least on our list of July TV recommendations is this oddball animated comedy based on the card game of the same name created by Matthew Inman. The bizarre plot goes something like this: God has grown bored of his creation and, as a result, his popularity on Earth is waning. God’s PR team hatch a plan to send him down to Earth to reconnect with humans, but there’s a catch: his omnipotent powers will be somewhat limited on Earth since he’ll be forced to take on the form of a cat.

Things get even weirder when it transpires that the Devil himself has also emerged on Earth – and is also a cat. What follows is an existential battle between good and evil in which only one kitty will survive. Featuring a voice cast that includes Lucifer star Tom Ellis, Suzy Nakamura, Sasheer Zamata and Kenny Yates, Exploding Kittens is surely the weirdest TV show coming in July, but it’s well worth a look all the same.