Another week of new Netflix releases is upon us, with the streaming giant set to add almost 20 new titles to its library over the course of next week. That pile of content includes everything from major new originals to documentaries, reality TV series, international releases, and much more.
For a complete rundown of everything that’s hitting the streaming giant over the next seven days, our monthly Netflix guide is the perfect source to consult. It lists all of the original TV series, movies, and more that hit the streamer each day throughout the month — and, on a related note, our regular Netflix coverage also includes a weekly analysis of the streamer’s global Top 10 TV chart (available below).
For now, as we’ve noted above, subscribers have 17 new titles that are coming to Netflix between now and August 10. Our monthly guide lists them all — but, because many of the new titles likely won’t appeal to mainstream audiences here for one reason or another, I want to call your attention to the two new releases that I’d focus on next week if I were you:
- The fourth and final season of The Umbrella Academy (coming Aug. 8)
- And a feel-good documentary about man’s best friend, narrated by Rob Lowe — Inside the Mind of a Dog (coming Aug. 9)
These are the two that I’d start with and feel like they have the widest and most mainstream potential. Of course, subgroups of Netflix subscribers will be interested in other titles coming next week for this or that reason (maybe you just can’t get enough of the UK edition of Love is Blind). For those, I’d direct you to our monthly guide.
Now, let’s dive right in and take a closer look at the two new releases I recommend checking out next week:
The Umbrella Academy: Season 4
First up: It’s time to say goodbye to Netflix’s superhero adventure series The Umbrella Academy, which is based on the comic series of the same name by Gerard Way.
Following a group of estranged siblings with superpowers, reunited after their father dies, The Umbrella Academy premiered on Netflix back in 2019 and is preparing to debut its fourth and final season, one that features new characters and villains and looks set to go out with a bang. The new episodes are “really, really packed with classic Umbrella Academy family nonsense and shenanigans that you look forward to,” Emmy Raver-Lampman, who plays Allison Hargreeves, said in a Netflix promotional interview.
In terms of the plot of the new season, the Hargreeves siblings have scattered after the climactic showdown at the Hotel Oblivion led to a complete reset of their timeline. Continues Netflix: “Stripped of their powers, each is left to fend for themselves and find a new normal — with wildly varying degrees of success. Yet the trappings of their uncanny new world prove too hard to ignore for very long.
“Their father Reginald, alive and well, has stepped out of the shadows and into the public eye, overseeing a powerful and nefarious business empire. A mysterious association known as The Keepers holds clandestine meetings, believing the reality they’re living in is a lie and a great reckoning is coming. As these strange new forces conspire around them, the Umbrella Academy must come together one last time — and risk upsetting the shaky peace they’ve all endured so much to secure — to finally set things right.”
Inside the Mind of a Dog
Next, we turn to a heartwarming documentary about man’s best friend, which is also a companion piece/follow-up to the 2022 documentary Inside the Mind of a Cat.
This time around, the focus switches to dogs, and the film is narrated by an actor who not only has the perfect warm and approachable voice for this sort of thing; Rob Lowe is also a dog-lover himself. He even starred in the 2023 Netflix movie Dog Gone, a heart-on-its-sleeve story about a boy who loses his dog.
Here’s a summary from Netflix about the pupper-focused doc: “Explore the ancient and complex human-dog relationship, reveal cutting edge research and offer at-home tips for dog owners everywhere. Following our main characters — a brilliant, super trained border collie; a precocious pug; and a lovable rescued mutt — our team of elite canine experts from across the globe, dive deep into our best friend’s hidden mind, to answer everyone’s biggest canine questions.”
I don’t know about you, but I’ve certainly had a stressful week and could use a supremely comforting documentary like this one, which is all about cuddly canines.
Check out trailers for The Umbrella Academy and Inside the Mind of a Dog below.
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