More than half of American adults have gotten at last one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and things seem to be slowly getting back to normal. Some movie theaters have reopened, which is why we decided to add cinema titles to our list of monthly releases.
Here are some of the highlights among May’s list of new or returning TV shows as well as some highly anticipated movies. We’ve been waiting for some of these titles for a long time.
May’s Many Releases on Netflix
Monster (May 7): Steve Harmon (Kelvin Harrison, Jr.) is a Black seventeen-year-old honor student at an elite high school whose life changes completely when he’s charged with a felony. This Netflix film comes with a stellar cast rounded out by John David Washington, Jennifer Hudson and the rapper A$AP Rocky.
The Woman in the Window (May 14): This movie adaptation of the 2018 mystery novel and bestseller of the same name by A. J. Finn is long overdue. The film, which stars Amy Adams in the role of an agoraphobic New Yorker who believes she’s witnessed something sinister in the house across from hers, was initially set to be released in October of 2019, right on the heels of the book’s success. It was delayed until the next year and then got postponed multiple times because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Netflix bought the rights, so we’ll be finally able to see how it compares to the original book soon.
Army of the Dead (May 21): After Zack Snyder’s Justice League on HBO Max, here comes the bombastic director’s next foray into the streaming realm. In the movie Army of the Dead, Snyder tells the story of a zombie outbreak in Las Vegas that sees a group of mercenaries, led by Dave Bautista, venture into the quarantine zone to try to pull off a heist.
Lucifer Season 5 part 2 (May 28): Fan favorite Lucifer and his partner, the detective Chloe Decker, return for an eight-episode second part of the fifth season of this procedural show. After seasons of Will They or Won’t They?, Lucifer and Chloe finally got together in the first part of season five. We now need to see if he’s ever going to be able to tell her he loves her. Especially after Lucifer’s twin brother, Michael, has been exploiting everyone’s insecurities and wreaking havoc in Los Angeles. Also, we’re already looking forward to this season’s musical episode.
Other Must-See Releases on Streaming
Pose Season 3 (May 2), FX: With seven episodes total, the third and final season of Pose promises to be another lesson in style, early ’90s fashion, tolerance, love and the meaning of family. Expect at least one heartfelt moment in which Blanca (Mj Rodriguez) makes us cry and a few in which Elektra (Dominique Jackson) shows us how to scold someone with the most class.
The Girlfriend Experience Season 3 (May 2), Starz: This Steven Soderbergh-executive produced show reimagines his 2009 movie of the same name, which portrays the relationships between high-end escorts and their clients, for whom they provide a sort of “girlfriend experience.” The third season of this anthology series will be set in the London tech scene.
The Underground Railroad (May 14), Amazon Prime: Oscar winner Barry Jenkins (Moonlight) is the showrunner and directs all 10 episodes of this limited series based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name by Colson Whitehead. Set in the antebellum South, the show stars Thuso Mbedu as Cora, a woman who escapes a Georgia plantation and discovers a railroad and a secret network of tracks and tunnels beneath the Southern soil.
In Treatment Season 4 (May 23), HBO: Uzo Aduba (Mrs. America) takes charge of the therapy sessions for this fourth season of In Treatment. The previous three seasons aired between 2008 and 2010 with Gabriel Byrne as the therapist in charge. The new 24-episode season will air on HBO with two back-to-back, half-hour episodes each Sunday and Monday night. The new episodes will be set in present-day Los Angeles and tackle issues such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
Let’s Throw a Couple of Documentaries Into the Mix
Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street (May 8), video on demand (VOD): This documentary focuses on the first two decades of the children’s educational program Sesame Street. By featuring its creators, artists, writers and educators, the doc will show us how the influential program was conceived. The documentary will be available in select theaters and VOD and is also expected to be available on HBO and HBO Max later in the year.
Pride (May 14), FX: This six-part documentary series focuses on the fight for LGBTQ civil rights in America over the last 60 years. Each part is directed by a different renowned LGBTQ director. Veteran independent producer Christine Vachon (Carol, Mildred Pierce) is executive producing the show.
And a Few More Movies to Watch Both in Theaters and at Home
Together Together (May 11), VOD: Written and directed by indie filmmaker Nikole Beckwith, the movie stars Ed Helms (The Hangover) as Matt, a man in his 40s who decides to be a single dad. He hires Anna (Patti Harrison) as the gestational surrogate and the two of them end up finding out they have a lot in common.
Those Who Wish Me Dead (May 14), theaters and HBO Max: Angelina Jolie plays a smokejumper traumatized by the three lives she couldn’t save in a previous fire — and then she encounters a 12-year-old boy (Finn Little) with no one else to turn. The movie is directed by Taylor Sheridan (Hell or High Water) and also stars Jon Bernthal (The Punisher), Aidan Gillen (Game of Thrones) and Tyler Perry.
Cruella (May 28), theaters and Disney+ Premier Access: This live-action film about Disney’s character Cruella de Vil is set in 1970s London and features a punk-rock look to die for. Emma Stone (La La Land) plays Stella, an ambitious woman who wants to become a name in the fashion industry. The origin story shows viewers how Stella went from trendy grifter to the revenge-seeking Cruella. As a Premier Access title, you’ll have to pay an extra $30 on top of your Disney+ subscription if you want to watch this movie home.
A Quiet Place II (May 28), theaters: John Krasinski returns as writer and director and Emily Blunt returns as the star of this sequel to Krasinki’s — who also happens to be Blunt’s husband — 2018s hit. The horror film is set in a post-apocalyptic world in which monsters are blind but have an extremely acute sense of hearing. So be prepared for some long, gut-wrenching, heart-pounding silent sequences.
