Every month, all the major streaming services add a host of newly acquired (or just plain new) shows, movies, and documentaries into their ever-rotating libraries. So what’s a dedicated reader to watch? Well, whatever you want, of course, but the name of this website is Literary Hub, so we sort of have an angle. To that end, here’s a selection of the best (and most enjoyably bad) literary film and TV coming to streaming services this month. Have fun.
NEW:
A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder
Netflix, 8/1
Literary bona fides: based on Holly Jackson’s A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder (2019)
In which Pip Fitz-Amobi (a British show, you say?) goes on a mission to figure out the truth behind a five-year-old teenage murder-suicide—as a school project, natch. But things, as they tend to do when you’re hunting down a murderer who thought they got away with it, soon spiral out of control.
One Life (streaming debut)
Paramount+, 8/5
Literary bona fides: based on Barbara Winton’s If It’s Not Impossible…The Life of Sir Nicholas Winton (2014)
Anthony Hopkins stars in this heartfelt biopic about Nicholas Winton, a British stockbroker who helped hundreds of Jewish children escape German-occupied Czechoslovakia in the months leading up to WWII—and who, decades later, got to meet some of those children on the BBC television show That’s Life. (2024 preview)
The Bikeriders (streaming debut)
Peacock, 8/9
Literary bona fides: based on The Bikeriders by Danny Lyon (1967)
Delayed half a year due to the SAG-AFTRA strike, Jeff Nichols’ latest film is based on an iconic photo-book by influential documentary photographer Danny Lyon, who embedded with the Chicago Outlaws Motorcycle Club from 1963-1967 and emerged with incredible photographs and stories. The film, which tracks the club’s transformation over a decade, stars Jodie Comer, along with Austin Butler, Tom Hardy, Michael Shannon, Mike Faist, and Norman Reedus. (2024 preview)
Bad Monkey
Apple TV+, 8/14
Literary bona fides: based on Carl Hiaasen’s Bad Monkey (2013)
The plots are not really the point in Carl Hiaasen’s goofy, satirical crime thrillers—it’s mostly about vibes, and if the trailer is indication, Vince Vaughn (the ultimate Florida Man) is nailing it in this Bill Lawrence adaptation.
The Supremes at Earl’s All-You-Can-Eat
Hulu, 8/23
Literary bona fides: based on Edward Kelsey Moore’s The Supremes at Earl’s All-You-Can-Eat (2013)
A feel-good film about female friendship over the decades, starring Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, Sanaa Lathan, and Uzo Aduba, as the “Supremes,” who are facing their most difficult year yet, along with Mekhi Phifer, Julian McMahon, Vondie Curtis-Hall, and Russell Hornsby.
Pachinko (Season 2)
Apple TV+, 8/23
Literary bona fides: based on Min Jin Lee’s Pachinko (2017)
The long-awaited second season of Pachinko is finally here—your cue to start watching from the beginning, if you haven’t yet.
Kaos
Netflix, 8/29
Literary bona fides: based on classical mythology
Is it based on a book? It is not. But as anyone raised on D’Aulaires can tell you, myths count—especially when the series in question stars Jeff Goldblum as Zeus. A very angry Zeus. (Also, Debi Mazar is Medusa, to which I can only say YAS.) This looks weird as hell, so here’s hoping it’s good.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (Season 2)
Prime Video, 8/29
Literary bona fides: based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings (and appendices thereof)
Season two of the relentless Tolkien IP onslaught “plunges even its most beloved and vulnerable characters into a rising tide of darkness, challenging each to find their place in a world that is increasingly on the brink of calamity.” Well, it’ll probably be good.
THROWBACK:
Psycho (1960)
Prime Video, 8/1
Literary bona fides: based on Robert Bloch’s Psycho (1959)
Hitchcock’s American horror classic is always worth a rewatch—if you can handle the chocolate syrup, that is.
The Warriors (1979)
Prime Video, Paramount+, 8/1
Literary bona fides: based on Sol Yurick’s The Warriors (1965)
A cult classic for the warriors (and fashionistas) in us all—become a stan now, before Lin-Manuel Miranda gets his paws on it, and everyone you know is cosplaying as a Baseball Fury.
Cujo (1983)
Paramount+, 8/1
Literary bona fides: based on Stephen King’s Cujo (1981)
Oh, classic ’80s horror movies! According to the Los Angeles Times, the original Cujo was portrayed by “four St. Bernards, several mechanical dogs, and a black Labrador–Great Dane mix in a St. Bernard costume.” Can you count them all? (Or will you, like me, be busy hiding?)
Sense And Sensibility (1995)
Prime Video, 8/1
Literary bona fides: based on Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility (1811)
Sort of underrated (or at least under-rewatched) as Austen adaptations go, but still slaps. With Emma Thompson (who wrote the screenplay), Kate Winslet, Hugh Grant, and Alan Rickman, was there ever any doubt?
Emma (1996)
Paramount+, 8/1
Literary bona fides: based on Jane Austen’s Emma (1815)
And why not make it a double feature with another great ’90s Austen adaptation? You know you love it: Gwyneth Paltrow, Alan Cumming, Toni Collette, Ewan McGregor, and Jeremy Northam in the Millennials’ Emma.
Election (1999)
Paramount+, 8/1
Literary bona fides: based on Tom Perrotta’s Election (1998)
Sure, she did the face in Cruel Intentions, but Reese Witherspoon’s star turn as Tracy Flick is what really made her a legend.
Sherlock Holmes (2009)
HBO Max, 8/1
Literary bona fides: based on the Arthur Conan Doyle characters
It’s fairly corny, but hard not to love—or at least enjoy—Guy Ritchie’s desaturated vision of Sherlock Holmes, with Jude Law as Watson, Mark Strong as the perfect villain, and Robert Downey Jr. as the man himself.
Renfield (2023)
Peacock, 8/9
Literary bona fides: based (sorta) on Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1897)
Is it good? No. Is it bad? No! Is it Nicolas Cage as Dracula? You bet your sweet blood vessels.
