Everything That’s Streaming in May 2024

A top-heavy May brings a string of bangers to VoD platforms, with Jeff Daniels playing a defiant mogul in A Man In Full and Shane Gillis’s new workplace comedy Tires rolling onto Netflix. Amazon Prime is diving into a second season of Outer Range, and Apple TV is debuting the anticipated sci-fi thriller Dark Matter starring Jennifer Connelly and Joel Edgerton. Hulu offers a whackadoo-bananas tale of reality TV gone horribly wrong in The Contestant, and Jean Smart returns to the stage for a third season of Hacks on Max. Disney Plus is the home of a tender Jim Henson documentary from Ron Howard, along with a brand-new season of Doctor Who. May’s entertainment options are dizzying, but Book & Film Globe’s definitive streaming guide will help you find your next favorite watch:

Netflix

Bodkin (May 9) – Following Bill Hader’s lead into dark comedy with Barry, fellow SNL alum Will Forte encounters the fey side of Ireland in a soggy, strange new mystery series. Forte joins two other podcasters who set out to investigate the cold-case disappearance of three strangers during Samhain celebrations in a gloomy coastal Irish town. But as they dig deeper and the ancient pagan ritual approaches once again, they uncover a story that’s much bigger than a serial killer– and realize that the cold case might not be cold at all. Fact and fiction blur while the trio confront deeper issues about narrative agency and the nature of storytelling itself to justify beliefs and ease psychological fears.

A Man in Full (May 2) – Jeff Daniels is backed by big production names and a star-studded cast in a much-ballyhooed adaptation of Tom Wolfe’s novel about a savage real estate mogul facing bankruptcy. Daniels shows his teeth (and a dubious Georgia accent) as splenetic blowhard Charlie Croker, whose colorful lifestyle that includes splurging on a personal Shania Twain performance has him locked in a power struggle with the vultures who want to devour his business empire. The six-episode series scaled its production to reflect Croker’s elite world, with Regina King (Shirley) producing/directing and David E. Kelley (The Lincoln Lawyer) writing, including a red-carpet cast of Diane Lane, William Jackson Harper, Lucy Liu, Aml Ameen and Bill Camp.

Unfrosted: The Pop-Tart Story (May 3) – Capitalist marketing and an industrializing food industry set the stage for a rivalry to eclipse the space race in Jerry Seinfeld’s new move about nothing: the “breakfast wars” between Kellogg’s and Post brands. It’s 1963 and the cereal rivals race to create a pastry that will reinvent the American morning forever. The silly narrative hook hangs a Forrest Gump’s journey through a pivotal decade for the ambitious postwar country and an adolescent Seinfeld, revisiting the fantasy of childhood memory through a seasoned absurdist’s eye.

Writer, director and star Seinfeld is joined by an enormous “We Are the World”-level ensemble cast: Melissa McCarthy, Jim Gaffigan, Tony Hale, Amy Schumer, Cedric the Entertainer, Peter Dinklage, Aparla Nancherna, Fred Armisen, Kyle Mooney, Mikey Day, Beck Bennett, Bobby Moynihan, Cedric Yarbrough and Patrick Lennon (Reno 911!), Jon Hamm and John Slattery (Mad Men), Christian Slater, Jack McBrayer, James Marsden as original fitness influencer Jack LaLanne, Dan Levy as Andy Warhol, and Bill Burr as a surprisingly sellable JFK.

Tires (May 23) – Fresh from a successful standup special and a viral SNL hosting gig, Shane Gillis road tests his first scripted series that he headlined, executive produced and co-created. The raunchy new workplace comedy to premiere after his performances during Netflix is a Joke Fest (running May 2 –12). Tires follows Will (Steven Gerben), the anxious, struggling heir of an auto repair chain as he attempts to turn the business around despite relentlessly un-PC torment from his cousin and now employee, Shane. Gillis mitigates the show’s toilet humor by underdelivering the material, grounding and sharpening its bite by never trying to be anything more than the funny guy at work. The six-episode comedy series also stars Chris O’Connor, Kilah Fox and Stavros Halkias, with guest appearances by fellow comic Andrew Schulz.

Eric (May 30) – When 9-year-old Edgar goes missing in 1980s Manhattan, his grieving puppeteer father Vincent (Benedict Cumberbatch) has a stress-induced break, causing his son’s drawing of a puppet named Eric to come to life. Believing that putting Eric on his popular children’s show will lead him to his son, Vincent sinks into addiction and paranoia in a corrupt New York City, discovering that the real monsters live much closer to home.

Also playing:

Katt Williams: Woke Foke (May 4)

Bridgerton Season 3 Part 1 (May 16)

Visit Netflix for a full list of releases.

Hulu

The Contestant (May 2) –The Contestant explores the unsettling story behind a 1990s Japanese reality show where a man nicknamed Nasubi was left naked and isolated in a room for 15 months, forced to fill out magazine sweepstakes to earn food and clothing as his mental deterioration was broadcast across the country to a rapt audience, “Truman Show” style. Director Clair Titley interviews Nasubi, producer Toshio Tsuchiya, and others close to the story, exploring further twists in Nasubi’s life after the show ended and challenging viewers with uncomfortable questions about the ethics behind reality television, surveillance culture bleeding into voyeurism, and the perils of postmodern stardom.

Shardlake (May 1) – Murderous monks provide an off-continent update of The Name of the Rose in a new historical crime thriller based on the C.J. Sansom books set in 16th century England during the dissolution of the Catholic monasteries. Henry VIII’s power-hungry adviser Thomas Cromwell (Sean Bean) hires Matthew Shardlake (Arthur Hughes) to investigate the decapitation of a commissioner sent to a decaying monastery to strip it for parts and pass its wealth to the king. The monks, who all have a motive to kill the man sent to disband them, offer a suspect lineup straight out of Clue – including a mysterious hooded figure who may hold all the answers to the murder.

Black Twitter: A People’s History (May 9) – Based on Jason Partham’s WIRED article, this 3-part docuseries charts the rise of the internet’s hub for Black community, commentary, and creativity. From politics to pop culture, executive producers Prentice Penny and Joie Jacoby look back on the informal network-turned-social bellwether and incubator that’s shaped and catalyzed Black American life online for the last 15 years. Many of the original participants in Parham’s piece return to discuss memorable memes, movements and hashtags that make Black Twitter what it is today, while Penny and Jacoby move his piece forward into the present to include Elon Musk’s acquisition of the platform.

Also playing:

Life Below Zero: First Alaskans Season 3 (May 1)

Visit Hulu for a full list of releases.

Amazon Prime

Outer Range Season 2 (May 16) – The hit sci-fi Western series dives deeper into a brain-knotting mystery after rancher Royal Abbott (Josh Brolin) discovers a fathomless void in his pasture, setting in motion a struggle over control of the phenomenon. With the big ol’ hole revealed to be a time travel portal, several characters with their own agendas – revealed to be from the past or the future – are hopping in and out of the chasm. Meanwhile Royal and his wife Cecelia (Lili Taylor) struggle to keep their family together after their granddaughter’s sudden disappearance, while land-hungry rivals, unscrupulous scientists and an abyss-worshipping cult threaten their livelihood. As the fabric of space-time flows beneath Royal’s ranch, a series of profound events is about shake the very foundations of reality.

The Idea of You (May 2) – Based on Robinne Lee’s May-September romance novel, The Idea of You centers on Solène (Anne Hathaway), a 40-year-old single mom who begins an unexpected romance with Hayes (Nicholas Galitzine), the 24-year-old lead singer of a world-famous boy band. When Solène chaperones her teenage daughter to a music festival, a chance encounter with Hayes sparks a passionate secret romance that has the couple meeting up in tour cities for spicy trysts. But when the truth is discovered, Hayes’s fame, their age gap, a vicious fan backlash, and a faltering relationship with her daughter begin to challenge their relationship and Solène has to decide whether she wants a life in the glare of his spotlight. Hathaway says she produced the film with women over 30 in mind in hopes of ending the narrative that “people hate happy women.”

 The GOAT Season 1 (May 9) – 14 fan-favorite reality stars move into GOAT Manor to face off in a winner-take all competition hosted by Daniel Tosh, an unserious new show that pokes fun at the reality television paradigm with the help of its own outrageous cast of characters. The contestants (from shows like Real Housewives, Survivor, and Shahs of Sunset) will battle it out in a series of absurd-to-humiliating mental, physical, and social challenges to win $200k and the title of Greatest Of All Time. From the producers of The Bachelor and The Office, The GOAT keeps it silly to satirize the alliances, betrayals, and petty rivalries that add up to reality television’s sacra formula: bad blood between beautiful people with personality disorders. Even if it’s over an obstacle course featuring safety helmets and slime. “I do not want to be this invested in a show called The GOAT,” says one turgid-lipped contestant in a moment of insight. We don’t either, but like most reality television, we may not be able to look away.

Also playing:

The Blue Angels (May 23)

The Outlaws Season 3 (May 31)

Visit Amazon Prime for a full list of releases.

Max

Hacks Season 3 (May 2) – Jean Smart’s unsinkable comic doyenne Deborah Vance is at the top of her game in the third season of the Emmy-winning comedy series. A year after parting ways with her writer Ava (Hannah Einbinder), Deborah is riding high on the success of her standup special and living large in Las Vegas while Ava chases new writing opportunities back in Los Angeles. But when fate reunites them, the pair decide to work through their difficult relationship to create comedy magic while Ava pushes Deborah to want more for herself and use her revived stardom to blaze a new professional path. A comic stage veteran herself, Smart carries the culmination of Deborah’s career and the weight of building a creative legacy with a poignancy that feels personal. “I’ve got all these eyes on me. I’m finally respected,” Deborah says. “Anything I want to do, I have to do now.”

Stax: Soulsville, U.S.A. (May 20) – Stax is the story of a fearless interracial musical collaboration during desegregation in 1960s Memphis, and the creation of an underdog record label that became one of the world’s most influential producers of Black music. Driven by instinct and eschewing trends and marketing, the label went from ultimate outsider to creative beacon and ushered in the generation-defining soul music of artists like Otis Redding, Isaac Hayes, Booker T. & the M.G.’s, and The Staple Singers. Stax is a classic American legend of a group of rule-bucking musicophiles who defied prevailing norms to make their own sounds on their own terms, and created a musical juggernaut that continues to define and influence our culture to this day.

MoviePass, MovieCrash (May 29) – Another corporate takedown story details the origin, rise and collapse of the theater subscription app as told through the eyes of its co-founders and techpreneurs Stacy Spikes and Hamet Watt. The documentary chronicles MoviePass’s beginnings as an innovative movie ticketing model, its aspirational mission, early successes and eventual implosion as new execs pushed out Spikes and Watt, lowered the subscription price, and left the business bankrupt and under investigation for securities fraud. But the cautionary tale has a happier epilogue: Spikes recently bought MoviePass back for a song and relaunched it, running its first-ever profitable year in 2023.

Also playing:

The Iron Claw (May 10)

Nikki Glaser: Someday You’ll Die (May 11)

Visit Max for a full list of releases.

Disney+

Jim Henson Idea Man (May 31) – Jim Henson Idea Man takes us into the mind and career of the funky visionary puppeteer, from his early years on local television to the global success of Sesame Street, The Muppet Show, Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal. Featuring early footage from Jim’s personal archives, director Ron Howard offers a tender look back at a complex, driven dreamer whose boundless imagination has inspired generations – and how the sensitive genius interacted with his own fame. “Jim created out of innocence,” says one interviewee. “He showed people the good in all of us.”

Doctor Who Season 14 (May 11) – The anticipated new season of Doctor Who finds the Fifteenth Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) and his companion Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson) traveling across time and space in the TARDIS, with the alien Time Lord embarking on adventures in the Regency era, the Swinging Sixties, war-torn future worlds and prehistoric forests. The pair will encounter new friends, supernatural villains and slavering monsters – including their most powerful enemy yet – as the dapper Doctor and his sidekick set out to save the world from the vast forces that control the universe. The eight-episode season is also expected to bring back some familiar faces and resolve running mysteries like the identity of Ruby’s mother and the enigmatic Mrs. Flood (Anita Dobson).

The Beach Boys (May 24) – Frank Marshall and Thom Zimny’s new documentary celebrates and complicates the legendary band that changed pop music with their harmonious sound and helped create the California dream in popular consciousness. From their humble beginnings as a SoCal family band to worldwide fame (and a pop rivalry with a certain British quartet), the documentary pulls together a sun-soaked tapestry of beach culture, global stardom, betrayal and creative conflict during a pivotal era for American music. The Beach Boys includes never-before-seen footage, archival recordings from its late members Carl and Dennis Wilson, and new interviews with former and current band members as well as music stars like Lindsey Buckingham, Janelle Monáe, Ryan Tedder and Don Was.

Also playing:

Star Wars: Tales of the Empire (May 4)

Visit Disney+ for a full list of releases.

Apple TV+

Dark Matter (May 8) – Joel Edgerton and Jennifer Connelly trade timelines and piercing looks in a filmic retread of Blake Crouch’s bestselling novel, a new sci-fi thriller series that explores the road not taken and the unseen worlds that lurk in the negative spaces of our lives. The show centers around Jason (Edgerton), a physicist, professor, and family man who is kidnapped and thrown into an alternate world where he’s not married to his wife, his son was never born, and he’s not a college teacher but a celebrated genius. Lost in a maze of potential lives, he must find a way to get back to his family and save them from his swapped-out alter – who comes from a very dark timeline. Concluding with a gut-warping twist, Dark Matter promises to keep fans guessing until the credits roll.

Hollywood Con Queen (May 22) – The latest fraudumentary centers around a long-running scam that wreaked havoc in Hollywood, when a mysterious scammer impersonated powerful female executives to lure hundreds of film industry hopefuls to Indonesia on the promise of working with major production names. Scott Johnson of The Hollywood Reporter partnered with private investigator Nicole Kotsianas and traveled overseas to uncover the identity of the so-called Con Queen – and reveal what would drive someone to build such an elaborate and successful fantasy. As the strange story comes into focus, Johnson and Kotsianas could never have anticipated the truth behind the bizarre grift.

The Big Cigar (May 17) – A new period thriller based on Joshuah Bearman’s 2012 Playboy article whisks us along with Black Panther Party founder Huey P. Newton (André Holland) as he plans to flee to Cuba with the Party-busting FBI hot on his heels. Newton’s voluntary manslaughter conviction in the shooting death of an Oakland police officer had been overturned, and the feds were looking to put him behind bars again. His idealism and charisma endear him to Hollywood producer Bert Schneider (Alessandro Nivola), who eventually helps Newton make good his escape by staging a fake movie production for a film called The Big Cigar. Don Cheadle serves as executive producer and directs two episodes of the historical drama that’s half Ocean’s Eleven, half Argo.

Also playing:

Trying Season 4 (May 22)

Visit Apple TV+ for a full list of releases.

Peacock

The Tattooist of Auschwitz (May 2) – A new series adapts Heather Morris’ bestselling book based on the true story of a timeless romance between Jewish Holocaust survivors Lali (Jonah Hauer-King) and Gita Sokolov (Anna Próchniak), who fell in love against the odds when he tattooed her inmate ID number in the Auschwitz concentration camp. An elderly Lali (powerfully played by a haunted Harvey Keitel) looks back on the hardships the couple survived to stay together, leaning on their love to hold onto their humanity and the hope of freedom in the face of violence and terror. Lali was separated from Gita when the camp dissolved at the end of World War II before reuniting with her in Slovakia, where they lived out their years in honor and remembrance of the millions who could not.

We Are Lady Parts Season 2 (May 30) – Three years after its sparkling first-season debut, all-female Muslim punk band Lady Parts is back for an encore and season two is bringing big changes for the thrash quintet looking establish themselves in the London music scene. The band gets a new guitarist (Black Mirror’s Anjana Vasan) with “explosive” stage fright as their first U.K. tour jumps off and they start recording an album – all while facing a rival band out to steal their thunder. The musicians also deal with messy, complicated offstage lives while trying to balance their rock n roll ambitions with family and romance. Creator Nida Manzoor promises more original songs and singalong covers in the six-episode season, as the band members find their individual and collective voice and work out their own definition of success.

Visit Peacock for a full list of releases.

AMC+

The Truth Season 1 (May 27) – This tense Israeli crime thriller opens on the day a controversial decade-old murder case is to be given a final verdict, when a new murder happens in identical circumstances. Is the accused really innocent after all, or are more complex forces working in service of a larger plan? Young detective Racheli, a student at the high school where the first murder occurred, must revisit her own past and the trauma it hides to unravel the mysteries of the present.

Off Script With The Hollywood Reporter (May 24) – The fascinating interview show hosted by Emmy-nominated actor and comedian Yvonne Orji (Insecure) returns to spill gallons of unscripted, uncensored behind-the-scenes tea with Hollywood’s top names. A dynamic ensemble of actors, directors, producers and songwriters talk shop and transport viewers to film sets and recording studios to find out what it takes to make entertainment magic. Orji doesn’t shy away from delving deep into the urgent issues, creative styles and backstage narratives that define the industry. This season features sit-downs with celebrities Maya Rudolph, Kristen Wiig, Ricky Martin, Bowen Yang, and John Goodman among many others.

Also playing:

Anne Rice’s Interview With the Vampire – Season 2 (May 12)

Harry Wild – Season 3 (May 13)

Visit AMC+ for a full list of releases.