July streaming highlights

Luca Fontana

1.7.2025

Translation: Julia Graham

New month, new streaming recommendations. From Netflix to Disney+, Sky Show, Apple TV+ and Paramount+, these are our series and film picks on streaming services this July.

The other day, there was a dad with his young son at the Migros checkout. And then all of a sudden, you could hear Darth Vader’s theme. The dad looks at his phone and says dryly, «Oh dear, your mum’s calling.»

Being immortal sounds tempting. Until you realise that you lose everyone and everything again and again. Five years after part one, The Old Guard is back. With Charlize Theron as Andy, who suddenly becomes mortal. And with Quynh, who returns from the depths of the sea and wants answers. Perhaps also revenge. Andy definitely does.

The sequel leads the team of immortal warriors into a new chapter – with old wounds, new enemies and one central question: are they here to save or bring order? Victoria Mahoney takes over as director, but Greg Rucka remains the writer. Netflix promises action, pathos and even the prelude to a third part.

Starts: 2 July

The Sandman, season 2 (series)

For one last time, we dive into the fantasy world of Dream, as season 2 of The Sandman will also be the last. This is a decision that, according to showrunner Allan Heinberg, was already made in 2022 when it was clear that there was still enough material for exactly ten episodes to bring everything to a close.

The content is epic. The second series is based on the Season of Mists chapter of the original comic, a central work in Neil Gaiman’s mythology. Dream has to come to terms with his past, embark on a journey to hell and make up for more than just an old mistake.

Let’s see what it’s like. The trailer is visually impressive so should satisfy both comic fans and series junkies alike. And while Dream once again battles fate, guilt and the gods, there’s only one thing left for us to do: learn to let go. Because even the most beautiful dreams come to an end at some point.

Volume one starts: 3 July
Volume two starts: 24 July

Untamed (mini-series)

National parks are places of tranquillity. Or at least, that’s what I thought. But then I saw the trailer for Untamed. Eric Bana plays a special agent in the National Park Service, a kind of investigator caught between wilderness and madness. When a brutally mangled body is found in Yosemite, he uncovers a web of lies as well as ghosts of his own past.

What follows is a crime drama with a Yellowstone vibe, but less cowboy romance and more psychological gloom. Because different laws apply in the wilderness, even for those they’re supposed to protect. We get six 60-minute episodes and an impressive cast. As well as Bana, this includes Sam Neill, Rosemarie DeWitt, Wilson Bethel and Lily Santiago.

Starts: 17 July

Happy Gilmore 2 (film)

He’s wearing a Bruins shirt again. He’s swinging a club again. And of course, he goes crazy again. Almost 30 years after his first round of golf, Adam Sandler returns as Happy Gilmore – with rage in his belly, one-liners up his sleeve and a good dose of self-irony.

Netflix is serving up a full course of nostalgia, with Julie Bowen, Ben Stiller and Christopher McDonald returning, along with an absurdly prominent guest cast ranging from Bad Bunny and Eminem to golf stars like Rory McIlroy and Paige Spiranac. Well then. Let’s go, Happy!

Starts: 25 July

An airship. A child. An adventure that changes everything and is based on an award-winning novel. Washington Black adapts the book by Esi Edugyan and tells the story of Wash, an eleven-year-old boy on a sugar plantation in Barbados. When his talent for science is discovered, he flees with the eccentric scientist Titch on board a flying vehicle, the Cloud Cutter.

What follows is a visually breathtaking journey through continents, time planes and the inner world of a child who has to learn who he really is. The book at least aims to address topics such as freedom, identity and the power of mentorship without reducing itself to classic narratives of slavery.

Starts: 23 July

I don’t think any other series this summer has shown what war does to a person as starkly as The Narrow Road to the Deep North. Based on Richard Flanagan’s Booker Prize-winning novel, this mini-series tells the story of Dorrigo Evans, an Australian prisoner of war who’s forced to work on the construction of the Thai-Burmese railroad during the Second World War. But there are no heroics here, no emotive music. Only suffering and guilt.

The story is told in three time periods: before, during and after the war. Jacob Elordi plays the young Dorrigo with dignity in tatters, Ciarán Hinds embodies him as an older, traumatised surgeon in Sydney. The mini-series has already been shown on Prime Video in the US. It’s only being aired in Switzerland now on Sky.

Starts: 1 July

Juror #2 (film)

There are films that sneak onto my watchlist for months and then disappear again between series starts and everyday stress. Juror #2 was one of those. But maybe I’ll finally get the chance to watch it in July.

Clint Eastwood’s presumed last film is a classic courtroom drama: old-fashioned in the best sense of the word. Nicholas Hoult plays a family man who’s on the jury in a murder trial. The only problem is that he was at the crime scene himself on the night of the murder. And the deeper the trial goes, the greater the suspicion that he himself is involved in the case.

It sounds like lost John Grisham material but it’s actually an elegant, suspenseful thriller with a star-studded cast: J.K. Simmons, Kiefer Sutherland, Toni Collette, Chris Messina and the aforementioned Eastwood in the director’s chair. The latter at the age of 94. Unreal. I can’t wait to watch this.

Starts: 4 July

Gladiator 2 (film)

I’d waited a long time for this moment. Ridley Scott’s Gladiator 2 had been at the top of my list for months – out of curiosity, nostalgia, hope. And then, when the film finally arrived, the disillusionment set in, as it doesn’t come close to the original. But it has its strengths.

What’s beyond any doubt is the image quality. The camera captures ancient Rome in breathtaking images, the Colosseum shakes, and when Denzel Washington enters the stage as the opaque string-puller Macrinus, things get really exciting.

In terms of content, the film remains close to the structure of the first part – perhaps too close. But if you give it a chance, you’ll be treated to a gripping historical drama with pathos, revenge, intrigue and a touch of madness. And sometimes that’s enough. I mean sure, Gladiator 2 doesn’t reinvent the genre. But it reminds us why we love it.

Starts: 18 July

Nosferatu (film)

Another film that was on my watch list for ages and got forgotten about somewhere between the cinema chair and my sofa. But now Nosferatu is finally streaming. Maybe I’ll actually manage to watch it this time.

Director Robert Eggers (The Lighthouse) doesn’t just retell the classic vampire story. He lets it rot, curse and resurrect. The images are dark and opulent, while the audio tracks are supposed to go right through you. To top it off, Bill Skarsgård as the undead Count Orlok makes us shudder with his mixture of monster, melancholy and maggot nightmare.

Incidentally, the film isn’t a remake. It’s actually a new interpretation of the silent film classic, with influences from Stoker, Murnau and Coppola. Critics call it a horror trip somewhere between art film and nightmare, as well as a cinematic experience that feels like a cursed artifact. I don’t know about you, but I’m in the mood to really get the creeps again.

Starts: 25 July

Foundation is a series that polarises. Based on Isaac Asimov’s groundbreaking sci-fi stories, it dares to strike a balance between philosophical world-building and modern streaming blockbuster. The books focus on systems, from societies, to ideologies and maths. Figures are only a means to an end. The series, on the other hand, is all about emotion, action and the hero’s journeys. And that’s causing some discussion.

What stays the same is the vision of Hari Seldon, a scientist who, with the help of psychohistory, foresees the collapse of the galactic empire and devises a plan to shorten tens of thousands of years of darkness to a mere millennium. A plan that takes us through time, space and power struggles.

In season 3, the plot once again jumps far into the future. New characters, including a telepathic warlord, a planet full of mind readers and a mysterious prophet, provide a breath of fresh air. But the central conflict remains: can the fate of humanity be controlled? Or will any control ultimately fail?

Starts: 11 July

Those who are said to be dead live longer, especially if their name is Dexter Morgan. And yes, I know: he was actually really dead. But as befits a serial killer with cult status, Dexter also finds a way back. This time in Dexter: Resurrection.

The new season begins shortly after Dexter: New Blood, which saw Dexter actually get shot. But he survived nonetheless. In this series, he follows his son Harrison to New York and tries to build an «honest» father-son relationship. It almost sounds touching, if it weren’t for new corpses, a billionaire with a serial killer fetish (played by Peter Dinklage) and an old acquaintance called Angel Batista, who picks up the scent again.

Starts: 11 July

Luca Fontana

Senior Editor

Luca.Fontana@digitecgalaxus.ch

I'm an outdoorsy guy and enjoy sports that push me to the limit – now that’s what I call comfort zone! But I'm also about curling up in an armchair with books about ugly intrigue and sinister kingkillers. Being an avid cinema-goer, I’ve been known to rave about film scores for hours on end. I’ve always wanted to say: «I am Groot.» more

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