New Releases on Netflix This Week & Top 10 Movies & Series: August 16th, 2024

Pearl – A24/Universal Pictures film with Mia Goth

Happy Friday! Here’s your weekly recap of everything new on Netflix over the past seven days. This week features a great selection of movies and some must-watch TV shows. Here’s everything added to Netflix US from August 10th to 16th, 2024, along with what’s been trending in the top 10s.

Looking ahead to the weekend, only one title is scheduled to drop in the form of the new Korean drama series Love Next Door, but there are still loads to look forward to for the rest of August 2024.

Now, let’s get into some highlights:

Best New Movies and Series This Week

First Man (2018)

Rating: PG-13
Language: English
Genre: Biography, Drama, History
Director: Damien Chazelle
Cast: Ryan Gosling, Claire Foy, Jason Clarke
Writer: Josh Singer, James R. Hansen
Runtime: 141 min / 2h 21m

We kick off our new picks for the week with First Man, one of the many absolutely outstanding movies helmed by Damien Chazelle (Whiplash remains my favorite). This one is much different from his other body of work. The biopic masterpiece looks back at the pivotal moments from the perspective of Neil Armstrong leading up to one of the most momentous days in human history: the first man on the moon.

Pearl (2022)

Rating: R
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Horror, Thriller
Director: Ti West
Cast: Mia Goth, David Corenswet, Tandi Wright
Writer: Ti West, Mia Goth
Runtime: 103 min / 1h 43m

Since the end of 2023, Netflix has been getting regular releases from A24, including a few SVOD debuts. One movie that hit Netflix a little earlier this year (although it has since left) is X. The follow-up to that is that Pearl is now landing on Netflix for an extended period, with our intel suggesting it won’t leave until February 2025.

Once again directed by Ti West and starring Mia Goth, this coming-of-age horror rewinds the clock back to the early 1900s and follows a young woman looking to make it big time in Hollywood. The only way she can do that is to escape her home.

Average Joe (Season 1)

Number of episodes: 10
Rating: TV-MA
Language: English
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Cast: Deon Cole, Tammy Townsend, Malcolm Barrett
Writer: Robb Cullen
Runtime: 50 mins

As we first reported, the BET series Average Joe got added to Netflix this week which is the latest title to be licensed to Netflix following The Family Business late last year. Featuring a recognizable cast, the comedy-drama depicts an ordinary plumber thrust into a world he’s unfamiliar with after his father’s death leaves him with a huge stack of money. Of course, that wad of cash doesn’t come without any strings with a nefarious group on the hunt for it.

Critics were all over this series when it first aired in 2023, although because it’s been locked to BET+, most haven’t had the opportunity to see it.

Full List of New Releases on Netflix This Week

12 New Movies Added This Week

23 Blast (2014) – PG-13 – English
Backyard Wilderness (2018) – TV-G – English
Daughters (2024) Netflix Original – PG-13 – English
First Man (2018) – PG-13 – English
I Can’t Live Without You (2024) Netflix Original – TV-MA – Spanish
Kissufim (2023) – TV-MA – Hebrew
Matt Rife: Lucid – A Crowd Work Special (2024) Netflix Original – TV-MA – English
Night School (2018) – PG-13 – English
Pearl (2022) – R – English
Robocar POLI Special: The Story of the Desert Rescue (2023) – TV-Y – Korean
The Union (2024) Netflix Original – PG-13 – English
They Shot the Piano Player (2023) – PG-13 – English

6 New TV Series Added This Week

American Murder: Laci Peterson (Limited Series) Netflix Original – TV-14 – English
Average Joe (Season 1) – TV-MA – English
Emily in Paris (Season 4 – Part 1) Netflix Original – TV-MA – English
Romance in the House (Season 1 – New Episodes Weekly) Netflix Original – TV-14 – Korean
Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin (Season 1) – TV-14 – Japanese
The Venture Bros. (Seasons 1-3) – TV-14 – English

2 New Games Added This Week

Ludo King
Netflix Stories: Emily in Paris

Most Popular Movies on Netflix This Week

Picture: Sony Pictures Animation

Two licensed movies tie for the top spot this week, with the critically panned Sony Animation title The Emoji Movie defying all expectations and no doubt annoying plenty of parents over the summer break.

The Emoji Movie (63 points)
Jack Reacher: Never Go Back (63 points)
Trolls Band Together (55 points)
Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie (50 points)
Night School (43 points)
Jack Reacher (43 points)
Inside the Mind of a Dog (37 points)
The Lorax (29 points)
White Chicks (25 points)
Dr. Seuss’ The Cat in the Hat (20 points)
RED (5 points)
Mr. Deeds (5 points)
Tarot (2 points)

Most Popular Series on Netflix This Week

The Umbrella Academy S4 First Look

The Umbrella Academy got off to a relatively slow start with its fourth and final season but looks to be topping the charts throughout the week. Fire Country is still doing well now, a couple of weeks after it got added, as is A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder.