The Suicide Squad and the Candyman bookend a packed August at the movies

August is traditionally a Hollywood dump month, one of the times of the year when the studios unload the projects in which they have the least faith. But does standard release protocol really apply to our unusual present moment? This coming month certainly boasts fewer prospective blockbusters than the one that’s coming to a close, but it’s not devoid of big-ticket titles, including James Gunn’s colorful Suicide Squad sequel, the Ryan Reynolds action comedy Free Guy, and the much-anticipated return of ’90s-horror legend the Candyman. Meanwhile, art-house crowds can rally around the already divisive Adam Driver musical Annette, while Netflix courts the kids with a third Kissing Booth and a teen-comedy reboot. Do your tastes swing really highbrow? It’s not just the movies but also Tsai Ming-liang who’s back, baby! Keep reading for everything that’s coming to theaters and a living room near you at the end of an unprecedented summer movie season.

Annette

Select theaters August 6; Amazon Prime August 20

Annette is a film of firsts. It’s the first original musical by cult pop duo Sparks, who got the documentary profile treatment earlier this summer courtesy of Edgar Wright, as well as cult French filmmaker Leos Carax’s first movie in English. On a more sensational note, it’s also the first film to feature Adam Driver singing while in the throes of passion, as viewers noted with wiggling eyebrows when Annette opened this year’s Cannes Film Festival last month. If all of that’s not enough to pique your interest, we should add that Driver plays a stand-up comedian, alongside Marion Cotillard as his opera-singer wife. Early reviews, which have been all over the board, suggest that the director of Holy Motors has made an unusually downbeat musical—another oddball distinguishing characteristic of this art-house event.

John And The Hole

Select theaters and digital platforms August 6

Critics from this year’s Sundance were much too hard on this spooky, allegorical drama about a teenage boy (The Nest’s Charlie Shotwell) who finds a novel way to engineer some unsupervised free time away from his family, played by Michael C. Hall, Jennifer Ehle, and Taissa Farmiga. But they were right to identify its particular alchemy of influences as “Home Alone by way of Michael Haneke.” Those looking to go in completely tabula rasa should avoid reviews, trailers, and even the IMDB description, which prematurely reveal the inciting incident of a film our own correspondent from the festival called “a fascinating enigma of a debut” for Spanish director Pascual Sisto.

Swan Song

Select theaters August 6; VOD August 13

Udo Kier has played his fair share of flinty-eyed villains; American filmmakers seem to cast him mostly just as eccentric heavies, especially lately. So it counts as a major change of pace to see this iconic German character actor take on a different kind of role: that of flamboyant, retired hairdresser Mr. Pat, who roams the streets of Sandusky, Ohio in a mint green polyester leisure suit. Kier’s performance is the selling point of Todd Stephens’ tender comedic ode to a generation of gay men devastated by AIDS; the film embraces camp and fantasy as well as more serious themes of community and resilience.

The Kissing Booth 3

Netflix August 11

The epic Kissing Booth saga becomes the second Netflix teen rom-com trilogy with this final installment, inching Elle Evans (Joey King) ever-closer to making an actual decision about where to attend college (a call that, in characteristic teen-movie fashion, is somehow allowed to be made just weeks before the fall semester begins). She also faces a mixed friendship-love-quadrangle quandary as she spends her summer checking off items on a beach-themed bucket list with her bestie Lee (Joel Courtney), dating his older brother Noah (Jacob Elordi), and occasionally baring her soul to Marco (Taylor Zakhar Perez). Confusingly, the number of kissing booths in this sequel does not appear to have been upped to three, but fans who have come of age alongside Elle probably won’t mind.

Free Guy

Theaters everywhere August 13

Ryan Reynolds’ latest video game-themed outing sees the one-time Detective Pikachu playing in the “dopey nice guy” stretch of his register, portraying a non-player character in a massively violent online game who suddenly realizes the world he’s living in is a digital lie. Lil Rey Howery co-stars as Reynolds’ in-game buddy, while Killing Eve’s Jodie Comer is the real-world programmer who sends Guy spiraling into a neon-colored, quarter-operated version of They Live. Massively delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic, Free Guy is, worrisomely, the work of Night At The Museum franchise mastermind Shawn Levy, whose recent stint directing episodes of Stranger Things manifests here with an appearance by Joe “Steve Harrington” Keery himself.

Don’t Breathe 2

Theaters everywhere August 13

Fede Álvarez’s Don’t Breathe ingeniously inverted the rooting interests of home-invasion horror, making the teenage burglars the terrified protagonists and their mark, blind military veteran Norman (Stephen Lang), the terrifying villain. Judging from its trailer, part two flips the dynamic again, with Lang’s returning hermit now a surrogate father figure hunting down the men who come and take his 11-year-old charge (Madelyn Grace). Of course, there are likely twists aplenty lurking like a sightless geriatric slasher in this sequel; the real question is whether first-time director Rodo Sayagues can match the white-knuckle, nonstop intensity of the suspenseful original.

Respect

Select theaters August 13

Originally slated for last December, this inevitable Aretha Franklin biopic arrives in the wake of the third season of National Geographic’s Genius, which tackled the singer’s life story back in March. Front and center in this version is Jennifer Hudson, hand-picked for the role by Franklin, who was heavily involved with the production before her death in 2018. Forest Whitaker, Marlon Wayans, Audra McDonald, Marc Maron, and more are on hand to play supporting roles in Franklin’s rise to the heights of musical royalty. Can the film transcend the obvious biopic clichés teased by its first trailer?

Beckett

Netflix August 13

John David Washington is the protagonist (but not The Protagonist) of this new Netflix thriller, which jumps off from a particularly Hitchcockian premise: Vacationing in Greece with girlfriend Alicia Vikander, his titular tourist sees something he shouldn’t, and finds himself hunted by conspiracy-minded folk. Can he trust Vicky Krieps, playing an activist who picks him up in a moment of distress? Or Boyd Holbrook, as an employee of the U.S. embassy in Athens? A backdrop of political unrest, and images of marching riot cops, adds a timely element. The real test here is whether Washington can play hapless everyman as well as he did quietly confident action hero.

Paw Patrol: The Movie

Select theaters and Paramount+ August 13

Paramount closes out the summer with one more sci-fi spectacular. In a dystopia where the rule of law has failed, a private security firm consisting of talking dogs has initiated a successful power grab, taking over the small hamlet of Adventure Bay. Now Rubble, Chase, Skye, and the rest have their sights set on “helping” a larger city. Meanwhile, off screen, adult humans are faced with a terrifying decision: acquiesce to their children’s desire to watch the canines repeat a series of hypnotic catchphrases, or pretend no such Paw Patrol movie exists. Randall Park, Dax Shepard, Jimmy Kimmel, Tyler Perry, and Kim Kardashian are among the celebrities who have already pledged their fealty (and voices) to the new pup order.

Coda

Select theaters and Apple TV+ August 13

The big jury and audience winner at Sundance in January was this earnest drama about a teenager, Ruby (Emilia Jones), who yearns to escape her seaside hometown and pursue a singing career. Sound familiar? Well, there’s at least one element of Coda that’s specific: Ruby is the only hearing member of her family (all played by deaf actors, including Oscar winner Marlee Matlin), and they rely on her to help out with the fishing business. Reviews from the fest were mostly glowing, though a few (including our own) lamented the indie-film clichés ladled on top of a fascinating portrait of a subculture.

Ema

Select theaters August 13

Chilean writer-director Pablo Larráin has now made a couple melodramas about iconic 20th-century women, from biopic Jackie to the upcoming Princess Diana portrait Spencer. He takes a break from that calling with Ema, which is surely melodramatic but focuses on a fictional rather than a famous figure: a Chilean dancer (Mariana Di Girolamo) who embarks on an idiosyncratic journey of hedonistic self-discovery (or perhaps it’s self-destruction) after an extreme decision strains her relationship with her husband, choreographer Gastón (Gael García Bernal). Reviews from the festival circuit, where the film premiered a very long two years ago, were enthusiastic.

Days

Select theaters August 13

It’s been almost a decade since the great Taiwanese filmmaker Tsai Ming-liang directed anything resembling a narrative drama; the last picture of his that nominally qualified was the moving quasi-swan song Stray Dogs. With Days, Tsai returns to his languid approximation of story with this portrait of the fleeting connection that develops between two lonely men from different countries (one of them played, of course, by Tsai’s muse Lee Kang-sheng, who’s appeared in almost all of the director’s previous films). Tsai’s style, heavy on long takes that hold for a small eternity, isn’t to every taste. But those attuned to his wavelength will find a startlingly tender variation on it.

Flag Day

Select theaters August 20

Sean Penn’s last movie as a director, The Last Face, was a folly so embarrassing and insensitive that it landed at the top (which is to say, the bottom) of The A.V. Club’s list of the worst movies of 2017. Thankfully, for us and him and everyone else, word from this year’s Cannes Film Festival suggests that his follow-up feature isn’t nearly so wretched. Working from a script based on Jennifer Vogel’s memoir Flim-Flam Man: The True Story Of My Father’s Counterfeit Life, Penn casts himself as notorious criminal and conman John Vogel. The film supposedly unfolds mostly from the perspective of Jennifer, played by the actor-turned-director’s real-life daughter, Dylan Penn.

Reminiscence

Theaters and HBO Max August 20

Westworld co-creator Lisa Joy seems to be swinging for the fences with her feature debut, a noirish sci-fi mystery following Nick (Hugh Jackman), who runs a business using fancy, creepy technology to help people relive a cherished memory of their choice. After he becomes obsessed with a mystery woman (Jackman’s Greatest Showman costar Rebecca Ferguson), Nick sees her in someone else’s memories… and is disturbed by what he finds. Remarkably, this is a big budget, major studio sci-fi picture without any direct source material. Let’s all hope it’s as cool and mind-bendy as it looks.

The Protégé

Theaters everywhere August 20

Martin Campbell, who launched two successive Bonds with Goldeneye and Casino Royale, returns to the guns-and-fancy-clothes genre with what seems like a fast-forwarded version of The Professional. Maggie Q is an orphan who grows up into a hired killer under the tutelage of Samuel L. Jackson’s weathered assassin. Michael Keaton plays up his more sinister edges as the villain who sends Q’s young hitwoman on a quest for vengeance. Campbell has a talent for unpretentious, no-frills action, which should serve him well during The Protégé’s gunfights, knife duels, and very tense, very weird flirting.

Demonic

Select theaters, VOD, and digital platforms August 20

The premise of District 9 director Neill Blomkamp’s new sci-fi/horror hybrid has shades of The Cell and The Matrix, as a young woman played by Carly Pope ventures into a high-tech simulation in order to confront her mother (Nathalie Boltt) about the homicidal rampage that wrecked both their lives. That’s just the beginning of a larger story involving a “Vatican-funded black ops unit,” however—a concept that could either go in an inventive or a risible direction. In the absence of early festival reviews, we’ll just have to wait and see, though it’s fair to remind readers that Blomkamp’s last feature was Chappie.

The Night House

Select theaters August 20

Are ghosts scary, or are they comforting proof that there’s life beyond death? That’s the question that hovers spectrally over this latest thriller from David Bruckner (The Ritual), starring Rebecca Hall as a widow who begins to suspect that her late husband, who died of suicide, might still be hanging around their quiet lakeside house. The film premiered a full year and a half ago, at Sundance 2020, where our critic on the scene praised Hall’s performance but criticized some of the less-than-credible behavior in this supernatural mystery.

Sweet Girl

Netflix August 20

Jason Momoa has already saved the world multiple times as Aquaman, but he faces a formidable challenge in the Netflix movie Sweet Girl, avenging his wife by taking on a less conventional target than the usual terrorists and Eurotrash baddies: Big Pharma. Fortunately, striking back at a company that blocked crucial drugs from the market to pad their bottom line still involves people saying comfortingly familiar lines like “People are gonna come after us, aren’t they?” and “We need to go.” Former live-action Dora Isabela Merced co-stars as the daughter Momoa must also protect via lots of killing.

Cryptozoo

Select theaters and VOD August 20

The latest DIY animated feature from New York graphic-novelist-turned-filmmaker Dash Shaw (My Entire High School Sinking Into The Sea) won an Innovator Award at Sundance this year, and it’s easy to see why from the trailer: With its paper-crafted aesthetic and oddball premise, Cryptozoo is clearly unique. Centered on a hidden sanctuary for mythical and unlikely creatures, the film pits a cartoon Lake Bell against a military hoping to weaponize the monsters (and monstrous-looking people) who live in its title location. Michael Cera, Angeliki Papoulia, Zoe Kazan, Peter Stormare, and Grace Zabriskie all costar, lending their voices to Shaw’s distinctive vision.

Candyman

Theaters everywhere August 27

One of 2020’s most anticipated horror movies is now one of 2021’s, with exciting talent both in front and behind the camera, backed by one of Hollywood’s buzziest companies (no pun intended), Jordan Peele’s Monkey Paw Productions. Writer-director Nia DaCosta follows up her assured debut Little Woods with this updated take on the 1992 horror classic, starring Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as a photographer investigating the urban legend. His obsession takes him to the former site of Chicago’s Cabrini-Green Homes, despite stern warnings from a supporting cast that includes Teyonah Parris, Colman Domingo, Nathan Stewart-Jarret, and Vanessa Williams, reprising her role from the original film. If he pokes around long enough, he may also encounter Tony Todd, but by then it’ll be too late…

He’s All That

Netflix August 27

Sometimes that Netflix algorithm conjures up an idea that sounds, if not good, at least perfectly inevitable: a modern-day remake of She’s All That (which, yes, is now old enough to apply to grad school) starring TikTok titan Addison Rae as a high-school influencer who accepts a bet to turn a handsome but unpopular dude (Tanner Buchanan) into prom king. Original repulsive nerd Rachael Leigh Cook also appears, though her character’s alleged surname of Sawyer implies that she’s either not playing Laney Boggs, or that Laney married someone besides Zack Siler. For such youth-oriented product placement, Netflix sure hired an old hand at this stuff: Director Mark Waters made Mean Girls, as well as the less beloved high school comedy Vampire Academy.

Together

Select theaters August 27

As if Lockdown wasn’t enough, here’s another comedy-drama, shot and set during the pandemic, about a British couple wrestling with their relationship while stuck inside. Together, which aired on the BBC in June, casts James McAvoy and Sharon Horgan as nameless parents trying to stay, yes, together for the sake of their 10-year-old son, but also because splitting up during a global health crisis is kind of tricky. Veteran stage and screen director Stephen Daldry is behind the camera, in case you needed another reason to be dubious of this latest COVD-era project, though it can’t possibly be worse than his treatment of another major world event, Extremely Loud And Incredibly Close.

No Man Of God

Select theaters, VOD, and digital platforms August 27

The life and crimes of Ted Bundy were recently dramatized in the interestingly slippery Netflix misfire Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil And Vile. This more contained thriller picks up where that movie left off, with Bundy (Luke Kirby, who won an Emmy for his performance as Lenny Bruce on The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel) sitting on death row. No Man Of God revolves around a series of conversations with the FBI agent (Elijah Wood, in his latest flirtation with the dark side) who eventually coaxed a confession from the imprisoned serial killer. The film, which draws on the transcripts of these real discussions, earned mostly positive reviews from the Tribeca Film Festival.

Plus:

Ryan Murphy and Jason Blum executive produced Pray Away (Netflix 8/3), a new documentary about the horrors of conversion therapy. Italian writer-director Emma Dante adapts her own award-winning play The Macaluso Sisters (select theaters 8/6) into a generations-spanning movie about orphaned siblings in Sicily. Whirlybird (select theaters and VOD 8/6) finds a relationship drama in the archival footage captured by LA’s most prolific helicopter reporters. The lives of four women in New York City—among them Kate Lyn Sheil—intersect in Materna (select theaters 8/6; VOD and digital platforms 8/10). The documentary Misha And The Wolves (Netflix 8/11) reveals how a publisher uncovered the full truth about a woman’s sensational Holocaust memoir. Homeroom (Hulu 8/12) offers a snapshot of an Oakland high school class on the cusp of graduating during the COVID pandemic. The Meaning Of Hitler (select theaters, VOD, and digital platforms 8/13) digs into the enduring fascination with the dictator. The record-high sale of an uncovered da Vinci painting is the subject of the nonfiction The Lost Leonardo (select theaters 8/13). Based on a true wartime story, The East (select theaters 8/13) follows a Dutch soldier who rebels against the brutal orders of his captain during the Indonesian War of Independence. Isabelle Huppert is a jealous evil stepmother in (wait for it) White As Snow (select theaters 8/13). A mother travels from China to New York to find help for daughter with a learning disability in Ann Hu’s autobiographical Confetti (select theaters 8/20). And On Broadway (select theaters 8/20) assembles a litany stars to pay tribute to New York City’s epicenter of theatre.