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What’s New to Stream on Hulu for July 2021

Movie marathon fans can now settle in with Stephen King or a run from Drafthouse Films.
Hulu July 2021
By  · Published on July 12th, 2021

Crossing the Streams is our look at all the offerings hitting the big streaming services each month, and this time we’re checking out the new Hulu arrivals for July 2021 including a mini Stephen king marathon, an oddball comedy, and more!


Hulu Pick of the Month for July 2021

Morgan Freeman Crab Barb And Star Go To Vista Del Mar
Lionsgate

While most movies tend to wade through the populace without making waves, others leave viewers clearly divided at either extreme with their opinions. Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar (premieres July 9th) belongs in the latter camp as audiences seem to either love it or hate it. My take on it should be clear by its inclusion here as my Hulu pick of the month for July 2021, but a longer explanation can be found in my review. The short version, though, is that this the kind of ridiculous, wacky, weird comedy we just don’t see much out of Hollywood these days, and it’s ultimately a breath of fresh air for that reason. Kristen Wiig, Annie Mumolo, and Jamie Dornan are all straight-up delightful in a story about friendship, supervillains, talking crabs, and more. Would I have loved more than just two song ‘n’ dance numbers? Sure, but they’re both great so I’m not complaining. It’s just a carefree, give-no-shits kind of movie that embraces silliness like it was oxygen, and sometimes that’s exactly the kind of spirit you need.


A Stephen King Marathon

Dreamcatcher

Stephen King’s filmography, like his writing, is filled with highs, lows, and everything in between, and now Hulu is making it easy to enjoy a mini-marathon capturing that fluctuating quality. Dreamcatcher (2003, premieres July 3rd) is a mess of a story brought to the screen by talented people — who make an even bigger mess of the story. Surprisingly, though, the mess still makes for a good time as Thomas Jane, Jason Lee, Damian Lewis, Timothy Olyphant, and Donnie Wahlberg run afoul of alien slugs and military assholes. Tom Sizemore and Morgan Freeman’s eyebrows also star, and director Lawrence Kasdan struggles to keep control. It’s not good, but there’s big fun to be had as things go sideways.

By contrast, Sleepwalkers (1992) is a poor story that can’t quite climb its way out of the toilet to deliver real entertainment. Terrible CG effects, a shoddy script (by King himself), and some rough acting by one of the leads. King’s screenplay, an original not based on any of his tales, tries to tie too much into the mix without making any one element compelling. Mythology, incest, feline warriors — it sounds like it should be a blast, but King and director Mick Garris are never able to find that gear.

From the bottom of the mix to the top, Rob Reiner’s Stand By Me (1986) adapts King’s novella “The Body” into a beautifully realized film. The coming of age tale follows four friends on a quest to see a dead body, and it’s a journey filled with laughs, adventure, drama, and more. It’s a story about friendships, the ones we hang onto and the ones we lose, and it remains an all-timer.

Finally, Graveyard Shift (1990) is neither a hit nor a miss and instead delivers a simple, old-fashioned creature feature. The monsters here, aside from the jerks in management, are ancient rats mutated into monstrous form that start targeting workers at a mill. It’s no gem, but there’s good and gooey fun to be had with the puppet vermin and the carnage they unleash.


Musically Inclined Hulu Originals

Summer Of Soul Hulu July 2021

Big, life-altering music festivals are a thing of the past for numerous reasons, but some of the best can be glimpsed in some of their glory via documentary footage. One of the best is one of the most recent as Summer of Soul (premieres July 2nd) arrives from director Questlove. Subtitled Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised, the film explores 1969’s Harlem Cultural Festival which celebrated African American music with legendary appearances from Nina Simone, BB King, Gladys Knight, Stevie Wonder, Mavis Staples, and more. New interviews with artists and archival footage of performances combine to capture the importance and power of the event, and it makes for a memorable watch you’ll want to play loud.

McCartney 3,2,1 (premieres July 16th) is another new look at musical genius, this time in the form of a six-episode miniseries featuring interviews with Paul McCartney. Topics cover the gamut of his career and life from The Beatles and Wings to his solo career and relationships with friends, lovers, and wives. Music plays a role here too with clips and songs, but it’s the conversation that takes center stage as they go through numerous tracks triggering memories of times long past.


The Best of Drafthouse Films

R100

Drafthouse Films was a short-lived boutique label associated with the Alamo Drafthouse theater chain, but over the course of a few years, they released some highly memorable films. Several of their titles are hitting Hulu on July 15th. The Act of Killing (2012) is probably the most critically acclaimed among their collection, and it’s easy to see why. Joshua Oppenheimer co-directs this documentary that sees Indonesian death-squad leaders recreate some of the atrocities via homages to Hollywood films and musicals. It’s alternately absurd and haunting with a particularly powerful sequence involving a family member of a past victim.

I Declare War (2012) is more of a lightweight genre outing, but there’s creativity in its tale and execution. The film follows an adventurous summer as neighborhood kids play war games, but personal conflict turns the fun towards violence leading to more elaborate and dangerous battles. It arguably pulls some of its punches, but the end result is still an engaging and thought-provoking ride.

Hitoshi Matsumoto’s R100 (2013), though, is a work of mad genius. Takafumi is a single dad who no longer feels happiness, but that changes when he takes a chance on an exclusive S&M service that sends women to “hurt” him at unexpected times. The combination of surprise and pain brings him the ultimate joy, one made visible via visual/aural effects, but things get out of hand leaving him searching for a way out. It’s a smart, surprising, sexy, and ultimately sweet tale that deserves to be seen and felt.


The Complete Hulu List for July 2021

Release DateTitleNote
July 1StrayThe Mighty Ones: Complete Season 2Hulu Original
RuPaul’s Drag Race: Complete Season 7 (MTV)
127 Hours
28 Days Later
28 Weeks Later
68 Kill
78/52: Hitchcock’s Shower Scene
A Ciambra
The Adventures of Hercules
Almost Human
Alpha & Omega: Legend of The Saw Toothed
American Gun
An Acceptable Loss
Australia
Bad Teacher
Band Aid
Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels Of A Tribe Called Quest
Beetlejuice
The Best Man
Better Living Through Chemistry
Big Fish
Bitter Harvest
Blue Sky
Bohemian Rhapsody
Breakdown
Bruno
Caddyshack
Caddyshack II
Candyman 3: Day of the Dead
Carnage Park
Caveman
Chaplin
Chuck
The Chumscrubber
Citizen Jane: Battle for the City
Cliffhanger
The Condemned
Confession Of A Shopaholic
The Conversation
Coyote Ugly
The Cured
Dangerous Minds
Dealin’ With Idiots
Dealt
Dear White People
Donnybrook
Dumb & Dumber
Dumb And Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd
Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me
Eliminators
Enemy at the Gates
The Face of Love
Factotum
Fargo
The Feels
Fired Up!
Foxfire
Frank Serpico
Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell
Free To Run
From Paris with Love
Galaxy Quest
The Gift
Gimme the Loot
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
Gorp
Graduation
Grandma
Hellions
Hideaway
House of the Dead
House of the Dead 2
The House That Jack Built
Housesitter
I Daniel Blake
I Do… Until I Don’t
I Remember You
Ice Age
In The Cut
Indignation
Intermission
Intolerable Cruelty
Johnny English
Knowing
The Ladies Man
Last Days Here
Let’s be Evil
Manic
The Mask
Maximum Risk
Mercury Rising
Morning Glory
Mystic Pizza
The Natural
Ode to Joy
Open Range
Open Water
Open Water 2: Adrift
Passage to Mars
Personal Shopper
The Polar Express
Rabid Dogs
Rebel in the Rye
Reno 911!: Miami: The Movie
Revolutionary Road
Robocop
Robocop 2
Robocop 3
Rookie of the Year
Seabiscuit
Shelley
Sightseers
Sleeping With The Enemy
Sleepwalkers
Soldier Boyz
Something’s Gotta Give
Somewhere
Sorority Row
Space Jam
Stand By Me
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
Star Trek: First Contact
Stephen King’s Graveyard Shift
The Stepfather
Stonewall
Stray
Sunshine
Super Troopers
Sweet Virginia
Taffin
Take Every Wave
Take Shelter
Taken
The Terminator
They Came Together
Thunderheart
Timeline
Tooth Fairy
Twisted
Underworld
Underworld Awakening
Underworld Evolution
Underworld: Rise Of The Lycans
Universal Soldier
The Unknown Girl
Walking Tall
Whip It
White Nights
William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet
Wolves
July 2Summer of Soul (Hulu Original)
Bill & Ted Face the Music
July 3Flower of Evil: Complete Season 1 (Subbed) (Viki)
I’ll Go To You When The Weather Is Fine: Complete Season 1 (Subbed) (Viki)
More Than Friends: Complete Season 1 (Subbed) (Viki)
Dreamcatcher
July 4Leave No Trace
July 8My Wife and Kids: Complete Series (ABC)
Murdoch Mysteries: Complete Season 13 (Acorn)
Papillon
July 9This Way Up: Complete Season 2 (Hulu Original)
Grown-ish: Season 4 Premiere (Freeform)
Barb & Star Go to Vista Del Mar
In a World…
Moffie
July 1047 Meters Down
July 12Love Island UK: Season 7 Premiere (iTV)
July 14Cleopatra in Space: Complete Season 1 (Peacock)
Cleopatra en el Espacio: Complete Season 1 (Peacock)
My All-American
July 15American Horror Stories: Two-Episode Series Premiere (FX)
20,000 Days on Earth
A Field In England
The Act of Killing
Amira & Sam
Borgman
Bullhead
Cheap Thrills
The Complex: Lockdown
The Congress
The Connection
Enforcement
Exit Plan
The Final Member
The FP
I Declare War
The Keeping Room
Men & Chicken
Mood Indigo
Pieta
R100
Raiders! The Story of the Greatest Fan Film Ever Made
Wrong
July 16McCartney 3,2,1 (Hulu Original)
July 17Horimiya: Complete Season 1 (Dubbed) (Funimation)
July 22Olympic Dreams featuring Jonas Brothers: Special (NBC)
July 26The Artist
July 29The Resort

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Rob Hunter has been writing for Film School Rejects since before you were born, which is weird seeing as he's so damn young. He's our Chief Film Critic and Associate Editor and lists 'Broadcast News' as his favorite film of all time. Feel free to say hi if you see him on Twitter @FakeRobHunter.