7 new movies and TV show to watch on Netflix, Prime Video, HBO Max, and more this weekend (July 24)

7 new movies and TV show to watch on Netflix, Prime Video, HBO Max, and more this weekend (July 24)

The streaming calendar is unusually quiet in theaters this Friday, but the major platforms have loaded their libraries with a handful of fresh titles that deserve a spot on your watchlist. Seven new films and series land across Netflix, Prime Video, HBO Max, Paramount+ and other services, ranging from a multiverse‑spanning sitcom spinoff to a kinetic animated sequel that finally respects its source material. Below is a concise guide to each release, with the critical context you need to decide what fits your mood.

Stuart Fails to Save the Universe (HBO Max)

The Big Bang Theory universe expands again, this time centering on Stuart, the socially awkward comic‑book shop owner who barely registered a blip in the original series. The premise is delightfully absurd: Stuart accidentally activates a device built by Sheldon and Leonard, triggering a multiverse armageddon that drags his on‑again‑off girlfriend Denise, physicist Kripke, and lovable goofball Bert into a scramble across alternate realities. Showrunner Chuck Lorre leans into the same meta‑humor that made the parent show a cultural staple, but he also lets the characters breathe in a tighter, eight‑episode arc. Early reviews suggest the writing sharpens the ensemble dynamics without sacrificing the nerd‑centric Easter eggs that fans expect. If you missed the original run, this spinoff works as a standalone entry point; if you lived through the twelve‑season marathon, it feels like a long‑overdue victory lap.

Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender (Paramount+)

Thirteen years after the Fire Nation fell, the Avatar legend returns in a feature‑length animated film that picks up with a grown‑up Aang mentoring a new airbender named Tagah. The narrative sends the pair on a globe‑spanning quest for an ancient relic while a shadowy faction called The Denied hunts them down. Visually, the production pushes the franchise’s signature blend of fluid motion and painterly backgrounds to a new peak — each frame feels like a living watercolor. The character designs respect the original silhouette language while aging the cast believably; Aang’s wisdom shows in his posture, and Tagah’s youthful exuberance bursts through the animation’s kinetic choreography. For viewers disappointed by Netflix’s live‑action adaptation, this film restores the series’ spiritual core and reminds why the property still commands a devoted fanbase.

72 Hours (Netflix)

Kevin Hart’s latest comedy vehicle drops him into a three‑day bachelor party he never asked for. A misrouted group‑chat invitation catapults the 40‑year‑old from a Manhattan office to a Miamibeach house, where the itinerary quickly dissolves into legal trouble, a jellyfish sting that lands one attendee in urgent care, and a cascade of escalating misunderstandings that Hart’s character tries to manage with his trademark frantic energy. Director Maurice “Mo” Marable keeps the pace tight — 94 minutes — and the script avoids the bloat that has plagued Hart’s recent Netflix vehicles. The supporting cast, including a game turn from Lil Rel Howery as the groom’s deadpan cousin, gives the star room to riff without carrying every beat alone. It’s disposable by design, but the kind that knows its job: a low‑stakes laugh delivery system for a Friday night when decision fatigue has already set in.

Mortal Kombat II (HBO Max)

The 2021 reboot’s sequel arrives on streaming without a theatrical window, and the move feels like a correction. Simon McQuoid returns to direct, and the fight choreography — supervised again by the franchise’s longtime stunt coordinator Kyle Gardiner — sheds the first film’s over‑reliance on CG blood for practical impacts that hold weight on a home screen. The roster expands: Johnny Cage gets a proper arc, Kitana’s reclamation of Edenia drives the political spine, and Sub‑Zero’s younger brother Kuai Liang steps out of the shadow with a fighting style that blends cryomancy with close‑quarters grappling. Narrative stakes remain paper‑thin — ancient tournament, realm merger, chosen one — but the film treats its lore with the reverence the games’ longest fans have waited decades to see. For pure spectacle, the climactic tournament sequence, shot in a single 12‑minute take across the Dragon Grotto set, justifies the subscription price alone.

The Silent Service (Prime Video)

Prime Video’s under‑the‑radar pickup is a six‑episode Danish procedural that premiered at Copenhagen Series Festival last March. Detective Lene Hauge (Sofie Gråbøl) returns to her Jutland hometown to investigate a missing‑person case that mirrors her sister’s cold disappearance from 18 years prior. The series refuses Nordic noir’s typical gloom palette; cinematographer Nadja Henrikson shoots the coastal town in crisp, almost clinical daylight, letting the emotional rot surface through performance rather than filter. Gråbøl carries the weight with a restraint that makes her rare outbursts land harder. The finale’s revelation recontextualizes every prior interview without cheating — a rarity in the genre. No second season is confirmed, and the show works as a closed loop. Watch it in one sitting.

Starfall: The Iron Chronicle (Apple TV+)

Apple’s quarterly prestige drop is a nine‑chapter space opera adapted from Yoon Ha‑lee’s Hugo‑nominated novella. The production design marries practical miniatures for fleet engagements with Unreal‑engine environments for planetary surfaces, a hybrid approach that sidesteps the uncanny valley plaguing recent streaming sci‑fi. Lead Kim Da‑mi plays a xenolinguist drafted to decode a signal embedded in the debris of a fallen orbital elevator; her counterpart, a corporate security operative played by Brian Tyree Henry, represents the extraction interests racing her to the truth. The scripts trust the audience with terminology — orbital mechanics, linguistic drift, corporate charter law — and reward patience with a third‑act twist that reframes the first contact not as discovery but as reclamation. Visual effects supervisor Mariana Velez deserves an Emmy ballot line for the elevator collapse sequence, rendered in 4K HDR with zero visible seams.

The Dink (Paramount+)

Briefly mentioned in the platform’s press slate but absent from the main carousel, this eight‑episode mockumentary follows a fictionalized version of British comedian Dan “The Dink” Dinkerton as he attempts a comeback tour across Working Men’s Clubs in the North. The humor mines cringe from institutional inertia — club secretaries guarding tea funds Like state secrets — rather than the star’s ego. It’s a quiet acquisition that could find its audience through word of mouth, much like *This Country* did two summers ago.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds — Season 4 (Paramount+)

The franchise’s current animated anchor returns with a 10‑episode order that finally pays off the Temporal Cold War thread seeded in the season‑two finale. Showrunners the Okudas lean into anthology structure: each episode visits a distinct timeline fracture while advancing the prime‑universe chess match between Admiral Janeway and the emergent Synthet collective. Animation studio Titmus moves to a hybrid 2D/3D pipeline that preserves the original series’ linework during dialogue scenes and switches to volumetric lighting for anomalies. Early screener feedback calls it the most narratively disciplined season since the 2022 relaunch. If you dropped off after the sectional reset, this is the re‑entry point.

Seven titles, seven distinct flavors. The weekend is long enough for at least two.