Summer movies don’t have to be a big deal. Sometimes you just want a big screen, a cold theater and a reason to ignore your phone for two hours.
Thankfully, this year’s lineup gives you plenty of excuses. There are blockbuster epics, offbeat indies, prestige swings, heartfelt comedies and a few movies that sound bizarre enough to become either sleeper hits or spectacular misfires. Either way, that’s what summer is for.
Here’s what’s worth seeing before fall ruins everyone’s mood.
Blockbuster Epics
Disclosure Day — June 12, theaters
Steven Spielberg is back in alien territory, which already makes this one of the summer’s biggest events. Emily Blunt, Colman Domingo and Colin Firth star in a story about the day humanity learns it isn’t alone. Early footage leans less toward explosions and more toward existential panic, which is usually where Spielberg does his best work anyway.
The Odyssey — July 17, theaters
Christopher Nolan adapting Homer in 70mm IMAX is the kind of sentence studios dream about printing on money. Matt Damon plays Odysseus, with Anne Hathaway, Tom Holland, Zendaya, Robert Pattinson, Lupita Nyong’o and Charlize Theron rounding out a cast that looks less assembled than summoned. This is the movie of the summer. Clear your schedule now.
Indie Flicks and Prestige Swings
Pressure — May 29, theaters
A D-Day thriller about weather forecasting sounds aggressively unexciting until you realize the weather forecast determined whether the largest military invasion in history would succeed. Andrew Scott plays James Stagg, the meteorologist advising Eisenhower in the final hours before Normandy. Brendan Fraser co-stars as Eisenhower, while director Anthony Maras brings the same tension he used in Hotel Mumbai. Somehow, a movie about atmospheric pressure may end up being one of the most stressful films of the summer.
Power Ballad — June 5, theaters
Paul Rudd plays a struggling wedding singer whose original song gets stolen and turned into a worldwide hit by a fading pop star played by Nick Jonas. More importantly, it’s directed by John Carney, the filmmaker behind Once, Sing Street and Begin Again. Carney has made an entire career out of movies where music reveals everything people are trying not to say out loud, and this looks like another smart, melancholy crowd-pleaser hiding underneath a very funny premise.
Late Fame — August 7, theaters
Willem Dafoe plays a forgotten poet whose old work is suddenly rediscovered by a group of young New York artists, pulling him into the kind of late-in-life attention that sounds flattering until it starts getting weird. Greta Lee co-stars, and Kent Jones directs from a script by May December writer Samy Burch. Basically, if you want your summer movie with literary ambition, generational awkwardness and Dafoe looking haunted by the concept of relevance, this is the one.
The Rivals of Amziah King — August 14, theaters
Matthew McConaughey stars as a honey-industry operator and former foster father pulled back into the life of a young woman aging out of the foster care system just as everything around him starts unraveling. Kurt Russell and Cole Sprouse co-star in this rural crime drama from The Vast of Night director Andrew Patterson. It premiered at SXSW to strong buzz more than a year ago and has quietly become one of the most anticipated under-the-radar releases of the summer.
Tony — August, theaters
Dominic Sessa, fresh off The Holdovers and Now You See Me: Now You Don’t, steps into the role of the one-and-only Anthony Bourdain in A24’s upcoming biopic directed by Matt Johnson, who previously made BlackBerry, one of the sharpest films of the last few years. Bourdain’s story could easily turn into a hollow “troubled genius” cliché. Johnson tends to avoid cliché entirely, which makes this one especially intriguing.
Heartfelt Comedies and Dramas
The Breadwinner — May 29, theaters
Nate Bargatze makes his first real jump from stand-up phenomenon to movie lead in this family comedy about a lifelong provider whose wife suddenly becomes the household’s primary earner after landing a Shark Tank deal. Bargatze gets left at home with their three daughters while trying to navigate a version of adulthood he clearly wasn’t prepared for. Mandy Moore, Will Forte and Kumail Nanjiani co-star, giving this far more comedic firepower than the average “comedian tries acting” experiment.
Miss You, Love You — May 29, HBO Max
Allison Janney plays a widow forced to plan her husband’s funeral alongside her estranged son’s assistant, played by Andrew Rannells. Directed by Jim Rash, the film looks less interested in tidy healing and more interested in the strange emotional mess grief actually creates. HBO has quietly become very good at these small, character-driven dramas that somehow leave audiences emotionally damaged for a week afterward.
The Dink — July 24, Apple TV+
Yes, there’s a pickleball movie now. Jake Johnson stars as a washed-up tennis player who gets pulled into the deeply competitive world of professional pickleball, alongside a cast that includes Ben Stiller, Ed Harris, Mary Steenburgen and Patton Oswalt. The premise sounds like a fake movie someone would joke about in another movie, which honestly makes it even more promising.
