Netflix has had a horrible financial year and quarterly reports. While they are stealthily laying off employees and cancelling certain productions, the streamer is still seemingly undeterred in its quest to add new and promising content to its shelves in July 2022.
Among several titles, the Russo brothers’ $200 million espionage action thriller has generated quite the buzz. With a star-studded ensemble cast, promising trailer and well-stylized action sequences, the film will most likely have a massive premiere and is projected to smash several Netflix records that films like Red Notice, The Adam Project, Bird Box and the like have been gatekeeping.
To help your case and prevent you from doomscrolling through the endless selections available on Netflix, we created a list of five new Netflix arrivals you cannot afford to skip.
Here are five such Netflix Originals you must watch in July 2022:
5 best films you must watch on Netflix in July 2022
The Gray Man (Russo brothers)
Based on Mark Greaney’s eponymous book, the upcoming Russo brothers espionage action thriller is one of Netflix’s most expensive films to date, with a staggering budget of $200 million. The first of an upcoming trilogy, the film has a massive ensemble cast, including Ryan Gosling, Chris Evans, Ana de Armas, Rege-Jean Page, Billy Bob Thornton, Dhanush and Wagner Moura, among others.
The film will revolve around the titular Gray Man, who is an ex-CIA agent. He is compelled to be on the run after being pursued by another CIA operative called Lloyd Hansen who sports a villainous smirk and a distinguished moustache as they spar in a series of mind-boggling action sequences.
The Gray Man is scheduled for a July 22nd, 2022, premiere on Netflix.
Persuasion (Carrie Cracknell)
Jane Austen’s literary masterpieces are still in fashion, centuries after they were first published. Starring Dakota Johnson, henry Golding, Cosmo Jarvis, Richard E. Grant, Suki Waterhouse and Mia McKenna-Bruce as a part of the ensemble cast, the upcoming film is an adaptation of Austen’s eponymous and last completed 1817 work.
Johnson, who said it was “the dream” to work on a Jane Austen film, stars as Anne Elliot, the 27-year-old Englishwoman who lives with her family. Although they are on the brink of financial ruin, they are quite snobbish. When her old flame returns to town, she is torn between rekindling their former passion or pursuing a new love interest while being influenced by her family and peers.
Netflix will stream Persuasion on July 15th, 2022.
Umma (Irish Shim)
Umma was initially released in March 2022. Starring Sandra Oh. Odeya Rush and several other actors, Netflix viewers will be delighted to see Oh in a brand new avatar and a totally different genre after her brilliant performance in Netflix’s The Chair. Umma is the Korean word for mother and is based on a series of eerie, supernatural occurrences.
The film stars Oh as a single mother who lives with her daughter on her late mother’s isolated farm while dealing with harrowing and creepy occult disturbances. Despite several cliches in the film, Oh delivers a brilliant performance, portraying generational trauma, grief and guilt pervading the entire film.
Umma is coming to Netflix on July 16th, 2022.
Incantation (Kevin Ko)
This Taiwanese horror film was the highest-grossing film of this year in Taiwan and received several Taipei Film Award nominations. Cleverly made and extremely terrifying, the film does not depend on horror cliches and even incorporates haunting found footage to add to the overall atmospheric tension and paranoia.
Loosely based on true events, a mother is seen reeling under the eerie after-effects of an experiment-gone-wrong where she tried to bust myths and superstitions with her friends by arriving ill-fatedly at a cursed ritual. Soon, the curse is bestowed on her daughter, and she must work fast to save her in this intense, gruelling and claustrophobic horror film.
Incantation will begin streaming on Netflix on July 8th, 2022.
The Sea Beast (Chris Williams)
After his beloved animated ventures like Big Hero 6, Bolt, Frozen and Moana, Award-winning filmmaker Chris Williams is back with a heartwarming adventure quest which features Karl Urban and Zaris-Angel Hator in the lead as voice actors. They will be joined by Dan Stevens. Kathy Burke, Jared Harris and Marianne Jean-Baptiste, among others.
This upcoming computer-animated adventure film marks Williams’ solo directorial debut. In a classic tale of men fighting monsters and being celebrated as heroes, a young girl creeps into a said hero’s life, alters his perspective and forms an unexpected friendship as they embark on an epic quest across uncharted waters and daunting realms.
The Sea Beast will premiere on Netflix on July 8th, 2022.
