7 Best New Movies Coming to Netflix in May 2024

It’s a packed programming roster for Netflix this spring. If April saw some of the best shows we have seen so far in 2024, then May will bring you an equally interesting bunch of new films from home and abroad. After films like Rebel Moon Part 2 and Scoop last month, get ready for more exciting titles coming this May, ranging across genres and languages. From a live-action adaptation of a legacy manga to a much-anticipated ensemble comedy, action, adventure, and more, Netflix will keep you busy this month. What’s more? As a part of their Milestone Movies: The Anniversary Collection launched in January 2024, the streamer is also adding several 1984 classics like Footloose, Beverly Hills Cops, and Sixteen Candles to its library, which are screened in select theaters. And for all the fresh releases this month, here are our top picks of new movies coming to Netflix this May.

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Unfrosted

Available: May 3 | Directed By: Jerry Seinfeld

Cast: Jerry Seinfeld, Melissa McCarthy, Jim Gaffigan, Amy Schumer, James Marsden

A celebrated stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and producer, Jerry Seinfeld has been the face of one of the most iconic sitcoms on TV, and now, for the first time, he stars in his own live-action film. Unfrosted marks the feature directorial debut from Seinfeld, which he co-produces and co-writes with Spike Feresten, Barry Marder, and Andy Robin, the same team that gave us Bee Movie. A story about rival cereal brands, something you can expect only from a comedy star like Seinfeld, Unfrosted follows the competition between Kellogg’s and Post Cereal that resulted in Pop-Tarts. In 1963, Michigan, the two sworn rival brands race to create a breakfast pastry that would revolutionize breakfast foods, told in a hilarious “tale of ambition, betrayal, sugar, and menacing milkmen.” Although it is said to be loosely based on the true story of the invention of the famous toaster pastries, most of the film is fictional, with some real elements. Unfrosted was born out of a joke that Seinfeld told on his Netflix special, 23 Hours to Kill, and as fans would know, brand jokes have been some of his favorite and popular sketches. The period comedy boasts a massive ensemble of comedians and actors, including Christian Slater, Hugh Grant, Bill Burr,Thomas Lennon, Jack McBrayer, Peter Dinklage, and Cedric the Entertainer.

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Mother of the Bride

Available: May 9 | Directed By: Mark Waters

Cast: Brooke Shields, Miranda Cosgrove, Benjamin Bratt, Rachel Harris, Chad Michael Murray

We have seen how the father of the bride gets overwhelmed while planning his daughter’s wedding. But what about the bride’s mother? Netflix’s Mother of the Bride has the answer. Following two holiday movies in the last two years and her latest Hulu documentary, Golden Globe nominee Brooke Shields (Suddenly Susan) is returning to Netflix with this all-new rom-com as the titular mother of the bride, with iCarly’s Miranda Cosgrove as her daughter and the bride. Directed by Mark Waters of Mean Girls (2004) and Freaky Friday fame, Mother of the Bride follows Emma (Cosgrove), who returns home after a year abroad to surprise her mother, Lana (Shields), with the announcement of her wedding in a month. But things get complicated and funny when Lana discovers that the groom is the son of a man she once loved and who broke her heart. Benjamin Bratt, who is best known for his roles in Private Practice and The Cleaner, and recently starred in Poker Face, plays Lana’s former lover, Will. Set in Phuket, Thailand, Mother of the Bride is set to be a colorful, tropical romantic comedy, with all the expected and unexpected shenanigans of a destination wedding.

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My Oni Girl

Available: May 24 | Directed By: Tomokata Shibayama

Cast (voice): Kensho Ono, Miyu Tomita, Shintarō Asanuma, Aya Yamane, Shirō Saitō

This latest youth fantasy film comes from the highly acclaimed animation studio Studio Colorido (and Twin Engine), which gave us anime films like Penguin Highway, A Whisker Away, and Drifting Home. Per Netflix’s official logline, My Oni Girl follows “Hiiragi Yatsuse, a first-year high school student who struggles to make friends despite his efforts to please others. His life takes an unexpected turn when one summer day, he meets Tsumugi, an oni (demon) girl on a quest to find her mother in the human world. Snow mysteriously begins to fall… and their adventure begins.” The film hails from Studio Ghibli alum Tomokata Shibayama, the animation artist involved in the award-winning and iconic production of Spirited Away so that you can expect an equally enchanting and visually stimulating film with My Oni Girl. The film is penned by Yuko Kakihara (Chihayafuru), with renowned animator Masafumi Yokota (The Wind Rises) leading the character design. As the recently released poster and teaser reveal, the all-new fantasy story showcases stunning visual arts (akin to that in A Whisker Away) weaved into a heartwarming story of nostalgia, friendship, self-discovery, and folk mythology. Releasing simultaneously in theaters in Japan and streaming worldwide on Netflix, My Oni Girl is the second of the three projects under Netflix’s deal with Studio Colorido.

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Atlas

Available: May 24| Directed By: Brad Peyton

Cast: Jennifer Lopez, Simu Liu, Sterling K. Brown, Mark Strong, Lana Parrilla

Jennifer Lopez is back to save the world again, and this time, it’s a space-spanning adventure. Set in a high-tech, futuristic world, Atlas tells the story of Atlas Shepherd, “a brilliant but misanthropic data analyst with a deep distrust of artificial intelligence, who joins a mission to capture a renegade robot with whom she shares a mysterious past. But when plans go awry, her only hope of saving the future of humanity from AI is to trust it.” Directed by Brad Peyton, best known for previously helming San Andreas and Netflix’s Daybreak, Atlas is written by Aron Eli Coleite (Heroes) and Leo Sardarian, and stars Lopez as the titular protagonist with Simu Liu of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings fame, as the villainous AI, Harlan. In a time when the world is grappling with AI integration and learning to cohabit with it, Atlas aims a fresh perspective to navigating such tech entities. As Peyton explains, “Atlas is told through the lens of a woman who’s learning to trust after undergoing a trauma that’s upended her life. It reminds us how we have to have deep, meaningful relationships in our lives, in one way, shape, or form.”

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Thelma the Unicorn

Available: May 17| Directed By: Jared Hess and Lynn Wang

Cast: Brittany Howard, Will Forte, Jemaine Clement, Edi Patterson, Fred Armisen

Get your sparkle on and gear up for a foot-tapping musical adventure with a cute, pink unicorn. From the creators of Napolean Dynamite and Nacho Libre, comes this brand-new, animated comedy film. Written by the husband-wife duo, Jared and JerushaHess, and directed by Jared Hess and Lynn Wang (Unikitty!), Thelma the Unicorn is based on the eponymous children’s book series by Aaron Blabey. A story of self-discovery and realizing dreams, the film follows the titular Thelma, “a small-time pony who dreams of becoming a glamorous music star. In a pink and glitter-filled moment of fate, Thelma is transformed into a unicorn and instantly rises to global stardom. But this new life of fame comes at a cost.” As revealed in the film’s promos, Thelma the Unicorn is set for a quirky, crazy, and sparkly ride to fame and stardom with a lot of fun misadventures along the way. Grammy-winning musician Brittany Howard of Alabama Shakes fame leads the voice cast as Thelma in her acting debut, amid a star-studded voice cast that also includes Zach Galifianakis (The Hangover), John Heder (Napolean Dynamite), Shondrella Avery (The Secret Life of Bees), and Ally Dixon (Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight).

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One More Shot

Available: May 1 | Directed By: James Nunn

Cast: Scott Adkins, Michael Jai White, Alexis Knapp, Tom Berenger, Hannah Arterton

Following its theatrical release earlier this year, this British action thriller is landing on Netflix for its streaming premiere. One More Shot (also known as One Shot 2) is a direct sequel to 2021’s One Shot, and stars Scott Adkins of John Wick: Chapter 4 fame, along with Ryan Phillippe (Shooter) and Ashley Greene Khoury (Twilight). Directed by James Nunn (Tower Block), who also directed the previous installment, One More Shot continues the plot of One Shot, where an elite Navy SEALs team is on a covert mission on a CIA black site in Poland to rescue a prisoner. After a devastating attack on the site, Navy SEAL Jake Harris (Adkins) is tasked with a new mission, “to personally accompany terrorist suspect Amin Mansur to Washington D.C. for intensive interrogation. However, as the intricate process of transferring the prisoner unfolds, chaos ensues when a formidable band of heavily armed and exceptionally skilled mercenaries unleashes a ruthless assault upon the unsuspecting airport grounds. Caught in the heart of this violent storm, Jake must navigate through the mayhem, employing his unmatched SEAL training to protect Mansur and ensure justice prevails.” The 2021 film was noted for its editing, which made it look like it was filmed in a single, continuous take.

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Golden Kamuy

Available: May 19 | Directed By: Shigeaki Kubo

Cast: Kento Yamazaki, Anna Yamada, Yûma Yamoto, Gordon Maeda, Ryôhei Ohtani

After its theatrical premiere in Japan in January 2024, the live-action adaptation of the popular eponymous manga is now getting a worldwide streaming release on Netflix this May. Based on the seinen manga, written and illustrated by Satoru Noda, Golden Kamuy is a historical action film, directed by Shigeaki Kubo, and produced by Credeus, with Tsutomu Kuroiwa writing the screenplay, and Yutaka Yamada of Tokyo Ghoul fame, composing the music. Golden Kamuy’s plot is described by Crunchyroll as, “In the early twentieth century, Russo-Japanese War veteran Saichi “Immortal” Sugimoto scratches out a meager existence during the postwar gold rush in the wilderness of Hokkaido. When he stumbles across a map to a fortune in hidden Ainu gold, he sets off on a treacherous quest to find it. But Sugimoto is not the only interested party, and everyone who knows about the gold will kill to possess it! Faced with the harsh conditions of the northern wilderness, ruthless criminals and rogue Japanese soldiers, Sugimoto will need all his skills and luck—and the help of an Ainu girl named Asirpa—to survive.” Along with a currently running anime series, and this all-new film, a live-action sequel series of Golden Kamuy, featuring the film’s cast and crew is also said to be in development.

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