Neon continues to bring in a convoy of quality shows and films. See our handpicked highlights below followed by the full release schedule.
See also
* The best movies to watch on Neon
* All new streaming movies & series
Top picks: TV
Duster: Season 1 (May 16)
What happened to the good ol’ fashioned car movie: a genre about daring characters, mad chase sequences and pedal-to-the-metal plotting? Developed and partially directed by J.J. Abrams, this crime-action series has a retro heart beating under its shiny hood.
Lost star Josh Holloway plays a maverick getaway driver, who makes a surprisingly good team with FBI agent Rachel Hilson. Together, they’ll go nyoom and vroom and bring down a dark criminal syndicate before its tentacles can entirely infect the 1970s southwest. We’re also happy to see Keith David and Corbin Bernsen amongst the supporting cast. Make sure you’re wearing your seatbelt before you hit play.
And Just Like That…: Season 3 (May 30)
Look at Carrie’s huge puffy skirt! Or is it pants? An indulgent skort? Who cares: the SATC sequel series is back, and boy did season two end on a precarious note. Carrie and fan fave love interest Aidan had finally committed to one another, but with a massive caveat: he couldn’t join her in the huge Manhattan mansion she’d bought for them until his young sons were grown up enough, and didn’t need him at home anymore. Can true romantic Carrie really hold out for years and years without love?
Even when this silly series’ subplots make you roll your eyes, the bourgeoisie lifestyle porn and insane costumes make the Max original well worth a watch. Another round of cosmos please!
Top picks: Movies
Smile 2 (May 4)
Hey, turn your frown upside down! One of 2024’s biggest horror surprises is now streaming, with a tremendously committed and elastic Naomi Scott playing a popstar being tormented by an evil, grinning demonic entity. The first film was well-executed enough, from writer and director Parker Finn—but he’s blown his own best efforts out of the water here, delivering genuinely unpredictable and almost comedic scares with creativity and aplomb.
The stakes are handily higher and more compelling: what if a globally famous diva began to go nuts in a very public fashion, seeing haunting visions that nobody else could see? What if she already has a dodgy history with substance abuse and tabloid scandal? Devilishly scary and fun.
Chinatown (May 21)
Few films have better captured a city’s essence—in this case, sun-kissed and yet utterly corrupted—than the labyrinthine Chinatown does for Los Angeles. Roman Polanski’s 1974 neo-noir masterpiece is set in the 1930s, but the plot harks back to the once-sleepy town’s very transformation into a metropolis via the misappropriation of water, a crime reflected throughout Robert Towne’s screenplay.
Jack Nicholson as private eye Jake Gittes, and Faye Dunaway as the widowed Evelyn Mulwray, who hires him after he does wrong in her name at the instigation of an impersonator, are the headline stars. But the film belongs to the late, great John Huston, who plays the city’s unofficial patriarch Noah Cross with the assurance of someone who has done so much wrong in the name of right that they’re convinced nothing can impede them. “’Course I’m respectable,” the hulking old man tells Gittes. “I’m old. Politicians, ugly buildings, and whores all get respectable if they last long enough.”
Gladiator II (May 27)
Every snarky, lukewarm review of this Ridley Scott sequel took the opportunity to riff on the epic first film’s pivotal question: were we not entertained enough by one entry? Unfortunately, in my humble opinion, the hunky Paul Mescal does not stack up to Russell Crowe’s muscular pathos, and a storyline with few surprises couldn’t elicit an imperial thumbs up from me. What was great, though, was Denzel Washington’s flamboyant scheming as a bloke using the gladiatorial violence for his own kingmaking ambitions. You can tell Denzel absolutely loved his luxe Roman costume, flicking its sleeves and playing with his rings like a corrupt boxing promoter. He’s having a blast, even when the audience might be left a bit cold.
Everything Coming to Neon this May
May 1
The Crow
May 2
7 Little Johnstons: Season 9
The Great Home Transformation: Season 1
San Andreas
May 4
Aaron Hernandez and the Untold Murders of Bristol
Choir Games: Season 1
Crescent City
Smile 2
May 5
Craig of the Creek: Season 6
May 7
Breakfast at Tiffany’s
Jay & Pamela: Season 1
May 8
90 Day: The Last Resort: Season 2
The Lockdown
May 9
The OC: Seasons 1-4
May 10
Hollywood Demons: Season 1
This Is The End
May 11
Hustlers
May 12
Batwheels: The Wizard: Season 1
In Cold Water: The Shelter Bay Mystery: Season 1
Grizzly and the Lemmings: World Tour: Season 4
May 13
Save the Last Dance
Signs of a Psychopath: Season 5
May 15
Unbreakable: The Jelena Dokic Story
Wolf Hall: Season 1
May 16
Anger Management
Duster: Season 1
Outback Opal Hunters: Season 13
May 17
School of Rock
May 18
American Sniper
Death by Fame: Season 3
May 19
We Baby Bears: Season 2
May 20
Underplayed: Season 1
May 21
Chinatown
May 22
Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story
May 23
Machete
May 24
The Natural
May 25
Greedy People
May 26
Rick and Morty: Season 8
Vida the Vet: Season 1
May 27
Filthy Fortunes: Season 1
Gladiator II
May 29
The Equalizer: Season 5
May 30
And Just Like That…: Season 3
Terms of Endearment
May 31
Baby Looney Tunes: Season 2
Ben 10: Season 2
Jellystone!: Season 2
Regular Show: Seasons 3-4
Steven Universe: Season 1-3
