New to Netflix UK: August 2022
From the new series adaptation of Neil Gaiman's The Sandman to Christopher Nolan's cult classic Memento starring Guy Pearce, Netflix in August has plenty to darken your imagination
UK Netflix release date: Friday 5 August
Prior to writing novels, the fantasy author Neil Gaiman (Good Omens) was enjoyably embedded in comic books – working for both Marvel and DC. Under DC, he wrote the Sandman comics: crafting a deep, dark mythology set in the world of dreams. Gaiman has historically prevented attempts to adapt the series. Until now.
Said
Sandman, known as Dream (Tom Sturridge), is responsible for shaping the fears
and fantasies of the sleeping population. But after being imprisoned for 100
years, dreaming and waking worlds have fallen into chaos. When he finds a way
out, he travels across different realms and timelines to restore
order. Along the way, he meets characters that embody abstract concepts like
Death (Kirby Howell-Baptiste), Desire (Mason Alexander Park), and Despair
(Donna Preston) – as well as Lucifer (Gwendoline Christie) herself. Charles
Dance and Jenna Coleman also star.
Echoes
UK Netflix release date: Friday 19 August
Twins and doppelgangers are topics of infinite intrigue in TV and movies. The strange new limited series Echoes, starring Mission: Impossible star Michelle Monaghan, appears to follow in the twinned footsteps of David Cronenberg's 80s film Dead Ringers – but leans into a mystery drama vibe.
Like Elliot and Beverly, Leni and Gina
swap lives all the time and the people around them don’t realise. They both
have their own homes, their own husbands – there’s even a child. But when Leni suddenly disappears,
the deception comes crashing down.
Benediction
UK Netflix release date: Wednesday 3 August
Terence Davies' calm, muted biopic of WWI poet Siegfried Sassoon hasn’t received the attention it deserves. Perhaps it's because many period dramas rely on garishness and optimism to become popular, whereas Davies never makes concessions to the mainstream.
In Benediction, the war-torn Sassoon is fractured between his younger and older selves (played by Jack Lowden and Peter Capaldi) – dealing with the intense injustice of the war, but also the secret gay life he led afterwards. Meeting other eminent figures like Wilfred Owen (Matthew Tennyson) and Ivor Novello (Jeremy Irvine), the film is as much a romantic drama as a study of trauma.
Memento
UK Netflix release date: Sunday 14 August
Christopher Nolan loves playing in time. Whether it’s splitting corps in Dunkirk, slowing everything down in Inception, or playing inside deterministic realities in Tenet, the director always outdoes himself in the fourth dimension.
An early example of this passion is in his 2000 film Memento,
a neo-noir told in reverse: beginning at the end, and telling the story backwards.
The hero, Leonard (Guy Pearce), has short-term memory loss, but he's armoured with notes
and tattoos telling him what came before. The only thing he remembers is the
death of his wife, who he’s trying to avenge.
Clusterf**k: Woodstock '99
UK Netflix release date: Wednesday 3 August
There are many instances of concerts and festivals going stupendously wrong. Woodstock ’99, the second to emulate the famous 1969 festival, is one of the most prominent examples and it’s often referred to as ‘the day the Nineties died’.
Clusterf**k is a three-part documentary that dives into the festival's numerous issues, supplied with archive footage and first-hand accounts. Taking place in
a closed Air Force base in New York, Woodstock ’99 suffered from overpriced
water bottles in scorching temperatures, horrendous overcrowding caused by people
with fake passes, and numerous sexual assaults during the music
sets. The festival erupted into rioting, with bonfires
and upturned vehicles – requiring State Troopers to intervene.
The full Netflix in August slate:
Monday 1
August
Separation
Wednesday 3
August
Benediction
Clusterf**k:
Woodstock ’99
Good
Morning Veronica, season 2
Thursday 4
August
The
Broken Hearts Gallery
Kakegurui
Twin
Lady
Tamara
Super
Giant Robot Brothers
Wedding
Season
Friday 5
August
Carter
Darlings
Rise
of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie
The
Sandman
Saturday 6
August
The
Wedding Date
Tuesday 9
August
I
Just Killed My Dad
Wednesday 10
August
Bank
Robbers: The Last Great Heist
Four
Indian
Matchmaking
Instant
Dream Home
Locke
& Key, season 3
School
Tales: The Series
Thursday 11
August
The
Roads Not Taken
Friday 12
August
13:
The Musical
A
Model Family
Day
Shift
Never
Have I Ever, season 3
Sunday 14
August
Memento
Monday 15
August
Deepa
& Anoop
Tuesday 16
August
Untold:
The Girlfriend Who Didn’t Exist
Wednesday 17
August
High
Heat
Look
Both Ways
Royalteen
Thursday 18
August
He-Man
and the Masters of the Universe, season 3
Friday 19
August
Echoes
The
Girl in the Mirror
Kleo
The
Next 365 Days
Tuesday 23
August
Chad
and JT Go Deep
Wednesday 24
August
Lost
Ollie
Mo
Running
With the Devil: The Wild World of John McAfee
Seeling
the OC
Friday 26
August
Me
Time
Seoul
Vibe
Tuesday 30
August
I
Am A Killer, season 3