The Best Netflix Arrivals Of May 2019
There's always something coming and going on Netflix with every new month, but May 2019 just might be one of the best months yet. The streaming giant is focusing the month on original films and series rather than licensed content, premiering a heaping handful of brand new titles and returning series alike. One major coup for Netflix in May is the rebranding of Lucifer as a Netflix original after the streamer scooped up the canceled series from Fox. The upcoming fourth season will see the fallen angel rising to new heights of drama as he continues to struggle with his life in Los Angeles.
Other highlights to look for this month are The Society, a new series about teenagers forming their own violent society after all the adults in a small town disappear, and The Perfection, a mind-bending horror film that's been dubbed one of the craziest movies of 2019. All that and more are heading to Netflix in May 2019. Let's get started.
Dead to Me (Season 1) — May 3
The dark comedy Dead to Me stars Christina Applegate as a grieving widow named Jen who attends a support group and meets a woman named Lucy, played by Bloodline's Linda Cardellini, who's going through the same difficult time. The two bond over their shared grief, become friends, move in together... and everything goes completely off the rails. It turns out Lucy's kind of — maybe totally — crazy, and now she's living in the same house as Jen and her kids. Cue the hilarity, right?
The trailer for Dead to Me teases a show reminiscent of Big Little Lies infused with the kind of humor that could only come from having Will Ferrell and Adam McKay as executive producers, and it looks like a wicked good time. Tune in when the series arrives on May 3.
Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile — May 3
The title of this one says it all. Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile is about the trial and imprisonment of notorious serial killer Ted Bundy, told through the perspective of Elizabeth Kloepfer, a single mother who dated Bundy before his crimes came to light. Throughout the media circus, she never believed that he'd committed all the murders — after all, Bundy was known as a charming, down-to-earth person before the world found out that he'd killed multiple women.
Zac Efron stars as Bundy, with Lily Collins in the role of Elizabeth (whose name was changed to Liz Kendall for the film). Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile has all the makings of a dark, twisted descent into the mind of a killer. Take a look when it lands on May 3.
Flinch (Season 1) — May 3
Remember Fear Factor, that show in which contestants had to do a bunch of scary stuff like have spiders crawl over them or jump off buildings? It was brought back in 2017 with Ludacris stepping in as the host, and now Netflix is joining the game: Flinch is an upcoming reality show that works in the same vein. Contestants are put into gut-wrenching (well, butt-clenching) situations and tasked with not flinching. Whoever flinches the least wins.
What kind of stuff are they doing? In the trailer, we see challenges as simple as having a firecracker pop next to you or a guy smash cymbals right behind your head, all the way up to seriously flinch-worthy situations like being strapped to a chair while a cement block on a rope swings inches past your nose.
It looks like the kind of show that makes the viewer flinch right alongside the contestants, and you can squeal in terror when the first season swings in on May 3.
Tuca & Bertie (Season 1) — May 3
If the animation for Netflix's upcoming Tuca & Bertie looks familiar, you've probably seen your fair share of BoJack Horseman. But don't go in expecting a spinoff of that show, or even necessarily the same type of humor — Tuca & Bertie was created by Liza Hanawalt, who served as production designer on BoJack and essentially created the animation style.
With Tuca & Bertie, Hanawalt is bringing along that same style of animation and bundling it with a whole new group of writers and voice actors to bring to life this story of two birds living in an apartment building. Look for it on May 3.
Lucifer (Season 4) — May 8
For its first three seasons, Lucifer was the property of Fox, and Netflix aired seasons a little later. Now that Fox has dumped the series, though, Netflix has swooped in to grab the rights, and they produced the upcoming fourth season. Other than that, nothing much is going to change. It's still the story of Lucifer after he gets bored with Hell and moves to LA — Hell 2.0, if you will.
The show is based on a character that appeared in Neil Gaiman's Sandman, and who later got his own spinoff series. The fourth season of Lucifer arrives on May 8, so keep your eyes peeled for that.
The Society (Season 1) — May 10
Teenagers are scary enough, but when you put them in charge of their own town, things have the potential to go downhill fast. That's what appears to happen in The Society, which centers on an affluent town in which everybody mysteriously vanishes. Well, everybody, that is, except for the teenagers, and it isn't long before they develop their own rules for survival. If you aren't high-fiving with the cool crowd, you might just end up six feet under.
It looks like a cross between Mean Girls and The Purge, which is the kind of premise you never thought you'd look forward to, but now that it's here, well, we're pretty pumped. Tune in for season 1 of The Society when it drops on May 10.
Wine Country — May 10
Amy Poehler's directorial debut is just around the corner, and it looks like a doozy. Wine Country follows a group of friends as they head into the Napa Valley (a.k.a. wine country) for a carefully planned weekend of boozing in celebration of Amy Poehler's character's 50th birthday. But once all that wine starts stirring around regrets and repressed emotions, the itinerary goes out the window and this group of friends takes a nosedive into a long, hard look at their lives. Fun!
Maya Rudolph, Rachel Dratch, Jason Schwartzman, and Tina Fey co-star, and in addition to directing and starring, Poelher is executive producing. Pour a glass and settle in when Wine Country premieres on May 10.
Maria — May 17
Hyper-stylized action films emulating John Wick are all the rage right now, so it's not surprising that Netflix picked up Maria, a foreign shoot-'em-up about a girl who grows up to be an assassin after her parents are killed in front of her. She eventually leaves the cartel and starts a family, only for her new life to be thrown into chaos when the cartel discovers where she lives and sends even more assassins to take her out.
While that's not exactly a mind-blowing premise, the trailer for Maria promises a sleek thrill ride that makes full use of its emotionally scarred protagonist. Get caught up in the action on May 17.
White Gold: Season 2 — May 17
Even though it's ramping into its second season, a lot of Netflix viewers have probably never heard of White Gold. While it started as a BBC series, White Gold made its way across the pond courtesy of Netflix, bringing all its deadpan wit and outlandish humor with it. The show centers on a team of salesmen in a showroom in the '80s who figure business ethics is just a fancy phrase for making as much money as possible, no matter what it takes. It gets weird, and sometimes downright savage, but White Gold almost never disappoints. If you're looking for a new comedy series to binge, be sure to check out White Gold when the second season lands on May 17.
The Rain (Season 2) — May 17
The first season of the Danish thriller series The Rain settled into a comfy 81 percent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with critics praising the show's writing and characters. It's the age-old plot of a group of teens banding together to survive after [insert apocalypse here], with all the bickering, cliques, and drama you'd expect from that scenario. But The Rain elevates its premise with a great sense of atmosphere and, yeah, solid writing, all of which definitely makes this show worth a watch.
The series is set six years after a water-borne plague wiped out most of humanity and centers on two siblings who leave their bunker to find other survivors. As they roam the wasteland, their main priority is staying dry. You know, because of the virus plague thing in the water. Even a raindrop can cause an infection. If you missed the first season of The Rain, don't think twice — queue it up and get ready for the second season to fall on May 17.
See You Yesterday (2019) — May 17
Spike Lee is producing this time travel joint, which sees two high school kids on the cusp of finishing a pair of time-warping backpacks when one of their brothers is shot by police. They decide to use the backpacks to go back in time and stop the incident from taking place. Of course, things go wrong pretty quickly, and they find themselves in a loop of mistakes that they desperately try to unravel. Apparently, time travel isn't as easy as it looks. Who knew? Jump in for the ride when See You Yesterday shows up on May 17.
Slasher: Solstice — May 23
Netflix's anthology horror series Slasher brought in solid reviews during its first outing thanks mostly to its dedication to the genre. Structured on the slasher movies of the '80s and '90s, it manages to pay homage to those movie-of-the-week chillers while still bringing plenty of new stuff to the table. Much like its inspiration, Slasher isn't going to blow anybody away with its acting or writing, but there are plenty of twists — and more than enough gore — to keep fans hungry for more.
The newest installment, Solstice, isn't coming with a lot of pre-release details, so we're not sure what the story will be at the time of this writing. All we know is that if it's anything like the first two installments, we're 100 percent in. Take a look on May 23.
What/If — May 24
What if you could have it all? That's what the upcoming dramatic series What/If asks. The trailer showcases a mysterious woman handing out promises of wealth and happiness, but as we all know, nobody gets everything they want without selling a piece of their soul to the devil. So yeah, there are bound to be consequences. When a newlywed couple takes this mystery lady up on her offer, they find out just how many consequences there really are.
Renée Zellweger headlines the cast of What/If as the mystery woman/devil/genie/wish-granter, or whatever she is, and the first season is coming to Netflix on May 24. Some wishes do come true.
The Perfection — May 24
Netflix has been throwing out some pretty twisted high-concept horror lately with releases like Velvet Buzzsaw and Await Further Instructions, and continuing that trend in May is The Perfection. Allison Williams of Get Out stars as a musical prodigy who returns to her roots at her former school, only to get an unexpected surprise in the form of a younger student who appears to be deeply disturbed.
That's all we're willing to dig into this right now, because most critics have stressed how important to go into The Perfection completely blind. Slashfilm's review definitely echoed that sentiment, while also calling it "the craziest damn movie of 2019." That's enough to sell us, and we're looking forward to watching The Perfection when it drops on May 24.
How to Sell Drugs Online (Fast) (Season 1) — May 31
When it comes to titles, sometimes it seems like the Netflix people just start typing and then go into a coma sometime around the second or third word. Remember Fastest Car? It was a show about cars and how fast they went. This show, How to Sell Drugs Online (Fast), is about a guy selling drugs online. Don't get us wrong, these shows are usually really good. It's just a shame about the titles.
Anyway, this one's actually based on a ridiculous true story about a teenager in Germany who was trying to show his girlfriend how cool he was, so he made a knee-jerk little business peddling pills over the internet. Before long, he was one of the top drug dealers on the continent. As the title suggests, How to Sell Drugs Online (Fast) plays as sort of a dramatic guide to everything this kid did — kind of like Jesse Eisenberg's whole "How to survive zombies" narration in Zombieland. Either way, it looks like a lot of fun, and you can find it on Netflix on May 31.
When They See Us (Limited Series) — May 31
Heart-wrenching and dramatic, When They See Us is a limited series focused on the Central Park Five, five teens who were falsely convicted of raping a woman in New York's Central Park in 1989. After spending years in prison, their convictions were overturned in 2002 in light of new evidence confirming their innocence.
When They See Us will paint a dramatic portrait of the young men's lives before and after the crime, and the discrimination they faced during the trial. Oscar-nominated director Ava DuVernay created the show and directed each of the four parts. Look for it on May 31.
Those are all the great new Netflix originals coming in May 2019. Now let's look at all the other films and TV shows heading our way.
Action
Explosions, kung fu, and space dinosaurs fill out the docket for May's action additions. Go ahead and plan for a Matrix marathon on May 1, when all three of the Keanu Reeves sci-fi action flicks plug into the streaming service. In the mood for more thoughtful fare? Check out Snowpiercer, a 2013 post-apocalyptic film starring Chris Evans as a lowly citizen on board a train carrying the last remnants of humanity.
On May 2, you could always give John Carter another chance. On paper, this high-concept sci-fi adventure had everything going for it. It's based on a series of classic books, it came from Disney while they were still riding high on the lucrative seas of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, and it was directed by Andrew Stanton, the Pixar mainstay who brought us Finding Nemo and WALL-E. Unfortunately, critics slashed John Carter into Barsoom mincemeat, and it faded away into obscurity — or maybe just infamy. Is it worth another look? Maybe. Who knows.
May 1
Snowpiercer (2013)
The Matrix (1999)
The Matrix Reloaded (2003)
The Matrix Revolutions (2003)
May 2
John Carter (2012)
Olympus Has Fallen (2013)
Thriller/Horror
There's going to be a wide range of thriller and horror films landing on Netflix next month, from splatterfest screamers like The Final Destination and Scream to more low-key adventure thrillers like The Da Vinci Code and its sequel, Angels & Demons. All of those selections arrive on the first of the month alongside 2004's Taking Lives.
On May 9, queue up Insidious, the 2010 supernatural suspense film James Wan directed before he went on and took over the whole Conjuring franchise.
May 1
The Final Destination (2009)
Angels & Demons (2009)
Scream (1996)
Taking Lives (2004)
The Da Vinci Code (2006)
May 9
Insidious (2010)
May 18
The Blackcoat's Daughter (2015)
Drama
Grab some tissues and gird your soul, because Netflix is bringing in some heavy-hitting dramas throughout May. The first of the month is starting out strong with classics like Hoosiers, Scarface, and Revolutionary Road, not to mention the mind-bending cult classic Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.
On the fourth, don't miss War Horse, Steven Spielberg's 2011 World War I drama that will turn you into a horse lover whether you want to or not. Because man...horses.
Closing out the month, we'll get 2016's Best Picture winner Moonlight on the 21st, followed by Disney's Nutcracker and the Four Realms on the 28th.
May 1
Kia and Cosmos (2018)
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998)
Gosford Park (2001)
Her Only Choice (2018)
Hoosiers (1986)
Revolutionary Road (2008)
Scarface (1983)
May 2
Norman: The Moderate Rise and Tragic Fall of a New York Fixer (2016)
May 4
War Horse (2011)
May 21
Moonlight (2016)
May 28
The Nutcracker and the Four Realms (2018)
May 30
My Week with Marilyn (2011)
Comedy
If you find yourself on the credits end of Revolutionary Road come May 1 and desperately need a pick-me-up, you'll have plenty of options. Netflix is doubling down on comedies next month, bringing back raunchy genre favorites like the first two Austin Powers films, Dumb and Dumber, Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay, and Wedding Crashers. Look for those on the first, as well as a handful of darker comedies like Gremlins and Zombieland. It's definitely going to be a great month for laughs.
May 1
Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997)
Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999)
Chasing Liberty (2004)
Dumb and Dumber (1994)
Gremlins (1984)
Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay (2008)
Just Friends (2005)
To Rome With Love (2012)
Wedding Crashers (2005)
Zombieland (2009)
May 16
Take Me Home Tonight (2011)
Television
Fans of CW superheroes rejoice! Netflix is dumping all the new seasons of The Flash, Arrow, Supergirl, and Legends of Tomorrow throughout the month, promising more spandex and outsourced CGI than all of Jean-Claude Van Damme's movies put together. And if you've spent the last decade and a half following the adventures of Sam and Dean Winchester, you'll also be able to catch up on Season 14 of Supernatural. It's a little bittersweet, since fans know the long-running show will finally be entering the afterlife after its 15th season. There's a lot more coming to Netflix on the television front. Check out the full list below.
May 1
Inside the Mind of a Serial Killer: Season 2 (2019)
Roswell, New Mexico: Season 1 (2019)
May 2
Colony: Season 3 (2018)
May 3
Supernatural: Season 14 (2018 – 2019)
May 7
Queen of the South: Season 3 (2018)
May 10
Pose: Season 1 (2018)
May 21
Arrow: Season 7 (2018 – 2019)
May 22
The Flash: Season 5 (2018 – 2019)
May 23
Riverdale: Season 3 (2018 – 2019)
May 27
Outlander: Seasons 1-2 (2014 – 2016)
May 31
Charmed (2018): Season 1 (2018 – 2019)
DC's Legends of Tomorrow: Season 4 (2018 – 2019)
Supergirl: Season 4 (2018 – 2019)