The streaming machine never takes a summer vacation. August 2026 arrives with a fresh batch of must-watch new shows and movies across Netflix, Prime Video, HBO Max and other major streaming services.
As a streaming editor, I’m keeping a close eye on some of the month’s biggest releases, from Jason Sudeikis returning for another round of "Ted Lasso" to Alan Ritchson stepping back into the brutal world of "Reacher." "Outer Banks" has one last treasure hunt in its final season, while HBO’s "Lanterns" brings a darker, more grounded mystery to the DC universe.
On the movie side, Netflix has two thrillers in store: the crime drama "The Whisper Man" starring Robert De Niro, and the claustrophobic sci-fi tale "The Last House." Whether you’re in the mood for a long-awaited comeback, a superhero spectacle or a comfort binge, here are the biggest things to watch in August 2026, sorted by premiere date.
‘Lioness’ season 3 (Aug. 2, Paramount+)
Taylor Sheridan’s CIA thriller is back to prove once again that a dangerous job is not good for work-life balance. Joe McNamara (Zoe Saldaña) returns for another high-stakes operation, but this time the threats are closer to home than ever. With Kaitlyn Meade (Nicole Kidman) and Byron Westfield (Michael Kelly) by her side, Joe faces shadowy networks, shifting alliances and complications in her personal life that are as tricky as a covert war.
Premieres Aug. 2 on Paramount+
‘Ted Lasso’ season 4 (Aug. 5, Apple TV)
TV's nicest coach is lacing up for one more season of soccer — or as everyone else in the world calls it, football — only this time, he's swapping AFC Richmond's men's squad for the Lady Greyhounds, a scrappy second-division women's team fighting for respect on and off the pitch. Jason Sudeikis, Hannah Waddingham, Brett Goldstein and the rest of the gang return, while the new season digs into the real inequities facing women's soccer. If the old magic is still there, I might just believe again.
Premieres Aug. 5 on Apple TV
‘The Shards’ (Aug. 5, FX/Hulu)
Ryan Murphy and Bret Easton Ellis team up to adapt the author’s semi-autobiographic novel into what looks like an ultra stylish fever dream. Set in a sun-drenched, serial-killer-haunted Los Angeles in 1981, the thriller follows teen Bret (Igby Rigney), whose pristine prep-school life starts to splinter after the arrival of enigmatic new student Robert Mallory (Homer Gere). It’s giving “American Psycho” by way of “Riverdale” vibes, and I’m here for it.
Premieres Aug. 5 on FX and Hulu
‘The Last House’ (Aug. 7, Netflix)
Home is supposed to be your safe place; this thriller movie turns that idea inside out. Two of my favorite actors, Greta Lee and Wagner Moura, star as parents who wake up to find their family mysteriously sealed inside their own house, where food is running low and an unseen threat waits just beyond the walls. This twisty mind-bender will make you think twice the next time you lock the front door.
Premieres Aug. 7 on Netflix
‘Reacher’ season 4 (Aug. 12, Prime Video)
Jack Reacher doesn’t go looking for trouble, yet somehow it keeps finding him. Adapting Lee Child's “Gone Tomorrow,” season 4 drops the hulking drifter into a deadly New York conspiracy after a horrifying subway encounter spirals into something far bigger than it first appears. Star Alan Ritchson has teased the show's most "high-octane" season yet, so expect plenty of brutal brawls and action sequences.
Premieres Aug. 12 on Prime Video
‘Lanterns’ (Aug. 16, HBO)
“True Detective,” but with superheroes? Sign me up. Veteran Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler) and rookie John Stewart (Aaron Pierre) head to rural Nebraska to investigate a murder that may be connected to something far more cosmic. Early footage suggests the real draw isn't just the mystery, but the prickly mentor-protégé dynamic, with Hal throwing John into the deep end while alien enemies close in.
Premieres Aug. 16 on HBO and HBO Max
‘Outer Banks’ season 5 (Aug. 20, Netflix)
I’m still a bit shocked that the Pogues have somehow survived four seasons of increasingly unhinged treasure hunting adventures. But the final chapter opens with something they can't outrun: grief. JJ's death hangs over John B, Sarah, Kiara, Pope and Cleo as they chase one last score: a magical crown to make you wonder whether the teen drama is about to get truly weird in its last ride.
Premieres Aug. 20 on Netflix
‘Dark Matter’ season 2 (Aug. 28, Apple TV)
You'd think surviving an infinite multiverse would earn Jason Dessen (Joel Edgerton) a little peace and quiet. Not so fast. Season 2 finds the Dessens trying to put down roots in World 26, but normality is, as always, temporary. Jason can't stop chasing the mysteries of the Box, Daniela (Jennifer Connelly) starts questioning everything around her and other familiar faces are still fighting to get home. Hopping through realities and battling existential dread makes for my favorite kind of sci-fi.
Premieres Aug. 28 on Apple TV
‘The Whisper Man’ (Aug. 28, Netflix)
A creepy nursery rhyme, a missing child and Robert De Niro chasing a killer — that just might be the perfect recipe for a chilling crime thriller. Based on Alex North’s bestselling novel, the movie follows a widowed crime writer (Adam Scott) who searches for his missing son with help from his estranged father (Robert De Niro), the detective who once caught a notorious serial killer with ties to the kidnapping.
Premieres Aug. 28 on Netflix
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