Also, an “intimate” new documentary about Martin Short.

7 must-see movies coming to Netflix in May 2026

Also, an "intimate" new documentary about Martin Short.

By Randall Colburn

Randall Colburn

Randall Colburn is a writer and editor at **. His work has previously appeared on The A.V. Club, The Guardian, The Ringer, and many other publications.

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May 2, 2026 8:00 a.m. ET

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'Remarkably Bright Creatures'; 'Swapped'; 'Fried Green Tomatoes'. Credit:

Netflix; Skydance Animation/Netflix; Universal/Getty

It's heating up outside, but don't neglect your Netflix queue *too* much.

Literary adaptations, rom-coms, and animated family films are among the originals debuting on the streamer this month. You'll also find a documentary about Hollywood treasure Martin Short, whose current *relationship* with Meryl Streep remains a source of our curiosity.

May is also good time to round out your Letterboxd profile, as several older films spanning multiple genres are arriving on Netflix. We've highlighted several below, including Jonathan Glazer's utterly beguiling 2013 film *Under the Skin*.

Below are seven movies coming to Netflix this month that we can't wait to watch.**

Fried Green Tomatoes (1991)

Mary Stuart Masterson, Jessica Tandy, Kathy Bates, and Mary-Louise Parker in 'Fried Green Tomatoes'.

Universal/Getty

**Available to stream: **May 1

This powerful story about female friendship (and maybe more?) in the Deep South was a massive box office success upon its release. Jessica Tandy's aging Ninny frames the piece, enrapturing Kathy Bates' lonely housewife in the 1980s with a story about Idgie Threadgoode (Mary Stuart Masterson) and Ruth Jamison (Mary-Louise Parker), two women who formed a deep bond in the 1930s.

Though EW's critic had their quibbles at the time, they nevertheless lauded the Oscar-nominated drama as "a rich, if whitewashed, visual portrait of the '30s Deep South, with engaging secondary characters and a lovely, fertile sense of production design."

**Director: **Jon Avnet

**Cast:** Mary Stuart Masterson, Mary-Louise Parker, Kathy Bates, Chris O'Donnell, Cicely Tyson, Jessica Tandy**

Ouija: Origin of Evil (2016)

'Ouija: Origin of Evil'. Universal

**Available to stream: **May 1

Two years before Mike Flanagan became Netflix's go-to director for small-screen horror — he brought *The Haunting of Hill House* and *Midnight Mass* to the streamer, among other spooky series — he helmed this better-than-it-has-any-right-to-be prequel to 2014's "kind of goofy" *Ouija*.

Set in 1967, *Origin of Evil* follows a fake fortune teller (Elizabeth Reaser) who courts demons when she folds a Ouija board into her readings. What could've been another piece of IP exploitation is elevated by an emotionally resonant script, haunting imagery, and a particularly strong turn by child actress Lulu Wilson. As previously noted by EW, Wilson "screams, levitates, and emanates evil with a flair all her own."

**Director: **Mike Flanagan

**Cast: **Elizabeth Reaser, Lulu Wilson, Lin Shaye, Henry Thomas, Sam Anderson, Kate Siegel, Doug Jones**

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Swapped (2026)

Ivy (voiced by Juno Temple) and Ollie (voiced by Michael B. Jordan) in 'Swapped'.

Skydance Animation/Netflix

**Available to stream: **May 1

Michael B. Jordan, who just won an Oscar for his dual role in *Sinners*, leads the voice cast of this animated comedy, which evokes *Freaky Friday* in its story about a small woodland creature, Ollie (Jordan), who swaps bodies with the kind of majestic bird that would normally hunt it.

"As you go through the movie with Ollie, you're gaining perspective. You literally are transforming — you're gaining new eyes and a new perspective on how you see the world," said director Nathan Greno in a recent interview. "We were constantly trying to find a way to tell this story of empathy in a way that felt real, grounded, and emotionally true."

**Director: **Nathan Greno

**Cast:** Michael B. Jordan, Juno Temple, Cedric the Entertainer, Justina Machado, Tracy Morgan**

Under the Skin (2013)

Scarlett Johansson in 'Under The Skin'.

**Available to stream: **May 1

Being a Jonathan Glazer fan takes patience — he's released just four features since his 2000 debut, *Sexy Beast* — but his work is always worth the wait. With *Under the Skin*, the filmmaker uses Michel Faber's 2000 book about an alien seductress who harvests the meat of human men as a means of interrogating violence, fear, seduction, empathy, and the human condition.

Scarlett Johansson stars as the nameless extraterrestrial. "To say it's one of the best performances of her career here would be an understatement," EW declared in 2015.

"Johansson shows us the world through the eyes of someone experiencing it for the first time; we watch her morph from a drone-like, Terminator-bred personality into someone who learns what it means to feel human," said our critic at the time. "We watch her discover the feelings and emotions that make up who we are — and, in turn, we understand the evolution of her character."

**Director: **Jonathan Glazer

**Cast: **Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy McWilliams, Adam Pearson**

Remarkably Bright Creatures (2026)

Lewis Pullman and Sally Field in 'Remarkably Bright Creatures'.

**Available to stream: **May 8

Sally Field stars in this adaptation of Shelby Van Pelt's best-selling novel about a widow who forms unlikely connections with a down-on-his-luck younger man and, believe it or not, a giant Pacific octopus. (Octopuses, it should be noted, are remarkably bright creatures, indeed.)

Directed by Olivia Newman, who scored a hit with 2022's *Where the Crawdads Sing*, directs an impressive cast that includes rising star Lewis Pullman and old hands like Colm Meaney, Beth Grant, and Joan Chen.

**Director: **Olivia Newman

**Cast: **Sally Field, Lewis Pullman, Colm Meaney, Beth Grant, Joan Chen, Kathy Baker, Sofia Black-D’Elia

Marty, Life Is Short (2026)

Martin Short and Ron Howard in 'Marty, Life Is Short'.

**Available to stream: **May 12

Martin Short has led a charmed career, having won two Emmys and a Tony while creating iconic, enduring characters on *SCTV*, *Saturday Night Live*, and Comedy Central, where he originated his acerbic celebrity journalist Jiminy Glick. These days, he stars alongside his close pal Steve Martin on the Hulu hit *Only Murders in the Building*, which he also executive produces.

But this "intimate portrait" is as much concerned with Short's personal life as it is his career achievements. Never-before-seen home movies accompany revealing interviews with Short and several of his collaborators, including Martin, Tom Hanks, John Mulaney, and the late Catherine O'Hara.

**Director: **Lawrence Kasdan

Ladies First (2026)

Sacha Baron Cohen and Rosamund Pike in 'Ladies First'.

Rob Youngson/Netflix

**Available to stream: **May 22

*Ladies First* stars Sacha Baron Cohen as a womanizing cad who wakes up in a world where women hold all the cards. This adaptation of the French film *I Am Not an Easy Man *also explores gender dynamics in the workplace, with Baron Cohen's ad agency hotshot being forced to endure the kind of professional imbalances faced by his female colleagues.

Rosamund Pike leads the supporting cast alongside the storied likes of Richard E. Grant, Emily Mortimer, Charles Dance, and Fiona Shaw.

**Director:** Thea Sharrock

**Cast:** Sacha Baron Cohen, Rosamund Pike, Richard E. Grant, Emily Mortimer, Charles Dance, Fiona Shaw**

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