What to Stream: July 31-August 6, 2026

The safest movie pick this week is Hulu's Time and Water: 91% from 45 Rotten Tomatoes critics, a 1h 33m runtime, and a documentary premise that connects one Icelandic family's history to disappearing glaciers. 1

For television, Apple TV+'s Lucky has the clearest completed reception signal at 79% critics and 66% audience, but the August 5 release is Episode 5, not a premiere. Netflix has the week's biggest commitment: the first seven episodes of One Hundred Years of Solitude: Part 2 arrive August 5, while the teen romance My Life With the Walter Boys returns August 6. 2 3

Rotten Tomatoes scores below are a July 30 snapshot. "Not scored" means no usable critic or audience percentage was available on the title page at the time of checking. The guide prioritizes movies, scripted series, and documentaries that help with a weekend decision instead of reproducing every catalog addition.

Netflix drops the first seven episodes on August 5, then holds the finale until August 26. The final chapter continues the Buendía family's multigenerational story in Macondo, adapting the difficult-to-film novel by Gabriel García Márquez. 3

That split release changes the decision. This is the week's largest uninterrupted commitment, but it is also the title with the most narrative momentum: seven episodes give viewers enough material to settle into the family's repeating names, political upheavals, and time-bending structure. Runtime information for the episodes was not listed in the opened calendar. The Part 2 score is also not available, so the recommendation is based on the source material, the returning adaptation, and the unusually large opening batch rather than a fresh consensus number.

Start here if you want a dense, subtitled family epic. Skip it for a quick movie night or if the thought of learning another generation of Aurelianos sounds like work.

The third season returns August 6. Rotten Tomatoes classifies it as TV-14 drama and romance and lists Nikki Rodriguez, Noah LaLonde, and Ashby Gentry among the returning leads. Its premise remains the same emotional engine: after tragedy, Jackie lives with her guardian's large family and navigates love, friendship, and the competing pulls of Alex and Cole. 8

There are currently zero critic reviews and no audience score, and the opened title page does not show a total episode count. That makes this an easy call only for viewers already invested in Jackie's triangle. Newcomers should start with Season 1 instead of treating August 6 as a convenient entry point.

The HBO Original premieres August 6 as a five-part documentary series. Filmmaker Eric Goode, whose earlier work includes Tiger King and Chimp Crazy, follows the exotic-reptile trade from obsessive collectors and smugglers to law-enforcement officers trying to stop a global business built around rare animals. 7 9

The format is a good fit for a weekend: five parts, one subject, and a director already comfortable with eccentric subcultures. The risk is equally clear. No Rotten Tomatoes critic or audience score was available in the current snapshot, so the Watch It cautiously verdict means the premise is worth sampling, not that the series has cleared a review bar.

Apple TV+ releases Episode 5, "Are We Bad People?," on August 5. The episode synopsis says Lucky makes a lucrative discovery while on the run and Agent Rand devises a plan. The series follows a former criminal, played by Anya Taylor-Joy, who is forced back toward the life she abandoned after a heist goes wrong. Annette Bening, Timothy Olyphant, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, and Drew Starkey are also in the cast. 5 10

The reception signal is solid enough to justify staying with it: 79% from 58 critics and 66% from more than 100 audience ratings. The episode is part of a weekly run that began with two episodes on July 15, so the verdict is for existing viewers. If you have not started, save the show for a short thriller binge rather than watching one middle chapter in isolation. 2

Hulu adds Sara Dosa's documentary on August 1. Icelandic writer and poet Andri Snær Magnason uses family photographs, home movies, traditional songs, and his own archives to connect his family's history with the melting glaciers of his homeland. The film runs 1h 33m. 4 1

The 91% Tomatometer from 45 reviews is the strongest completed critic signal in this guide. The audience column is still too small to produce a percentage, with fewer than 50 verified ratings. Rotten Tomatoes' consensus calls the film visually astounding and intimate despite its broad environmental subject. That combination makes it the cleanest recommendation for viewers who want a finished film rather than a new series that may take weeks to prove itself. 1

FX's adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis' novel arrives on Hulu August 5. Set in Los Angeles in 1981, it follows aspiring writer Bret and his privileged prep-school circle as a new student, Robert Mallory, arrives at the same time a serial killer known as the Trawler begins targeting teenagers. Kaia Gerber, Igby Rigney, Homer Gere, Graham Campbell, Wes Bentley, and Hayes Warner lead the cast. 4 6

The premise has a clear audience: viewers who want glossy 1980s teen excess with a murder mystery underneath it. RT currently shows zero critic reviews and no audience score, so there is no quality signal to override the setup's specific taste profile. Sample it for the atmosphere and cast; wait if you need a completed critical read before committing to another serialized thriller.

Choose Time and Water for the most dependable one-sitting movie. Choose Lucky if you are already watching Apple TV+'s weekly crime drama and want the next turn in the chase. Netflix gives literary viewers the week's biggest binge with seven new episodes of One Hundred Years of Solitude, while My Life With the Walter Boys is for people who already know which Walter brother they are rooting for.

The two blind buys are The Shards and Monsters of God: both have sharply defined premises, but neither has a usable RT score yet. Start with one episode or the opening section, then let the actual tone decide whether the rest of the weekend belongs to it.