Watching: The best things to stream
On Netflix, Disney+, HBO Max, Amazon and more
Watching
August 8, 2026

By The Watching Team

The weekend is here! If you’re looking for something to watch, we can help. We’ve dug through Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, HBO Max and Disney+ to find some of the best titles on each service.

STREAMING ON NETFLIX

‘Clueless’

In a movie scene, a girl in a yellow plaid jacket is center frame while people in more muted colors rush behind her.
Alicia Silverstone in “Clueless.” Paramount Pictures

Amy Heckerling’s sly comedy kick-started a cluster of careers (including those of Alicia Silverstone, Donald Faison, Brittany Murphy and Paul Rudd), as well as an entire ’90s glut of teen comedy adaptations of classic literature (including “10 Things I Hate About You,” “She’s All That” and “Cruel Intentions”). But the first remains the best. The writer-director Heckerling, who directed “Fast Times at Ridgemont High,” continued to display an impeccable ear and eye for the dialogue and behavior of her teen protagonists, and she managed the miraculous feat of writing a script that satirizes their vapidness and privilege without condescending to them.

These are the 50 best movies on Netflix.

STREAMING ON NETFLIX

‘Heartstopper’

Two boys in sweatshirts stand outside holding hands and looking at each other.
Fro left: Joe Locke and Kit Connor in “Heartstopper.” Samuel Dore/Netflix

Based on an Alice Oseman web comic, this earnest teenage romance features well-rounded and likable characters, navigating relationship woes inspired by the complicated state of young love today. Written by Oseman and directed by Euros Lyn, “Heartstopper” is about Charlie Spring (Joe Locke), an openly gay British grammar school boy who is still recovering from a breakup with a closeted classmate when he meets Nick Nelson (Kit Connor), an older and more popular kid who invites Charlie to join the rugby team. Their friendship evolves into flirtation, although as the story plays out, Charlie wonders if he can wait for yet another suitor to embrace his sexuality. Our writer called it “a heartfelt and warm coming-of-age love story.”

Here are 30 great TV shows on Netflix.

STREAMING ON HULU

‘Jurassic Park’

Four people, three men and one woman, hunch closely together over an egg that is hatching. Inside is a baby dinosaur. They are all in awe.
From left, Richard Attenborough, Laura Dern, Sam Neill and BD Wong in “Jurassic Park.” Universal Pictures

Steven Spielberg’s gripping adaptation of this Michael Crichton best seller is both a terrifying thriller and a thoughtful commentary on the moral challenges of scientific advancement. Richard Attenborough stars as a wealthy industrialist who has figured out how to reanimate dinosaurs; Sam Neill, Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum are the scientists he invites to marvel at the fruits of his labor, until a power outage during their tour turns the whole expedition upside down. The special effects are still eerily convincing, and the performances are quirky and compelling. Spielberg mines his big set pieces for maximum tension. A.O. Scott recently deemed it “scary, scrappy and marvelously executed.”

Here are Hulu’s best movies and TV shows.

STREAMING ON AMAZON PRIME VIDEO

‘Zola’

Two women stand face-to-face in a mirrored hallway with multicolored lightbulbs.
I won’t be your mirror: Riley Keough and Taylour Paige in “Zola.” Anna Kooris/A24

“Zola” took Twitter by storm in 2015, when A’Ziah King, known as Zola, told the harrowing, hilarious, stranger-than-fiction, 148-tweet tale of how a trip to Florida with an exotic dancer, a boyfriend and a pimp went sideways. The director Janicza Bravo wrote the screenplay with the Tony-nominated “Slave Play” author Jeremy O. Harris, keeping it faithful to the original story. One of the fascinating wrinkles of Bravo’s film, which is both a furiously funny story of crime and sex, is that it is also a thoughtful meditation on the subjective nature of storytelling.

Here are a bunch of great movies on Amazon.

STREAMING ON HBO MAX

‘Pillion’

Two men in leather jackets walk through an alleyway.
From left: Harry Melling and Alexander Skarsgard in “Pillion.” Chris Harris/A24, via Associated Press

Pulling off a tonal high-wire act that’s as unlikely and compelling as the odd couple at its center, “Pillion” is a queer romantic comedy about the relationship between dominant and submissive B.D.S.M. partners that’s both admirably frank and broadly accessible. The writer-director Harry Lighton’s promising first feature stays close to an awkward, inexperienced gay man (Harry Melling) as he connects with an overwhelmingly gorgeous biker (Alexander Skarsgard) that keeps him at an emotional distance. At once alluring and funny, their sexual encounters tell much of the story, articulating their complementary desires while suggesting the emotional roadblocks to come. Jeannette Catsoulis said the film “deftly navigates between salacious and sweet, raunchy and romantic.”

See more great movies streaming on HBO Max.

STREAMING ON DISNEY+

‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’

Spider-Man holds a woman (Zendaya) as they jump off a structure and into the air.
Zendaya and Tom Holland in “Spider-Man: No Way Home.” Matt Kennedy/Sony Pictures

Sooner or later, all superheroes usually discover that the job stinks, because with great power comes too much responsibility, and the public either starts to resent them unfairly or take them for granted. “Spider-Man: No Way Home” adds “not getting into M.I.T.” as an additional hassle, leaving Spidey/Peter Parker (Tom Holland) to ask Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) to consider a spell that would make everyone forget about him. But a series of mishaps cracks opens the multiverse instead, opening the film up to a flood of entertaining cameos from past Parkers (Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield) and villains from previous iterations, like Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe) and Doc Ock (Alfred Molina). Electro, the Lizard and Sandman are also on hand to delay our hero’s consternation.

The 50 best things to watch on Disney+ right now.

If you received this newsletter from someone else, subscribe here.

Need help? Review our newsletter help page or contact us for assistance.

You received this email because you signed up for Watching from The New York Times.

To stop receiving Watching, unsubscribe. To opt out of other promotional emails from The Times, including those regarding The Athletic, manage your email settings.

Subscribe to The Times

Connect with us on:

facebookxinstagramwhatsapp

Change Your EmailPrivacy PolicyContact UsCalifornia Notices

Zeta LogoAdChoices Logo

The New York Times Company. 620 Eighth Avenue New York, NY 10018