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The two most streamed movies in June were about the end of the world, but they offer wildly different takes on how it will go down. This month’s top streamers indicate a collective subconscious that’s split down the middle. For every violent, cynical, dog-eat-dog survival thriller like Send Help, there is an equally popular, life-affirming antidote like The Sheep Detectives waiting to restore your faith in humanity (or at least in farm animals). What does it all mean? Beats me. I just want to turn on the air conditioner and watch some movies.
Project Hail Mary (2026)
In this crowd-pleasing sci-fi, Ryan Gosling stars as Ryland Grace, a middle school science teacher who is blasted into the firmament in a last-ditch effort to save the world. Grace is the only person on Earth who might know how to protect the sun from a cosmic infection that threatens all life, but he’s definitely not an astronaut and doesn’t see himself as a hero either. Will he rise to the occasion and learn something about his inner strength and resilience while saving us all from death? My money is on, “yeah, probably.” Project Hail Mary is streaming on FuboTV and MGM+.
Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die (2026)
Legendary director Gore Verbinski (The Ring, Pirates of the Caribbean) is back with a satirical, gleefully maximalist science fiction comedy that takes on AI, social media addiction, VR, and the modern world itself. Sam Rockwell plays a man from the future who shows up in an LA diner demanding that customers help him save the future from an artificial intelligence that is about to be born. Being a time traveler, Rockwell has tried this many times before, and has always failed, but this time, it’s going to be different—or everyone is going to die again. Part Terminator, part Black Mirror, Don’t Die is a throw-everything-at-the-wall movie that goes so far over the top, you’ll be forced to submit to its weird logic and style out of sheer exhaustion. Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die is streaming on Hulu and Prime Video.
The Sheep Detectives (2026)
A family movie with enough darkness to balance out all the cute sheep, The Sheep Detectives tells the tale of a English farmer played by Hugh Jackman who reads mysteries to his flock of sheep every night. When he’s found dead, the authorities attribute it to natural causes, but his sheep know better, and they set out to find the culprit using what they’ve learned from all those whodunnits. If you like the Babe movies, you’ll like The Sheep Detectives, and if you think you’re too cynical to get into a movie like this, you’re probably wrong; it is charming and fun. The Sheep Detectives is streaming on Prime Video.
Send Help (2026)
Horror master Sam Raimi is the perfect director for this violent, unhinged, darkly funny thriller. Send Help stars Rachel McAdams as Linda, a dorky cubicle drone in an office full of well-dressed sharks. Her boss is Bradley (Dylan O’Brien), a nepo baby executive with unlimited funds and zero compassion. The pair end up stranded on a deserted island after a plane crash. It turns out Bradley’s skill at belittling people is no help in the jungle, but Linda is something of a survivalist. She’s also insane. It’s a perfect setup for a twisty plot that ends in a bloody showdown. Send Help is streaming on Hulu and Disney+.
They Will Kill You (2026)
Director Kirill Sokolov (Why Don’t You Just Die!) delivers a fast-paced action-horror-comedy packed with violence and blood—my favorite genre at this point. They Will Kill You stars the great Zazie Beetz as Asia, an ex-convict who answers an ad to be a live-in housekeeper at a luxurious New York City high-rise. She soon learns that the building’s eccentric tenants—including characters played by Patricia Arquette, Tom Felton, and Heather Graham—are a bloodthirsty Satanic cult who want to sacrifice her. But she’s not going out easy. If you liked Ready or Not and/or You’re Next, you’ll like They Will Kill You. Stream They Will Kill You on Max.
Hoppers (2026)
Directed by Daniel Chong (creator of We Bare Bears), Hoppers stars Piper Curda as Mabel, a passionate college environmentalist who transfers her mind into a lifelike robotic beaver to get closer to nature. But she soon finds herself leading an animal uprising against her own kind. Jon Hamm lends his voice to the enemy, Mayor Jerry, a smarmy politician who wants to bulldoze the nature preserve in favor of a highway. Pixar has carefully engineered this movie so that you will be charmed. It’s what they do. Hoppers is streaming on Disney+.
What do you think so far?
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
Steven Spielberg’s 1977 sci-fi masterpiece experienced a streaming resurgence in June in connection with the director’s latest alien-conspiracy thriller Disclosure Day in theaters. Dude just can’t help making movies about space creatures, but Close Encounters is the best of them all. Richard Dreyfuss plays Roy Neary, an everyman electrical lineman whose quiet suburban life unravels after an encounter with a UFO. He devotes his life to figuring out what the hell happened to him, and the answer is gentle and beautiful in a way we rarely imagine aliens anymore. Stream Close Encounters of the Third Kind on The Criterion Channel.
The Housemaid (2025)
Director Paul Feig’s The Housemaid is a psychological thriller equally influenced by steamy suburban potboilers like Gone Girl and suspense classics like Vertigo. Based on Freida McFadden’s 2022 novel, The Housemaid has a classic setup: Millie (Sydney Sweeney), a young woman with a secret past, lands a job as a live-in housemaid for wealthy couple Nina (Amanda Seyfried) and Andrew Winchester (Brandon Sklenar). Millie soon discovers that the nice couple who hired her is hiding some very dangerous secrets. Stream The Housemaid on Starz.
In this feel-good woman-meets-octopus drama, Sally Field plays Tova, a widow who spends her days cleaning the tanks at the local aquarium and grieving the death of her son. Lewis Pullman plays Cameron, a drifter who needs a mentor and a mom. Alfred Molina voices Marcellus the Octopus, the cephalopod who brings them together. If you like smart, sensitive movies with amazing performances, it’s a great pick. Stream Remarkably Bright Creatures on Netflix.
Office Romance (2026)
People love Jennifer Lopez, even when she’s starring in weird sci-fi movies like Atlas and even weirder sci-fi movies like This is Me…Now: A Love Story. She’s more at home here, playing the lead in a by-the-numbers, raunchy rom-com. In Office Romance, J.Lo is Jackie Cruz, a high-powered airline CEO who rigidly enforces a strict zero-tolerance anti-fraternization policy at work. But then Daniel Blanchflower, a charming lawyer played by Ted Lasso breakout Brett Goldstein, shows up for work, and things get a lot less strict. It’s sexy and funny and lightweight, just the thing for a summer movie fling. Stream Office Romance on Netflix.
