Must-watch movies on Showmax this July, from Puss In Boots: The Last Wish to Don't Worry Darling

20th Jul 2023 | Source: Showmax

<div><strong>DON'T WORRY DARLING </strong><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">| Stream from 31 July</span></div>

<div><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">Oscar nominee Florence Pugh (Marvel's Yelena and Amy in </span><em>Little Women</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">) and Grammy winner Harry Styles (</span><em>Dunkirk</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">, </span><em>Eternals</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">) star in </span><em>Don't Worry Darling</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif"> as Alice and Jack, a picture-perfect 1950s couple living in an idyllic company town. But their utopia may not be all it seems, and Alice soon begins to worry that her husband's glamorous company could be hiding disturbing secrets.</span></div>

<div><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">The psychological thriller is directed by </span><em>Babylon</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif"> and </span><em>House</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif"> actress Olivia Wilde, following the critical success of her feature directorial debut </span><em>Booksmart, </em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">which is also on Showmax. </span><em>London Evening Standard</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif"> says, "Wilde (who dazzles in a supporting role) is a misunderstood genius and her sly erotic thriller is one of the best films of the year."</span></div>

<div><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">Both Pugh and Styles were nominated at the 2023 MTV Movie Awards and the People's Choice Awards, where the film won Drama Movie of 2022. </span></div>

<div><strong>PUSS IN BOOTS: THE LAST WISH</strong><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif"> | Stream from 24 July</span></div>

<div><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">When Puss in Boots discovers that his passion for adventure has taken its toll and he has burned through eight of his nine lives, he sets out on an epic journey to restore them in </span><em>Puss in Boots: The Last Wish</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">.</span></div>

<div><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">Nominated for a 2023 Oscar (plus a BAFTA, a Golden Globe, and a Critics Choice Award) for Best Animated Feature Film, the DreamWorks animated adventure is the sixth instalment in the beloved </span><em>Shrek</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif"> franchise and the long-awaited sequel to the 2011 spin-off movie, </span><a href="https://usw2.nyl.as/t1/211/7k9e426bovwxv3kyd0813g6ms/2/27bcee1bb1e536ae7ebc74325bf58135d77d669e6e68fe2b03cea1daeb3e4620" rel="noreferrer" style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif" target="_blank"><em>Puss in Boots</em></a><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">. </span><em>AV Club</em><span style="color:#2a2c32; font-family:verdana,sans-serif"> calls it, "easily the best film in the </span><em>Shrek</em><span style="color:#2a2c32; font-family:verdana,sans-serif"> franchise."</span></div>

<div><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">Antonio Banderas (</span><em>Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">, </span><em>Spy Kids</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">, </span><em>The Mask of Zorro</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">) reprises his role as the swashbuckling</span><span style="color:#ff0000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif"> </span><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">Puss alongside fellow Oscar nominee Salma Hayek (</span><em>Eternals</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">, </span><em>The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">), who was nominated for a 2023 Kids' Choice Award for voicing Kitty Softpaws, and Golden Globe nominee Wagner Moura (</span><em>Shining Girls</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">, </span><em>Narcos</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">), who was nominated for an Annie Award for voicing the Wolf.</span></div>

<div><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">Directed by Oscar nominee Joel Crawford (</span><em>The Croods: A New Age</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">, </span><em>Trolls Holiday</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">), </span><em>The Last Wish </em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">was the 10th biggest box office hit of 2022 and has a 95% critics' rating on </span><em>Rotten Tomatoes</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">, where the critics' consensus says, "The smart, sweet, and funny </span><em>Puss in Boots: The Last Wish</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif"> proves some franchises only get better with age."</span></div>

<div><strong>FALL</strong><strong> </strong><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">| Stream now</span></div>

<div><em>Fall</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif"> follows best friends Becky (Grace Caroline Currey </span><em>Shazam! Fury of the Gods</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">) and Hunter (Virginia Gardner </span><em>Halloween</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">, </span><em>Beautiful Disaster</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">), who live for conquering fears and pushing limits. But when they climb 2 000 feet to the top of a remote, abandoned TV tower, they find themselves stranded with no way down. </span></div>

<div><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">Now Becky and Hunter's expert climbing skills will be put to the ultimate test as they desperately fight to survive the elements, a lack of supplies, and vertigo-inducing heights in this unrelentingly tense thriller co-starring Critics Choice Award winner Jeffrey Dean Morgan (</span><em>The Walking Dead</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">) and Mason Gooding (</span><em>Booksmart</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">, </span><em>Scream</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">).</span></div>

<div><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">In their four star review, </span><em>Empire Magazine</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif"> says, "A white-knuckle disaster in the sky, </span><em>Fall</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif"> does exactly and only what it says on the tin. Do look down!"</span></div>

<div><strong>HALLOWEEN ENDS</strong><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif"> | Stream now</span></div>

<div><em>Halloween Ends</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif"> brings one of the all-time highest-grossing horror franchise to its epic, terrifying conclusion as Laurie Strode faces off for the last time against the embodiment of evil, Michael Myers.</span></div>

<div><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">Four years after the events of 2021's </span><em>Halloween Kills</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">, Laurie Strode (2023 Oscar winner Jamie Lee Curtis from </span><em>Everything Everywhere All at Once)</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif"> is working to liberate herself from fear and rage and embrace life. But when a young man, Corey Cunningham (Rohan Campbell from </span><em>The Hardy Boys</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif"> and </span><em>Virgin River</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">), is accused of killing a boy he was babysitting, it ignites a cascade of violence and terror that will force Laurie to finally confront the evil she can't control, once and for all. </span></div>

<div><em>Halloween Ends</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif"> co-stars Fangoria Chainsaw Award nominee Will Patton (</span><em>Silo</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">) as Officer Frank Hawkins, MTV Movie + TV Award Best Villain nominee James Jude Courtney as The Shape, and MTV Most Frightened Performance nominee Kyle Richards as Lindsey Wallace. </span></div>

<div><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">Executive produced by franchise co-creator John Carpenter, </span><em>Halloween Ends</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif"> is directed by SXSW and Sundance winner David Gordon Green (</span><em>The Righteous Gemstones</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">, </span><em>Mythic Quest</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">, and the upcoming reboots of </span><em>The Exorcist</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif"> and </span><em>Hellraiser</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">), who co-writes with the likes of Danny McBride (</span><em>The Righteous Gemstones</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">), with triple Oscar nominee Jason Blum (</span><em>Get Out</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">) among the producers.</span></div>

<div><em>Halloween Ends </em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">picked up two nominations at the People's Choice Awards: for The Drama Movie of 2022 and Drama Movie Star (for Curtis).</span></div>

<div><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">Also watch</span><a href="https://usw2.nyl.as/t1/211/7k9e426bovwxv3kyd0813g6ms/5/a6d383b18379c8599b4b23ac672ab301135e96ceb7cb4fb49644f0bd39ca39a8" rel="noreferrer" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; color: #1155cc" target="_blank"> </a><a href="https://usw2.nyl.as/t1/211/7k9e426bovwxv3kyd0813g6ms/6/e8ae900d55ad92c9b1fc519bc00eedfa08fc74bf011609d5bd89fb1e3748c364" rel="noreferrer" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; color: #1155cc" target="_blank"><em>Halloween</em></a><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">, up for Best Sci-Fi/Horror at the 2019 Critics Choice Awards, on Showmax. </span></div>

<div><strong>VIOLENT NIGHT </strong><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">| Stream now</span></div>

<div><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">Just in time for Christmas in July comes </span><em>Violent Night</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">, a coal-dark action-comedy starring Emmy nominee David Harbour (</span><em>Stranger Things</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">, </span><em>Black Widow</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">) as a Nick who's no saint when a crew of ambitious hostage takers make his naughty list on Christmas Eve. </span></div>

<div><em>London Evening Standard</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif"> says, "David Harbour's slick new action movie combines slaughter and sleighbells. It's brazenly amoral and outrageously sappy... Thanks to the</span><em> Stranger Things</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif"> star, it's also a blast."</span></div>

<div><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">Helmed by Norwegian director Tommy Wirkola (</span><em>Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">) and produced by the makers of </span><em>John Wick</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">, </span><em>Bullet Train</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif"> and </span><em>Deadpool 2</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">, </span><em>Violent Night</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif"> also stars Emmy winner John Leguizamo (</span><em>The Menu</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">, </span><em>John Wick</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">), Emmy nominee Beverly D'Angelo (</span><em>True Lies</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">, </span><em>American History X</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">), Teen Choice winner Cam Gigandet (</span><em>Twilight</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">), and Edi Patterson (Judy Gemstone in </span><em>The Righteous Gemstones</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">). </span></div>

<div><strong>LYLE, LYLE, CROCODILE</strong><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif"> | Stream now</span></div>

<div><em>Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif"> centres on a young boy named Josh (Winslow Fegley from </span><em>Timmy Failure</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">), who struggles to adjust and make friends after his family moves to New York City. All of that changes when he discovers Lyle – a singing crocodile (voiced by Grammy-nominated pop star Shawn Mendes) who loves baths, caviar and great music, and his charismatic owner, Hector P. Valenti, played by Oscar winner Javier Bardem (</span><em>Dune</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">'s Stilgar and the voice of</span><em> The Little Mermaid</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">'s King Triton). </span></div>

<div><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">Based on the best-selling children's story by Bernard Waber, </span><em>Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif"> is written by Annie Award winner Will Davies (</span><em>How to Train Your Dragon</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">, </span><em>Puss in Boots</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">), with original songs by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (the Oscar-winning duo behind </span><em>The Greatest Showman</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">, </span><em>La La Land </em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">and </span><em>Dear Evan Hansen</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">).</span></div>

<div><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">Recommending the film for ages 6+, </span><em>Common Sense Media</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif"> sums up the movie as, "a story about found family and finding your joy, even when things seem overwhelming," while </span><em>RogerEbert.com</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif"> calls it, "A warm-hearted family film with great musical numbers that will make another generation of kids hopefully search the attic on the chance that they might find a singing crocodile."</span></div>

<div><strong>BANDIT</strong><strong> </strong><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">| Stream now</span></div>

<div><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">Based on a true story, the crime comedy-drama </span><em>Bandit </em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">stars 10-time Teen Choice nominee Josh Duhamel (</span><em>The Thing About Pam</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">, </span><em>Shotgun Wedding</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">, </span><em>Transformers</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">) as Gilbert Galvan Jr. (aka The Flying Bandit), a charming career criminal who went on a record-breaking spree of 59 bank heists across Canada with an increasingly frustrated police task force on his tail. </span></div>

<div><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">Elisha Cuthbert (</span><em>24</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">), Screen Actors Guild nominee Nestor Carbonell (</span><em>The Morning Show</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">) and Oscar winner Mel Gibson (</span><em>Braveheart</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">) also feature but Duhamel steals the show, with </span><em>Uproxx</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif"> saying, "Duhamel has never been better."</span></div>

<div><em>Bandit</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif"> won a 2023 Canadian Sync Award for its soundtrack, which features the likes of Lynyrd Skynyrd and Culture Club.</span></div>

<div><strong>THE SWEARING JAR</strong><strong> </strong><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">| Stream now</span></div>

<div><em>The Swearing Jar </em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">tells Carey's story: a musician and teacher who throws a birthday concert for her husband, which plunges her into the past. Through romance, music and memory, we follow the story of Carey and Simon's relationship, the birth of their child, and the lie that threatens to f*&k it all up!</span></div>

<div><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">Nominated for Casting Society of America and Writers Guild of Canada awards already this year, </span><em>The Swearing Jar </em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">stars Adelaide Clemens (</span><em>Rectify</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">, </span><em>Under The Banner of Heaven</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">), Screen Actors Guild nominee Patrick J. Adams (Mike Ross in </span><em>Suits</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">), and Douglas Smith (</span><em>Big Little Lies</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">, </span><em>Big Love</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">), as well as Oscar nominee Kathleen Turner (</span><em>The Kominsky Method</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">). </span></div>

<div><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">An official selection at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival, the Canadian romcom has a 94% critics' rating on</span><em> Rotten Tomatoes</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">, with </span><em>The Globe and Mail</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif"> calling it "a movie you didn't expect... equally thoughtful and full of feeling."</span></div>

<div><strong>THE BETA TEST</strong><strong> </strong><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">| Stream now</span></div>

<div><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">Multi-award-winner Jim Cummings (</span><em>Thunder Road</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">, </span><em>The Wolf of Wolf Hollow</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">) co-directs, co-writes and co-stars in </span><em>The Beta Test</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif"> as a Hollywood agent whose life unravels when he accepts an anonymous invitation to a no-strings-attached sexual encounter weeks before his wedding. </span></div>

<div><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">An official selection at Tribeca, Berlin and Fantastic Fest, </span><em>The Beta Test</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif"> has a 92% critics' rating on </span><em>Rotten Tomatoes</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">, where the critics' consensus says, "A darkly amusing thriller that discomfits as it entertains, </span><em>The Beta Test</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif"> satirizes Hollywood with savage flair."</span></div>

<div><strong>MURU</strong><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif"> | Stream from 24 July</span></div>

<div><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">Inspired by actual events, </span><em>Muru</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif"> is the story of a local Police Sergeant 'Taffy' T?wharau, who must choose between duty to his badge and his people when the New Zealand government invokes antiterrorism powers to launch an armed raid on Taffy's remote Urewera community on a school day.</span></div>

<div><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">Multi-award-winner Cliff Curtis (</span><em>Avatar: The Way of Water</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif"> and </span><em>Whale Rider</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">) stars as Taffy, opposite the likes of Manu Bennett (</span><em>Spartacus</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">, </span><em>The Hobbit</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif"> trilogy) and Jay Ryan (</span><em>It: Chapter Two</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">, </span><em>Top of the Lake</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">). </span></div>

<div><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">An official selection at Toronto and Busan last year, </span><em>Muru</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif"> has a 92% critics' rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with </span><em>Stuff</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif"> praising it as "absolutely bloody brilliant... a film that ticks every box as a political thriller, as an occasional action movie and as a drama of violence unfolding in a small town."</span></div>

<div><em>Muru </em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">won the UNESCO Award at last year's Asia Pacific Screen Awards. </span></div>

<div><strong>BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE...</strong></div>

<div><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">This is just a taster of the films coming to Showmax this month: also look for sci-fi classics like the Oscar-winning </span><a href="https://usw2.nyl.as/t1/211/7k9e426bovwxv3kyd0813g6ms/13/a25862ffdf615d268b5d126b1efd9e292bc08e7a64778e4a11a4af96341a6b88" rel="noreferrer" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; color: #000000" target="_blank"><em>Blade Runner 2049</em></a><em> </em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">(from 24 July) and the Oscar-nominated </span><a href="https://usw2.nyl.as/t1/211/7k9e426bovwxv3kyd0813g6ms/14/f45ecc20616470638c6e1d19ce126c6a56a0f1ddd44573842ee05a9f6c6b5d4a" rel="noreferrer" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; color: #000000" target="_blank"><em>District 9</em></a><em> </em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">(from 20 July).</span></div>

<div><strong>EVERYTHING ON SHOWMAX IN JULY 2023</strong></div>

<div><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">To see everything on Showmax in July 2023, including a new season of </span><em>Bel-Air </em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">and five seasons of </span><em>Yellowstone</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">, click </span><a href="https://usw2.nyl.as/t1/211/4phs26kekjym6zn2y2mu2hzqt/14/16103838aaa9e80f939ce46d6a8593208a01407084c2e57430459d89653b525e" rel="noreferrer" style="color: #000000; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif" target="_blank">here</a><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">.</span></div>