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Stay cool with a great movie as the weather heats up
Your time is precious, and your options are endless. The good news: We watch it all so you don’t have to. Polygon’s What to Watch highlights the best, the funniest, the scariest, and the most exciting in movies, TV, and everything in between. Stop scrolling, start watching!
Happy June, Polygon readers. The weather is heating up, the sun is shining more brightly, and you’re probably doing activities outside a bit more. Good for you! But there’s still plenty of cause to plop on the couch, fire up the AC, pop some corn, and watch some great movies.
Every month, we collect the best movies new to streaming on Netflix, Hulu, Max, Prime, and more. This June, it’s a good group. We’ve got an underrated John Carpenter thriller newly on the Criterion Channel, two standout early works from directors with big releases this summer, and more.
[Update, 6/3: Netflix surprised the world by dropping Godzilla Minus One on the platform this weekend. All other recommendations are moot. Watch Godzilla Minus One.]
Here are the movies new to streaming services you should watch this month.
Where to watch: Criterion Channel
Genre: Action thriller
Director: John Carpenter
Cast: Austin Stoker, Darwin Joston, Laurie Zimmer
Often imitated but never outdone, John Carpenter’s 1976 crime thriller is one of the tensest 91 minutes ever put on screen, and now it’s on the Criterion Channel as a part of its “Synth Soundtracks” collection. Carpenter’s second feature film (following Dark Star, and just two years before Halloween changed everything), the movie follows a police officer (Austin Stoker) and a convicted murderer (Darwin Joston) who team up to defend the titular precinct from a heavily armed street gang.
Made on a shoestring budget of approximately $100,000, the original Assault on Precinct 13 is a master class of efficient filmmaking, using the closed-in setting of the movie to maximum effect in building tension and staging action sequences. It’s also an early peek at many of the skills that would make Carpenter one of the great masters of genre filmmaking. —Pete Volk
Genre: Dramedy
Director: Sean Baker
Cast: Kitana Kiki Rodriguez, Mya Taylor, James Ransone
Director Sean Baker just became the first American to win the Palme d’Or since Terrence Malick won for The Tree of Life in 2011. Baker’s new movie, Anora, follows a sex worker (Mikey Madison) in a difficult relationship with a Russian oligarch. It does not yet have a release date in the U.S., but that big award win is a great reason to revisit one of Baker’s early projects, Tangerine — another story about sex workers, but in a very different style.
Shot on three iPhone 5S phones, Tangerine follows two trans sex workers in Los Angeles who are the closest of friends. One just got out of a short stint in prison and has heard her boyfriend has been cheating on her. The two try to find him and get down to the bottom of this mystery in a raw and funny dramedy that looks gorgeous despite the technological limitations of the equipment. If you liked Baker’s later films — The Florida Project and Red Rocket — or are looking forward to the Palme d’Or-winning Anora, but haven’t made time for Tangerine, now’s your moment. —PV
Genre: Romantic comedy
Director: Mike Nichols
Cast: Sigourney Weaver, Harrison Ford, Melanie Griffith
Mike Nichols’ (The Graduate) 1988 rom-com classic was nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, and acting nominations for Melanie Griffith, Sigourney Weaver, and Joan Cusack. A class comedy about a secretary who fills in for her injured boss only to have said boss try to take credit for her hard work, this is a breezy comedy with an outstanding cast that also serves as a bit of a time capsule for late 1980s New York City, and makes an excellent companion piece to 9 to 5.
Working Girl also inspired a particularly funny episode of Bob’s Burgers: the season 5 premiere “Work Hard or Die Trying, Girl,” a mashup of Working Girl and Die Hard. —PV
Genre: Drama
Director: Lee Isaac Chung
Cast: Steven Yeun, Han Ye-ri, Alan Kim
Lee Isaac Chung’s Minari is an American story in the purest sense: Jacob (Steven Yeun), a Korean American father with dreams of a better life for himself and his children, moves his family from California to Arkansas in pursuit of his dream of becoming a farmer. As they weather the challenges and hardships that come with this strange new life in the Ozarks, he and his family learn the true meaning of what it takes to build a home. From our list of the best movies of 2020:
Novelistic and warmly rendered, Minari is a drama about everyday life, and remembering to see the gifts of what’s right in front of you. And the perspective comes from a top-tier cast: Along with Yeun, playing a piercing patriarch, Han Yeri delivers a touching performance as a mother holding fast to her wayward loved ones, newcomers Noel Cho and Alan S. Kim buck every bad trope to play goofy and lovable kids, and renowned Korean actress Yuh-Jung Youn solidifies her legacy in a film that is wholly American.
Next up for Chung: the mega blockbuster Twisters, coming to theaters this summer. —Toussaint Egan
Genre: Documentary
Director: Godfrey Reggio
Consisting primarily of time-lapsed footage of cities and natural environments, Koyaanisqatsi is a fascinating time capsule of 20th-century society on the verge of the new millennium, one which asks its audiences to consider the symbiotic relationship between human beings and Earth and whether or not, as the English translation of the film’s title suggests, life as we know it has been thrown out of balance.
The movie has gone on to be referenced and parodied countless times since its premiere in 1982, including in the 2007 announcement trailer for Grand Theft Auto 4, which features a track from Philip Glass’ iconic score for the film. Make the time to appreciate this monolith of majestic introspective filmmaking. —TE



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