By arpita quadir

This August has a little bit of something for everyone from returning favourites like Emily in Paris on Netflix and Only Murders in the Building on Disney+ to exciting new releases, including Bad Monkey starring Vince Vaughn on Apple TV+, ​​Fleishman Is In Trouble starring Jesse Eisenberg on CBC Gem, Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes on Crave and One Fast Move on Prime Video. Read on for the full list of what we’re recommending on Apple TV+, CBC Gem, Crave, Disney+, Netflix Canada and Prime Video in August 2024.

Apple TV+

Cowboy Cartel (Premieres August 2)

When a rookie FBI agent uncovers a massive money laundering operation in American horse racing, he risks his life to take down the culprits: Mexico’s deadliest cartel. 

The Instigators (Premieres August 9)

Rory and Cobby are unlikely partners thrown together for a heist. But when it goes awry, they team up to outrun police, backward bureaucrats, and a vengeful crime boss. 

Bad Monkey, Season 1 (Premieres August 14)

A detective turned restaurant inspector in Southern Florida is pulled into a world of greed and corruption after a tourist finds a severed arm while fishing. And yes, there’s a monkey. 

Pachinko, Season 2 (Premieres August 23)

Based on the New York Times bestseller, this sweeping saga chronicles the hopes and dreams of a Korean immigrant family across four generations as they leave their homeland in an indomitable quest to survive and thrive. 

K-Pop Idols (Premieres August 30)

In this documentary, Glitz meets grit in this backstage pass to artists from around the world. Through trials and triumphs, Jessi, Cravity, and Blackswan give everything they’ve got to an art form that demands nothing less than perfection. 

CBC Gem

Plan B, Season 2 (Premieres August 11)

In Season 2 of this high-concept CBC original drama series, a new character is given the opportunity to change her life – and the lives of those around her – by making use of Plan B, a mysterious time-travel agency. After Montreal police officer Mia Coleman (Vinessa Antoine) and her partner Tyler (Patrick Emmanuel Abelard) take a lenient approach to a marital dispute, the husband, Paul Whitman (Vincent Leclerc), murders his wife Keri (Sarah Booth, Three Pines) and their two small children, then kills himself. Mia is devastated, but soon stumbles across Plan B and finds herself able to book a trip into the past, and perhaps alter the outcome.

Fleishman Is In Trouble, Season 1 (Premieres August 11) 

A story of recently divorced 41-year-old Toby Fleishman (Jesse Eisenberg), who dives into the brave new world of app-based dating with the kind of success he never had dating in his youth. But just at the start of his first summer of sexual freedom, his ex-wife (Claire Danes) disappears, leaving him with the kids and no hint of where she is or whether she plans to return. 

Loudermilk, Season 2 (Premieres August 11)

After a relapse in New Orleans and a falling out with his best friend and sponsor, Ben (Will Sasso), Loudermilk (Ron Livingston) is back in Seattle trying to piece his world back together. With his “Sober Friends” meeting hijacked, a messy new relationship, and a stumbling start back into writing, Loudermilk is forced to do a little soul searching (which he hates) and decide what he wants from life. While he still has the ability to help those around him, Loudermilk just may find that the person who needs the most work is himself.

Better Things, Season 2 (Premieres August 14)

This centers on Sam Fox, a single, working actor with no filter raising her three daughters, Max (Mikey Madison), Frankie (Hannah Alligood) and Duke (Olivia Edward) in Los Angeles. She’s mom, dad, referee and the cops. Sam also watches out for her mother, Phil (Celia Imrie), an English expatriate, who lives across the street. Sam is flawed and fierce with her love for her daughters, and her own mother as well, sometimes heaping the love on when she feels guilty. Sam’s just trying to earn a living, navigate her daughters’ lives, have fun with a friend or two and also just maybe squeeze in some private time once in a while.

Reservation Dogs, Season 2 (Premieres August 16)

From Sterlin Harjo and Taika Waititi, comes a half-hour comedy that follows the exploits of four Indigenous teenagers in rural Oklahoma. Filmed on location in Okmulgee, Oklahoma, the series is a breakthrough in Indigenous representation on television both in front of and behind the camera. Every writer, director and series regular on the show is Indigenous. This first-of-its-kind creative team tells a story that resonates with them and their lived experiences – and invites audiences into a surprisingly familiar and funny world.

Killing Eve, Season 2 (Premieres August 16) 

Picking up where Season 1 left off, following Eve Polastri (Sandra Oh) as she navigates the fallout of stabbing love-drunk psychopath and career assassin, Villanelle (Jodie Comer). The two are drawn ever closer as MI6 are tasked with an even bigger threat than the likes of one lone killer. Under Carolyn’s (Fiona Shaw) watch, Eve manipulates her complex relationship with Villanelle to recruit her for a crucial operation. The second season is just as dark and glorious as the first and surely it can’t be long before both Eve and Villanelle realize that there is power in a partnership – no matter how toxic that may become.

Escape To The Country, Season 30 (Premieres August 16) 

When homeowners are reviewing their quality of life and questioning the need to live in expensive and polluted urban spaces, satisfying journeys of rural property searches and lifestyle changes have never felt more relevant. Having been on screen for twenty years, this heritage brand now focuses on escaping to the countryside in its broadest sense, presenting practical lifestyle content and constructive suggestions for the viewer, all the while capturing the seasonal beauty of the British landscape. A warm and knowledgeable cast of presenters helps a broad range of property hunters with differing budgets and wish lists.

Inside Llewyn Davis (Premieres August 16)

Following a week in the life of a brilliant but troubled folk singer struggling to make it as a musician in 1960s New York. Featuring a stellar ensemble cast that includes Oscar Isaac, Justin Timberlake, Carey Mulligan, John Goodman and Garrett Hedlund.

Night Raiders (Premieres August 24)

The year is 2043. A military occupation controls disenfranchised cities in post-war North America. Children are property of the State. A desperate Cree woman (Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers) joins an underground band of vigilantes to infiltrate a State children’s academy and get her daughter back. This female-driven dystopian drama about resilience, courage and love, and marks the feature film directorial debut of award-winning Saskatchewan-born Cree/Métis writer/director, Danis Goulet.

Crave Canada

Tarot (Premieres August 2)

When a group of friends recklessly violates the sacred rule of Tarot readings – never use someone else’s deck – they unknowingly unleash an unspeakable evil trapped within the cursed cards. One by one, they come face to face with fate and end up in a race against death to escape the future foretold in their readings. The cast of Tarot includes Jacob Batalon, Avantika Vandanapu, Adain Bradley, and Harriet Slater.

Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes (Premieres August 3)

An official selection of the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, the HBO Original documentary offers an unprecedented look into the life of Elizabeth Taylor, narrated by the star herself. With extraordinary access to Taylor’s personal archives and 40 hours of newly unearthed, intimate audio interviews with journalist Richard Meryman, audiences are invited to rediscover, not just a mega star of Hollywood’s Golden Age, but a complex woman who navigated lifelong fame, personal identity, and public scrutiny on a global stage from early childhood. 

Taken Together: Who Killed Lyric And Elizabeth? (Premieres August 8)

Known as “the case that haunts the Midwest,” the three-episode docuseries dives into the haunting 2012 double abduction of two cousins, 10-year-old Lyric Cook-Morrissey and 8-year-old Elizabeth Collins, in Evansdale, Iowa. With over seven years of exclusive access and insider interviews conducted by director Dylan Sires, including an additional young girl who escaped her kidnapper against all odds, compelling footage of the two victim’s families over a crucial passage of time, and new information around the case. 

Industry, Season 3 (Premieres August 11)

In Season 3, as Pierpoint & Co takes a big bet on ethical investing, Yasmin (Marisa Abela), Robert (Harry Lawtey), and Eric (Ken Leung) find themselves front and center in the splashy IPO of Lumi, a green tech energy company led by Sir Henry Muck (Kit Harington), in a story that runs all the way to the very top of finance, media, and government. Since leaving Pierpoint, Harper (Myha’la) is eager to get back into the addictive thrill of finance and finds an unlikely partner in FutureDawn portfolio manager Petra Koenig (Sarah Goldberg). 

The Last Timbit (Premieres August 12)

Filmed in front of a live studio audience at Toronto’s Elgin Theatre, the 80-minute special follows a group of strangers who wait out the snowstorm of the decade in a Tim Hortons. In this hilarious and heartfelt musical, this unlikely group comes together to explore family and community, and finds the best in hard times, all while battling for the last Birthday Cake Timbit. Produced by Bell Media Studios for Crave. Producers for Bell Media are Emmanuel Groneveldt and Claudia Abate. The filming and musical are produced by Tim Hortons and Michael Rubinoff (Come From Away), with music and lyrics by Anika Johnson and Britta Johnson, and book by Nick Green.

RuPauls’s Drag Race Global All Stars (Premieres August 16)

Hosted by RuPaul, alongside mainstay judge Michelle Visage and choreographer Jamal Sims, the first-ever Rupaul’s Drag Race Global All Stars premieres with two episodes. In this inaugural season, 12 fan-favourite queens from around the world, including Canada’s Drag Race Season 2 alum Pythia, will represent their countries as they compete for the title of “Queen of the Mothertucking World,” a grand prize of $200,000, and a spot in the international pavilion at the Drag Race Hall of Fame. 

Chimp Crazy (Premieres August 18)

Former nurse-turned-exotic animal broker Tonia Haddix, who refers to herself as the “Dolly Parton of chimps,” spends her days caring for animals in captivity. However, her limitless love for one chimpanzee in particular spins into a wild cat-and-mouse game with authorities and an animal rights group. Through Tonia’s and other “chimp mom” experiences, revealing the singular bonds that form between owners and their highly intelligent great ape pets. 

Don’t Even (Premieres August 23)

The new Crave and APTN Original series debuts with two episodes. Following a hilariously humiliating mishap at her high school graduation, Violet (Robinson) wants to make the most of the last summer before moving away for university, as Harley (Turko) distracts herself from a big dilemma of what’s next. As the lifelong friends bask in newfound freedom, and face adult life choices, cracks begin to form in their once impenetrable bond. 

Such Brave Girls, Season 1 (Premieres August 23)

Created by and starring real-life sisters Kat Sadler and Lizzie Davidson, comes a dysfunctional family sitcom following sisters Josie (Sadler) and Billie (Davidson) and their single mother Deb (Louise Brealey) navigating life armed with nothing but poor judgement and self-esteem exclusively tied to people who couldn’t care less about them. They’re vain, selfish, heavily in debt, pathologically desperate for affection and busting with misplaced, terrifying love.

Disney+ Canada

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (Premieres August 2)

Director Wes Ball breathes new life into the global, epic franchise with this action-adventure spectacle from 20th Century Studios. Set several generations in the future following Caesar’s reign, apes are living harmoniously as the dominant species — and humans have been reduced to living in the shadows. As a new tyrannical ape leader builds his empire, one young ape undertakes a harrowing journey that will cause him to question all that he has known about the past and to make choices that will define a future for apes and humans alike.

Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures Shorts, Season 2 (Premieres August 2)

Kai Brightstar, Lys Solay and Nubs work together to battle a training droid at the Jedi Temple on Tenoo. After discovering that the droid is too powerful for younglings like them, the trio attempt to deactivate the droid but it proves too strong.

Grown-Ish, Season 6 (Premieres August 7)

The final season follows Junior, as he transitions from Zoey's little brother to big man on campus as he enters in his sophomore year. Zoey, Aaron and Doug begin to learn the true meaning of life, while attempting to make their dreams come true.

The Supremes at Earl’s All-You-Can-Eat (Premieres August 23)

The movie follows lifelong best friends Odette (Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor), Barbara Jean (Sanaa Lathan), and Clarice (Uzo Aduba) known as “The Supremes”, who share the unbreakable bonds of sisterhood from decades of weathering life’s storms. Through the joys and sorrows of life, marriage and children, happiness and blues, love and loss, new shades of heartbreak and illness threaten to stir up the past when the trio sees their bond put to the test as they face their most challenging times yet.

Only Murders in the Building, Season 4 (Premieres August 27)

In season four, our amateur podcasting trio wrestles with the shocking events at the end of season three surrounding Charles’ stunt double and friend Sazz Pataki. Questioning whether she or Charles was the intended victim, their investigation leads them all the way to Los Angeles where a Hollywood studio is readying a film about the Only Murders podcast. As Charles, Oliver, and Mabel race back to New York, they embark on an even more epic journey — traversing their building’s courtyard to delve into the twisted lives of the Arconia’s West Tower residents.

Netflix Canada

A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder (Premieres August 1)

Five years after the murder of a 17-year-old girl in a sleepy English town, one student is determined to uncover the truth and find the real killer.

Unstable, Season 2 (Premieres August 1)

Ellis pushes his reluctant son toward the spotlight at Dragon Industries as the biotech company's success means new blood — and fresh rivalries.

Mad Men, Seasons 1-7 (Premieres August 1)

Don Draper, a high-level advertising executive at the Sterling Cooper agency in New York City, struggles to find ideas to keep an account for Lucky Strike cigarettes, while at the same time managing his tangled personal life.

Love is Blind: Mexico (Premieres August 1)

These singles have to put a ring on it... without ever seeing one another. The Emmy-nominated experiment that ponders if love is blind arrives in Mexico.

The Umbrella Academy, Season 4 (Premieres August 8)

The Hargreeves siblings have scattered after the climactic showdown at the Hotel Oblivion led to a complete reset of their timeline. Stripped of their powers, each is left to fend for themselves and find a new normal — with wildly varying degrees of success. Yet the trappings of their uncanny new world prove too hard to ignore for very long. Their father Reginald, alive and well, has stepped out of the shadows and into the public eye, overseeing a powerful and nefarious business empire. A mysterious association known as The Keepers holds clandestine meetings believing the reality they’re living in is a lie and a great reckoning is coming. As these strange new forces conspire around them, the Umbrella Academy must come together one last time — and risk upsetting the shaky peace they’ve all endured so much to secure — to finally set things right.

Love is Blind: UK (Premieres August 8)

Emma and Matt Willis host a social experiment where British singles look for love and get engaged before meeting in person. But who will say "I do"?

Blue Ribbon Baking Championship (Premieres August 9) 

Blue ribbon-winning bakers from state fairs across the US face off for the first time in an epic baking showdown to win top honors and $100,000.

Love, Rosie (Premieres August 9)

Best friends Rosie and Alex are when Alex moves from Dublin to America. Their friendship has to survive through the years, distance and fighting feelings of true love. 

Lady Bird (Premieres August 10)

A teenager navigates a loving but turbulent relationship with her strong-willed mother over the course of senior year of high school. 

Daughters (Premieres August 14)

Four girls prepare to reunite with their fathers through a special dance at a DC prison in this moving documentary about the healing power of love.

The Woman King (Premieres August 14)

In the West African kingdom of Dahomey in 1823, General Nanisca, leader of the all-female regiment of warriors, the Agojie, liberates Dahomean women who were abducted by slavers from the Oyo Empire. This provokes King Ghezo of Dahomey to prepare for an all-out war with the Oyo.

Worst Ex Ever (Premieres August 14)

From chilling betrayals to murder plots, this true-crime docuseries dissects the dark side of love through eyewitness testimonies.

Emily in Paris, Season 4, Part 1 (Premieres August 15)

Emily's life in Paris may have beaucoup drama, but she's ready to make bold choices to get everything she wants from the city — and man — of her dreams.

The Union (Premieres August 16)

Mike (Mark Wahlberg) is happy living a simple life as a construction worker in his native New Jersey –  until his long-lost high school sweetheart, Roxanne (Halle Berry), shows up with more on her mind than romance. Knowing he’s the right man for the job, she recruits Mike on a dangerous intelligence mission in Europe that thrusts them back together into a world of spies and high-speed car chases, with sparks flying along the way. Directed by Julian Farino (Giri/Haji, Entourage), The Union also stars Mike Colter, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Jessica De Gouw, Alice Lee, Jackie Earle Haley, and J.K. Simmons.

Untold: The Murder of Air McNair (Premieres August 20)

This documentary tracks the rise of legendary NFL quarterback Steve McNair and the perplexing details surrounding his shocking murder in 2009.

Pop Star Academy: KATSEYE (Premieres August 21)

The series follows 20 contestants from around the world over a year-long journey as they compete to become KATSEYE, a one-of-a-kind global girl group formed using KPOP methodologies. With unprecedented access, unfolding over eight episodes, the result is a compelling portrayal of the road to international stardom, including insight into the unique training and development program developed by HYBE and Geffen Records.

How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days (Premieres August 26)

An advice columnist, Andie Anderson (Kate Hudson), is assigned a new piece about how to get a man to leave you in 10 days. Her editor loves it, and Andie goes off to find a man she can use for the experiment. Enter executive Ben Berry (Matthew McConaughey), who is overconfident and thinks he can make any woman fall in love with him in 10 days. When Andie and Ben meet, their plans clash.

The Deliverance (Premieres August 30)

Inspired by a true story, Ebony Jackson, a struggling single mother fighting her personal demons, moves her family into a new home for a fresh start. But when strange occurrences inside the home raise the suspicions of Child Protective Services and threaten to tear the family apart, Ebony soon finds herself locked in a battle for her life and the souls of her children. 

Prime Video

Batman: Caped Crusader (Premieres August 1)

After a family tragedy, socialite Bruce Wayne transforms into The Batman, where his crusade for justice spawns unforeseen ramifications.

Secret Makeover (Premieres August 1)

Fukahara Haruka portrays the role of Mitsuko, a total coordinator shrouded in mystery. She uses any means necessary to lead her clients to success. She transforms their appearance through coordination, changes their mindset through coaching and even covers up their scandals through behind-the-scenes manipulation. She teams up with Natsu, a single mother who has had a string of her own bad luck, to aim for the position of CEO at a major enterprise led by a glamorous family. However, Mitsuko is burdened with a big secret.

Arthur the King (Premieres August 2)

An adventure racer adopts a stray dog named Arthur to join him in an epic endurance race, starring Mark Wahlberg, Simu Liu and Juliet Rylance.

Beacon 23, Season 2 (Premieres August 2)

A man living in the 23rd Century works at a remote "lighthouse" in space that serves as a beacon to help passing ships.

One Fast Move (Premieres August 8)

A young man seeks out his estranged father to pursue his dream of becoming a professional motorcycle racer. With help from his love interest and a motorcycle shop owner, he begins to break down the walls his father's absence had created.

The Mallorca Files, Season 3 (Premieres August 8)

A British and German detective clashing over how to police the Spanish island of Mallorca.

The Shakedown (Premieres August 8)

When his mistress threatens to expose the secret of their affair, a respectable insurance broker seeks the help of his underworld brother to save his reputation.

Jackpot! (Premieres August 15)

In the near future, a 'Grand Lottery' has been newly established in California - the catch: kill the winner before sundown to legally claim their multi-billion-dollar jackpot.

No Gain, No Love (Premieres August 26)

Follows a woman who embarks on a journey of self-discovery and personal growth, navigating the complexities of life and relationships while pursuing her dreams.