Looking for the best movie to watch this weekend on Netflix, Max, Prime, or Hulu? Here are the best movies new to streaming platforms in June 2024.
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.
Here are the movies new to streaming services you should watch this month.Editor’s pick: Assault on Precinct 13
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.
