The Best Things Coming to Netflix in May 2026

Catch Sally Field in ‘Remarkably Bright Creatures,’ a new documentary about Martin Short and the return of Tina Fey’s ‘The Four Seasons’

Chris Nashawaty,

Updated April 27, 2026

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Updated April 27, 2026

Sally Field and Lewis Pullman in a scene from Remarkably Bright Creatures

Sally Field and Lewis Pullman co-star in "Remarkably Bright Creatures," coming to Netflix May 8.

Courtesy Netflix

All hail the return of May, with its warming breezes, blinking fireflies at dusk and 11 full months before we have to face the taxman again. Netflix is embracing this season of abundance with a packed slate of compelling true-crime entries, star-studded series and big-time laughs. Here are the 12 best of the bunch.

Coming May 1

La Brea, Seasons 1-4

When a giant sinkhole opens in the middle of Los Angeles, a group of unlucky men and women get sucked into the abyss and wind up in a deadly prehistoric underworld loaded with dinosaurs and other predators. Before you roll your eyes and ask, “What else ya got,” hear me out. This goofy, giddy guilty pleasure, which originally ran on NBC from 2021 to 2024, is a blast, especially if you’re in the right frame of mind (which is to say not too discerning). I don’t know how many of you have been on the lookout for a combination of Lost and Land of the Lost, but you just found it.

Coming May 4

Lord of the Flies

William Golding’s classic novel about a group of English schoolboys stranded on a desert island who turn their new tropical paradise into a cruel tribal dystopia is getting the prestige treatment in this highly anticipated four-episode limited series. Don’t be put off by the fact that you were probably forced to read this book in school; it’s a terrific cautionary tale loaded with action, adventure and Big Ideas. Plus, it’s not like we’re asking you to watch Ethan Frome.

Coming May 7

Legends, Season 1

The Brits have always had a knack for vise-tight crime procedurals. Let’s see if they can hold onto that rep with Netflix’s latest U.K. import, which stars the always welcome (and always snarky) misanthrope Steve Coogan, 60, as the ringleader of an extremely ordinary group of customs officials who go undercover to bring down the country’s most notorious drug gangs from the inside. It may sound like an improbable set-up with lots of room for fish-out-of-water hijinks, but this six-episode series is based on a strange-but-true story from the 1990s.

Coming May 8

Remarkably Bright Creatures, PG-13

The last time Sally Field, 79, starred in a feature film, she was saddling up with Lily Tomlin, 86, Jane Fonda, 88, and Rita Moreno, 94, to hit on legendary New England Patriots QB Tom Brady in 2023’s 80 for Brady. This time, the two-time Oscar winner is captivated by a very different creature. Field plays a lonely small-town widow who works as a cleaning lady at an aquarium and develops an unlikely bond with a giant Pacific octopus. I can think of maybe three actors in the world who could pull this kind of thing off. Field is one of them.

Coming May 10

The Roast of Kevin Hart – Live

Netflix’s last big comedy roast took aim at Tom Brady (yes, him again!) and really didn’t hold back. The comics on the dais let him have it. The roast is part of a long, proud comedy tradition, but these affairs can be brutal… and raunchy. If you’re easily offended or have delicate sensibilities, this may not be the special for you. But if the thought of a revolving door of comics telling cruel jokes about Kevin Hart’s height (he’s 5’2) and box-office misfires appeals, you should definitely get your money’s worth.

Coming May 11

Pop Culture Jeopardy!

Netflix wants to be everything to everybody — live sports, blockbuster movies, wacky dating shows, comedy roasts, you name it. Still, the streamer hasn’t really dipped its toes into the quiz-show pool yet. That changes with this pop-culture riff on the beloved quiz contest that’s being hosted by SNL’s Colin Jost. The show’s first season debuted on Amazon’s Prime Video in 2024; the new season should attract significantly more eyeballs here. Episodes air weekdays from May 11 to June 5.

Coming May 12

Marty, Life Is Short

It’s hard to think of a more adored comic actor than Martin Short, 76. From his early sketch-comedy days on SCTV and SNL to his long string of laugh-out-loud movies like Three Amigos and Father of the Bride to his more recent onscreen duet with pal Steve Martin, 80, on Only Murders in the Building, the youthful Canadian has managed to put together a singular show-biz career while keeping his reputation as one of the good guys. This new documentary takes stock of Short’s life, both on screen and off, with the help of classic clips, personal home movies and tributes from famous friends.

Coming May 14

Nemesis, Season 1

If you’re a fan of the Starz series Power (and its various spin-offs and sequels), then you’re the target demo for this inner-city, cat-and-mouse crime drama about a daring master thief (Lady in the Lake’s Y’lan Noel) and the LAPD detective (Abbot Elementary’s Matthew Law) obsessed with taking him down. Fun fact: Mario Van Peebles, 69, isn’t just one of the show’s executive producers; he also directs the first two episodes.

Coming May 15

Berlin and the Lady with an Ermine

If you’re dreaming of a getaway to Spain, why not take a vicarious journey to gorgeous Seville for this sexy, Spanish-language heist thriller from the folks who brought you the action-packed Money Heist franchise? Pedro Alonso, 54, leads the ensemble cast as Berlin, the mastermind behind an ambitious plot to steal $44 million in jewels from 34 cities, all in one afternoon. I’ll be honest, the postcard-ready sights in this show are as much of a draw as its intricately engineered caper.

Coming May 21

The Boroughs

Here’s the Netflix title I’m most excited about this month. In what looks a bit like a hybrid of Cocoon and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, a star-studded group of retirees in a New Mexico planned community become unlikely heroes after banding together to stop an otherworldly threat. Created by Matt and Ross Duffer (the brothers behind Stranger Things), the supernatural series’ A-list cast includes Geena Davis, 70, Alfre Woodard, 73, Bill Pullman, 72, and Alfred Molina, who turns 73 on May 24. Circle this one on the calendar.

Coming May 22

Ladies First, R

Clichés are clichés for a reason: because they work. How else to explain the old “bonk on the head turns the world upside down” premise of this satiric comedy starring Borat’s Sacha Baron Cohen, 54? Cohen plays a mansplaining corporate jerk who distractedly walks into a signpost, blacks out and wakes up in a world run by women. Before he knows it, he’s getting cat-called, condescended to and passed over at work. Richard E. Grant, 68, and Rosamund Pike costar in this off-kilter battle of the sexes.

Coming May 28

The Four Seasons, Season 2

If you caught the first season of this Tina Fey series, you know the drill: A group of close-knit friends goes on a series of couples’ vacations to cozy destinations where things occasionally get messy between bottles of vino and moments of heart and humor. Based on the bittersweet 1981 Alan Alda-Carol Burnett comedy, the eight-episode sophomore season reunites Fey, who turns 56 on May 18, with castmates Will Forte, 55, Kerri Kenney-Silver, 56, and Colman Domingo, 56, as they hopscotch from one enviable location to the next.

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Chris Nashawaty, former film critic for Entertainment Weekly, is the author of Caddyshack: The Making of a Hollywood Cinderella Story and a contributor to Esquire, Vanity Fair, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.