Culture

Netflix Canada in June 2021: What’s new this month

Jaime Weinman’s rundown of all the new shows and movies worth checking out in June on Netflix in Canada

What you should watch

Sailor Moon Eternal: The Movie (June 3)

This film, from the beloved manga/anime franchise, already played in movie theatres in Japan earlier this year, but Netflix is releasing it everywhere else, and it’s said to be the first Sailor Moon movie to get an international release. It’s a continuation of the 2014 animated series “Sailor Moon Crystal;” an arc from the original manga series that was originally supposed to be the show’s fourth season was made into a long two-part feature film instead. The story involves a villain who makes nightmares real, and (this is a real heartbreaker) an apparent decline in the relationship of Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask.

Sweet Tooth (June 4)

In 2009, Canadian comic book writer/artist Jeff Lemire created the series “Sweet Tooth” for Vertigo, the now-defunct adult comics imprint of DC Comics. It took place in a post-apocalyptic world—though one that bears some resemblance to the small-town Ontario of Lemire’s youth—so it was inevitable that it would find a home on Netflix eventually, in the form of this TV series, developed by writer/director Jim Mickle. Thanks to the aforementioned apocalypse, the world is now full of mutant children who are half-animal, half-human; the lead characters are a half-human, half-deer kid named Gus (Christian Convery) and a mysterious man named Jepperd (Nonso Anozie) who promises to take Gus to a place where “hybrids” are safe.

Penguin Town (June 16)

Patton Oswalt has been busy lately, or at least his voice has been. In addition to his animated show “M.O.D.O.K.,” he’s the narrator of this nature series about penguins, the birds you can always turn to when you need to get your cuteness fix. The twist of this eight-episode show is that, despite being a documentary, it’s also a fish-out-of-water comedy in which a group of endangered penguins in South Africa have to do the usual penguin things—including looking for a mate—in the city. Oswalt told Yahoo Entertainment that what interested him about the show is that it’s “about nature invading urban spaces and how nature still wins out in spite of all these obstacles.”

The House of Flowers: The Movie (June 23)

Netflix gave us three seasons of creator Manolo Caro’s comedy/drama about the dysfunctional de la Mora family and their equally dysfunctional family-owned businesses. This being Netflix, there will be no fourth season, but instead, we’re getting this movie spinoff, directed by Caro. The premise finds the de la Moras learning that there is a secret treasure hidden in their old family home, leading to a feature-length scheme to break into the house; this is intercut with a flashback story taking place in the 1980s, where the family parents Virginia and Ernesto carry out a similar scheme.

Date TBA

Ali & Ratu Ratu Queens NETFLIX FILM 🇮🇩

Iqbaal Ramadhan plays a teenager who reacts to his father’s death by traveling to New York to find the mother he hasn’t seen in years.

Jiva! NETFLIX SERIES 🇿🇦

Noxolo Dlamini plays the role of Ntombi, who thinks dancing might be her ticket out of her depressing life, and forms a dance troupe with very different women with very similar dreams.

RayNETFLIX SERIES 🇮🇳

Another in Netflix’s string of themed anthology series from India: the theme of the four short films in this series is that they’re all based on stories by filmmaking legend Satyajit Ray.

Record of Ragnarok NETFLIX ANIME 🇯🇵

Animated series about a fight between 13 gods and 13 mortals to decide whether mortal humans get to survive or not. Not to be confused with Disney’s “Thor: Ragnarok” or Netflix’s “Ragnarok” series.

So Not Worth It NETFLIX SERIES 🇰🇷

The story of international students all living together in the same dormitory. Was it worth coming all the way to another country to study? The title may or may not supply the answer.

Coming to Netflix June 1, 2021

Super Monsters: Once Upon a Rhyme NETFLIX FAMILY

From Goldilocks to Hansel and Gretel, the Super Monsters reimagine classic fairy tales and favourite nursery rhymes with a musical, magical spin!

  • 21 & Over
  • A.X.L.
  • Agatha Christie’s Crooked House
  • Air Force One
  • ALVINNN!!! And the Chipmunks: S1
  • ALVINNN!!! And the Chipmunks: S2
  • Black Holes | The Edge of All We Know
  • CoComelon: A Sunny Day for Play
  • Hitch
  • LEGO Ninjago: Season 2
  • LEGO Ninjago: Secrets of Forbidden Spinjitzu
  • The Looney, Looney, Looney Bugs Bunny Movie
  • The Mustang
  • Oculus
  • Season of the Witch
  • Seven Souls in the Skull Castle: Season Moon Jogen
  • Seven Souls in the Skull Castle: Season Moon Kagen
  • Thomas and Friends: Season 24
  • The Town

Coming to Netflix June 2, 2021

Carnaval NETFLIX FILM 🇧🇷

After a breakup, an influencer takes her friends on a free trip to Bahia’s vibrant Carnival, where she learns life’s not just about social media likes.

Licensed content:

  • Erin Brockovich
  • Psycho (1960)
  • Unfriended
  • The Visit
  • Mr. Bean’s Holiday
  • Psycho (1998)
  • Van Helsing

Coming to Netflix June 3, 2021

Alan Saldaña: Locked Up NETFLIX COMEDY SPECIAL 🇲🇽

The Mexican comedy star returns to Netflix for his second special, where being “locked up” refers to being at home with the kids.

Creator’s File: GOLD NETFLIX SERIES 🇯🇵

In this mockumentary series, comedian Ryuji Akiyama parodies the world of social media content creation by casting himself as pretentious or self-absorbed social media influencers.

Dancing Queens NETFLIX FILM 🇸🇪

Helena Bergström directed this film about Dylan (Molly Nutley), a young woman who wants to dance at a nightclub where only drag queens are allowed to perform.

Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Eternal The Movie: Part 1 / Part 2  NETFLIX FILM 🇯🇵

See introduction for details

Summertime: Season 2 NETFLIX SERIES 🇮🇹

In the first season, two teenagers (Coco Rebecca Edogamhe & Ludovico Tersigni) fell in love even though she’s a waitress’s daughter and he’s a rich bad-boy motorcycle driver. In the second season, they and their friends continue to have romantic complications in a beautiful Italian coastal town.

Coming to Netflix June 4, 2021

Breaking Boundaries: The Science of Our Planet NETFLIX DOCUMENTARY

Prolific TV science guy David Attenborough hosts his third Netflix documentary, about how humans have been bad stewards of the Earth and pushed it beyond sustainable limits. Featuring Swedish Professor Johan Rockström, an expert on sustainability.

Feel Good: Season 2 NETFLIX SERIES

Mae Martin created and stars in a semi-autobiographical comedy about an abrasive Canadian comic living in London. This is the final season.

Human: The World WithinNETFLIX DOCUMENTARY

PBS documentary series where each episode looks at a particular aspect of how the human body works:  The six episodes are titled “Birth,” “Pulse,” “Fuel,” “Defend,” “Sense,” and “React.” Jad Abumrad (Radiolab) narrates.

Sweet Tooth NETFLIX SERIES

See introduction for details

Trippin’ with the Kandasamys NETFLIX FILM 🇿🇦

The third in a series of movies about Shanti (Maeshni Naicker) and Jennifer (Jailoshini Naidoo), two ultra-competitive next-door neighbours. In this instalment, both decide to go on vacation with their husbands at the same time.

Xtreme NETFLIX FILM 🇪🇸

Daniel Benmayor directed this thriller about a hitman plotting revenge on the stepbrother who was responsible for the death of his son and father.

Coming to Netflix June 5, 2021

Kitty Love: An Homage to Cats NETFLIX DOCUMENTARY 🇳🇱

The title doesn’t need much explaining; it’s a documentary about cats, for people who love watching cats do cute cat things.

Coming to Netflix June 9, 2021

AwakeNETFLIX FILM

Gina Rodriguez (Jane the Virgin) and Jennifer Jason Leigh are among the stars of writer-director Mark Raso’s science fiction film about what happens after all human beings are robbed of the ability to sleep.

Fresh, Fried & Crispy NETFLIX SERIES

Food critic Daym Drops hosts a documentary series about places that serve the best fried foods, such as the fried chicken at Yo’ Mama’s Restaurant in Birmingham, Alabama.

Tragic Jungle NETFLIX FILM 🇲🇽

Indira Andrewin stars in director Yulene Olaizola’s mystical period piece, about a woman who flees into the jungle to escape being forced into marriage with an Englishman.

Coming to Netflix June 10, 2021

Late Night

Locombianos NETFLIX SERIES 🇨🇴

A stand-up special from Colombia, featuring four different comics in their first post-lockdown performances.

Coming to Netflix June 11, 2021

Love (ft. Marriage and Divorce): Season 2 NETFLIX SERIES 🇰🇷

Drama about three women from three different generations who all work on a radio show and all have issues making their marriages work.

Lupin: Part 2 NETFLIX SERIES 🇫🇷

One of Netflix’s biggest recent hits was this French series, starring Omar Sy as a gentleman thief who models his life and technique on the classic fictional character Arsène Lupin.

Skater Girl NETFLIX FILM 🇮🇳

Manjari Makijany co-wrote and directed this film about a small-town girl (Rachel Sanchita Gupta) who decides to enter a national skateboarding competition.

Trese NETFLIX ANIME

Based on the comic series created by Budjette Tan and Kajo Baldisimo, this show’s title character, Alexandra Trese (voiced in English by Shay Mitchell), is a private detective who is frequently called in to solve cases involving mythological or fantasy creatures.

Wish Dragon NETFLIX FAMILY 🇨🇳

An animated feature film about a guy who finds a genie who is also a dragon, hence the title. Chris Applehans wrote and directed, and Jimmy Wong and John Cho provide the English-language voices of, respectively, the guy and the wish dragon.

Coming to Netflix June 14, 2021

Elite Short Stories NETFLIX SERIES 🇪🇸

While waiting for the fourth season of the hit Spanish teen drama Élite, the producers offer these mini-episodes that fill us in on what the characters were doing during the summer.

The Sun Is Also a Star

Coming to Netflix June 15, 2021

Rhyme Time Town: Season 2 NETFLIX FAMILY

DreamWorks animated series about talking animals who recite, and act out, classic nursery rhymes.

Unwind Your Mind NETFLIX INTERACTIVE EXPERIENCE

Another Netflix co-production with the Headspace meditation app. Company representatives tell you, with the aid of animation, three different techniques for mind-unwinding, depending on what time it is and whether you want to call it “meditation” or not.

Licensed content:

Desperado
Power Rangers Dino Fury: Season 1

Coming to Netflix June 16, 2021

The Hurricane Heist

Penguin Town NETFLIX DOCUMENTARY

See introduction for details

Silver Skates NETFLIX FILM 🇷🇺

A big hit in Russia, notable as the first Russian film released by Netflix, this film moves the basic plot of “Hans Brinker, or the Silver Skates” from Holland to Russia, and also adds a Romeo-and-Juliet style romance, with that plot also relocated to Russia.

Spider-Man: Far from Home

Coming to Netflix June 17, 2021

Black Summer: Season 2 NETFLIX SERIES

It’s hard to keep track of all the zombie apocalypse shows out there. This is the one that’s filmed in Calgary and stars Jamie King.

The Gift: Season 3 NETFLIX SERIES 🇹🇷

Beren Saat returns for the final season as Atiye, a painter who discovers she has a connection to some form of mystical power.

Hospital Playlist: Season 2 NETFLIX SERIES 🇰🇷

Drama about five doctors who all went to medical school together and all work at the same Seoul hospital.

Katla NETFLIX SERIES 🇮🇸

The basic format for a lot of drama series is to have a horrible disaster and a survivor looking for someone who may or may not be alive. In this series from Iceland, the horrible disaster is the eruption of a volcano, and the lead character, played by Guðrún Ýr Eyfjörð, is looking for her daughter, who has been missing since the disaster began.

Coming to Netflix June 18, 2021

A Family NETFLIX FILM 🇯🇵

Writer-director Michihito Fujii tells the Godfather-style story of Kenji (Gô Ayano), who spends two decades as a member of the Yakuza.

Elite: Season 4 NETFLIX SERIES 🇪🇸

The previously-mentioned hit Spanish teen drama, about students at a snooty secondary school. This season, four new kids and one new principal are added to the cast.

Fatherhood NETFLIX FILM

Kevin Hart stars as a Matthew Logelin, who is left alone to raise his daughter after his wife suddenly dies. Co-written and directed by Paul Weitz, based on a memoir by the real-lie Matthew Logelin.

Jagame Thandhiram NETFLIX FILM 🇮🇳

A gangster (Dhanush) is summoned to London to help a crime boss (James Cosmo) in this action thriller from Indian writer-director Karthik Subbaraj.

The Rational Life NETFLIX SERIES

Drama series about a woman (Qin Lan) who seeks to lead a “rational life” when it comes to her career and love life, but finds it isn’t so easy, especially after she ends up in a love triangle with two of her co-workers.

The World’s Most Amazing Vacation Rentals NETFLIX SERIES

Netflix already brought you “The World’s Most Extraordinary Homes,” and now this series takes you to great short-term vacation rental properties, for when vacations are legal again.

Coming to Netflix June 19, 2021

Booksmart

Nevertheless NETFLIX SERIES 🇰🇷

Romantic drama about two people who want a relationship even though they claim not to want a serious romantic commitment.

Coming to Netflix June 21, 2021

Long shot

Coming to Netflix June 22, 2021

Blinded by the Light
The Kitchen

Coming to Netflix June 23, 2021

Good on Paper NETFLIX FILM

Iliza Shlesinger wrote and stars in a comedy about a stand-up comic who meets a guy (Ryan Hansen) who seems to be everything she ever said she wanted in a man, but is he really? Probably not, judging by the title. Directed by Kimmy Gatewood.

The House of Flowers: The Movie NETFLIX FILM 🇲🇽

See introduction for details

Murder by the Coast NETFLIX DOCUMENTARY 🇪🇸

Tània Balló Colell directed this documentary about one of Spain’s most famous murder cases, the 1999 killing of teenager Rocío Wanninkhof, and a conviction that became a notorious miscarriage of justice.

Too Hot to Handle: Season 2 NETFLIX SERIES

In yet another reality show that was conceived before the pandemic but accidentally took on new meaning because of it, a group of contestants are ordered to live together but never have sex or romantic contact; whoever distances the longest wins $100,000.

Coming to Netflix June 24, 2021

Godzilla Singular Point NETFLIX ANIME 🇯🇵

Sadly, the monster in this animated Godzilla spinoff is probably not called “Godzilla Singular Point.” It’s about an engineer and a grad student who are investigating unexplained occurrences when they both hear a mysterious song that will lead them to uncover a threat to the world.

The Naked Director: Season 2 NETFLIX SERIES 🇯🇵

Eight more episodes of the biographical drama about the pornographic film director Toru Muranishi (played by Takayuki Yamada). This season picks up Muranishi after he’s worked his way up from porn magazines to porn films, as he sets his sights on conquering the medium of satellite TV.

Sisters on Track NETFLIX DOCUMENTARY

The true story of Tai, Rainn and Brooke Sheppard, three sisters who went from a homeless shelter to youth track stardom. Directed by Corinne van der Borch and Tone Grøttjord-Glenne.

Coming to Netflix June 25, 2021

The A List: Season 2 NETFLIX SERIES 🇬🇧

Lost meets Pretty Little Liars in a teen drama about teenage girls jockeying for status on an island-based summer camp where supernatural secrets and brainwashing are the order of the day.

Sex/Life NETFLIX SERIES

Billie (Sarah Shahi) is living a quiet suburban life with her husband and children when her ex — and a reminder of the life she used to lead — arrives on the scene. Stacy Rukeyser adapted this series from the B.B. Easton novel “44 Chapters about 4 Men.”

Coming to Netflix June 26, 2021

Wonder Boy NETFLIX DOCUMENTARY 🇫🇷

A portrait of the French designer Olivier Rousteing and how he became creative director of the Balmain fashion house.

Coming to Netflix June 27, 2021

The Secret Life of Pets 2

Coming to Netflix June 28, 2021

The Seven Deadly Sins: Dragon’s Judgement NETFLIX ANIME 🇯🇵

Another instalment in the long-running anime series about an order of knights known as the Seven Deadly Sins.

Coming to Netflix June 29, 2021

Black Lightning: Season 4NETFLIX SERIES

The final season of the DC Comics series about Jefferson Pierce (Cress Williams), an educator who keeps trying and failing to quit his old job as the superhero Black Lightning.

Midsommar

StarBeam: Season 4 NETFLIX FAMILY

Another batch of episodes in the non-threatening animated superhero series about a little girl who turns into a hero named StarBeam.

Coming to Netflix June 30, 2021

America: The Motion Picture NETFLIX FILM

Archer director Matt Thompson brings a similar sensibility to this animated retelling of the American Revolution, with Channing Tatum voicing George Washington, Judy Greer as Mrs. Washington, Simon Pegg as Sam Adams and Bobby Moynihan as Paul Revere.

Sophie: A Murder in West Cork NETFLIX DOCUMENTARY 🇬🇧

Three-part docuseries about the 1996 murder of French television producer Sophie Toscan du Plantier while on holiday in West Cork, Ireland, which led to years of attempts by the French government to extradite her suspected killer.

Leaving Netflix in June 2021

  • The Cable Guy (June 4)
  • Hannibal (June 4)
  • The Avengers (June 6)
  • Tales of the City (June 27)
  • True Romance (June 30)
  • Winx Club, Season 7 (June 30)

 

Looking for more?

Get the Best of Maclean's sent straight to your inbox. Sign up for news, commentary and analysis.
  • By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy. You may unsubscribe at any time.