August has dinosaurs in suburbia, tennis royalty under the microscope, and enough parallel universes to make one life feel refreshingly simple. The End of Oak Street drops an ordinary family into prehistoric times, while Dark Matter returns to make Jason Dessen regret ever finding The Box. Closer to home, Chelot puts Malaysian action through one very long take. Add in Ridley Scott’s post-apocalyptic film and Netflix’s serial-killer thriller, and your queue is filled for the upcoming public holidays. Clear your schedule accordingly, as this month’s releases are major.
What began as an NBC Sports promotional character played by Jason Sudeikis has come a long way, now returning for a fourth season of feel-good football and Ted Lasso’s trademark optimism. After Season 3 wrapped in 2023, the series went on a nearly two-year break before Apple renewed it in March 2025. Sudeikis reprises his role as the upbeat coach, alongside Juno Temple as Keeley Jones and Brendan Hunt as Coach Beard. New faces join the squad too, with Tanya Reynolds playing Alice, a sharp and icy assistant coach, and Jude Mack as Katie, the team’s fiery goalkeeper.
Season 4 picks up three years after Ted leaves Richmond for Kansas, where he’s persuaded to return to England for a new challenge. This time, he’s coaching AFC Richmond’s newly formed second-division women’s team, marking a first for Ted as he steps into unfamiliar territory. But getting the team back on track won’t be easy, especially with Alice, who has her sights set on the head-coach position herself. With a squad still finding its footing, Ted must figure out how to bring everyone together and prove his coaching philosophy can work in a whole new setting.
Alan Ritchson returns as the quiet yet formidable Jack Reacher for a fourth season. The former military police officer spends his days drifting from town to town, keeping a low profile until a mystery inevitably gets in his way. The new season also brings in Sydelle Noel as Philadelphia police detective Tamara Green, Agnez Mo as Lila Hoth, Anggun as Amisha Hoth and Christopher Rodriguez-Marquette as Jacob Merrick. Season 4 adapts Gone Tomorrow, the 13th book in Lee Child’s series, though the show moves the story from the novel’s New York setting to Philadelphia.
Reacher’s journey takes a turn when a chance encounter with a distraught woman on the subway draws him into a much bigger mystery. As he investigates, he crosses paths with Philly detective Tamara and Jacob, the brother of the woman at the centre of the case. Meanwhile, Lila arrives in Philadelphia with Amisha, whom she introduces as her mother, claiming to be searching for her biological father. What begins as a single death soon opens the door to a conspiracy involving powerful figures and a missing flash drive, forcing Reacher to dig deeper.
David Robert Mitchell returns with his first feature since Under the Silver Lake in 2018, and he brought dinosaurs with him. This sci-fi survival film gives the It Follows director a much bigger playground, with a reported production budget of around US$85 million and J.J. Abrams among its producers. Anne Hathaway stars as Denise Platt, an aspiring novelist living in 1982 suburbia with her husband Greg, played by Ewan McGregor. Maisy Stella and Christian Convery play their children, Audrey and Brian, as their family problems quickly become far less important.
Oak Street looks ordinary until it suddenly isn’t. Strange lights, an ancient plant and some suspiciously large animal droppings suggest something is wrong. A cosmic event transports the Platts’ neighbourhood roughly 200 million years into the past. With their suburban block now surrounded by prehistoric wilderness, Denise and Greg must keep Audrey and Brian alive while dinosaurs roam between houses. There are raptors, enormous herbivores and enough sharp teeth to make the property market irrelevant. There’s also a very large carnivorous dinosaur.
Forget the typical origin story as this series takes a buddy-cop approach to the superhero Green Lantern. Aaron Pierre plays John Stewart, a disciplined military veteran and new recruit to the Green Lantern Corps. Kyle Chandler steps in as Hal Jordan, a seasoned Lantern who reluctantly takes John under his wing. The duo are joined by Nathan Fillion as the cocky Guy Gardner and Kelly Macdonald as Sheriff Kerry Kane. Part of James Gunn and Peter Safran’s new DC Universe, Hal and John are part of the same continuity as the new wave of DC heroes.
Hal and John are brought together to investigate a murder in the American heartland, but the case quickly proves more complicated. Their investigation takes them to the quiet town of Rushville, Nebraska, where strange clues point towards something bigger than a local crime. As they dig deeper, the two Lanterns uncover secrets that lead into a wider mystery. Hal confronts a case he can’t simply dismiss, and John finds his footing as a new recruit. What starts as a murder investigation soon becomes a test of how far they’re willing to go to uncover the truth.
Novak Djokovic has reached the stage of his tennis career where listing the records can take longer than matches. The Serbian has won 24 Grand Slam singles titles, Olympic gold and spent a record 428 weeks atop the ATP rankings. Directed by The Last Dance filmmaker Jason Hehir, this sports documentary traces Djokovic from a childhood shaped by conflict in war-torn Serbia to the pressure of becoming the player who disrupted the Federer-Nadal era. It’s a retrospective, but also a study of how Djokovic became one of the most decorated champions.
At 39, Djokovic has already won almost everything tennis can offer. Now, the cameras follow him beyond match point, between major tournaments, gruelling training sessions and quieter time at home with his family. His wife Jelena appears alongside tennis greats such as Rafael Nadal, Andre Agassi, Pete Sampras, Boris Becker and Jim Courier, each offering their own take on a player who rarely inspires neutral reactions. The documentary examines his reputation as both champion and provocateur, as well as the sacrifices and stubbornness behind his longevity.
Adrian Teh returns to the action genre, and he has already made history ahead of its release. Shukri Yahaya stars as special operations officer Haqqim, opposite Beto Kusyairy as syndicate enforcer Azraf and Shaheizy Sam as crime boss Dato’ Bakri. Nadhir Nasar and Alicia Amin also join the local ensemble. Before reaching cinemas, the production secured a Malaysia Book of Records title for the longest single-take action sequence in a movie. The unbroken shot alone runs for five minutes and 19 seconds, involving 300 crew members and 60 hours of rehearsal.
After a high-risk police operation ends in deaths, PDRM special operations unit launches a major hunt for a firearms-smuggling network. Haqqim, already struggling with work, money and problems at home, makes a desperate decision that places him inside the syndicate he should be dismantling. His path soon crosses with Azraf, Dato’ Bakri’s right-hand man, leaving Haqqim caught between criminals and the officers closing in on them. Expect chases, shoot-outs and double-crosses as Haqqim tries to protect his family while surviving on both sides of the law.
We’ve all experienced a pandemic world before, stuck in our rooms while loneliness slowly creeps in. This post-apocalyptic sci-fi thriller revisits that feeling through an adaptation of Peter Heller’s 2012 novel, directed by the acclaimed Ridley Scott. Our April cover star Jacob Elordi leads the cast as Hig, a pilot living after a devastating flu has wiped out most of humanity. Josh Brolin plays Bangley, the hard-edged military survivalist sharing his isolated existence, while Margaret Qualley appears as Cima. Guy Pearce, Benedict Wong and Allison Janney round out the ensemble.
Hig has built a life around repetition. He flies his plane over the surrounding territory, watches for threats and returns to the fortified home he shares with Bangley and his dog Jasper. It works, at least until a mysterious radio transmission suggests other survivors may exist. Hig follows the signal, confronting danger and whatever waits outside. His search soon brings him into contact with Cima and her father, reopening possibilities he had learned to live without. In Scott’s hands, the apocalypse comes with violence, isolation and a stubborn reason to keep looking for people.
A missing child is frightening enough. Add in a serial killer, and it’s a much darker family drama. Netflix’s new crime thriller adapts Alex North’s 2019 novel for the screen. Adam Scott stars as widowed crime writer Tom Kennedy, with Robert De Niro as his estranged father Peter Willis, a retired detective. Michelle Monaghan plays Detective Amanda Beck, while Hamish Linklater, Owen Teague and Acston Luca Porto round out the cast. The film also marks Netflix’s sixth collaboration with AGBO, the production company founded by Anthony and Joe Russo of the MCU.
Tom wants nothing more than a fresh start, but another nightmare begins when his son Jake disappears. The case carries an unsettling connection to the Whisper Man, a serial killer Peter arrested earlier, forcing Tom to seek help from the father he has kept at a distance. Their search turns the investigation into a family reckoning, as old resentments collide with the urgency of finding Jake alive. The serial-killer machinery supplies the scares, but the film’s sharper hook lies with three generations of fathers and sons, and the damage passed between them over time.
Dark Matter is back, with Joel Edgerton playing the physicist and professor whose abduction sent him tumbling through alternate versions of his life. Jennifer Connelly returns as Daniela, alongside Alice Braga as Amanda, Jimmi Simpson as Ryan and Dayo Okeniyi as Leighton. Blake Crouch, who wrote the 2016 novel and created the television adaptation, continues as showrunner. The first season covered the book’s story, so the 10-episode second season moves into new territory and gives Crouch room to open doors his original novel left closed.
The Dessens finally appear to have found a safe life, which on this sci-fi series usually signals that something terrible is coming. Jason’s fixation on The Box grows stronger, while Daniela’s mounting paranoia threatens the stability they fought to recover. Elsewhere in the multiverse, Amanda and Ryan join forces as they search for a route home, and Leighton becomes committed to his vision of building a perfect reality. Season 2 turns the aftermath of Jason’s escape into a problem. Once you know infinite lives are possible, settling for one becomes harder.
The five roommates are back, which means adulthood remains very much a work in progress. FX’s ensemble comedy returns with Malik Elassal as Samir, Lucy Freyer as Billie, Amita Rao as Issa, Owen Thiele as Anton and Jack Innanen as the permanently full-named Paul Baker. They still share Samir’s childhood home in New York, along with meals, anxieties, and questionable theories about being grown-ups. New viewers have an easy way in. A bonus prequel episode rewinds to show how Paul Baker first wandered into the group and, against all odds, never left.
They may be getting older, but don’t seem any closer to figuring it out. Season 1 ended with Paul Baker and Anton getting married for immigration reasons, then complicating matters with a passionate kiss. The problem is that Paul Baker is also dating Issa, leaving Season 2 with a friendship-threatening triangle waiting at home. Romance is only part of the mess. The new episodes push the group toward bigger questions about work, family, fertility and responsibility. Guest stars join in on the chaos, including Raven-Symoné, Gaten Matarazzo, and Zosia Mamet.
Esquire Malaysia
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