35 best new Netflix movies and shows coming in May 2020

33. Jarhead

Release Year: 2005

Directed By: Sam Mendes

Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Scott MacDonald, Peter Sarsgaard, Jamie Foxx, Lucas Black, Brian Geraghty, Jacob Vargas, Laz Alonso, Evan Jones, Chris Cooper, Dennis Haysbert, John Krasinski, Jamie Martz

Release Date: Friday, May 1

It’s always a win when Netflix adds an entire film series at the same time. There’s nothing worse than being able to watch the first and second Scream but not the third, or the first and last Lord of the Rings movies but not the middle bridge between the two. While very few binge-watchers are pining after all three Jarhead films (at least not the direct-to-video sequels), they’re coming to Netflix this May for a triple feature that’s for sure among the best new releases of the month.

Based on the Gulf War memoir of the same name by Anthony Swofford, Jarhead stars Jake Gyllenhaal as Anthony Swofford, who enlists as a U.S. Marine in the 1989. He spends his time in a train boot camp under the watchful eye of a tough drill instructor and moves on to a sniper course with Staff Sgt. Sykes (Jamie Foxx). Not long after, Swofford and his spotter Alan Troy (Peter Sarsgaard) ship out for the Gulf War, leaving the soldiers to form bonds and attempt to keep their heads above water as they brave danger and uncertainty in the face of war each day.

Jarhead comes from director Sam Mendes, who also directed such movies as American Beauty, Road to Perdition, Revolutionary Road, Away We Go, Skyfall, Spectre and 1917. The film received generally mixed reviews from critics, who averaged the film out with a middling 61% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Of course, Jarhead spawned two direct-to-video sequels, which will also join the original film on Netflix. Fans of Jake Gyllenhaal will have themselves a treat when the 2005 war film hits Netflix at the top of May, along with two sequels. (Be warned: Gyllenhaal isn’t in those, though.)