Netflix is adding 15 movies and series this week (May 18, 2025)

Netflix is a bit light on the quantity of new releases this week, but certainly not on the quality. A gripping sports documentary, several great comedy series, and one of the top family movies of the decade all arrive this week.

Listen fam, Netflix isn't going to have an amazing lineup of new releases every week. It just isn't possible, we all know that. There are a lot of competing streaming services out there - even if some of them can't keep the same name for a year at a time.

What's next for Max after HBO Max? HBO? Home? Perhaps BO would be apt. It does describe the stench of the corporate offices that dumped Looney Tunes as too costly, but will now have Batman shilling for dishwashing liquid, or dog food, or whatever makes them a buck.

But let's focus on Netflix. They can't bring in all the best new shows every time, no. But they certainly did a great job this week. Great new comedy movies and series, warm family comedy-drama, romance - yeah, it's here. Not one, but two shows about two people switching places. And a terrific family film about an automaton learning all about life.

Only one robot, but it's so cool. And a lot of laughs and drama.

It all kicks off on Tuesday with the 37th (roughly) standup special from one of the boldest standup comics around. In Sarah Silverman: PostMortem, the comedian manages to mine even death for humor.

You'll find much less humor in the story of the fall of an NFL Hall of Fame quarterback in Untold: The Fall of Favre. Kids, let this be a lesson to you: don't embezzle (allegedly). I picture the upcoming Deion Sanders series will be a bit more uplifting.

Wednesday brings us one of the two tales of twins swapping places. Newly Rich, Newly Poor follows two men who were mistakenly switched at birth. From the title, you can probably guess what happens when the mistake is finally discovered when they're adults.

Real Men is an Italian comedy series that portrays four guys struggling to adapt to changes in society. Seems to be a lot like Alpha Males, the Spanish comedy series also on Netflix. And if you watch it dubbed, it might sound a lot like it, too.

There's also another spin on the weird dating premise. This time around, the hotties have to decide whether they want to hook up with someone new or get back with their former booty calls. Hey, that's what they called them in the Netflix description of Sneaky Links: Dating After Dark, so blame them, not me.

And we get more of the great one himself, the Shat, in The UnXplained. No longer shackled to the History Channel, William Shatner hosts the show that delves into the deepest mysteries, like why anyone would appear on a show like Sneaky Links.

Thursday brings us two comedy series with star power. The first is Sirens, a darkly comedic thriller that explores the influences of power and wealth. A bit like Succession, but funny. It stars Julianne Moore and Kevin Bacon The second is the latest collaboration between Tyler Perry and Netflix, She the People. Mississippi's first Black lieutenant governor has to deal with her own family's antics, as well as the sheer joy of politics in Mississippi.

Come on, you know we're not gonna skip anything from Tyler Perry.

Fear Street: Prom Queen is the fourth offering in the horror series, Fear Street; and yes, they're all on Netflix. Air Force Elite: Thunderbirds takes you behind the scenes of the world's greatest aeronautical stunt team. The Blue Angels are chumps, and the fact that I'm an Air Force vet has nothing to do with that very biased opinion.

The Swedish family drama Off Track 2 picks up the story of a family whose focus on a bike race may lead to the healing they desperately need. Big Mouth season 8 continues the weird, dark journey of bizarre high school life. Sounds just like mine.

Today's gem is Forget You Not, a comedy-drama from Taiwan about an aspiring standup comic's struggle to find balance. Between her day job at a convenience store, problems with her husband, and a combative aging father - wait, there are funny parts? Oh, yeah, just check out the trailer.

Just two shows left this week, fam. The first is Our Unwritten Seoul, the second of the life-swapping stories I mentioned at the outset. Unlike Newly Rich, Newly Poor, this series is a dramatic take on twin sisters who exchange their stations in life, and - of course - learn life lessons on the way. To me, the best was saved for last, as The Wild Robot makes its Netflix debut.

The book series is a favorite of a lot of kids, and the movie fully does it justice. A robot is stranded on an unfamiliar island and learns what life is truly about. Funny, heartwarming, beautiful; what more could you want? It comes highly recommended by my nephew Jack, who's headed to college this fall. So, not just for the littles.

Just look at this, will you? Absolutely gorgeous animation.

New on Netflix this week: May 18-24

May 20

Untold: The Fall of Favre
Sarah Silverman: PostMortem

May 21

Real Men
Newly Rich, Newly Poor
Sneaky Links: Dating After Dark
The UnXplained

May 22

She the People
Sirens

May 23

Fear Street: Prom Queen.
Forget You Not
Air Force Elite: Thunderbirds
Off Track 2
Big Mouth season 8

May 24

Our Unwritten Seoul
The Wild Robot