1. Luca (100%)
Itching to travel, but can’t get to Italy? Pixar’s new movie, Luca, might just be your next best bet. Set alongside the Italian Riviera, the movie is a coming-of-age story about two friends who share one big secret in common- they’re actually sea monsters from another world. As they say in Italy, mamma mia! Pixar is famous for their top tier animated films with a deep emotional core and with Luca currently sitting with a 100% score on the app, it would seem as though the studio has done it yet again!
Watch on Disney+
2. Summer of Soul…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised (100%)
Did you know that during the same summer as Woodstock, there was another major music festival which took place, was filmed, but never seen? Questlove makes his directorial debut with this documentary about The Harlem Cultural Festival. Over the span of six weeks, the festival attracted thousands of people and attracted artists like Stevie Wonder, Nina Simone, and Gladys Knight & the Pips and celebrated Black history, culture, and fashion. The film is a true testament to the power of music and community during times of unrest.
Watch in theaters and on Hulu
3. The Legend of the Underground (100%)
This documentary is a look at the struggle against the devastating discrimination that the LGBT+ community faces today in Nigeria. The documentary follows two groups of “chosen families”- one is in New York where Micheal Ighodaro lives with his friends who all work to advocate for the community he left behind in Nigeria after being attacked because of his identity. The other group is back in Nigeria where this tight-knit group of friends struggles over the decision to either seek safety abroad or stay and fight for their rights. If you’ve ever questioned why Pride is important to celebrate, this documentary is a must-watch.
Watch on HBO Max
4. Fatherhood (100%)
Critics have been mixed over this one, but with a 100% rating on PopViewers, it’s clear that actual audience members can’t get enough of this dramatic turn for Kevin Hart! The movie tells the heartwarming true story of a father who brings up his baby girl as a single parent after the unexpected death of his wife. PS- did we mention that it’s produced by the Obamas?!? This is definitely one you’re gonna want to watch with some tissues nearby!
Watch on Netflix
5. Hacks (100%)
It’s Jean Smart’s world and we’re all just living in it! In this HBO Max series, Smart plays a legendary Las Vegas comedian who forms an unconventional mentorship with an outcast millennial comedy writer. Most of our PopViewers are still gooped and gagged from Smart’s role on the early 90’s sitcom, Designing Women, and they clearly stan her new leading lady role on Hacks. Good news for you Deborah Vance fans…. HBO has announced that the show will be returning for a second season!
Watch on HBO Max
6. Cruella (100%)
Hide your puppies, because Cruella is back in action! In this live-action villain origin story, Emma Stone stars as a young grifter named Estella who dreams of making a name for herself as a designer. Her life changes when she catches the attention of fashion legend, Baroness von Hellman (played by Emma Thompson). It is this relationship that inspires Estella to embrace her wicked side and become the evil Cruella de Vil we know her as today. According to our PopViewers, the film delivered campy chaos that they weren’t able to look away from.
Watch in theaters and on Disney+
7. Mary J Blige’s My Life (95%)
Mary J. Blige’s trailblazing 1994 LP, “My Life,” propelled her from the NYC housing projects to international stardom. Now, 25 years later, the artist is performing the album live for the very first time. In this new documentary, Oscar-winning filmmaker Vanessa Roth follows the singer as she prepares for said performance. As Blige rehearses, she reveals the demons and blessings that inspired her to write this album. Oo baby, it’s going down and the PopViewers are HERE for it!
Watch on Amazon Prime Video
8. Sweet Tooth (94%)
Based on a DC Comic, this post-apocalyptic fairytale has quickly become one of the buzziest series of the summer! The show is set in the near future after the world has been ravaged by a disease that’s wiped out much of the human population and turned a generation of children into what appears to be part human and part animal. The series follows one such boy, who now must survive in a world that fears these animal-human hybrids. We get that some viewers may be reluctant to start a series about a pandemic given what we’re all going through… but the show’s 94% rating on the app proves that this story cuts much deeper than that.
Watch on Netflix
9. Loki (92%)
Disney+ is continuing its streak of MCU live-action series with this spinoff starring Tom Hiddleston. After stealing the Tesseract during “Avengers: Endgame,” this alternate version of Loki (the God of Mischief) is brought to the Time Variance Authority and given a choice: either get erased from existence due to being a “time-variant” OR help fix the timeline. “Loki” has already been called Marvel’s most audacious spinoff yet, and with a 100% rating on the app, it appears as though our PopViewers are eating this one up!
Watch on Disney+
10. Zola (100%)
Taking top place this week is the new release, Zola. In 2015, A’Ziah “Zola” King posted a Twitter thread about the time she and a friend went on a road trip to Florida to strip. The thread quickly went viral and has now been turned into a full-on feature length film! Prepare yourself for a raucous “hoe trip” that you won’t be able to resist. But also catch the deeper undercurrent in the film surrounding the ways in which we all use our digital personas to fool ourselves just as much as we do to fool others. Our PopViewers loved the ingenuity displayed by the filmmakers in bringing this thread from Twitter alive on screen.
Watch in theaters
These are our PopViewer’s current top picks- but there is so much more content to discover on the app! Download PopViewers and make your voice heard on what should be included on next week’s list.