Staff Reporter | On 01, Jul 2021

With England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland all in their own respective lockdowns once again to combat the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, the start of 2021 has seen a number of planned cinema releases push back their theatrical debut or head to digital platforms instead. For audiences at home, here’s our guide to the major movies and premium VOD releases available to buy and rent from your sofa in the weeks ahead – plus the subscription streaming exclusives that would have been playing in a multiplex near you.

For a full guide to VOD releases in the UK for this month across all major VOD platforms (subscription and transactions), head to our Coming Soon channel. For films coming to Netflix UK, see our guide to what’s coming soon here. For films coming soon to Amazon Prime, click here, and for films coming soon to Sky Cinema, click here. And, if you’re trying to catch up with this year’s awards contenders, see our guide to where you can watch the BAFTA nominees online.

Lady Boss: The Jackie Collins Story – 2nd July

The life and career of novelist Jackie Collins are explored in this entertaining, revealing documentary.

Our review – plus where you can watch it online

WITCH: We Intend to Cause Havoc – 2nd July

Gio Arlotta’s documentary traces the history of WITCH, Zambia’s most popular rock band of the 1970s.

Our review – plus where you can watch it online

Fear Street Part 1: 1984 – 2nd July

Netflix’s RL Stine trilogy gets off to an intriguing start with a thrillingly bloody brew of carnage and teen hormones.

Our review – plus where you can watch it online

First Cow – 9th July

Kelly Reichardt redefines the notion of what a Western can be. Set among outcasts on the edge of capitalism’s grasp, First Cow is a rare tale of the blossoming of a heartfelt male friendship, and one told with sublime gentleness and touching compassion. Two travellers, on the run from a band of vengeful hunters in the 1820s Northwest, dream of striking it rich, but their tenuous plan to make their fortune on the frontier comes to rely on the secret use of a wealthy landowner’s prized dairy cow.

Our review – plus where you can watch it online

Black Widow – 9th July

The long-awaited comic book blockbuster explores Natasha Romanoff’s struggle to confront the darker parts of her ledger and deal with unfinished business. Pursued by a force that will stop at nothing to bring her down, Natasha must deal with her history as a spy and the broken relationships left in her wake long before she became an Avenger. Scarlett Johansson reprises her role as Natasha/Black Widow, Florence Pugh stars as Yelena, David Harbour portrays Alexei/The Red Guardian, and Rachel Weisz plays Melina. Released on Disney+ with a Premier Access fee of £19.99.

Our review – plus where you can watch it online

Occupation: Rainfall – 9th July

After an intergalactic invasion of Earth, where survivors are fighting back in a desperate ground war, the resistance uncover a plot that could see the war come to a decisive end for mankind. With the alien invaders hell-bent on making Earth their new home, the race is on to save the planet. Harry Potter’s Jason Isaacs, The Mandalorian’s Temuera Morrison and The Hangover’s Ken Jeong star.

Available on: Apple TV (iTunes) / Prime Video (Buy/Rent) / TalkTalk TV / Virgin Movies / Rakuten TV / Google Play / Sky Store

Jumbo – 9th July

Noemie Merlant plays a woman who falls in love with a fairground ride in this strange and surprisingly touching romance.

Our review – plus where you can watch it online

Martin Eden – 9th July

Jack London’s novel is relocated to pre-war Naples in this epic adaptation with a standout lead turn from Luca Marinelli.

Our review – plus where you can watch it online

Tove – 9th July

Alma Pöysti is outstanding in this effervescent biopic of Moomins creator Tove Jansson.

Our review – plus where you can watch it online

Fear Street Part 2: 1978 – 9th July

The bloodcurdling second chapter in Netflix’s RL Stine trilogy is a fast-paced, vicious summer camp slasher.

Our review – plus where you can watch it online

Nobody – 12th July

Bob Odenkirk plays a seemingly everyday guy who goes on a rampage of revenge in this darkly comic actino thriller written by John Wick’s Derek Kolstad. Released on Premium VOD after its cinema debut.

Available on: Apple TV (iTunes) / Prime Video (Buy/Rent) / TalkTalk TV / Virgin Movies / Rakuten TV / Google Play / Sky Store

Two of Us – 16th July

Nina and Madeleine, two retired women, are secretly deeply in love for decades. From everybody’s point of view, including Madeleine’s family, they are simply neighbours living on the top floor of their building. They come and go between their two apartments, sharing the tender delights of everyday life together. Until the day their relationship is turned upside down by an unexpected event, leading Madeleine’s daughter to slowly unveil the truth about them.

Available on: BFI Player / Curzon Home Cinema

The Witches of the Orient – 16th July

This stylish and entertaining sports documentary tells the inside story of the 1964 Japanese Olympic female volleyball team.

Available on: Curzon Home Cinema

Fear Street Part 3: 1966 – 16th July

Thrust back to 1666, some surprising truths emerge in the third part of Netflix’s RL Stine trilogy. Back in 1994, the friends fight for their lives — and Shadyside’s future.

Available on: Netflix UK

Mosley: It’s Complicated – 19th July

A no-holds-barred study of one of the most successful yet controversial figures in motorsport, Max Mosley.

Available on: Apple TV (iTunes) / Prime Video (Buy/Rent) / TalkTalk TV / Virgin Movies / Rakuten TV / Google Play / Sky Store

Kandisha – 22nd July

It is summer break and best friends Amélie, Bintou and Morjana hang together with other neighborhood teens. Nightly, they have fun sharing scary stories and urban legends. But when Amélie is assaulted by her ex, she remembers the story of Kandisha, a powerful and vengeful demon. Afraid and upset, Amélie summons her. The next day, her ex is found dead. The legend is true and now Kandisha is on a killing spree—and it’s up to the three girls to break the curse.

Available on: Shudder

I Never Cry – 23rd July

Ola must travel to Ireland to bring her father’s body back to Poland after he died working at a construction site. But never mind her dad, Ola wants to know if he saved money for the car he had promised. Dealing with foreign bureaucracy in her own street-smart way, Ola learns that her biggest dream wasn’t a car, but getting to know her dad.

Available on: BFI Player / Curzon Home Cinema

Night of the Kings – 23rd July

When a young man is sent to an infamous prison, located in the middle of the Ivorian forest and ruled by its inmates, he is chosen to take part in a storytelling ritual just as a violent battle for control bubbles to the surface. After discovering the grim fate that awaits him at the end of the night, Roman begins to narrate the mystical life of a legendary outlaw to make his story last until dawn and give himself any chance of survival.

Available on: BFI Player / Curzon Home Cinema

Settlers – 23rd July

Mankind’s earliest settlers on the Martian frontier do what they must to survive the cosmic elements and each other in this science-fiction flick.

Available on: Apple TV (iTunes) / Prime Video (Buy/Rent) / TalkTalk TV / Virgin Movies / Rakuten TV / Google Play / Sky Store

The Boy Behind the Door – 29th July

A night of unimaginable terror awaits twelve-year-old Bobby and his best friend, Kevin, when they are abducted on their way home from school. Managing to escape his confines, Bobby navigates the dark halls, praying his presence goes unnoticed as he avoids his captor at every turn. Even worse is the arrival of another stranger, whose mysterious arrangement with the kidnapper may spell certain doom for Kevin. With no means of calling for help and miles of dark country in every direction, Bobby embarks on a rescue mission, determined to get himself and Kevin out alive… or die trying.

Summer of Soul – 30th July

For six weeks in the summer of 1969, just 100 miles south of Woodstock, The Harlem Cultural Festival was filmed in Mount Morris Park (now Marcus Garvey Park). It was an epic event that celebrated Black history, culture and fashion. After that summer, the footage was never seen and largely forgotten – until now, thanks to the feature directorial debut of Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson.

Available on: Disney+

Jungle Cruise – 30th July

Intrepid researcher Dr Lily Houghton travels from London, England to the Amazon jungle and enlists the skills of wisecracking skipper Frank Wolff to guide her downriver on La Quila — his ramshackle-but-charming boat. Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt star in this adventure inspired by the theme park ride. Released on Disney+ with a Premier Access fee of £19.99.

Available in cinemas and on Disney+

Coda – 13th August

Written and directed by Siân Heder (Tallulah, Little America) and starring Emilia Jones (Locke & Key), CODA follows 17-year-old Ruby (Emilia Jones), who is the sole hearing member of a deaf family — a CODA, child of deaf adults. Her life revolves around acting as interpreter for her parents (Marlee Matlin, Troy Kotsur) and working on the family’s struggling fishing boat every day before school with her father and older brother (Daniel Durant). But when Ruby joins her high school’s choir club, she discovers a gift for singing and soon finds herself drawn to her duet partner Miles (Ferdia Walsh-Peelo). Encouraged by her enthusiastic, tough-love choirmaster (Eugenio Derbez) to apply to a prestigious music school, Ruby finds herself torn between the obligations she feels to her family and the pursuit of her own dreams.

Available in cinemas and on Apple TV+

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