Netflix: Best new shows and movies this June

The best Netflix shows coming in 2017

A Series of Unfortunate Events

Netflix's adaptation of Lemony Snicket's popular Gothic children's novels recounts the tale of the orphaned Baudelaire children Violet, Klaus and Sunny, who are sent to live with the sinister Count Olaf. As the children seek to uncover the mystery of their parents' deaths, they face a series of misfortunes at the hands of their greedy uncle, who is intent on claiming their fortune. Neil Patrick Harris, Malina Weissman and Louis Hynes co-star in the eight-episode series.

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Gypsy

Naomi Watts stars in this psychological thriller about therapist Jean Holloway, who begins to develop dangerous and intimate relationships with the people in her patients' lives. Billy Crudup plays her husband and the first two episodes of the ten-part series are helmed by Fifty Shades of Grey director Sam Taylor-Johnson, who is also an executive producer.

Frontier

Game of Thrones and Aquaman star Jason Momoa leads this historical drama, which chronicles the violent and tumultuous early days of the North American fur trade in the late 18th century. The drama is told through multiple perspectives and explores the delicate relations between indigenous tribes and Europeans in a world where business disputes are solved with hatchet fights. Momoa plays Declan Harp, a part-Irish outlaw trying to breach the Hudson's Bay Company's monopoly on the fur-trade in Canada.

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13 Reasons Why

Based on the young adult novel of the same name by Jay Asher, 13 Reasons Why deals with suicide, depression and bullying.

It tells the story of teenager Clay Jensen, who discovers a series of cassette tapes recorded by a classmate who killed herself a fortnight before. "I'm about to tell you the story of my life. More specifically, why my life ended," she says. The tapes give 13 reasons why she took her own life, each relating to a fellow student.

Directed by Tom McCarthy, who won an Oscar for Spotlight, 13 Reasons Why stars Goosebumps actor Dylan Minnette as Clay and Australian newcomer Katherine Langford as Hannah, the student who killed herself. It is produced by US actor and singer Selena Gomez and her mother Mandy Teefey.

Creator Brian Yorkey says the series addresses issues that can be difficult to talk about, but added: "We're not going to be delicate about the very, very brutal things to watch."

Asher himself, meanwhile, has described it as a "perfect adaptation".

Dear White People

Netflix commissioned this comedy series based on the much-praised 2014 crowd-funded movie of the same name. Like the film, the ten-episode project will "follow a diverse group of students of colour as they navigate a predominantly white Ivy League college where racial tensions are often swept under the rug", says Netflix. The series parodies the idea of "post-racial" United States while telling the story of young people trying to forge their own paths. Up-and-coming screenwriter-director Justin Simien wrote the series and directed the first instalment.

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El Chapo

Netflix and Universal have teamed up to produce this original dramatised series based on the true story of notorious Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman. Fans of Narcos will be drawn to the disturbing tale of the ruthless leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, complete with murder, drug-running and celebrities. El Chapo made headlines recently for his capture, prison break and recapture, as well as his secretive meeting with actors Sean Penn and Kate del Castillo, which was also the subject of El Chapo & Sean Penn: Bungle in the Jungle.

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Iron Fist

The latest series from Netflix's Marvel slate, Iron Fist stars Finn Jones as Danny Rand, fighting against corruption in New York. Rand is a master of kung-fu with the ability to summon the power of the fiery Iron Fist, a superhuman force that neutralises his enemies. The series begins with Rand having returned to the city after disappearing for several years. Jessica Henwick co-stars as his samurai ally Colleen Wing, while David Wenham plays ruthless corporate leader Harold Meachum.

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Defenders

This umbrella Marvel adventure series unites the four key characters from Netflix's superhero cycle: Daredevil (Charlie Cox), Jessica Jones (Krysten Ritter), Luke Cage (Mike Colter) and Iron Fist (Finn Jones), four solitary souls, burdened by their own powers and personal struggles, who start to realise they might be stronger if they joined forces. The quartet comes together with the common goal of saving New York City from a sinister threat.

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Stranger Things

After much nail-biting by fans of last summer's creepy horror hit Stranger Things, Netflix has confirmed a second series for 2017.

No specific release date has been announced, but it will contain nine episodes - one more than the first series.

Writer Matt Duffer, who created the show with his brother Ross, said: "Season one actually takes place over the course of six or seven days - it's a really short period of time - so part of what we want to do with season two is to explore the repercussions of everything that happened."

Set in the 1980s and starring Winona Ryder, the first series of Stranger Things left us hanging with unanswered questions, prompting an overflow of fan theories on the internet. The second series is expected to pick up where season one left off, dealing in particular with the disappearance of Barb (Shannon Purser) and a host of other intriguing loose ends.

Joining the cast will be Australian actor Dacre Montgomery and Sadie Sink, who currently features in TV thriller American Odyssey.

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Santa Clarita Diet

Drew Barrymore and Timothy Olyphant star as a suburban couple struggling with an interesting health problem - cannibalism. Barrymore plays Sheila, a seemingly normal gal who starts craving raw meat after her heart stops beating one day. "She claims she feels fine – in fact, she has more energy than usual – but she is also victim to a rampant id and a craving for human flesh, which leads to murder," says Geek.com.

According to Barrymore, Santa Clarita Diet is set to be more of an in-depth character study rather than a gory zombie romp.

"What if she finds herself and we do this sort of Cro-Magnon type of evolution with her over the course of the ten episodes? No gimmicks, no prosthetics, just an awakening," she told USA Today.

Creator Victor Fresco was the brains behind the dark deadpan humour of Better off Ted, another sitcom that played with the horror genre, meaning we can expect more of the same with Santa Clarita Diet.

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Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

This Netflix-only series from 30 Rock producers Tina Fey and Robert Carlock was first released in 2015 and has two seasons under its belt. Bridesmaids actress Ellie Kemper stars as Kimmy Schmidt, the survivor of a doomsday cult who starts her life again in New York. After living in an underground bunker for 15 years, convinced she and four others were the sole survivors of humanity, she moves in with struggling actor Titus Andromedon (Tituss Burgess) and finds a job as a nanny to Manhattan trophy wife Jacqueline Voorhees (Jane Krakowski). But the world has changed a lot since she was first locked up by the cult leader, Reverend Richard Wayne Gary Wayne (Jon Hamm).

"What infuses the entire series with sweetness and positivity is Kemper's never-flagging, completely endearing portrayal of Kimmy, who doesn't want to be a victim and doesn't want to waste another day of her life," says the Hollywood Reporter. Filming for season three reportedly began last autumn, although a release date has not been finalised, with Kemper promising "more singing" in the third outing.

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Anne

Anne of Green Gables, the first of Lucy Maud Montgomery's eight Anne novels, was released in 1908. More than a century later, the red-haired orphan with a boundless imagination continues to charm readers.

A new adaptation of Anne's adventures is now in the works as a joint production between Netflix and the Canadian TV channel CBC. Simply called Anne, the eight-part mini-series is set to be released on Netflix in May.

Although Anne is one of Canada's best-known literary exports, an Irish actress – 14-year-old Amybeth McNulty – will play the title role.

Montgomery's novels have been adapted for the screen dozens of times, but Anne showrunner Moira Walley-Beckett says the new version will be "entirely different" while remaining true to the source material.

"We have the heart and soul of the book, we have our iconic moments that everyone can't wait for, and we're telling a new story," she told CBC, adding that the series would offer a "very grounded" take on life in rural Prince Edward Island in the 1890s: "It's not doilies and teacups."

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Bloodline

Created by Glenn Kessler, Todd A Kessler and Daniel Zelman – the trio behind the hit series Damages – Bloodline centres on a large and well-to-do family whose lives change drastically when the oldest sibling, played by Star Wars actor Ben Mendelsohn, returns home after years of being an outcast.

The cast is "pitch-perfect" says Cinema Blend. Kyle Chandler plays the emotionally repressed Detective John Rayburn, Norbert Leo Butz plays the tempestuous Kevin Rayburn and Linda Cardellini plays their unlucky-in-love sister, lawyer Meg Rayburn. "A huge part of why Bloodline is so watchable is due to the way plot points and character motivations are teased out in ways that aren't immediately obvious," says the website.

"If you're looking for something that rewards a patient binge, Bloodline gets more and more transfixing as it goes, a series of unfortunate events that lulls and persuades with a beachy whisper," says Vanity Fair.

Season three, which is out this year, will be the show's last hurrah. "We are looking forward to the exciting climax the writers have in store for the series conclusion in May 2017," says Netflix.

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Mindhunter

When David Fincher gets involved in a new project, you can expect a sinister result. The director, who was responsible for the likes of Gone Girl, Seven and Fight Club, knows how to create eerie, compelling features and consequently, Mindhunter looks "seriously unnerving" and "fantastically creepy", says the Radio Times.

Set in 1979, it follows two FBI agents tasked with interviewing serial killers to help them solve puzzling murder cases. Glee star Jonathan Groff plays special agent Holden Ford, while Holt McCallany, who appeared in Jack Reacher: Never Go Back, is his fellow agent Bill Tench.

Fincher directs three episodes (Andrew Douglas and Asif Kapadia take charge of the others), while Charlize Theron is an executive producer.

"The show has all the look and feel of a prestige drama along the lines of House of Cards, True Detective, or American Crime Story: brooding investigators contending with the horrifying subject matter of their jobs and the boundaries that they must set," says The Verge.

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