Netflix's best new shows and films in August

Last summer, Netflix surprised viewers by launching the first series of retro sci-fi hit Stranger Things. The site hopes to repeat that this season, with Marvel adventures, rom-coms, gripping documentaries and films.

Here are our top picks.

The Defenders (August 18)

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Netflix’s four Marvel TV heroes - Jessica Jones, Iron Fist, Luke Cage and Daredevil - come together in this superhero extravaganza to delight comic-book fans. The limited series sees Charlie Cox (Daredevil), Krysten Ritter (Jones), Mike Colter (Cage) and Finn Jones (Fist) reprising their roles from their individual shows to team up in New York and fight a common enemy known as The Hand.

Starts 18 August.

Wet Hot American Summer: Ten Years Later

Kristen Wiig, Paul Rudd, Amy Poehler and Chris Pine star in the return of the cult satirical rom-com series about a group of neurotic, sexually frustrated friends and counsellors at a summer camp. The eight-part series sees the friends reuniting after a decade to see what sort of people they have "blossomed into". Den of Geek says it "gleefully wallows in glorious '90s jokes", but it is still an "immensely enjoyable" showcase of "a bunch of exemplary comedians".

From 4 August.

What Happened to Monday?

This dystopian sci-fi thriller features a quality cast, including Willem Dafoe, Glenn Close and Noomi Rapace. It's set in the not-too-distant future, when over-population has seen a global one-child policy imposed. Rapace plays seven identical sisters pretending to be one person to dodge the Child Allocation Bureau.

Available 18 August.

Death Note

Adam Wingard's supernatural horror-thriller film is a loose adaptation of the Japanese manga series of the same name. Nat Wolff (The Fault in Our Stars) plays a young man who comes across a notebook that gives him the power to kill someone by writing the person's name on its pages. He uses the power to kill criminals, but soon discovers a mysterious detective (Keith Stanfield) intends to end his mission. Co-stars Margaret Qualley (The Leftovers) and Willem Dafoe.

From 25 August.

Icarus

When filmmaker Bryan Fogel embarked on a documentary about doping, he didn't know he would uncover one of the biggest scandals in recent sports history. His journey is captured in Icarus, which was acclaimed at Sundance and snapped up by Netflix. Fogel, a cyclist himself, begins by investigating the effects of performance-enhancing drugs by injecting himself with the substances and meets a Russian doctor who runs drug testing at Moscow’s Olympics lab. It turns out the doctor is the mastermind behind the state-approved doping programme. Variety calls it a "game-changing" documentary.

Available from 4 August.

Atypical

This gentle, coming-of-age comedy-drama explores the life of autistic teenager Sam (Keir Gilchrist) as he finishes high school and begins his journey to find love and independence. TV Line calls it a "whimsical" family comedy with "a cast full of sweet-natured characters, a bracing dose of melancholy and a terrific lead performance".

From 11 August.

Naked

Marlon Wayans (Scary Movie) stars in this remake of the 2000 Swedish film Naken, a Groundhog Day-like comedy about a man forced to repeatedly relive his wedding day. Rob Anderson is a charming man-child who wakes up naked in an elevator on his wedding day. As he attempts to piece together what happened, the day repeats itself and he realises he is stuck in a time loop.

Available 11 August.

Love & Mercy

This biopic, based on Beach Boy Brian Wilson's struggle with mental illness, is inventive and emotionally involving enough to interest even those who aren't fans of the band. Paul Dano plays Wilson, as the troubled musical genius puts together iconic 60s album Pet Sounds before the action shifts to the 1980s, where the older, heavily medicated musician (John Cusack) meets Cadillac saleswoman Melinda Ledbetter (Elizabeth Banks), who helps him free himself from his dependence on a controlling therapist. The Independent calls it "ingenious".

From 4 August.