Netflix to Add 11 New Titles This Week – Here’s the 3 to Watch

By Phillip Swann
The TV Answer Man –Follow me on X.

Netflix this week (August 11-17, 2024) plans to add 11 TV shows and movies to its streaming lineup. Here’s the three you should watch, in my humble opinion:

Emily in Paris – Season 4: Part 1 (Netflix Original)
Lily Collins is back as Emily Cooper, the American ingenue who moves to Paris to teach a Parisian marketing firm a few things about American ingenuity. Or so she thinks. Along the way, she encounters irresistible Parisian men, confounding language barriers and other obstacles that only Emily could find. The Netflix original comedy is a feel-good delight with Collins a revelation in the title role; her performance is a throwback to those classic comedic turns from the 60s/1970s (Mary Tyler Moore in The Mary Tyler Moore Show; Marlo Thomas in That Girl, etc.) In season four, part one, Collins’ Emily will set her sights on Gabriel now that he’s single while making a side trip to another confusing land. Five episodes of season four debuts Thursday, August 15. The second half of season four will premiere on September 12.

The Union (Netflix Original Film)
Mark Wahlberg stars as a New Jersey construction worker when a former girlfriend and now government agent (Halle Berry) inexplicably asks him to participate in a dangerous covert operation. The plot is predictable (not to mention a bit farfetched, even by movie trope standards) but it’s an action and comedy film and Wahlberg and Berry are well trained to handle those genres. Should be fun if you don’t take it too seriously. Debuts Friday, August 16.

Pearl An X-traordinary Origin Story (2022)
In this prequel to X, Mia Goth stars as an unhinged young woman whose unrelenting ambition to become a movie star leads to a bloodbath on a Texas farm in 1918. Director Ti West takes a decidedly different turn with Pearl, bathing the film with modern splashy (pun intended) colors despite the trip back in time. The result is an unsettling but riveting portrait of a psyche spiraling out of control as it seeks purpose. Pearl may be the superior film in the X trilogy (Maxxine, the third in the trilogy, is now playing in theaters.) with Goth delivering one of the best (and hypnotic) performances of the decade. (Martin Scorsese calls Pearl “mesmerizing” and, as usual, he is right.) Debuts Friday, August 16.

Complete List of New Titles Coming to Netflix This Week

Sunday, August 11
Night School

Tuesday, August 13
Matt Rife: Lucid – A Crowd Work Special

Wednesday, August 14
Daughters
Worst Ex Ever

Thursday, August 15
Average Joe – Season 1
Backyard Wilderness
Emily in Paris – Season 4: Part 1

Friday, August 16
I can’t live without you
Pearl
The Union

Saturday, August 17
Love Next Door

The TV Answer Man is veteran journalist Phillip Swann who has covered the TV technology scene for more than three decades. He will report on the latest news and answer your questions regarding new devices and services that are changing the way you watch television. See the bio for Phillip Swann here.