Crime TV and Film We’re Watching in Late Summer 2025
As the heat of summer continues, movie studios and streaming services are doing their part by providing a steady stream of entertainment to check out in air-conditioned indoor spaces. Whether you make your way to a theater or just chill at home, there are plenty of mystery and thriller movies and TV series to enjoy as we head toward the dog days of summer. Here’s what we’re excited to watch in the second half of the summer.
Untamed
There haven’t been many (or perhaps any) movies or TV shows about the National Park Service Investigative Services Branch, and this series gives that lesser-known law-enforcement agency its moment in the spotlight. Eric Bana stars as a special agent assigned to investigate an apparent murder in Yosemite National park, with Sam Neill as the park’s chief ranger. With The Dry movies, Bana has experience playing a character investigating mysteries in harsh natural environments, and Untamed looks like it will mix the unforgiving landscape with some old-fashioned crime-solving.
The Naked Gun
The original Naked Gun trilogy represents the pinnacle of crime-thriller spoofs, starring Leslie Nielsen as the deadpan Lt. Frank Drebin of Police Squad. This reboot casts another actor with gravitas who’s willing to poke fun at his own image, Liam Neeson, as Lt. Frank Drebin Jr., carrying on his father’s legacy at Police Squad. Director and co-writer Akiva Schaffer has plenty of spoof experience, as a Saturday Night Liveveteran and the co-writer/co-director of Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping, and Neeson knows just how to tweak his familiar gritty persona to get laughs.
In theaters August 1.
Irish Blood
There are lots of stories about Americans traveling to Ireland for romance and wonder, but this series stars Alicia Silverstone as an American lawyer who mostly finds danger and intrigue while on the trail of her estranged Irish father (Jason O’Mara). After decades of no contact, she receives a cryptic message from him and arrives in Ireland to discover that he wasn’t who she thought he was, and she needs to reveal the secrets of his past in order to track him down. Silverstone has been an underrated performer in indie/arthouse movies in recent years, and Irish Blood gives her a welcome lead role.
Premieres August 11 on Acorn TV.
Nobody 2
Bob Odenkirk continues his journey as an unlikely action hero in this sequel to the 2021 hit about a seemingly mild-mannered family man with a secret past as a government assassin. This time, Odenkirk’s Hutch Mansell just wants to take his family on vacation, but he mistakenly chooses a theme park that doubles as a criminal operation. Sharon Stone plays the evil mastermind who wants to take Hutch down, with Colin Hanks as a corrupt sheriff. Indonesian cult filmmaker Timo Tjahjanto makes his English-language directorial debut, from a script co-written by series creator Derek Kolstad.
In theaters August 15.
The Rainmaker
John Grisham’s best-selling 1995 novel about a young lawyer taking on his former employer in court was previously adapted into a 1997 film starring Matt Damon and directed by Francis Ford Coppola, which didn’t fare particularly well at the box office. The new TV-series take on the novel stars Milo Callaghan in the Damon role as ambitious law-school graduate Rudy Baylor, with Mad Men’s John Slattery as his big-shot rival Leo F. Drummond. Following the recent resurgence of Suits, The Rainmaker represents USA’s efforts to recapture its “blue skies” heyday of fast-paced, character-driven procedurals.
The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox
Amanda Knox’s case might be the gold standard for true crime over the past 20 years, so it’s surprising that it’s taken this long to get the prestige limited-series treatment (although it was previously dramatized in a quickie Lifetime movie). Grace Van Patten stars as Knox, who served four years in prison in Italy after being wrongfully convicted of the murder of her roommate, in a case that garnered widespread international attention. Given the multiple trials and the years of appeals, convictions and reversals, this series should have sufficient space to explore every aspect of Knox’s harrowing ordeal.
Honey Don’t!
Brothers Joel and Ethan Coen haven’t made a movie together since 2018, but Ethan has kept busy collaborating with his wife Tricia Cooke. This is the second of their planned trilogy of lesbian crime films (following 2024’s Drive-Away Dolls), starring Margaret Qualley as a private investigator whose latest case leads her to a shady church led by a sleazy, charismatic preacher (Chris Evans). Ethan leans more toward the manic, goofy side of the Coens’ style, and Honey Don’t looks to continue the quirky energy of Drive-Away Dolls, with a supporting cast that includes Aubrey Plaza and Charlie Day.
In theaters August 22.
Eenie Meanie
Horror movie favorite Samara Weaving plays a onetime teenage getaway driver drawn back into a life of crime in this heist thriller from writer-director Shawn Simmons. Weaving’s Edie agrees to the archetypal “one last job” in order to bail out her screw-up ex-boyfriend John (Karl Glusman), but naturally things don’t go as planned. Deadpool and Zombieland screenwriters Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick are on board as producers, so expect a snarky comedic tone along with the requisite twists and betrayals.
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Josh Bell is a freelance writer and movie/TV critic based in Las Vegas. He has written about movies, TV, and pop culture for the Boston Globe, Vulture, Tom’s Guide, Inverse, Crooked Marquee, and more. With comedian Jason Harris, he co-hosts the podcast Awesome Movie Year.