Summer is officially here! There’s lots to look forward to: days by the pool, beach, or lake, tons of ice cream, outdoor events, and of course – movie nights. There’s nothing better than ending a hot summer night with a flick that fits the season. Check out our list below of 30 must watch summer themed movies to stream which range in genres.
Adventureland (2009)
Genre: Comedy/Drama/Romance
Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Ryan Reynolds, Martin Starr, Bill Hader, Kristen Wiig, Margarita Levieva, Michael Zegen, Jack Gilpin, Wendie Malick, Ian Harding
Synopsis: “In the summer of 1987, a college graduate takes a ‘nowhere’ job at his local amusement park, only to find it’s the perfect course to get him prepared for the real world.”
Where to watch: Paramount+, Plex
A Bigger Splash (2015)
Genre: Psychological Drama
Cast: Tilda Swinton, Ralph Fiennes, Dakota Johnson, Matthias Schoenaerts, David Kajganich, Aurore Clément
Synopsis: “A famous rock star’s vacation in Italy with her boyfriend is disrupted by the unexpected visit of an old friend and his daughter.”
Where to watch: Max, Plex, Tubi
Blue Crush (2002)
Genre: Sports/Drama/Romance
Cast: Kate Bosworth, Sanoe Lake, Michelle Rodriguez, Matthew Davis, Mika Boorem, Faizon Love, Chris Taloa
Synopsis: “As a hard-core surfer girl prepares for a big competition, she finds herself falling for a football player.”
Where to watch: Plex, Tubi
Call Me By Your Name (2017)
Genre: Romance/Drama
Cast: Timothée Chalamet, Armie Hammer, Michael Stuhlbarg, Amira Casar, Esther Garrel
Synopsis: “In the summer of 1983, 17-year-old Elio forms a life-changing bond with his father’s charismatic research assistant Oliver in the Italian countryside.”
Where to watch: Netflix, Prime Video
Dazed and Confused (1993)
Genre: Comedy
Cast: Jason London, Wiley Wiggins, Matthew McConaughey, Rory Cochrane, Joey Lauren Adams, Milla Jovovich, Shawn Andrews, Adam Goldberg, Anthony Rapp, Sasha Jenson, Cole Hauser, Marissa Ribisi, Michelle Burke
Synopsis: “It’s the last day of school at a high school in a small town in Texas in 1976. The upperclassmen are hazing the incoming freshmen, and everyone is trying to get stoned, drunk, or laid, even the football players that signed a pledge not to.”
Where to watch: Hulu, Prime Video, Showtime
Dirty Dancing (1987)
Genre: Dance/Romance/Drama
Cast: Jennifer Grey, Patrick Swayze, Cynthia Rhodes, Kelly Bishop, Jerry Orbach, Jane Brucker, Jack Weston, Max Cantor
Synopsis: “Spending the summer at a Catskills resort with her family, Frances “Baby” Houseman falls in love with the camp’s dance instructor, Johnny Castle.”
Where to watch: Max, Netflix
Do The Right Thing (1989)
Genre: Comedy/Drama
Cast: Danny Aiello, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Richard Edson, Spike Lee, Giancarlo Esposito, John Turturro, Rosie Perez, Samuel L. Jackson, Joie Lee, Bill Nunn, Frankie Faison
Synopsis: “On the hottest day of the year on a street in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, everyone’s hate and bigotry smolders and builds until it explodes into violence.”
Where to watch: Plex, Prime Video, Vudu
Dope (2015)
Genre: Comedy/Drama
Cast: Shameik Moore, Kiersey Clemons, Zoë Kravitz, Forest Whitaker, Tony Revolori, Chanel Iman, LaKeith Stanfield, A$AP Rocky, Quincy Brown, Blake Anderson, Kimberly Elise
Synopsis: “Life changes for Malcolm, a geek who’s surviving life in a tough neighborhood, after a chance invitation to an underground party leads him and his friends into a Los Angeles adventure.”
Where to watch: Netflix, Plex
The Florida Project (2017)
Genre: Drama
Cast: Willem Dafoe, Brooklynn Prince, Valeria Cotto, Bria Vinaite, Caleb Landry Jones
Synopsis: “Set over one summer, the film follows precocious six-year-old Moonee as she courts mischief and adventure with her ragtag playmates and bonds with her rebellious but caring mother, all while living in the shadows of Walt Disney World.”
Where to watch: Disney+, Hulu, Netflix, Showtime
Hot Summer Nights (2017)
Genre: Drama/Mystery/Romance
Cast: Timothée Chalamet, Maika Monroe, Emory Cohen, Alex Roe, Thomas Jane, Maia Mitchell, William Fichtner
Synopsis: “In 1991, a sheltered teenage boy comes of age during a wild summer he spends on Cape Cod getting rich from selling pot to gangsters, falling in love for the first time, partying and eventually realizing that he is in over his head.”
Where to watch: Hulu
Ibiza (2018)
Genre: Romance/Comedy
Cast: Gillian Jacobs, Richard Madden, Vanessa Bayer, Gwen Elizabeth Duchon, Coco Bolleboom, Phoebe Robinson, Augustus Prew, Michaela Watkins
Synopsis: “When Harper is sent to Spain for an important work meeting, her hard-partying friends tag along and convince her to pursue a fling with a famous DJ.”
Where to watch: Netflix
I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997)
Genre: Horror/Slasher
Cast: Sarah Michelle Gellar, Freddie Prinze Jr., Jennifer Love Hewitt, Ryan Phillippe, Muse Watson, Bridgette Wilson, Anne Heche, Johnny Galecki
Synopsis: “Four young friends bound by a tragic accident are reunited when they find themselves being stalked by a hook-wielding maniac in their small seaside town.”
Where to watch: Prime Video, Netflix
Jaws (1975)
Genre: Thriller
Cast: Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, Lorraine Gary, Richard Dreyfuss, Murray Hamilton, Jeffery Kramer, Carl Gottlieb, Susan Backlinie
Synopsis: “When a killer shark unleashes chaos on a beach community off Cape Cod, it’s up to a local sheriff, a marine biologist, and an old seafarer to hunt the beast down.”
Where to watch: Plex, Prime Video
The Kings of Summer (2013)
Genre: Adventure/Drama
Cast: Nick Robinson, Gabriel Basso, Moises Arias, Nick Offerman, Alison Brie, Megan Mullally, Erin Moriarty, Marc Evan Jackson, Austin Abrams, Lili Reinhart, Kumail Nanjiani
Synopsis: “Three teenage friends, in the ultimate act of independence, decide to spend their summer building a house in the woods and living off the land.”
Where to watch: Prime Video, Vudu
The Last Summer (2019)
Genre: Romance/Comedy
Cast: K.J. Apa, Maia Mitchell, Tyler Posey, Wolfgang Novogratz, Halston Sage, Jacob Latimore, Sosie Bacon, Jacob McCarthy, Audrey Grace Marshall, Norman Johnson Jr.
Synopsis: “Standing on the precipice of adulthood, a group of friends navigate new relationships, while reexamining others, during their final summer before college.”
Where to watch: Netflix
The Lost Daughter (2021)
Genre: Drama
Cast: Olivia Colman, Dakota Johnson, Paul Mescal, Jessie Buckley, Dagmara Dominczyk, Ed Harris, Peter Sarsgaard, Jack Farthing, Oliver Jackson-Cohen
Synopsis: “A woman’s beach vacation takes a dark turn when her obsession with a young mother forces her to confront the secrets of her past.”
Where to watch: Netflix
Mid90s (2018)
Genre: Comedy/Drama
Cast: Sunny Suljic, Olan Prenatt, Ryder McLaughlin, Gio Galicia, Lucas Hedges, Alexa Demie, Katherine Waterston
Synopsis: “Follows Stevie, a thirteen-year-old in 1990s-era Los Angeles who spends his summer navigating between his troubled home life and a group of new friends that he meets at a Motor Avenue skate shop.”
Where to watch: Hulu, Prime Video, Tubi
Midsommar (2019)
Genre: Horror/Thriller
Cast: Florence Pugh, Jack Reynor, Will Poulter, Isabelle Grill, William Jackson Harper, Archie Madekwe, Vilhelm Blomgren, Björn Andrésen, Agnes Westerlund Rase, Ellora Torchia, Pawel Pogorzelski, Liv Mjönes
Synopsis: “A couple travels to Northern Europe to visit a rural hometown’s fabled Swedish mid-summer festival. What begins as an idyllic retreat quickly devolves into an increasingly violent and bizarre competition at the hands of a pagan cult.”
Where to watch: Disney+, Hulu
Mystic Pizza (1988)
Genre: Comedy/Romance
Cast: Julia Roberts, Annabeth Gish, Adam Storke, Vincent D’Onofrio, Lili Taylor, Matt Damon, William R. Moses, Conchata Ferrell, Jody Raymond, Janet Zarish
Synopsis: “Three teenage girls come of age while working at a pizza parlor in Mystic, Connecticut.”
Where to watch: Prime Video, Max
Palm Springs (2020)
Genre: Comedy/Fantasy/Romance
Cast: Andy Samberg, Cristin Milioti, Camila Mendes, Tyler Hoechlin, Meredith Hagner, J.K. Simmons, Peter Gallagher, Dale Dickey, June Squibb, Chris Pang, Jacqueline Obradors
Synopsis: “When carefree Nyles (Andy Samberg) and reluctant maid of honor Sarah (Cristin Milioti) have a chance encounter at a Palm Springs wedding, things get complicated when they find themselves unable to escape the venue, themselves, or each other.”
Where to watch: Hulu
Psycho Beach Party (2000)
Genre: Comedy/Horror
Cast: Charles Busch, Lauren Ambrose, Thomas Gibson, Nicholas Brendon, Nick Cornish, Andrew Levitas, Kimberley Davies, Nathan Bexton, Beth Broderick, Kathleen Robertson, Matt Keeslar
Synopsis: “Chicklet is a sixteen-year old tomboy who’s desperate to be part of the in-crowd of Malibu beach surfers. She’s the typical American girl – except for one little problem: her personality is split into more slices than a pepperoni pizza.”
Where to watch: Plex, Tubi
The Sandlot (1993)
Genre: Comedy/Family
Cast: Tom Guiry, Mike Vitar, Chauncey Leopardi, Patrick Renna, Marty York, Shane Obedzinski, Victor DiMattia, Grant Gelt, Brandon Quintin Adams, Denis Leary, Karen Allen, James Earl Jones, Marley Shelton, Art LaFleur
Synopsis: “In the summer of 1962, a new kid in town is taken under the wing of a young baseball prodigy and his rowdy team, resulting in many adventures.”
Where to watch: Disney+, Hulu
A Summer in Genoa (2008)
Genre: Drama
Cast: Colin Firth, Catherine Keener, Perla Haney-Jardine, Hope Davis, Willa Holland, Alessandro Giuggioli, Margherita Romeo, Dante Ciari
Synopsis: “A man moves his two daughters to Italy after their mother dies in a car accident, in order to revitalize their lives. Genova changes all three of them as the youngest daughter starts to see the ghost of her mother, while the older one discovers her sexuality.”
Where to watch: Plex, Tubi
Summer of 84 (2018)
Genre: Horror/Thriller
Cast: Judah Lewis, Graham Verchere, Cory Gruter Andrew, Caleb Emery, Rich Sommer, Harrison Houde, Tiera Skovbye, Jason Gray-Stanford, Reilly Jacob
Synopsis: “After suspecting that their police officer neighbor is a serial killer, a group of teenage friends spend their summer spying on him and gathering evidence, but as they get closer to discovering the truth, things get dangerous.”
Where to watch: Prime Video
Summer of 85 (Été 85) (2020)
Genre: Romance/Drama
Cast: Benjamin Voisin, Félix Lefebvre, Philippine Velge, Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, Melvil Poupaud, Samuel Brafman-Moutier, Isabelle Nanty, Bruno Lochet, Yoann Zimmer
Synopsis: “When Alexis capsizes off the coast of France, David comes to the rescue and opens his eyes to a new horizon of friendship, art and sexual bliss.”
Where to watch: Hulu
Super 8 (2011)
Genre: Sci-fi/Thriller
Cast: Elle Fanning, Joel Courtney, Gabriel Basso, Riley Griffiths, Ryan Lee, Kyle Chandler, Zach Mills, Ron Eldard, AJ Michalka, David Gallagher, Noah Emmerich
Synopsis: “During the summer of 1979, a group of friends witness a train crash and investigate subsequent unexplained events in their small town.”
Where to watch: Hulu, Plex, Showtime
Triangle of Sadness (2022)
Genre: Satirical Comedy/Drama
Cast: Harris Dickinson, Charlbi Dean, Dolly De Leon, Woody Harrelson, Carolina Gynning, Zlatko Burić, Sunnyi Melles, Vicki Berlin, Iris Berben
Synopsis: “Celebrity model couple, Carl (Harris Dickinson) and Yaya (Charlbi Dean), are invited on a luxury cruise for the uber-rich, helmed by an unhinged boat captain (Woody Harrelson). What first appeared instagrammable ends catastrophically, leaving the survivors stranded on a desert island and fighting for survival.”
Where to watch: Hulu, Prime Video
Under The Riccione Sun (2020)
Genre: Comedy/Romance/Drama
Cast: Lorenzo Zurzolo, Giulia Schiavo, Saul Nanni, Cristiano Caccamo, Ludovica Martino, Fotinì Peluso, Tommaso Paradiso, Matteo Oscar Giuggioli, Isabella Ferrari
Synopsis: “On holiday at Riccione beach, a group of teens get to know each other and help each other get through summer loves’ heartache.”
Where to watch: Netflix
The Way Way Back (2013)
Genre: Comedy/Drama
Cast: Liam James, Toni Collette, Steve Carell, Sam Rockwell, Nat Faxon, Allison Janney, Maya Rudolph, AnnaSophia Robb, Amanda Peet, Rob Corddry, Zoe Levin
Synopsis: “Shy 14-year-old Duncan goes on summer vacation with his mother, her overbearing boyfriend, and her boyfriend’s daughter. Having a rough time fitting in, Duncan finds an unexpected friend in Owen, manager of the Water Wizz water park.”
Where to watch: Max, Prime Video, Vudu
Wet Hot American Summer (2001)
Genre: Satirical Comedy
Cast: Paul Rudd, Janeane Garofalo, Amy Poehler, Bradley Cooper, Elizabeth Banks, Michael Showalter, David Hyde Pierce, Marguerite Moreau, Christopher Meloni, Ken Marino, Molly Shannon, Michael Ian Black, Nina Hellman, Joe Lo Truglio, Zak Orth, H. Jon Benjamin, Kevin Sussman, Marisa Ryan
Synopsis: “Set on the last day of camp, in the hot summer of 1981, a group of counselors try to complete their unfinished business before the day ends.”
Where to watch: Peacock
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