Every month, Netflix adds movies and TV shows to its library. Here are our picks for some of May's most promising new titles. (Note: Streaming services occasionally change schedules without giving notice. For more recommendations on what to stream, sign up for our Watching newsletter here.)
'A Man in Full'
Starts streaming: May 2
Tom Wolfe's best-selling 1998 novel "A Man in Full" is adapted into a six-part mini-series by the prolific TV writer-producer David E. Kelley, who brings his experience with running buzzy legal dramas like "Ally McBeal" and "The Practice" to Wolfe's unique mix of political satire and potboiler plotting. Jeff Daniels stars as Charlie Croker, an Atlanta real estate mogul under investigation for gross financial mismanagement, who tries to bargain his way out of trouble by trading favors with the city's power elite. The all-star cast includes Diane Lane as Charlie's ex-wife, Martha, Lucy Liu as Martha's best friend and William Jackson Harper as Atlanta's mayor, who is need of a few favors of his own.
'Unfrosted'
Starts streaming: May 3
In his stand-up comedy heyday, Jerry Seinfeld would occasionally make jokes about the junk food of his youth — including Pop-Tarts, which is now the subject of his feature film directing debut. Like a Seinfeld stand-up set in motion picture form, "Unfrosted" uses the comedian's obsessions with old toys, TV shows and snacks as the foundation for a colorfully absurdist version of the 1960s, populated by famous American business moguls and advertising mascots. Seinfeld plays Bob Cabana, a Kellogg's executive who desperately wants to beat the Post cereal company in the race to produce a delicious, shelf-stable toaster pastry. The movie's cast of dozens features a well-known actor or comedian in nearly every role; and while "Unfrosted" is a wildly exaggerated version of the Pop-Tarts origin story, many of the broader details are (sort of) true.
'Bodkin' Season 1
Starts streaming: May 9
Will Forte stars as the oddly cheery true-crime podcaster Gilbert Power in this dark dramedy, set in a small Irish town named Bodkin, where decades ago multiple young people disappeared during a Samhain festival. Teamed up with the capable researcher Emmy (Robyn Cara) and the hard-boiled investigative journalist Dove (Siobhan Cullen), Gilbert sets out to capture the wonders and mysteries of Bodkin — only to find that the locals aren't exactly eager to have their community probed, even by an upbeat and gullible American. The series's creator, Jez Scharf, presents a winding tale of provincial malevolence, similar to "Only Murders in the Building" in that it doesn't really spoof the true-crime genre so much as lean into its widespread appeal.
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