What’s New to Stream on Netflix for June 2021

Crossing the Streams is a series of columns spotlighting all the offerings hitting the big streaming services each month. This time we’re checking out the new Netflix arrivals for June 2021, including the final season of an acclaimed comedy series, new originals with Liam Neeson and Kevin Hart, and more!

Keep reading to see what’s new on Netflix for June 2021!

Netflix Pick of the Month for June 2021

I tend to focus more on movies in both these columns and my own personal interests, but some series are worth the time investment. Kim’s Convenience is one of those series as it delivers a funny, warm, and entertaining sitcom about a Korean family in Canada. The couple are immigrants, their two grown children are first-generation Korean/Canadians, and the shop they run is a hub for a wonderfully eclectic community of varied ethnicities, identities, and characters. If that’s not enough to get you to watch, it’s often hilarious and stars Simu Liu — soon to be hitting the big screen as the lead of Marvel’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. The fifth and final season of Kim’s Convenience arrives on Netflix starting June 2nd, and while I’ll be sad to see them go I’m happy to spend more time with them.

An ’80s Double Feature

Was the 80s the best decade in movies? Probably not, but it sure as hell was a formative one for many of us. Walter Hill’s Streets of Fire (1984) was far from a big hit at the time — it was a box-office bomb — and I only caught it a few years later on HBO, but it remains a singular vision that could only have been birthed in the 1980s and has continued to gain fans in the years since. Michael Paré, Rick Moranis, Diane Lane, Willem Dafoe, Amy Madigan, and Bill Paxton star in a film that blends genres with action, romance, western themes, and music for a story of good, evil, and the power of a real banger of a song. It’s unforgettable and oozing with equal parts style and attitude, and if it’s somehow eluded you all these years you no longer have any excuse.

By contrast, Rob Reiner’s Stand By Me (1986) was a modest hit on release, but it too has continued to grow in esteem ever since. The film adapts a novella called “The Body” from Stephen King’s Different Seasons collection, and it remains a remarkable tale of friendship and nostalgia for simpler times. Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Corey Feldman, and Jerry O’Connell make up the core group while supporting players include Kiefer Sutherland, John Cusack, and Richard Dreyfuss. The kids might not be living in the decade of your own childhood, but the themes, joys, and feelings of it all are universal all the same.

New Netflix Films for June 2021

Fans of Netflix’s Bird Box (2018) and other similar apocalyptic thrillers will want to keep an eye out for Awake (premieres June 9th). Gina Rodriguez stars as a woman struggling to survive in a world where people can no longer sleep. They can’t fall asleep! You already know this one ends with Rodriguez taking a nap, but getting there could be an entertaining adventure as people get cranky and go crazy from lack of sleep leading to all kinds of conflicts. I’m not entirely sold on this premise — it literally hinges on people nodding off — but it has potential.

Speaking of a lack of sleep, Fatherhood (premieres June 18th) stars Kevin Hart as a new father and widower forced to raise a daughter by himself. Expect plenty of Three Men and a Baby (1987) related laughs as Hart fumbles with parental duties, but make room for tears too as he struggles and misses his dead wife and finds the beauty of being a dad. It’s from Paul Weitz meaning it can go either way, but let’s hope it’s more About a Boy (2002) than American Dreamz (2006).

Finally, and most importantly, Liam Neeson’s second action/thriller of the year arrives this month too! The Ice Road (premieres June 25th) sees him as a big rig trucker known for handling dangerously ice terrain, and he’s called into action when a mine collapse leaves people on the brink of death. He has to drive equipment across a frozen ice field along with Laurence Fishburne, Amber Midthunder, and others, and you just know they’re not all gonna make it. (Sorry Fishburne.) Add in trucks falling through ice and bad guys trying to sabotage the mission, and you have the recipe for fun.

The Oldest New Arrival on Netflix

Netflix is often and rightfully criticized for its lack of older titles — I’m talking pre-2000 here — so each month I like to highlight the oldest new arrival. This might surprise some of you, but Jane Fonda once caught real flack from Americans for her political activism. These days she’s applauded, but in the 60s and 70s she was pretty disliked by stupid people. FTA (1972) is a documentary about a touring comedy/entertainment show headlined by Fonda and Donald Sutherland as they travel around delighting US troops and others at every stop. Music, comedy, commentary, and more make for a lively show, and it remains an engaging look at how much some passionate people will risk for their beliefs.

The Complete Netflix List for June 2021

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Related Topics: Crossing the Streams, Kim's Convenience, Netflix

Rob Hunter has been writing for Film School Rejects since before you were born, which is weird seeing as he's so damn young. He's our Chief Film Critic and Associate Editor and lists 'Broadcast News' as his favorite film of all time. Feel free to say hi if you see him on Twitter @FakeRobHunter.