5 New Movies Worth Renting Right Now
The summer of 2025 is coming to a close. Kids are going back to school. Vacations are ending. It’s time to find ways to distract yourself on a lower budget than you might have in June or July. To that end, welcome to the August edition of Vulture’s recurring guide to premium video on demand (PVOD), in which we highlight the most enticing films finally available at home (several of which are still in theaters). This month: Dinosaurs! Cartoons! Pedro Pascal! Pick your faves.
August 5
Jurassic World Rebirth
Gareth Edwards, 133 minutes
We’re three decades into the legacy of Jurassic Park and the popularity of this series shows no signs of slowing down with this seventh installment making $800 million and counting around the world. Basically a reboot after the last World trilogy with Chris Pratt came to a merciful conclusion, Rebirth stars Scarlett Johansson, Mahershala Ali, Jonathan Bailey, and Rupert Friend, but, of course, the real stars are the dinosaurs. Once again, a team travels to a research facility that has been overrun by prehistoric creatures and things get deadly. It’s a proven formula by now. Critics were mixed on this one, but most agreed it was an improvement on the dismal final Pratt film. It kinda had to be.
Sorry, Baby
Eva Victor, 103 minutes
Eva Victor delivered one of the best films of Sundance 2025 earlier this year and the raves continued with a theatrical drop this summer for their beautiful, tender, personal piece of dramedy filmmaking from the folks at A24. The writer-director also stars as Agnes, a literature professor at a small college in New England. When something horrible happens to her, she’s forced to find a new way to navigate the associated trauma via a support structure that includes a BFF (Naomi Ackie), sexual partner (Lucas Hedges), and even a stray cat. Smart and funny in equal measure, it also contains one of the best final scenes in years. You need to see this one.
August 12
Eddington
Ari Aster, 149 minutes
One of the most divisive films of the year is already at home on the PVOD market after a relatively disappointing theatrical run. Say what you will about its overall success or failure, this is a movie you really need to see if you want to talk about 2025 in film. The director of Hereditary and Midsommar has crafted a sprawling, ambitious western about the crazy days of summer 2020, starring Joaquin Phoenix, Pedro Pascal, Austin Butler, and Emma Stone in a tale of a small town torn apart by the divisions that led to international chaos a half-decade ago. It may not all work, but Aster’s ambition can’t be denied.
Smurfs
Chris Miller, 89 minutes
If you’re not watching a lot of children’s entertainment, you may not even know that they made another movie about the little blue guys. Released in theaters just a few weeks ago on July 18, it’s been given one of the quickest on-demand turnarounds in movie history (less than a month!), in part probably because it kinda bombed, making under $60 million domestically as of this writing (a crazy-low number for a cartoon from known IP). This take on Papa Smurf and Smurfette features Razamel, the brother of the legendary Smurfs-verse villain Gargamel, and his efforts to take over the world. The voice cast is stacked with names like Rihanna, Nick Offerman, Daniel Levy, Amy Sedaris, Natasha Lyonne, Sandra Oh, Nick Kroll, and like a dozen more names you know involved in a movie you probably didn’t know existed.
August 19
Elio
Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, & Adrian Molina, 98 minutes
Disney buried this original Pixar movie, barely advertising it before its June release. Will it become like other underpromoted Pixar original flicks like Luca and Turning Red, both of which found their loyal fans at home? It’s possible, but that would start with this PVOD drop before the inevitable trip to Disney+. Yonas Kibreab voices the title character, an 11-year-old whom an alien race mistakes for the intergalactic ambassador of Earth. Can he save the universe? Sadly, audiences seem to be less and less interested in going to see original ideas in theaters, choosing the familiar when it comes to family viewing. And that made this one of the least successful Pixar films of all time. Now it’s up to you to decide if Elio deserves to be rescued.