As Netflix and Amazon continue to bombard customers with flashy new event series and specials week in and week out, Hulu has been quietly cycling through a varied library of some easily overlooked treasures. Forget about the weekly rotation of outstanding arthouse and foreign titles that Criterion streams on the site, and least until FilmStruck launches, and that still leaves a diverse library of recent hits and little-seen obscurities. May doesn’t just bring blooming greenery and warm drafts on the air, it brings a slew of James Bond classics, season finales for some of the year’s most popular shows, and a peek back into Donald Glover’s past as a sketch-comedy goober. (Do yourself a favor and watch Mystery Team.) So here are all the movies and shows that are new on Hulu in May.
Ghost World (5/1)
Enid Coleslaw (Thora Birch, disaffection personified) and Rebecca Doppelmeyer (a babyfaced Scarlett Johansson) embody the platonic ideal of the too-cool-to-care high school burnouts, clad in vintage secondhand apparel and obsessed with forgotten detritus of pop culture, beyond everything and everyone. But as they sardonically mock the rubes and dupes around their suburban hometown, a disarmingly mature drama of guarded emotions plays out between the two of them and entangles a third, a lonely oddball named Seymour (Steve Buscemi, perfectly cast). The bone-dry humor could have anchored an entire movie all on its own — every line that comes out of Enid’s mouth can be cross-stitched onto a denim vest — and there are other assorted treats, including a transcendent dance sequence wherein Enid wigs out to Indian pop hit “Jaan Pehechan Ho.” Adapting Daniel Clowes’ graphic novel, director Terry Zwigoff’s keen understanding of how antisocial types socialize with one another is the real wonder, cutting through the sarcastic posturing to locate a core of yearning and tenderness. Just because someone hates everyone, that doesn’t mean they don’t still want to be loved.
Like Someone In Love (5/13)
Iranian filmmaking godhead Abbas Kiarostami went a bit off-the-beaten path for this Japanese-language drama, setting aside his usual metafictional bait-and-switches for a more straightforward yet bizarre love triangle. Young student Akiko (Rin Takanashi) sneaks away from her jealous boyfriend Noriaki (Ryo Kase) to work as a high-end call girl, and he’s none the wiser until circumstances place the two of them and her latest john Takashi (Tadashi Okuno) in a rambling car trip all over Tokyo. Her boyfriend believes the older customer to be her grandfather, and as the two men lose themselves in a discursive chat about love and relationships, tension builds to a climax of terrible violence. Kiarostami’s greatest films — the casually sage Close-Up, the narrative Möbius strip of Certified Copy — have interrogated complex theoretical concepts concerning reality, artifice and performance through the corridors and alleyways of conversation, but there’s a different sort of energy to Like Someone In Love. The film narrowly skirts soap-opera territory, but the stakes here are definitely emotional rather than intellectual. A full workout for the heart and mind, it’s an essential late-period work from a crucial directorial voice.
Duck, You Sucker! (5/1)
There was no bigger name in spaghetti Westerns than Sergio Leone, and Leone’s ambitions never soared as sky-high as in his informal “Once Upon A Time” trilogy. His sweeping epic Once Upon A Time In The West relayed how the frontier was won, 1984’s Once Upon A Time In America traced a gangster’s rise to the top of the food chain, and in between, Leone went south of the border to retell the stirring story of the Mexican Revolution in his final Western. The film, alternately known as One Upon A Time… The Revolution and A Fistful of Dynamite, follows an unlikely pair — an Irish expatriate (James Coburn) and defiantly neutral outlaw (Rod Steiger) — as they stumble into the forefront of the rebellion. But this frequently overlooked triumph refrains from making any grand pronouncements on tyranny or the power of the people. Leone himself has stated that he considers the film more of a monument to the power of person-to-person connection in the face of great national turmoil. Political only insofar as it asserts passivity as a noble act, the visually accomplished and muscularly acted film (if you can move past the whitewashing, Stieger’s performance is tough as nails) finds a master playing to his own strengths.
Available May 1
Selfie: Complete Season 1
Drop Dead Diva: Complete Seasons 1-6
The Client List: Complete Seasons 1 & 2
Ruff-Ruff, Tweet and Dave:Complete Season 1 (PBS)
Almost Royal: Complete Season 1 (BBC)
Banana: Complete Season 1 (BBC)
Being Erica: Complete Seasons 1-4 (BBC)
Bluestone 42: Complete Season 3 (BBC)
Cucumber: Complete Season 1 (BBC)
DCI Banks: Complete Seasons 1-3 (BBC)
Dead Boss: Complete Season 1 (BBC)
Him & Her: Complete Seasons 1-4 (BBC)
Horrible Histories: Complete Seasons 5 & 6 (BBC)
In the Flesh: Complete Seasons 1 & 2 (BBC)
Jane Eyre: Complete Miniseries (2006) (BBC)
Line of Duty: Complete Season 3 (BBC)
Miranda: Complete Season 4 – The Finale (BBC)
New Tricks: Complete Season 12 (BBC)
Stella: Complete Season 5 (BBC)
The Passing Bells: Complete Season 1 (BBC)
The Shadow Line: Complete Season 1 (BBC)
Threesome: Complete Seasons 1 & 2 (BBC)
Top Gear USA: Complete Season 4 (BBC)
Uncle: Complete Seasons 1 & 2 (BBC)
Up the Women: Complete Seasons 1 & 2 (BBC)
Chinese Box (1997)
Die Another Day (2002)
Election (1999)
Ghost World (2001)
Incident at Loch Ness (2004)
Men with Brooms (2002)
Mystery Team (2009)
Standing in the Shadows of Motown (2002)
Airplane II: The Sequel (1982)
Airplane! (1980)
Benny & Joon (1993)
Best Seller (1987)
Bitter Moon (1992)
Blue State (2007)
Body Count (aka Below Utopia) (1997)
The Bounty (1984)
Bully (2001)
Code 46 (2004)
Coming Soon (2007)
Danny Roane: First Time Director (2007)
Diamonds Are Forever (1971)
Dream A Little Dream (1988)
Dream Lover (1994)
Fall Time (1993)
A Feast At Midnight (1997)
Finder’s Fee (2003)
A Fistful Of Dynamite, a.k.a. Duck, You Sucker! (1972)
Frankenstein (2004)
Goldfinger (1964)
Hoodlum (1997)
Live and Let Die (1973)
The Living Daylights (1987)
Man With The Golden Gun (1974)
Meet Wally Sparks (1997)
Mistress (1992)
The Mod Squad (1999)
Never Say Never Again (1983)
Octopussy (1983)
The Red Violin (1998)
She’s Having a Baby (1988)
Slow Burn (2000)
Southie (1998)
The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)
The World is Not Enough (1999)
You Only Live Twice (1967)
Available May 2
Gay For Play Game Show: Series Premiere (Logo)
Available May 3
Houdini and Doyle: Series Premiere (FOX)
Not Safe with Nikki Glaser: Season 1 Finale (Comedy Central)
Yago: Series Premiere (Univision)
Available May 4
Suspect: Season 1 Finale (MTV)
Available May 5
Garbage Time with Katie Nolan: Season 3 Premiere (FOX Sports)
The Dude Perfect Show: Series Premiere (CMT)
Available May 6
Hot Pursuit (2015)
Available May 7
Angie Tribeca: Complete Season 1 (TBS)
Available May 8
Murder in the First: Complete Season 2 (TNT)
Atlantis: Complete Season 2 (BBC)
Available May 11
Grandfathered: Season 1 Finale (FOX)
The Grinder: Season 1 Finale (FOX)
New Girl: Season 5 Finale (FOX)
Broad City: Season 3 Finale (Comedy Central)
Available May 13
The Last Ship: Complete Season 2 (TNT)
Scandal: Season 5 Finale (ABC)
The Vampire Diaries: Season 7 Finale (CW)
Like Someone in Love (2012)
Available May 16
The Last Man on Earth: Season 2 Finale (FOX)
Once Upon a Time: Season 5 Finale (ABC)
The Family: Season 1 Finale (ABC)
Quantico: Season 1 Finale (ABC)
Where Hope Grows (2015)
Available May 17
Gotham: Season 2 Finale (FOX)
Castle: Season 8 Finale (ABC)
Jane the Virgin: Season 2 Finale (CW)
Available May 18
Chicago Med: Season 1 Finale (NBC)
Chicago Fire: Season 4 Finale (NBC)
Hotel Hell: Season 3 Premiere (FOX)
Coupled: Series Premiere (FOX)
Port Protection: Season 2 Premiere (National Geographic)
Catfish: Midseason Finale (Season 5) (MTV)
Marvel’s Agents of Shield: Season 2 Finale (ABC)
Available May 19
Empire: Season 2 Finale (FOX)
The Middle: Season 7 Finale (ABC)
The Goldbergs: Season 3 Finale (ABC)
Modern Family: Season 7 Finale (ABC)
Black-ish: Season 2 Finale (ABC)
Available May 20
Grey’s Anatomy: Season 12 Finale (ABC)
The Catch: Season 1 Finale (ABC)
DC’s Legends of Tomorrow: Season 1 Finale (CW)
The 100: Season 3 Finale (CW)
Southern Justice: Season 3 Premiere (National Geographic)
Available May 21
Shark Tank: Season 7 Finale (ABC)
The Originals: Season 3 Finale (CW)
Keeping Up with the Kardashians: Complete Season 11 (Bravo)
The Real Housewives of Orange County: Complete Season 10 (Bravo)
Available May 22
Party Over Here: Season 1 Finale (FOX)
Available May 23
2016 Billboard Music Awards (ABC)
Bob’s Burgers: Season 6 Finale (FOX)
Family Guy: Season 14 Finale (FOX)
The Simpsons: Season 27 Finale (FOX)
Bordertown: Season 1 Finale (FOX)
America’s Funniest Home Videos: Season 26 Finale (ABC)
Available May 24
The Bachelorette: Season 12 Premiere (ABC)
Blindspot: Season 1 Finale (NBC)
Tres Veces Ana: Series Premiere (Univision)
Cooper Barrett’s Guide to Surviving Life: Season 1 Finale (FOX)
Available May 25
The Path: Season 1 Finale (Hulu Original)
The Voice: Season 10 Finale (NBC)
The Challenge: Rivals III: Season 28 Premiere (MTV)
Fresh Off The Boat: Season 2 Finale (ABC)
The Real O’Neals: Season 1 Finale (ABC)
Dancing with the Stars: Season 22 Finale (ABC)
The Flash: Season 2 Finale (CW)
Available May 26
Wayward Pines: Season 2 Premiere (FOX)
Rosewood: Season 1 Finale (FOX)
Nashville: Season 4 Finale (ABC)
Law & Order: SVU: Season 17 Finale (NBC)
Chicago P.D.: Season 3 Finale (NBC)
Arrow: Season 4 Finale (CW)
Supernatural: Season 11 Finale (CW)
Available May 27
Clarence: Complete Season 1 (Cartoon Network)
Agent X: Complete Season 1 (TNT)
Age Of Adaline (2015)
Run & Jump (2013)
Available May 30
Missing Dial: Series Premiere (National Geographic)
Available May 31
So You Think You Can Dance: Season 13 Premiere (FOX)
Mygrations: Series Premiere (National Geographic)