From "The Time Traveler's Wife" To "Top Gun: Maverick" — Here's What You Should Be Watching In May 2022

Including HIMYF, new Stranger Things, and the latest Doctor Strange movie.

Looking for a new TV show to binge or a movie to watch for a film night? Well, you've come to right place! Here are 27 of the best TV shows and movies coming to the UK this month.

BuzzFeed

Note: these release dates and streaming platforms only apply to viewers based in the UK, Ireland, and some European territories.

BuzzFeed

1. The Staircase

Sky/NOW

True crime drama exploring the life of Michael Peterson, his sprawling North Carolina family, and the suspicious death of his wife, Kathleen Peterson.

Starring: Colin Firth, Toni Collette, Sophie Turner

Release date: 5 May

Where to watch: Sky/NOW

Watch if you like: The Act, Des, Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile

2. The Dry

BritBox

A woman returns to her native Dublin sober and full of good intentions, but being back with her family makes staying on "the dry" harder than expected.

Starring: Ciarán Hinds, Roisin Gallagher, Pom Boyd

Release date: 5 May

Where to watch: BritBox

Watch if you like: Normal People, Shameless, Frank of Ireland

3. The Wilds — Season Two

Amazon Studios

Survival hangs in the balance for the group of teenage girls stranded on a deserted island, after the explosive discovery that what's happening to them is an elaborate social experiment.

Starring: Mia Healey, Erana James, Sophia Ali

Release date: 6 May

Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video

Watch if you like: Panic, Lost, The Society

4. Tehran

Apple TV+

A Mossad hacker-agent infiltrates Tehran under a false identity to help destroy Iran’s nuclear reactor. When her mission fails, she must plan an operation that will place everyone dear to her in jeopardy.

Starring: Niv Sultan, Shervin Alenabi, Glenn Close

Release date: 6 May

Where to watch: Apple TV+

Watch if you like: The Night Manager, Homeland, the Deutschland saga

5. Glow Up: Britain’s Next Make-Up Star

BBC

A group of aspiring makeup artists and beauty content creators must battle it out to be the best MUA, under the watchful eye of industry experts.

Starring: Maya Jama, Val Garland, Dominic Skinner

Release date: 11 May

Where to watch: BBC Three/BBC iPlayer

Watch if you like: Drag Race, America's Next Top Model, Instant Influencer

6. How I Met Your Father

Patrick Wymore/Hulu

You know this one — a woman tells her son the tale of how she met his father, a story that catapults viewers back to the present, in which a close-knit group of friends are figuring out who they are, what they want, and how to fall in love.

Starring: Hilary Duff, Chris Lowell, Leighton Meester

Release date: 11 May

Where to watch: Disney+

Watch if you like: How I Met Your Mother, Friends, Scrubs

7. The Essex Serpent

Apple TV+

Set in Victorian England, a widow moves to Essex to investigate reports of a mythical serpent. There she forms a surprising bond of science and skepticism with the local pastor.

Starring: Claire Danes, Tom Hiddleston, Frank Dillane

Release date: 13 May

Where to watch: Apple TV+

Watch if you like: Midnight Mass, The Woman in Black, The Irregulars

8. Bling Empire — Season Two

Netflix

LA's uber-rich Asians are back! This season, a romance between Kevin and Kim percolates, Cherie and Jessey's relationship is questioned, and Beverly Hills' rival queens, Christine and Anna, put a new twist on the art of social warfare.

Starring: Kim Lee, Christine Chiu, Kevin Kreider

Release date: 13 May

Where to watch: Netflix

Watch if you like: The Kardashians, Selling Sunset, the Real Housewives series

9. Conversations With Friends

Enda Bowe/BBC

Two best friends who perform spoken word poetry together in Dublin become involved with an attractive older couple.

Starring: Alison Oliver, Jemima Kirke, Joe Alwyn

Release date: 15 May

Where to watch: BBC Three/BBC iPlayer

Watch if you like: Normal People, Fleabag, Girls

10. Tokyo Vice

STARZPLAY

A journalist reporting on the Tokyo Metropolitan Police descends into the neon-soaked underbelly of Tokyo in the late '90s, where nothing and no one is truly what or who they seem.

Starring: Ansel Elgort, Ken Watanabe, Rinko Kikuchi

Release date: 15 May

Where to watch: STARZPLAY

Watch if you like: Boardwalk Empire, The Blacklist, Mindhunter

11. The Time Traveler's Wife

Sky Atlantic

The second remake of the book by Audrey Niffenegger tells the story of Clare and Henry, and a marriage with a problem...time travel.

Starring: Rose Leslie, Theo James, Natasha Lopez

Release date: 15 May

Where to watch: Sky Atlantic/NOW

Watch if you like: The Lake House, The Notebook, About Time

12. Life & Beth

Disney+

A Manhattan woman seemingly has an idyllic life — she makes a good living, and she's in a long-term relationship with a successful guy. Suddenly, an incident forces her to engage with her past, and her life changes forever.

Starring: Amy Schumer, Michael Cera, Michael Rapaport.

Release date: 18 May

Where to watch: Disney+

Watch if you like: I Feel Pretty, Fleabag, The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window

13. Lovestruck High

Adrian Harris/Amazon Studios

A dating show, narrated by the one and only Lindsay Lohan, transports 15 British singles to a very special American High School setting for a second chance at finding love.

Starring: Lindsay Lohan

Release date: 18 May

Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video

Watch if you like: Love Island, The Cabins, Too Hot to Handle

14. RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars — Season Seven

Paramount+

In a twist on the classic format, eight past winners of Drag Race will compete to decide who is ~truly~ the best of the best.

Starring: RuPaul, Michelle Visage, Naomi Campbell

Release date: 20 May

Where to watch: Paramount+/Wow Presents Plus

Watch if you like: The Drag Race franchise, Project Runway, America's Next Top Model

15. Night Sky

Amazon Studios

A couple have discovered a chamber buried in their back garden that leads to a strange, deserted planet. They keep it a secret until one day when an enigmatic young man enters their lives and shows them that the mystifying chamber is much more than they could ever have imagined.

Starring: Sissy Spacek, J.K. Simmons, Chai Hansen

Release date: 20 May

Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video

Watch if you like: Solos, Interstellar, Arrival

16. Love, Death + Robots — Volume Three

Netflix

Terror, imagination, and beauty combine in new episodes of this animated anthology series.

Starring: Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Michael B. Jordan, Joe Dempsie

Release date: 20 May

Where to watch: Netflix

Watch if you like: What If...?, Attack on Titan, Rick and Morty

17. Obi-Wan Kenobi

Disney+/Matt Kennedy/Lucasfilm Ltd.

Obi-Wan Kenobi has faced his greatest defeat, the downfall and corruption of his best friend and Jedi apprentice, Anakin Skywalker, who turned to the dark side as evil Sith Lord Darth Vader.

Starring: Ewan McGregor, Hayden Christensen, Joel Edgerton

Release date: 27 May

Where to watch: Disney+

Watch if you like: Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett

18. Stranger Things — Season Four, Volume One

Netflix

It’s been six months since the Battle of Starcourt, which brought terror and destruction to Hawkins. Struggling with the aftermath, the group are separated for the first time, and navigating the complexities of high school isn't making things any easier.

Starring: Finn Wolfhard, Noah Schnapp, Millie Bobby Brown

Release date: 27 May

Where to watch: Netflix

Watch if you like: The Irregulars, Heroes, Riverdale

19. The Flight Attendant — Season Two

Phil Caruso/Sky Max

A woman is living her best sober life in LA while moonlighting as a CIA asset in her spare time. When she inadvertently witnessed a murder, she becomes entangled in another international intrigue.

Starring: Kaley Cuoco, Zosia Mamet, Griffin Matthews

Release date: TBC

Where to watch: Sky Max/NOW

Watch if you like: Killing Eve, Big Little Lies, Severance

BuzzFeed

20. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

The sorcerer supreme is back, and he's taking us further into the multiverse than we've ever been before alongside some familiar faces and some new (surprising) allies.

Starring: Benedict Cumberbatch, Xochitl Gomez, Elizabeth Olsen

Release date: 5 May

Where to watch: In cinemas

Watch if you like: Avengers: Endgame, Spiderman: No Way Home, Logan

21. Everything Everywhere All at Once

A24

What starts with an exhausted woman having trouble finishing her taxes, turns into a hilarious, big-hearted sci-fi adventure story. When a rupture in reality endangers the world, our unlikely hero must do all she can to save it. 

Starring: Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan, Jamie Lee Curtis

Release date: 13 May

Where to watch: In cinemas

Watch if you like: The One, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Swiss Army Man

22. Senior Year

Boris Martin/Netflix

Stephanie Conway is a 17-year-old high school cheerleader when an injury puts her in a coma for 20 years. Waking up at 37, she's ready to pick up where she left off and fulfill her dream of becoming prom queen. 

Starring: Rebel Wilson, Justin Hartley, Angourie Rice

Release date: 13 May

Where to watch: Netflix

Watch if you like: She's the Man, Booksmart, 17 Again

23. Benediction

Roadside Attractions/Vertigo Films

Decorated soldier and poet Siegfried Sassoon has survived the horrors of the First World War. Upon his return, he struggles to come to terms with his homosexuality, whilst also battling the trauma of his time in the war.

Starring: Jack Lowden, Calam Lynch, Jeremy Irvine

Release date: 13 May

Where to watch: In cinemas

Watch if you like: The Souvenir, The Imitation Game, The House of Mirth

24. Firestarter

Ken Woroner/Universal Pictures

A man who was experimented on at a secret facility passes his psychic abilities to his daughter. Now, with the help of her father, she must avoid capture by the facility that's tracking her down. Based on the Stephen King novel of the same name.

Starring: Zac Efron, Ryan Kiera Armstrong, Gloria Reuben

Release date: 13 May

Where to watch: In cinemas

Watch if you like: Doctor Sleep, Pet Sematary, IT

25. Emergency

Amazon Studios

As they embark on their big night of partying, three college students face a tricky situation when they find a semi-conscious woman in their apartment.

Starring: Sabrina Carpenter, RJ Cyler, Donald Elise Watkins

Release date: 20 May

Where to watch: In cinemas, May 27 on Amazon Prime

Watch if you like: Booksmart, Another Round, The Lovebirds

26. The Bob's Burgers Movie

20th Century Studios

The Belchers' hopes of a successful summer are ruined by a burst water main that's just in front of Bob's Burgers. Bob and Linda must attempt to keep the business up and running, while the kids attempt to uncover a mystery that may be able to save the restaurant.

Starring: H. Jon Benjamin, Kristen Schaal, Dan Mintz

Release date: 27 May

Where to watch: In cinemas

Watch if you like: South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, The Simpsons Movie, Beavis and Butt-Head Do America

27. Top Gun: Maverick

Paramount Pictures

Long-serving aviator Pete "Maverick" Mitchell is keeping himself airborne, avoiding higher ranks that would bring him back down to ground duty. While training graduates for a special assignment, Pete must come to confront his past head-on, which leads to one of his most dangerous missions yet.

Starring: Tom Cruise, Miles Teller, Jennifer Connelly

Release date: 27 May

Where to watch: In cinemas

Watch if you like: Top Gun, Iron Eagle, Mission Impossible: Fallout

Which of these are you looking forward to? Let us know in the comments below!