Here we are, dragging our feet through the final stretch of August, wondering how the days flew so fast. There’s no time for getting sentimental like the end of the summer, when one can reflect on vacations taken, romance found (or lost), or long days decadently lazed away. While we’re at it, why stop with the last three months? Let’s throw it all the way back to the carefree summers of childhood, of teendom, of younger years when the world felt different. Just for this weekend, let’s not face forward, where serious September awaits, but instead float backwards on a current of memories — in fact, a perfect stream of them.

So before putting the summer of 2025 in the rear view for good, let yourself indulge in a bit of nostalgia for seasons long past. Cue up the original summer blockbuster, a docuseries that breaks down the art of the classic summer bop, or a show that’s totally ’80s (and a little bit upside-down). Forget about the future for now — that’s for another day. 

But first, what’s new on Netflix?

A zany family saga. Long Story Short, the latest adult animated series from BoJack Horseman creator Raphael Bob-Waksberg, follows one California family over the course of decades, and features the voices of Ben Feldman, Lisa Edelstein, Abbi Jacobson, Max Greenfield, and more. Not the tale for you? Go international with Hostage, a new political thriller limited series created by Matt Charman, in which a summit between the French president (Julie Delpy) and the British prime minister (Suranne Jones) is violently disrupted. Not holding you? Puzzle over a strange case with The Truth About Jussie Smollett?, a new documentary from Gagan Rehill that investigates what happened with the actor in 2019, and includes the perspectives of lawyers, law enforcement, and Smollett himself. 

If you have just a night … 

You’re gonna need a bigger boat. In 1975, Steven Spielberg unleashed what would come to be known as the original summer blockbuster: Jaws. The iconic thriller stars Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfuss, and Robert Shaw as they hunt for a bloodthirsty shark terrorizing vacationers. After watching that classic, if you’re still hungry for more, make it an all-nighter with its sequels: Jeannot Szwarc’s Jaws 2 (1978), Joe Alves’s Jaws 3 (1983), and Joseph Sargent’s Jaws: The Revenge (1987).

If you have a whole day … 

Feel the beat. There’s not been a clear winner of the title of song of the summer in 2025, but there are decades’ worth of summer jams to max out your throwback playlist. Take a closer look at how a diverse range of influences, techniques, and narratives can conspire to make tracks capable of conquering a whole season with the 2021 docuseries This Is Pop. Each episode examines a different angle of the pop music universe — and if you want a little insight into an album poised to dominate this fall, pay special attention to the episode titled “Stockholm Syndrome.” 

If you have the entire weekend … 

Get strange. When the Duffer brothers’ Stranger Things premiered in summer 2016, it was an immediate cultural phenomenon. The experience of watching it is a total ’80s nostalgia trip but now, nine years later, with the fifth and final season just a few months away, we’re getting misty over our first memories of the show itself. Inspired by the movies of the decade it depicts and lovingly packed with details of the era, the sci-fi mystery-horror series takes place in 1980s-era Hawkins, Indiana, where a group of school friends investigate a series of supernatural disturbances. And even better yet? Season 3 is set in the summertime! 

Don’t forget, you have one last chance … 

On Earth. In Lars von Trier’s stunning 2011 drama Melancholia, tensions rise between a depressed young bride (Kirsten Dunst) and her nervous sister (Charlotte Gainsbourg) as a rogue planet moves ever closer, on track to collide with Earth. After this weekend, the film will be gone; catch it while it’s still in view.