Netflix opts for a weekly drop with its three splashy headliners: Noah Baumbach’s star-stocked comedy Jay Kelly, the return of animated adventurer Lara Croft in “Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft” Season 2, and a bubbly Japanese reality experiment, “Bad Love.” It’s a slate designed to fill in the mood board — prestige-leaning cinema, franchise-forward animation, and unscripted provocation — that pushes subscribers more quickly toward something fresh instead of endless scrolling.
Jay Kelly pairs George Clooney with Adam Sandler
Jay Kelly is Noah Baumbach’s newest collaboration with Netflix, after the universally praised “Marriage Story” (which took home multiple major awards) and the ambitious “White Noise.” In this film, George Clooney stars as the actor who gives the movie its name while Adam Sandler plays his manager, and their trip around Europe turns into a crucible of ego, loyalty, and midlife reinvention. Its selection in competition at the Venice Film Festival, where it got a nomination for the Golden Lion, is at least one sign of a bold, filmmaker-first swing Netflix has taken with its film slate.
First audience consensus seems to be that it’s a watchable, conversation-sparking ride rather than an everyone-pleaser; IMDb users have it at about 6.6/10. It’s not untypical of Baumbach’s sharper comedies, which tend to divide audiences even as they stoke discussion. More strategically, by adding Clooney movie-star gravitas to Sandler — the guy runs the table in Netflix’s global Top 10 — Jay Kelly is a week’s must-hit “press play” for adults. It has an R rating, so you should watch it after bedtime.
Tomb Raider returns with high-octane animation
With “Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft” Season 2, Netflix is returning to the game-to-screen animation well. Featuring the voices of Hayley Atwell, along with franchise mainstay Earl Baylon and Allen Maldonado, the show embraces kinetic, retro-influenced visuals and pulpy globe-trotting. This season puts Lara up against a brutal technocrat as they race for dangerous relics — classic Croft stuff, and more likely to land with fans who prefer brisk action over lore lectures.
The first season scored mixed reviews and a middle-5s (about 5.5/10) IMDb rating, but it created a distinct style and an arc that enticed viewers to return, with Second Unit following behind them. Animation is still a smart play for established IP; Netflix’s genre series all reliably find durable global audiences, with Tomb Raider being right in that wheelhouse of middle-ground rating sweet spot at TV-14 — edgy enough for teens, safe enough for an action night with the older kids.
Bad Love (Rowdy Yankii Romance Meets Hostile High)
Bad Love is the wildcard. In the Japanese dating series, 11 former “yankii” (ex-juvenile delinquents) are brought to an isolated mountain mansion for two weeks, during which tough exteriors will collide with tender conversations. Produced by ex-bad-boy-turned-entertainer MEGUMI and directed by Mutsuya Ikeda, it offers a raw document of youth culture that is rarely presented in such an unabashed manner by global reality formats.
Unscripted shows are hardly ever genuinely new, but this one does have a point of view. Japan’s reality exports have shown they can travel if their premise seems grounded and character-forward. Look for tantrums, tenderness, and the sort of redemption arcs that binge well. Bad Love, which is rated TV-MA and thus strictly for adults, might still make for a sleeper hit among viewers who want more than shiny dating clichés.
How to build your Netflix viewing queue this week
If you have to pick only one film, go for Jay Kelly (for the headline factor and the Clooney–Sandler chemistry under Baumbach’s dead-on direction). For an action fix that doesn’t demand a free two-hour block, fill those gaps with Tomb Raider episodes — the set pieces and brisk pacing make for short-session-friendly fare. And when you’re feeling in the market for something unscripted and off-kilter, Bad Love provides a burst of fresh-faceted romance, identity, and second chances.
Also worth watching on Netflix during the week ahead
Outside the big three, expansions and series arrive to fill out the margins: “The West Wing”’s entire run comes home for comfort rewatchers; genre hounds welcome returning installments of “Blood Coast” and “Record of Ragnarok,” featuring crime drama and hyper-stylized action; while cinephiles have their hands full with established hits at both prestige and blockbuster levels joining rotation.
It’s a balanced calendar that taps nostalgia while stoking genre cravings — in other words, exactly how Netflix manages to have different slices of target audiences engaged during the same week.
Bottom line: Queue up Jay Kelly’s starry, prickly road comedy, keep Tomb Raider around for your high-octane nights, and give Bad Love a little test drive when you need reality TV that thinks people are more than the sum of their past. That’s an entire, diverse weekend with no guesswork.