The 7 best new movies on Netflix in June 2023

“Nimona”

If the name “Nimona” sounds familiar when it airs June 30 (and in select theaters June 23), it’s probably because you’ve read about the film’s troubled production history. The film was originally produced by Blue Sky Studios, the Greenwich, Connecticut-based animation studio behind the films “Ice Age” and “Rio,” based on the webcomic by ND Stevenson. But when Disney took over Blue Sky’s parent company, 20th Century, the animation studio shut down and discarded the finished Nimona story. (Apparently, Disney balked at the film’s LGBTQ+ themes.) The film was later improbably revived by Annapurna Pictures and Netflix.

And here it is! The original stars Chloë Grace Moretz as the wily shape-shifter and Riz Ahmed as the disgraced, one-armed night accused of royal murder, return in this new take on the film. And the world the film conjures up, a futuristic medieval society called Kingdom, is unforgettable and unique, as fully realized and complicated as any fantastical Pixar utopia. It’s a story about outsiders who join forces and finally find understanding in those around them and among themselves. And the film’s queer themes, which made Disney so edgy, are poignant and deeply touching. In short: “Nimona” was worth it. And all the sorrow. – DrewTaylor