What to stream in August 2023: ‘Ahsoka,’ ‘Heart of Stone’

Here’s what’s coming to Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, Prime Video, Peacock, Paramount+ and other streaming services in August.

Highlights

“The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart,” based on the bestselling novel by Holly Ringland, is a limited series starring Sigourney Weaver as the grandmother who takes in 9-year-old Alice after she loses her parents in a mysterious fire. Set against the natural landscape of rural Australia, it follows Alice as she grows up and learns the dark secrets of her family. (Prime Video, Aug. 4)

The limited series “Painkiller” takes on nothing less than OxyContin and the origins of the opioid crisis in America. Matthew Broderick and Uzo Aduba star and filmmaker Peter Berg directs all six episodes. (Netflix, Aug. 10)

Gal Gadot stars as an international secret agent on a mission to protect the world’s most powerful AI from enemy operatives in “Heart of Stone,” an action thriller co-starring Jamie Dornan. The big-budget, globe-trotting production arrives a week after a limited theatrical release. (Netflix, Aug. 11)

“Star Wars: Ahsoka,” the latest spinoff series of the science fiction franchise, stars Rosario Dawson as the former Jedi Knight Ahsoka Tano, who reunites her former rebel allies to take on a new threat to the galaxy. It’s written by Dave Filoni, creator and producer of the animated “Star Wars” shows. (Disney+, Aug. 23)

A murder at a reclusive billionaire’s remote retreat kicks off “A Murder at the End of the World,” a limited series that sends a Gen Z amateur sleuth and tech-savvy hacker (Emma Corin) racing to catch a killer before someone else dies. Clive Owen plays the billionaire and Harris Dickinson and Alice Braga co-star. (Hulu, Aug. 29)

In a more comic vein, “Only Murders in the Building: Season 3” drops our favorite podcasting detectives (Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez) into the midst of yet another murder, this one behind the scenes of a Broadway show. Meryl Streep and Paul Rudd join the cast this season. (Hulu, Aug. 8)

Series

“Harlan Coben’s Shelter” (2023) follows a high school student (Jaden Michael) who gets tangled in a mystery involving the dark underground of his New Jersey town. (Prime Video, Aug. 18)

An American student at a Paris ballet academy discovers that she comes from a long line of powerful witches in the supernatural fantasy “Spellbound: Season 1.” (Hulu, Aug. 31)

Two British crime thrillers debut on BritBox: “Granite Harbour,” a murder mystery set in northeast Scotland (Aug. 1), and the limited series “The Ex-Wife” starring Tom Mison and Janet Montgomery. (Aug. 10)

Movies

One of the biggest hits of 2023 so far, “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” makes its streaming debut on Peacock on Aug. 3, while “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts,” the seventh film in the live-action series about giant robots from outer space, now streams on Paramount+.

On the romantic side is “Love in Taipei,” about a young American woman on a cultural exchange program in Taiwan (Paramount+, Aug. 10); “Red, White & Royal Blue,” where a feud between the sons of world leaders blossoms into something new (Prime Video, Aug. 11); and the romantic comedy “Puppy Love” starring Lucy Hale and Grant Gustin (free with ads on Amazon Freevee, Aug. 18).

New comedies include “Miguel Wants to Fight,” about the misadventures of a high school kid trying to get into his first fight (Hulu, Aug. 16), and “Vacation Friends 2” with Lil Rel Howery, John Cena and Steve Buscemi (Hulu, Aug. 25).

For kids, there’s the animated fantasy “The Monkey King,” based on the Chinese folk tale and featuring the voices of Jimmy O. Yang, Stephanie Hsu and BD Wong. (Netflix, Aug. 18)

True stories

“Poisoned: The Dirty Truth About Your Food” looks at how vulnerable the American food supply is to deadly pathogens. (Netflix, Aug. 2)

Music

For the third year, Hulu livestreams the music festival Lollapalooza from Chicago. (Hulu, Aug. 3-6)

Celebrate the 50th anniversary of hip-hop with “Mixtape,” a deep dive into mixtape culture (Paramount, Aug. 1) and “Ladies First: A Story of Women in Hip-Hop” (Netflix, Aug. 4).

“Reinventing Elvis: The ’68 Comeback Special” looks back at the landmark TV special (Paramount+, Aug. 15).

International

The undead take over in “Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead” (Japan), a horror comedy about one man who finds emancipation in the apocalypse (Netflix, Aug. 3), and “Zombieverse: Season 1” (South Korea), where the end of the world becomes a crucible for game show competitions (Netflix, Aug. 8).

From Israel comes “Broken Ties,” a mystery series about an international conspiracy involving the trafficking of newborn babies. (Sundance Now, Aug. 10)

“Tori and Lokita” (Belgium/France), a drama about two immigrants on the margins from Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, won the 75th Anniversary Award at Cannes. (Criterion Channel, now streaming)