What to Watch This Week: June 22-28, 2026

House of the Dragon, Season 3 (HBO Max, June 22)

The day the HBO publicists (and their vendors) longed for has arrived: Finally, something they don’t have to try too hard to promote — a show that sells itself! Let’s escape real-life global chaos and uncertainty for the fictional ones. Season 3 promises more no-bulls*** brutality and double-dealings — from the highly-anticipated Battle of the Gullet to intense dragon duels to shifting alliances leading to the fall of King’s Landing.

Avatar: Fire and Ash (Disney+, June 24)

Hands up if you doze off watching the threequel in the cinemas. No shame admitting because it isn’t really that exciting. Sure, the visual effects are eye candy (Oscar winning, don’t play play) but the rest of Fire and Ash feels like leftovers from The Way of Water, but, er, with more fire (with Oona Chaplin as the leader of the antagonistic Ash tribe). When the credits roll, you’re relived it’s over but the thought that there’s two more instalments of this coming is just too exhausting. Maybe James Cameron should just hand the reins over to another director (what’s Robert Rodriguez busy with these days?) and make another Billi Eilish concert film.  

In The Hand of Dante (Netflix, June 24)

In the mood for a cheem film? Step right up then! The latest by Julian Schnabel (At Eternity’s Gate) — an adaptation of Nick Tosches’ novel — follows the parallel lives of a present-day New York journo (Oscar Isaac) hired by a mobster to steal Italian poet Dante Alighieri’s The Divine Comedy written in the poet’s own hand, and Alighieri (also Isaac) in the 14th century seeking inspiration to write his most important work. Variety calls it an “impossible-to-pigeonhole literary gangster mystery” or something like that. So, yes, expect cheem-ness. The cast also includes Al Pacino, John Malkovich, Gal Gadot, and Jason Momoa.

Little Brother (Netflix, June 26)

And if you’re in the mood for something bo liao, you’re in luck. John Cena plays a successful real estate agent whose life is upended when his eccentric “little brother” (Eric André) — someone from his past via a youth mentorship programme — unexpectedly resurfaces. The trailer pretty much spoiled most of the jokes… we think. In other words: this is the perfect movie to watch while doing household chores.  

Notes from the Last Row (Netflix, June 26)

This six-part psychological thriller stars Choi Min-sik (Oldboy) as a curmudgeon literature professor and one-time novelist who becomes the mentor of a mysterious student (My Dearest Nemesis’ Choi Hyun-wook) who’s always seated in the last row of his class. But things get a little darker when the teacher becomes obsessed with his protégé’s writing. Quick, someone call Mothership!

Agent Kim Reactivated (Netflix, June 26)

So Ji Sub is in a vendetta kind of mood… again. After single-handedly destroying half of South Korea’s gangsters in Mercy for None, he’s back to do more damage — this time as a former spy. When his daughter is kidnapped, he’s forced out of retirement to confront his enemies with his particular set of skills.  The 10-part series is based on the webtoon Manager Kim and also stars Choi Dae-hoon and Yoon Kyung-ho. Hey, Mediacorp, can we create a similar vehicle for Sunny Pang? Asking for a friend.