August was a much busier month on my screen. I finished another excellent season of The Pitt, barely moved the needle on my very ambitious Grey's Anatomy rewatch, went to the theater twice, and watched enough documentaries to once again confirm that apparently my favorite genre is “strange things that actually happened.”
Note: the dates listed are the dates I watched or finished watching that particular title.
The Pitt ★★★★★
HBO Max · 2026 · Season 2 · Episodes 10–15 · August 5, 2026
I finished the final six episodes of season two this month, bringing another completely chaotic shift in the emergency department to an end. I loved this season. The Pitt manages to keep the pace almost relentlessly intense while still making me care about the doctors, nurses, patients, and all of the smaller stories unfolding around them. There is always another emergency coming through the doors, but somehow it never feels repetitive.
I also really liked the addition of Dr. Al-Hashimi this season and the tension between her approach to running the department and Robby's. By the final stretch, I was completely invested in how everything would play out. This remains one of the best shows I've watched in a long time, and now comes the unfortunate part: anxiously waiting for season three.
Grey's Anatomy
Netflix · 2005 · Rewatch · Season 2 · Episode 10 · August 10, 2026
My extremely slow Grey's Anatomy rewatch continues with one lonely episode this month. “Much Too Much” brings Meredith's latest one-night stand straight into Seattle Grace with a particularly awkward medical problem, while the hospital prepares for the complicated delivery of quintuplets. Meanwhile, Cristina is adjusting to a new level of commitment with Burke, and Alex manages to make a mess both professionally and personally.
I obviously know where all of these characters and stories are headed, but revisiting early Grey's is still so much fun. At the rate I'm going, however, this rewatch may last the rest of my natural life.
A Toxic Love Story ★★★☆☆
Netflix · 2026 · Documentary Film · August 5, 2026
This starts as a story about a relationship gone wrong and then gets progressively more bizarre as revenge enters the picture and the situation escalates. Every time it seemed as though the story had reached peak ridiculousness, there was apparently another level waiting.
It was definitely a wild ride. I wouldn't necessarily call it an exceptional documentary, but the story itself was strange enough to keep me interested, and I enjoyed watching all of the increasingly unbelievable pieces fall into place.
The Man Will Burn ★★★☆☆
HBO Max · 2026 · Docuseries · 4 episodes · August 12, 2026
I've always known what Burning Man was in the broadest sense, but I didn't really understand just how enormous the event is or how much of its own culture exists around it. This docuseries takes viewers inside the festival and the temporary city that appears in the Nevada desert every year, along with some of the people who have made Burning Man an important part of their lives.
I found the whole thing fascinating simply because it's so far removed from anything I've ever experienced or would probably ever do myself. There were parts that dragged a little, and four episodes occasionally felt like more than the story needed, but I enjoyed getting a glimpse inside a world I knew very little about.
A Child of My Own ★★★☆☆
Netflix · 2026 · Documentary Film · August 17, 2026
A fake pregnancy eventually becomes entangled with the abduction of a baby, which should tell you immediately what kind of rabbit hole this documentary becomes. The case itself was fascinating and completely bizarre, and I was interested in seeing how all of the pieces came together.
The presentation threw me off a little, though. The documentary uses a hybrid format that mixes real interviews with reenactments, and there were times when I had to stop and figure out whether I was watching an actual person or an actor recreating what happened. I think I would have preferred a more traditional documentary format, but the story was interesting enough to keep me watching.
The Idaho Murders: College Nightmare ★★★☆☆
Netflix · 2026 · Docuseries · 3 episodes · August 21, 2026
This docuseries takes a closer look at the murders of four University of Idaho students and the investigation that followed. It was obviously a massive case, but I hadn't followed all of the developments especially closely while they were happening, so there was quite a bit here that was new to me.
I found the series interesting and eye-opening, particularly in the way it laid out the timeline and showed how the investigation unfolded. It's an incredibly sad case, especially knowing how young all four victims were, and the series gave me a much better understanding of a story I'd previously known mostly through headlines.
Skywalkers: A Love Story ★★★☆☆
Netflix · 2024 · Documentary Film · August 22, 2026
This follows a daredevil couple whose idea of quality time involves climbing enormous skyscrapers and performing terrifying stunts hundreds of feet above the ground. I spent a significant portion of this documentary wondering why anyone would willingly do this, which naturally meant I couldn't stop watching them do it.
I was especially interested because I'd already heard about the couple following their more recent climbing drama in New York City. Seeing their history and how their relationship became intertwined with these increasingly dangerous climbs gave me a lot more context. Fascinating people and a fascinating lifestyle. Absolutely not something I will ever be adding to my own bucket list.
Shipwrecked: Nightmare at Sea ★★★★☆
Netflix · 2026 · Documentary Film · August 24, 2026
This was probably my favorite documentary of the month. Survivors recount what happened when their trip at sea turned into a terrifying shipwreck and the chaos that followed. Hearing the story directly from the people who actually lived through it made everything feel especially frightening.
It was engaging, tense, and really well done, and I was invested pretty much the entire time. Apparently none of this has cured me of my love of cruises, though. So there's that.
Death of the Pastor's Wife
Netflix · 2026 · Docuseries · 3 episodes · Watched Episodes 1–2
This docuseries examines the death of a pastor's wife and the troubling circumstances surrounding the case. I watched the first two episodes in August but didn't finish the series before the end of the month, so I'm holding off on rating it until September. So far, there are plenty of questions surrounding what happened and enough strange circumstances to keep me watching.
The End of Oak Street ★★★☆☆
Theater · 2026 · August 24, 2026
The End of Oak Street starts with an ordinary suburban family whose entire neighborhood is suddenly transported somewhere completely unfamiliar after a mysterious cosmic event. From there, things get increasingly strange as the family tries to figure out where they are and how to survive.
It's a little absurd and definitely asks you to just go along for the ride, but I had fun with it. It isn't necessarily something I'd rush to watch again, but it made for an entertaining trip to the theater.
The Odyssey ★★☆☆☆
Theater · 2026 · August 28, 2026
I can absolutely appreciate that The Odyssey is an impressive and beautifully made movie. It's an enormous production, the story is obviously epic in scale, and I love Anne Hathaway. Unfortunately, appreciating a movie and actually enjoying myself while watching it are two very different things.
This was just too slow and too long for my taste. I understood what it was doing and could recognize the quality of it, but I was bored for too much of the runtime to rate it higher. Sometimes a movie can be objectively impressive and still very much not be my movie.
Titles Watched: 11
Movies: 2 • 2 theater visits
Documentary Films: 4
Docuseries: 3 • 9 episodes watched
Shows: 2 • 7 episodes
Streaming Services: 2
Average Rating: 3.2★
Most-Used Streaming Service: Netflix
Oldest Release: Grey's Anatomy (2005)
Newest Releases: 9 titles from 2026
Star ratings are reserved for completed movies, documentary films, and completed seasons or docuseries. Shows still in progress aren't rated until I finish the season.
Favorite Watch: The Pitt
Favorite Documentary: Shipwrecked: Nightmare at Sea
Least Favorite: The Odyssey
Most Fascinating: Skywalkers: A Love Story
August had a little bit of everything: an excellent season finale stretch, some very strange true stories, two trips to the theater, a terrifying shipwreck, people scaling skyscrapers for fun, and exactly one episode of my apparently decade-long Grey's Anatomy rewatch. The Pitt was still the clear winner, but this was a much more interesting viewing month overall.
In September, I'll be finishing Death of the Pastor's Wife, continuing my very slow Grey's Anatomy rewatch, starting Hulu's new docuseries Welcome to the Family, and getting back into HBO's Monsters of God. I already started that one, but I need to rewatch the first episode before continuing with the remaining four.
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