How to Set Up and Start Using Your New Nintendo Switch 2

How to Set Up and Start Using Your New Nintendo Switch 2

So, you’ve braved the pre-order sites, or maybe you’ve just gotten lucky while waiting in line—either way, you’ve got yourself a Nintendo Switch 2. Congratulations! But before you start gaming, there are a few things you’ll need to keep in mind while setting up your console. Nintendo is known for being user friendly, but also a bit particular. Case in point: You can only do a full transfer of your Switch 1 data to your Switch 2 during setup, and if you miss this opportunity, you’ll have to reset your device to try again, or manually copy over your games and save data piece-by-piece later on.

Luckily, I’ve got your back. Read on for a quick guide on how to set up your Nintendo Switch 2, and the three other features you should set up before you start playing.

How to start setting up a Nintendo Switch 2

For the most part, setting up a new Switch 2 out of the box is straightforward, but you’ll still want to pay close attention to each step before moving on, especially when it comes to transferring console data.

First, remove your Switch 2 and your joy-con controllers from their packaging. Then, plug your joy-cons into their respective slots (they’ll attach magnetically, so it’s much simpler than on the first Switch). If you don’t know which joy-con goes where, the one with red highlights goes to the right of the screen, and the one with blue highlights goes to the left.

Next, plug your Switch into power using the included charging brick and cable, and power it on. On the screens that follow, select your language and region, then read and accept the end-user license agreement.

Switch 2 language
Credit: Michelle Ehrhardt

You’ll see a screen to connect to the internet and download the console’s day-one system update. This technically isn’t mandatory, and skipping it (with the X button on the right joy-con) will instead take you to time zone settings. However, most features will be locked down, including backward compatibility, until you download it, so I recommend doing it during setup if possible. If you do skip this step, you can access the update later under Settings > System > System Update.

Once you’re connected to the internet and you’ve started downloading the update, you’ll be able to continue setup while it downloads. Now, you’ll pick your time zone and click through a couple of tutorial pages. These will instruct you about portable and TV play, tell you how to use the kickstand and extra USB-C port, and walk you through detaching your joy-con from the console (press in the button on the back of the joy-con, underneath the trigger, and pull). You can also click through an optional tutorial on connecting your Switch 2 to a TV, if you like, after which you’ll get quick guides on using the included joy-con grip accessory and the joy-con wrist straps.

If your console hasn’t finished updating, it’ll finish that now, and then take you to your first big decision: do you want to transfer your Switch 1 data to your Switch 2?

Transferring Switch 1 data to the Switch 2

During Switch 2 setup, Nintendo will allow you to transfer your Switch 1 data to your Switch 2, but there are a few caveats.

You’ll know you’re ready for this once your system update is downloaded and you’re on a screen that says “To Nintendo Switch Console Owners,” above a graphic of someone holding a Switch 1 and Switch 2. 

Next to the graphic, you’ll see two buttons: Begin System Transfer, Don’t Transfer Data, plus a third button below that explains the process to you, but leaves out a few key details.

Before you make your decision, the most important thing to remember is this: There are actually two ways to transfer data from the Switch 1 to the Switch 2, and despite what you might have read elsewhere, locally transferring your Switch 1 data to the Switch 2 during setup will not factory reset your original Switch. Unless you’ve taken extra steps beforehand, this is the option Nintendo’s setup process will recommend to you, so most users don’t need to be scared about accidentally erasing their original consoles.

Switch 2 System Transfer
Credit: Michelle Ehrhardt

If you stick with a local transfer, it will simply copy over your data to your Switch 2, so that it exists on both systems. There are a few specific cases where some data will get removed from your original device as it makes its way over to your new one, but for the most part, you’ll be able to keep using your original device as usual after the transfer, and there are ways to get that data back later on (I’ll get into that). Just know that save data for specific games, as well as some free-to-play games, may have been deleted from your Switch 1 and moved over to your Switch 2. Don’t worry— Nintendo will warn you about which software will be affected during the transfer process. Additionally, screenshots and video captures stored on a microSD card attached to the Switch 1 will need to be moved over manually later on.

How to transfer your Switch 1 data locally

With that in mind, if you want to transfer your data locally, which is what most people should do, click the Begin System Transfer button and follow the instructions—this involves signing into your Nintendo account, keeping your original Switch powered on and in close proximity to the Switch 2, and activating the transfer on your original Switch under Settings > System Settings > System Transfer to Nintendo Switch 2.

How to transfer your Switch 1 data using Nintendo's servers

The confusion about factory resets comes from this data transfer option, which involves using the Nintendo servers. This will factory reset your Switch, and is best if you plan to sell it anyway, or if you expect to be away from your original Switch during Switch 2 setup and don’t mind setting up your original console from scratch when you get back to it. To start this kind of transfer, power on your original Switch, navigate to the System Transfer page mentioned above, then select I don’t have a Nintendo Switch 2 yet. Take note of the Download Deadline for later. Conveniently, that does point to one upside to this method: you can start it before you even have a Switch 2 in hand.

Now, click Next, then Upload Data, then OK, followed by another OK. Click Start Initialization to begin factory resetting your original Switch. 

From here, your original Switch will revert to how it was before you bought it, and you’ll need to move over to your Switch 2, click Begin System Transfer, and sign into your Nintendo account. If the system detects that you have transfer data to download from the cloud, it’ll walk you through the process. Note, however, that if you don’t download your transfer data before the deadline you jotted down earlier, you’ll lose access to it.

If you want to skip the data transfer process...

If you’d rather not transfer your data, that’s also fine, but you won’t have an opportunity to do so later, and will instead need to move games and save data over manually. Click the Don’t Transfer Data button, then Continue to move to the next step.

Adding a user and parental controls

With system transfers out of the way, you’re through the hardest part of setting up your new console. Now, you’ll be prompted to add a user to the system. Here, you can sign in with your Nintendo Account to get access to your Switch Online subscription and your collection of downloadable games, or create a local user profile. After that, you can add more users as you like, or you can save that for later (simply navigate to System Settings > User > Add User).

Next up, parental controls. Like with additional users, you can set these up later under System Settings > Parental Controls, but there’s no harm to setting them up now as well. To do so, click Set Parental Controls

Switch 2 parental controls
Credit: Michelle Ehrhardt

You’ll have a few options. Most of these will prompt you to use Nintendo’s Parental Controls app, but you can also click the X button on the right-hand joy-con to set up limited parental controls directly on the console. Doing so will allow you to select from a number of presets that will block access to certain games and communication features, but not much else. Using the app, meanwhile, will let you set a daily play time limit, bedtime settings, restrictions on the new GameChat feature, and see reports on play time and games played. It also doesn’t require a Switch Online subscription, so it’s worth using if you have a smart device.

To set up parental controls using the app, first download it for either iOS or Android using the information on the screen, then click the “If You’ve Already Downloaded the App” button. Enter the registration code from your app into your Switch 2 system, then follow the instructions in the app to finish setup. Which buttons you’ll need to click will depend on the controls you’d like to activate, as well as for which users and systems, but it’s fairly straightforward.

MicroSD card limitations

Just a couple more screens. First, a quick warning about microSD cards. Unlike the Switch 1, the Switch 2 is only compatible with microSD Express cards, which are faster, but options for them are also a bit more limited—in other words, there’s a good chance you won’t be able to use the same microSD card from your Switch 1 on your Switch 2. To use a microSD card on Switch 2, it’ll need either of the two logos shown in the image below. A bit of a bummer, but at least a microSD card is optional (it’ll help you store more games, but the included storage on the Switch 2 is more generous than on the Switch 1).

Switch 2 MicroSD card warning
Credit: Michelle Ehrhardt

Oh, and like on the Switch 1, the microSD slot is hidden under the kickstand, in case you’re having trouble finding it.

Virtual Game Cards

You’re technically through setup at this point, but there are still a few features you’ll probably want to configure before you start gaming. The most obvious of these is Virtual Game Cards, Nintendo’s new system for managing games purchased digitally.

Essentially, like the name implies, these work similarly to physical game cards, but over the internet. This means that, unlike with your Steam library, you can only have a game loaded to one console at a time. "Loading" is what Nintendo calls this, but for the most part, it just means your game is downloaded and ready to play."(Technically, you can still play the same game on two separate consoles at the same time, but doing so is a bit obtuse—click through here for more details.)

To access your Virtual Game Cards, click the Virtual Game Card icon in the bottom row on your Switch 2’s home screen—it’ll look like a game cartridge. From here, if you’ve signed into your Nintendo account, you’ll see all your digital purchases and will be able to download and play them from here. If you haven’t signed into your Nintendo Account, you’ll have the option to do so.

Switch 2 virtual game cards
Credit: Michelle Ehrhardt

Now, you’ll have a few options. First, if a game isn’t loaded onto your original Switch, you can simply download it to your Switch 2 without issue by clicking Load to This Console. If the console isn’t set as your primary device (likely the case if you didn’t do a transfer), you might see a warning if you try to open a game, but you can click the If You Don’t Have That Console button to download your game anyway. It will simply cease being playable on the other console while you use it on this one, although that’s always the case when moving a Virtual Game Card between systems. Still, you can always change your primary device later by de-registering your original device and connecting your Switch 2 to the eShop. This won’t be necessary for simply accessing your library, but will extend any Nintendo Online benefits to all users on that device, rather than the one associated with your Nintendo Account.

Virtual game cards load screen
Credit: Michelle Ehrhardt

Alternatively, if you do have access to your old console and have it nearby and powered on, you can link it to your new one to directly transfer your digital game to it, without having to re-download it from the internet. You’ll need to be in close proximity for this, and you can only have two consoles linked at a time (although you can freely unlink and link consoles as needed). With that set up, click Load to This Console on the system you want to move the Virtual Game Card to to get started. Transferring a game like this will also remove access to that game from your old device, and if you like, you can initiate this process from the device that’s transferring the game instead, by navigating to the desired Virtual Game Card on it and clicking Load to Another Console.

How to lend a Virtual Game Card to someone else

You’ll also notice that you can lend a Virtual Game Card to members of a “Family Group.” To do this, you’ll first need to set up a Family Group online. On Nintendo’s website, log into your Nintendo Account, then click the Family Group tab on the left hand side of your account page. Here, you can invite members to join your Family Group via email, or create a Family Group account for your child. Note that if you have a Nintendo Switch online Family Plan subscription, members of your Family Group will be able to use its benefits (for up to eight accounts), although accounts that are part of your family group can also still use their individual subscriptions.

With a Family Group set up, on the Virtual Game Card page, click the game you’d like to lend out, then Lend to a Family Group Member. Next, bring your Switch 2 in close proximity with that Family Group Member’s device—this needs to be done in person.

Finally, click Select a User to Lend to. You can lend up to three games to three different accounts at once, and borrowers will be able to play these games for 14 days. During that time, you won’t be able to play the Game Card, and the borrower won’t get access to your save data while borrowing. However, they will keep their own save data for their next borrowing period, or if they choose to buy the game themselves. There are no limits to how often you can lend out a game, and you can re-lend games immediately upon the borrowing period expiring. Also, while you’ll need to lend out your games in person, they’ll return to you remotely.

Transferring save data

Even if you didn’t transfer your Switch 1 data to your Switch 2 during setup, you can still access its save data on your new device. You have a couple of options here.

First, the free option. On your original Switch, go to System Settings > Data Management > Transfer Your Save Data. Click Send Data to Another Console, then pick the user whose saves you want to send to your Switch 2. Pick the saves you want to send over, then click OK. Note that these saves will be deleted from your original console once moved over.

Next, with your Switch 2 in close proximity to your Switch 1 (this also needs to be done in person), navigate to System Settings > Data Management > Transfer Your Save Data. Click Receive Save Data

To move data from your Switch 2 to your Switch 1, simply perform these steps in reverse.

Second, the paid option. If you have a Nintendo Switch Online membership, you can also use cloud saves to move save data between devices. By default, these are enabled automatically and will keep both of your systems up to date with the most recent saves. However, you can also manually download cloud saves either from a game’s software menu (press + or - while hovering over it on the Switch home screen) or from System Settings > Data Management > Save Data Cloud. You can also disable automatic save data download from here, if you like.

Lock your home screen behind a passcode

Finally, you can lock your Switch 2 with a PIN for some added security, kind of like a cell phone. To set this up, simply go to Settings > System > Console Lock. Click OK, then follow the instructions on the screen that pops up to enter your PIN.

There’s plenty more to dive into with the Switch 2, which I’ll cover over the following week. For now, though, this should be enough to get you started. Happy gaming!



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30 of the Sweatiest Movies to Watch This Summer

30 of the Sweatiest Movies to Watch This Summer

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Welcome to "Best Summer Ever," your guide to getting the most out of the sunny season. Whether your idea of a perfect summer is embarking on epic adventures or blissfully doing as little as possible, we've got you covered. Because the best summer doesn't just happen—you have to make it happen.

Records were made to be broken, of course, so perhaps it's no surprise that the summer of 2023 was the hottest on record, globally (or for at least the last 2,000 years). And you'll probably not be surprised to learn that 2024 managed to top that (just by a bit, but still). 2025 has already seen one of the hottest springs on record in the contiguous United States, with expectations high that the upcoming summer will be at least the second-hottest ever recorded. Yay?

In that spirit, maybe it's time to get out of the heat for a couple of hours (if you're fortunate enough to have air conditioning that works on a regular basis) and stream a movie or two. It's often said that hot beverages can be cooling on hot days, so it stands to reason (I guess?) that a hot, sweaty movie set in a sultry climate might be just the thing. If not, bookmark this and come back when it's cold—maybe these movies will warm you up as readily as they'll cool you down.

Do the Right Thing (1989)

The setting: Brooklyn, NY

The heat in Spike Lee's masterpiece Do the Right Thing isn't merely incidental: It's the trigger for an explosion—the factor that set a Brooklyn neighborhood's simmering racial tensions (largely between the Black residents and the Italian-American owners of a local pizzeria) to boil over on one particularly sultry summer day. Cinematographer Ernest Dickerson created a color scheme for the movie emphasizing reds and oranges, while the movie as a whole includes a memorable montage involving an opened fire hydrant, and an even more memorable bit involving Mookie (Spike Lee), Tina (Rosie Perez), and some rapidly melting ice cubes. You can stream Do the Right Thing on Netflix or rent it from Prime Video.


Love Lies Bleeding (2024)

The setting: New Mexico, 1989

Muscular, frenetic, and uncompromising, Love Lies Bleeding star Kristen Stewart plays small-town gym manager Lou; she's the daughter of the local crime boss (Ed Harris), with a sister (Jena Malone) who is suffering from the abuse of her no-good husband (Dave Franco). It's all quietly tolerated until bodybuilder Jackie (Katy O’Brian) stops off in town. She's 'roided up and ready for action, falling hard for Lou before the two of them get caught up in an act of violence that sends everything spiraling toward a truly wild final act. You can practically feel the grime and smell the sweat here and so, while it's not explicitly set during the summer season (it was filmed during the height of summer in New Mexico), it's as summer-in-the-west as it gets. You can stream Love Lies Bleeding on Max or rent it from Prime Video.


Stray Dog (1949)

The setting: Tokyo during a heatwave

This essential noir from Akira Kurosawa finds Toshiro Mifune as Murakami, a rookie homicide detective who loses his gun on his very first day. The hunt for the sidearm (this is very much a forerunner to our modern police procedurals) leads him deep into the Tokyo underworld, and also into a reluctant partnership with veteran detective Satō (Takashi Shimura). There's a literal Tokyo heatwave going on, but the film is also suffused with postwar dread—the sweat that drenches our protagonists in this daylight noir is as tied to the unreasonably warm temperature as it is to the sense of a society nearing its breaking point. You can stream Stray Dog on The Criterion Channel.


Cool Hand Luke (1967)

The setting: North central Florida

Based on the the real-life account of one-time convict Donn Pearce, Cool Hand Luke tells the story of the title's Luke, a Korean vet sentenced to two years on a prison camp chain gang for some relatively mild drunken shenanigans. With the camp's cruel overseers and unforgiving fellow prisoners (led by George Kennedy's Dragline Slidell), the movie is nearly two full hours of hard labor in the blistering Florida sun. The film's most memorable heat-related moment, though, deals with the heat indirectly: Luke impresses his fellow prisoners by winning a bet that he can eat 50 hard boiled eggs in one hour. You can rent Cool Hand Luke from Prime Video.


Predator (1987)

The setting: An unnamed South American rainforest

Filmed mostly in Mexico, Predator finds a group of buff actions stars (Arnold Schwarzenegger, Carl Weathers, Bill Duke, Jesse Ventura, etc.) fighting off an invisible hunter deep in some rainforest or other. You know it's hot because of the glistening biceps, and you can presume that it gets hotter as the film goes along as Arnold's outfit loses bits throughout, until it's so hot that he's wearing nothing but a thin layer of mud by the movie's final act. You can stream Predator on Hulu or rent it from Prime Video.


Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)

The setting: The Sierra Madre Occidental mountain range in northwest Mexico

The sweat and grime and dirt of John Huston's film isn't merely scene-setting: It feels like a look inside the soul of Fred C. Dobbs (Humphrey Bogart), one of the most believably avaricious characters in American cinema. Dobbs and a small party head into the mountains on the hunt for the title's treasure, only to find themselves turning on each other in a dark spiral of greed. At least it's a dry heat. You can rent The Treasure of the Sierra Madre from Prime Video.


Rear Window (1954)

The setting: A third-floor Greenwich Village apartment with a view

There's a heatwave in Greenwich Village, and the neighbors are struggling to keep cool. Less so Jeff Jeffries, a photojournalist recovering from a broken leg who's rather more interested in watching the antics of his (often scantily clad neighbors) than with his impossibly hot girlfriend, Lisa Fremont (Grace Kelly). As the heat rises, so do tempers and passions—not surprising—given that we're in a Hitchcock movie—there's also a murder witnessed by the largely helpless Jeffries; he's forced to rely on his resourceful girlfriend and sassy caretaker (played by the great Thelma Ritter) in order to find out what really happened while hoping that the killer doesn't catch on to the guy with the binoculars across the courtyard. You can rent Rear Window from Prime Video.


In the Heights (2021)

The setting: Washington Heights, NYC

The phenomenal, wildly underrated musical follows several members of the largely Dominican-American community (at least in the movie) in Washington Heights during a summer building to the hottest day of the year. The movie's centerpiece number, "Carnaval del Barrio," brings most of the movie's characters together and sees Daniela (Daphne Rubin-Vega) exhorting her community to celebrate rather than mope. After all, she sings, "Since when are Latin people scared of heat?" You can rent In the Heights from Prime Video.


Beau Travail (1999)

The setting: Republic of Djibouti

Claire Denis' gorgeous, hypnotic tone poem follows men of the French Foreign Legion to Djibouti, where a triangle of obsession and hate develops between Adjudant-Chef Galoup (Denis Lavant), new recruit Giles Sentain (Grégoire Colin), and the Commandant they both admire. Emotions run strong in the summer heat of the Horn of Africa. You can stream Beau Travail on Max and The Criterion Channel or rent it from Prime Video.


Body Heat (1981)

The setting: South Florida

One of the cornerstones of the entire erotic thriller genre, Lawrence Kasdan's appropriately titled Body Heat made an instant superstar of Kathleen Turner, playing neo-noir femme fatale Matty Walker. She embroils weeny lawyer Ned Racine (William Hurt) in a plot to murder her rich husband—making him think, quite naturally, that it was his idea. Between the sunny setting and the various entangled bodies, everyone's sweaty pretty much all the time. You can stream Body Heat on The Criterion Channel or rent it from Prime Video.


To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)

The setting: Maycomb, Alabama

Fictional Maycomb, Ala. was based on Harper Lee's real-life hometown of Monroeville in that state, where the summer temperatures could reach somewhere in the neighborhood of 90 degrees (of course, that was before climate change really kicked in). This was also an era when white people of any social consequence—Gregory Peck's Atticus Finch, for example—wore three-piece suits as a matter of course. The movie doesn't go quite so far visually, but the sweltering heat of a city baking in its own racial violence makes you feel as though Atticus, Tom Robinson, and everyone else in that stifling courtroom are going to sweat through the trial and everything they're wearing. You can rent To Kill a Mockingbird from Prime Video.


Challengers (2024)

The setting: Various tennis courts over several years; also beds

Luca Guadagnino (Call Me By Your Name) brought us the horny bisexual romantic tennis drama of 2024, and we're all better for it. Zendaya stars as a former tennis pro turned coach who falls into a love triangle with her champion husband (Mike Faist) and her low-circuit boyfriend (Josh O'Connor). The chemistry among the three is impressive, with jealousy, rivalry, passion, and obsession all on full display—it's not just the intense tennis matches that are making everyone sweat. You can stream Challengers on MGM+ and Prime Video.


The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)

The setting: The fictional town of Newt, Muerto County, Texas

Horror can run cold, as in John Carpenter's arctic-set The Thing, but it very often runs hot. In Tobe Hooper's unintended franchise-opener, a group of five young road-trippers run out of gas at the worst possible spot: But who was to know that Leatherface lived right there? The heat of a Texas summer is palpable here, and it heightens the general nastiness of a filthy house full of bugs drawn to rotting flesh. And, though it's less gratuitous here than in later slashers, it also allows for our leads, particularly the women, to flee the killer wearing a bit less than they might otherwise. You can stream The Texas Chainsaw Massacre on Peacock and Prime Video.


Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958)

The setting: The Mississippi Delta

It's hard to watch nearly any Tennessee Williams play or adaptation without finding yourself craving a perfectly crafted mint julep, or a giant glass of sweet iced tea. The poster for this classic finds Elizabeth Taylor's Maggie Pollitt stretched out on a bed in a pose that's metaphorically hot, sure, but with actual flames rising off of her in a thematic, if not entirely necessary, artistic flourish. Dealing largely with the tempestuous marriage between Maggie and Paul Newman's Brick, the movie frequently finds its cast glistening in the summer heat, with a decaying plantation house as the setting. You can rent Cat on a Hot Tin Roof from Prime Video.


A Time to Kill (1996)

The setting: Canton, Mississippi

Earlier legal dramas (To Kill a Mockingbird, for example) might have implied heat, but this John Grisham adaptation goes quite a bit further. Revolving around the defense of a Black father (Samuel L. Jackson) who murders the white men who attacked his daughter, the film finds pretty much everyone sweating all the time. It's probably not just the heat. You can rent A Time to Kill from Prime Video.


Sorcerer (1977)

The setting: The fictional village Porvenir, somewhere in South America

This unjustly forgotten William Friedkin film stars Roy Scheider as one of four men from different parts of the world (he's the American) who wind up in Porvenir, a fictional and remote village somewhere in South America. Some people are needed, you see, to transport old and badly stored dynamite across 218 miles in rickety trucks. Did you know that nitroglycerin literally sweats? It's something these guys will quickly learn. Henri-Georges Clouzot's 1953 The Wages of Fear mines suspense from a similar setup. You can rent Sorcerer from Prime Video.


Y tu mamá también (2001)

The setting: A road trip across southern Mexico to Chiapas

Alfonso Cuarón's seminal coming-of-age movie finds a couple of teenagers (Diego Luna and Gael García Bernal) taking a road trip with an older woman (Maribel Verdú) who's facing a major upheaval in her own life. Jealousy, expectation, and sexual tension (both expected and unexpected) threaten the relationship among the three as they head to a paradisiacal and isolated beach with highly emotional stakes. What starts as a trip to the beach becomes something much more meaningful. You can stream Y tu mamá también on Netflix and Hulu or rent it from Prime Video.


Call Me By Your Name (2017)

The setting: Northern Italy

In the summer of 1983, in northern Italy, the archaeologist dad of Elio Perlman (Timothée Chalamet) invites grad student Oliver (Armie Hammer ) to live with the family over the summer. While everything seems just peachy at first, the sweating begins in earnest shortly thereafter. You can rent Call Me by Your Name from Prime Video.


Dune (2021)

The setting: The desert planet Arrakis

You won't find much sweat in Denis Villeneuve's adaptation of the Frank Herbert novel—they can't waste the water, you see. Timothée Chalamet plays Paul Atreides, heir to the dukedom of the desert planet Arrakis (rich in spice, extremely poor in water) at a time when rival factions and the local Fremen have other ideas. You can stream Dune on Max or rent it from Prime Video.


The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2011)

The setting: Jaipur, India

Here, one of those great ensemble casts (Judi Dench, Celia Imrie, Bill Nighy, Ronald Pickup, Maggie Smith, Tom Wilkinson, and Penelope Wilton) head off to sunny Jaipur, India to take up residence at the title's hotel—one that's seen better days, in spite of the advertising. Luckily, the manager (Dev Patel) is sincere about making the place a home for the British guests, all of whom have suffered drastically reduced circumstances. Fortunately, they all discover that Jaipur and their new community has quite a bit more to offer than the last-ditch retirement plan they'd previously considered it. You can stream The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel on Hulu or rent if from Prime Video.


Cruising (1980)

The setting: New York City's leather scene circa 1980

With the no-plot, all-vibes style of the best Italian gialli, William Friedkin and company fashioned this sweaty, horny, and wildly provocative thriller with some help from a leather-clad Al Pacino. He plays Detective Steve Burns who is, according to his bosses, perfectly suited to go undercover in the gay club scene in New York City of 1980. During the very hot summer, a serial killer has been targeting gay men in the leather scene—depicting a rather extreme subculture that pissed off gay and straight audiences alike. I get where they're coming from, but it's all very stylish and just a bit camp, working better as a trippy murder mystery than as a statement. And the scenes of sweaty, writing men (barely dressed, when they're not covered in leather) will have you feeling the summer heat. You can stream Cruising on Prime.


The Burning (1981)

The setting: A summer camp in upstate New York

This cult classic has had a bit of a renaissance in recent years, having been rediscovered both for its impressively nasty take on the Cropsey urban legend...and also for serving as the cinematic debuts of Jason Alexander, Fisher Stevens, and Holly Hunter. It's a summer camp slasher par excellence, with plenty of horny teens in the hot summer sun being killed in some particularly gut-wrenching ways. What sets the movie apart is some solid performances, smart direction, and gore effects from the great Tom Savini. You can stream The Burning on Prime.


12 Angry Men (1957)

The setting: A jury room in New York City

Over the course of roughly 90 minutes, 12 jurors deliberate the conviction or acquittal of a teenager charged with murder. The stifling and oppressive heat of the small jury room, on an exceptionally hot summer day, adds to the already dramatic stakes: the uncomfortable climate turns the room into a pressure cooker, with emotions and nerves running extra hot. You can stream 12 Angry Men on Tubi and MGM+ or rent it from Prime Video.


Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

The setting: A water- and petrol-starved near future

Any of the Mad Max movies, set in a parched, post-apocalyptic wasteland, will do here, but this 2015 film, the one that gave us Charlie Theron's Furiosa, is probably the best of the lot. Non-stop action in the desert as heroes and villains fight it out over incredibly scarce resources, with more personal stakes for Furiosa. You can rent Mad Max: Fury Road from Prime Video.


Suddenly, Last Summer (1959)

The setting: New Orleans of 1937

This whackadoo Southern Gothic Mystery (from a Tennessee Williams play) involves a young man, the son of Katherine Hepburn’s memorably named Violet Venable, who dies under mysterious circumstances on a holiday in Spain. Though Violet had been happy to be his wingwoman in helping him meet other guys for sexual encounters, she’s less keen on the world finding out precisely how he died and, in that vein, is perfectly happy to lobotomize her niece (Elizabeth Taylor) just to make sure. The movie's focus shifts from a New Orleans mental institution, to an estate overrun with (literal) hothouse flowers, to the (fictional) Spanish island of Cabeza de Lobo during a particularly hot summer. You can rent Suddenly, Last Summer from Prime Video.


How Stella Got Her Groove Back (1998)

The setting: Montego Bay, Jamaica

Successful, middle-aged stockbroker Stella (Angela Bassett) throws caution to the wind when she heads off for Montego Bay, Jamaica. And when she spots Winston Shakespeare (Taye Diggs) on her first day there, it occurs to her that there’s more to the island’s appeal than just the natural scenery. People mostly don't sweat here, even given the Jamaica heat, but they absolutely glisten—and watching pretty people cavort in the sun isn't the worst way to spend two hours, especially when the cast is this talented. You can rent How Stella Got Her Groove Back from Prime Video.


Anaconda (1997)

The setting: Somewhere in the Amazon

A brilliantly entertaining action/horror mash-up, Anaconda knows exactly what kind of movie it is and delivers everything you could want from a movie about a giant snake chasing J.Lo, Ice Cube, and Jon Voight through South America. Lopex plays a documentary film director looking to make a movie about a lost indigenous tribe in the Amazon basin when she and her team encounter hunter Paul Serone (Voight) who convinces them that he can lead them to the tribe—it turns out he's only after the biggest game of his life: a 25-foot-long green anaconda. That doesn't really want to be found. With the efficiency of cinema's best serial killers, the snake begins taking out members of our sweaty, nosy film crew. You can stream Anaconda on Tubi and Hulu or rent it from Prime Video.


In the Heat of the Night (1967)

The setting: Sparta, Mississippi

When Philadelphia detective Virgil Tibbs (Sidney Poitier) becomes trapped in Sparta, Mississippi after sundown, his life is in danger—at least until the local sheriff (Rod Steiger) realizes that he needs help from Mister Tibbs on a murder investigation. Another film in which the southern heat runs side by side with bigotry and racial tension. You can stream In the Heat of the Night on Kanopy and Prime Video.


Fire Island (2022)

The setting: Refer to the title

A queer, contemporary take on Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, Fire Island also takes aim at the overabundance of fat/femme/Asian stereotypes in the gay community. Social commentary aside, it's a funny, smart romantic comedy with a great cast that includes Joel Kim Booster (in the Lizzy Bennett role—he also wrote the screenplay), Bowen Yang, Conrad Ricamora, and Margaret Cho as a group of friends who travel each summer to the titular island—but this summer proves more dramatic (and romantic) than most. A good summer-by-the-beach movie whether you've got abs, or if you're more of a shirt-in-the-pool type. You can stream Fire Island on Hulu.


Eve's Bayou (1997)

The setting: Somewhere in the Louisiana Bayou

Eve’s Bayou, the debut of director Kasi Lemmons, conjures a world of Southern Gothic mystery and magic that never loses sight of the emotional realities of its main characters. Jurnee Smollett plays the title character, who begins the film with the story of the day she killed her father as a 10-year-old—the film exploring her story with the Rashômon-esque understanding of the mutability of memory. You can stream Eve's Bayou on Peacock.



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