What to watch: new movies and TV shows to stream this week
The best shows and movies to stream on Netflix and beyond.
Welcome to the WatchList, the ultimate what to watch guide. Each week our TV and movie experts curate a list of the best things to watch on the small - and sometimes big - screen.
This is the place to find what you should be streaming at the weekend and beyond.
Each week our esteemed group of TV and movie reviewers impart their expert knowledge of all things streaming and boil it down to a handful of things you really need to be watching, going through hours of episodes to hep you make the most important decision of the week: what to watch in your down time.
As you will read, we look at all the new shows that have landed on Netflix, Prime Video, NOW, Apple TV Plus, Disney Plus and Paramount Plus and more, then give our verdict.
In short: if it's in the WatchList, then you know it is going to be good.
After our recommendations of the week, we have links to all of our essential streaming guides - the rankings of which are voted by our readers, so if you haven't done so already then give them a click and have your say.
And if you are still stuck with what to watch, then we have kept all of our previous recommendations so you can have a read.
Happy viewing!
Fallout
This is one of the most high-profile video game TV adaptations to date, and Prime Video seems to have nailed it. For those unfamiliar, the Fallout games are set in a world ravaged by nuclear war. Only fragments of civilisation remain, with outputs dotted in a dangerous and desolate wasteland. With great reviews across the board, check out Fallout whether or not you have played the games.
Crooks
Crooks is a German language crime show. A safecracker finds he has a cast of criminals on his tail. They want the special coin that ends up in his possession after taking on one last job. It’s a blend of classic crime caper and comedy, and seems to have picked up some word-of-mouth momentum since its release in early April.
Baby Reindeer
You’ve heard of TV shows being made from classic movies. But how about a show derived from a comedy special? Baby Reindeer is an adaptation of star Richard Gadd’s 2019 comedy routine of the same name. It’s about his real-world experiences of being stalked. Jessica Gunning plays the stalker in the show, which is more horrifying than flat-out funny. In a good way.
Parasyte: The Grey
Parasites infect humans, taking control over them and wiping out their consciousness in this bleak-sounding South Korean show. It’s based on a manga series that began in 1989. Yeon Sang-ho is one of the lead creatives on the show, known for directing Train to Busan — one of the greatest zombie movies ever made. Just like that film, Parasyte: The Grey hinges of the humanity of the characters rather than pure spectacle.
Good Times
Nope, this isn’t a Safdie brothers movie. It’s an animated follow-up to a 1970s sitcom. The Evans family are struggling to get by, but they’re still a family. There are mixed reports as to whether Good Times has a hope of standing up to the legendary original. But it does find some of its own voice through the 10-episode run, so don’t dismiss it after episode one.
On the big screen...
Civil War
America has collapsed. The Western Forces are bearing down on Washington to take the president down. But as this is an Alex Garland movie, who you are meant to root for isn’t as clear as you might imagine. The film follows a group of journalists making their way to Washington DC before the president is taken out.
Out in cinemas now
- The best Apple TV Plus shows, revealed
- The best Netflix shows and best movies on Netflix
- The best Amazon Prime Series and best movies on Amazon Prime Video
- The best Disney Plus shows and best Disney Plus movies
- The best NOW TV shows and best movies on NOW TV
- The best Paramount Plus shows
Previously on The WatchList...
Ripley
Andrew Scott is on fire at the moment. Fresh off the release of the brilliant All of Us Strangers, he takes on the role of Ripley in Netflix’s latest thriller. It’s another take on The Talented Mr. Ripley story, but this Ripley is a colder and more calculating figure than you may remember from the 1999 movie starring Matt Damon. This adaptation breaks the novel down into eight black and white episodes.
Files of the Unexplained
This Netflix series represents a well-trodden style of show. Each episode looks into an unexplained phenomena with hints of the supernatural. There’s alien abduction, the supposed UFO conspiracy of the US government. But we also get a investigation of when blobs of goo started falling from the sky in Oakville, USA, in 1994. And the strange tale of Mount Shasta in California, seen as a spiritual site home to otherworldly creatures.
Loot season 2
Maya Rudolf is back as Molly Novak, a woman who ends up with a fortune worth many billions of dollars after a divorce. She decides to get rid to the money, using it to support good causes. While having a good time on the way. This second season lets the comic ensemble develop and bed in a little more, but it’s clear you watch this show to see Rudolf go.
A Gentleman in Moscow
Ewan McGregor is Count Alexander Rostov, a man imprisoned in a hotel in Moscow following the Russian Revolution. This show charts his life and adventures in lockdown, as characters come and go from his life, which is shrunk down to the size of the Metropol hotel. Gregor shines in one of the best performances of his later career. This is an 8-epiusode series.
This Town
This BBC series comes from Steven Knight, the name behind TV super-hit Peaky Blinders. It concerns the formation of a band in the late 1970s, moving into the 80s, in the UK midlands. This was a time of social unrest, letting the script become thick with societal drama. Some of the handling of the IRA may raise eyebrows, but this show is worth a watch. It’s stirring stuff.
Scoop
Scoop sounds an unlikely project at first. It’s a film about an interview on BBC programme Newsnight. But it’s no normal interview. This was the talk between Prince Andrew and Emily Maitlis that saw the royal rapidly removed from royal family duties, such a car crash was it. Gillian Anderson plays Maitlis, Rufus Sewell is Prince Andrew. It’s a tense watch, with Sewell the highlight.
Renegade Nell
At first glance you would not guess Renegade Nell was written by the person behind Happy Valley, Sally Wainwright. This is a much lighter show, where a young woman, Nell Jackson, is framed for murder and goes on to become a famous outlaw. Oh, and then she gains magic powers that grant her superhuman fighting abilities. It’s light and frothy, perhaps a little too childish for some, but worth a go for Disney subscribers.
Anatomy of a Fall
If you followed the 2024 Oscars awards, you’ll have heard a lot about Anatomy of a Fall. It was nominated for Best Picture, and came away with the Best Original Screenplay award. And now you can see what the fuss is all about on Prime Video. A woman becomes a suspect in the death of her husband, and has to prove her innocence in the courtroom. But it’s far more thrilling than that sounds.
Barbie
UK readers, the day has finally come. Barbie is available to watch on NOW. It made almost $1.5 billion at the box office, and is a good film to boot. Not persuaded a Barbie film could possibly be worth watching? Barbie travels to the real world, and it makes Barbie Land fall apart at the seams. Both Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling (Ken) shine as leads. A cultural phenomenon.
Next Goal Wins
Taika Waititi’s Next Goal Wins is the story of the famously awful American Samoa football team, playing for the World Cup Qualifiers in the early 2000s. Michael Fassbender stars as the team coach, and the film is based on a documentary released in 2014. It goes a bit heavy on the Taika Waititi-isms so your reaction may rest on how game you are for that brand of comedy.
Vikings (Seasons 1-6)
After what feels like an eternity stuck on Prime Video, Vikings is coming to Netflix (30 March). That’s all six seasons of a show that we can call a classic with a straight face. Of course, this makes perfect sense. Netflix has Vikings: Valhalla, which is a follow-up set 100 years after the original show. And with Valhalla having ended after its third season, you’ll be able to watch the entire epic arc with a Netflix sub.
Is It Cake? season 3
A certain kind of show flourished over the pandemic years: complete fluff that took us away from the bad stuff going on outside for a bit. Is it Cake? Is a great example. Expert bakers make cakes to look just like real-world items, and try to fool a panel of judges into thinking it’s the real deal. Now on its third season.
The Beautiful Game (2024)
Bill Nighy plays Mal, the manager of England’s homeless football team, in The Beautiful Game. It’s based on a true story, an episode where the team gains a great striker, Vinny, and has a chance of victory in the Homeless World Cup tournament. A heartwarming, if by-the-numbers, watch and a great pairing for a lazy long Easter weekend.
And in cinemas...
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire
The next chapter of the Monsterverse is here, and deserves to be seen on the biggest screen you can find. Sure, it's never going to win any screenwriting or acting awards. But it's chock full of monster-flinging action and is a fun watch that, in disaster film style, sees Godzilla and co fight right alongside some famous landmarks even though half of the film is set in the hollow Earth.
- Out now in cinemas
Twisted Metal
Gamers who grew up with the very first Sony PlayStation console may have fond memories of Twisted Metal, a car combat game that spawned three sequels on the same console. Almost 20 years later, they’ve only gone and turned it into a TV show. It stars Anthony Mackie as a man who has to deliver a package across the apocalyptic wasteland. This is no hard-hitting drama like The Last of Us, but it is bags of fun.
Palm Royale
Kristen Wiig is Maxine, a woman determined to break into the elite, the high society of Palm Beach. It’s set in 1969, meaning we get all the style, all the costumes, of that era. It is also crucial to the underlying social commentary for what sounds like a thin and frothy premise. We have another lush-looking Apple TV+ show on our hands, folks.
3 Body Problem
The Three-body problem is the first novel in a Chinese sci-fi trilogy series with lofty ideas and pretty complicated science. To make it into an accessible TV show isn’t easy. But Netflix has managed it with 3 Body Problem, which thankfully doesn’t require a degree in physics to get your head around. But this is still an epic show, with a mega sense of scale and stakes, leading many to compare it to Game of Thrones. It’s all about humanity’s first contact with extraterrestrial life. Fingers crossed this one pulls in the crowds as we’re now desperate for more seasons.
Physical: 100 season 2
A lot of reality shows rely on the quirky personalities of the contestants. The root of Physical:100 is physical performance, though. In Squid Game style, 100 participants are put through a series of tough physical trials to find the perfect specimen of performance. The first season was a brilliant watch, the sheer gruelling exertion proving compelling by itself. This second season comprises another nine episodes, released in three tranches up until early April.
X-Men '97
If you grew up in the 90s there’s a good chance you have fond memories of the X-Men animated series and its awesome theme tune. It’s back, more than 30 years after that first season. And it’s damn good. We get the original formula, refined with the knowledge plenty of viewers will be pushing 40, not 14. We get two episodes to watch at launch, while the rest of the 10-ep run will be released into May.
Road House - Prime Video
We’re not sure the world was calling out for a remake of 1989 movie Road House, but we have one. And it's a blast. Jake Gyllenhaal takes the role of Patrick Swayze’s John Dalton, a former fighter who becomes a bouncer at a rough bar he needs to clean up. Expect plenty of violence, if less of the sleaze than the original had. And famed fighter Conor McGregor actually mostly nails his role as the amped-up angry villain.
The Signal
It’s been a strong year so far for sci-fi. And this show is one we didn’t see coming ahead of its release. The Signal is a German language series in which an astronaut returns home from a mission, but disappears. Her family investigate, ending up embroiled in a mystery centred around a “signal” she received while out in space. Unusual for a streamer show, The Signal is over and out in just four episodes.
Taylor Swift: The Era's Tour (Taylor's Version)
The Era’s Tour became the biggest music tour movie hit of all time, raking in $261 million in cinemas last year. Whether you missed it or not, the version on Disney+ is well worth a look if you like Swift's music. This is Taylor’s Version, a new cut of the film that adds more songs, whacking up the runtime from 2 hours 49 minutes to 3 hours 31 minutes. That’s a massive serving of tay-tay.
Apples Never Fall
Annette Bening and Sam Neill star in this TV adaptation of a Liane Moriarty novel. Retired tennis coach Joy (Bening) disappears, causing the family to question how real the image of the marriage they projected was. It’s a 7-episode series, and all are available to watch now. Plenty of twists in this one.
Manhunt
A TV series about the murder of Abraham Lincoln. You might assume it’s going to be a relatively dry historical documentary, but no. Manhunt turns this period of history into a dramatised thriller. It’s based on a book with the subtitle “The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer,” telling you all you need to know about the timescale of this show. There are seven episodes total, releasing up until mid-April. The best part, the first few eps, is available now.
Fast Charlie
We can’t help but smile any time we see former James Bond stars Pierce Brosnan or Timothy Dalton appear in new films. Brosnan’s charm makes this movie, which has picked up almost universally positive reviews from audiences and critics. He plays Charlie, a bad-ass mob fixer who has a problem. His latest target is now missing a head, and he needs to prove its identity. This is a sharp, old-school thriller peppered with comedy.
Turning Point: The Bomb and the Cold War
In 2021 we got a Turning Point documentary series on 9/11. This new season puts the focus on nuclear weapons and the Cold War. The 9-part series begins in the World War II era, when nuclear weapons were used by the US against Japan. We then take a trip through history that leads us to the present day, with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine taking us closer to nuclear war than we have been in decades.
The Gentlemen
Guy Ritchie is back, and pedalling the sort of gonzo antics that made him so famous back in the late 90s and early 2000s. This is the TV show follow-up to a film Ritchie made in 2019, and this series might actually be better. Eddie Halstead inherits a large chunk of property from his father, but finds that, along with it, comes a drug empire.
American Fiction
Oscar-nominated American Fiction has landed on Prime Video. It stars Jeffrey Wright as an frustrated author who writes a novel full of black fiction stereotypes, to lampoon society’s obsession with such stories. But when it becomes a hit, with no hint of irony assumed, he ends up submerged in the culture he was railing against.
The Beekeeper
Jason Statham is The Beekeeper. He goes on the rampage after his landlady commits suicide, having been scammed out of a charity’s funds. Our ultra-violent hero is an actual beekeeper, but he’s also a former agent of the Beekeepers, a shady intelligence agency. And that means if he’s on your tail, you’re in trouble. This is one of the better Statham vehicles in recent years, and is a silly action-packed blast.
Poor Things
This is the oddest of 2024’s Oscars best picture contenders. And, at the time of writing, is roughly tied with The Zone of Interest as a second-place pick for the gong. Emma Stone plays Bella Baxter, a woman brought to life by a scientist played by Willem Dafoe. Her intellect starts of as that of a child, but through the film we get to see her become more adult by the minute. A bizarre and singular comedy from Yorgos Lanthimos.
Supersex
Now here’s a bold move from Netflix. Supersex is a loose TV show biopic of pornstar Rocco Siffredi, known as the “Italian stallion.” It’s “inspired by” the real-world star rather than being wedded to reality. And the show itself does its best to combine the sexy bits with a more artsy approach to what could be a fairly lurid subject. Probably not one to watch with the family, but there’s more to this 7-episode season than you might guess.
The Program: Cons, Cults, and Kidnapping
This documentary looks into Ivy Ridge, the US school-stroke-prison where delinquent young people were sent in order to straighten them out. But under the surface is a story of abuse and corruption. It’s given weight and an unusual personal feel because it’s directed by and stars Katherine Kubler, who was herself sent to Ivy Ridge as a kid.
Ricky Stanicky
Three friends make up a person, Ricky Stanicky, used as an excuse whenever they want to get together and away from their wives. And they use this ruse for years. But when their latest attempt risks revealing Stanicky as a fabrication, they hire a washed up adult performer (John Cena) to pose as the real Ricky Stanicky. It’s the kind of film we saw more in 2004 than 2024, but that makes sense when you see it’s directed by Peter Farrelly. Also stars Zac Efron, but Cena is the real highlight here.
Extraordinary Season 2
Shows like Extraordinary prove maybe we’re not fed up with superheroes, just the MCU. It’s a show set in a world where people gain a superpower when they turn 18. But Jen (Máiréad Tyers) never did. Season two sees her gain a life coach who tries to bring out her latent powers. But she’s more consumed by a potential love affair.
Death and Other Details
Mandy Patinkin is Rufus Cotesworth, a detective charged with solving an impossible murder. Someone has been killed on a cruise ship, in a locked room. There are shades of Knives Out here. And while Death and Other Details does not reach those heights, it’s rendered always-watchable thanks to the chemistry of a detective duo played by Patinkin and Violet Beane.
Spaceman
Adam Sandler is in serious acting mode in Spaceman. He plays an astronaut who, while out on a mission, realises his wife may be about to leave him. It’s relationship breakdown at a distance measured in light years. This is an unusual film, proved by the third pillar in this drama: an arachnid space alien who becomes the guy’s counsellor of sorts. Spaceman has picked up a mix of strong and moderate reviews, but the film sees Sandler in strong form.
Shogun
If there’s one movie or show you shouldn’t ignore this week, it’s Shogun. This is a a second stab at a 1975 novel that also spawned a much-loved 1980 TV series. A British shoulder is stranded in Japan at the outbreak of civil war. It spirals into an epic tale of clashing forces and deep characterisation. And it’s shaping up to be one of the best shows of the year — yep, and we’re aware it’s only March. The only reason not to dig in today is we’ll only get to see the last episode in late April.
Ferrari
Ferrari was a box office flop, making $41 million worldwide off a $95 production budget. But if you get offered the chance to see a Michael Mann movie, basically for free, you should think twice before turning it down. Ferrari sees Adam Driver become the man himself, Enzo Ferrari. This is the story of Ferrari's life, set in the late 50s, as he enters cars into the Mille Miglia race amid personal tragedy.
Indigo
It’s the wrong season for horror, but that doesn’t stop us wanting a scare. Indigo is a horror flick from Indonesia. A woman is haunted by a ghost, and her sister has to use her own latent supernatural powers to banish it. It’s no classic, but it’s not a car crash either, which isn’t bad for an under-the-radar horror movie. Ideal lazy evening fodder.
Hideo Kojima: Connecting Worlds
Hideo Kojima is the auteur game director behind the Metal Gear Solid series. This hour-long documentary looks behind the scenes during the creation of Death Stranding, another of his games, in which you play as a character represented by actor Norman Reedus. We get a look at how Kojima interacts with the development team, the Hollywood-grade cast and Kojima’s own thoughts about the art of video game creation.
Drive to Survive: Season 6
If there’s a problem with Drive to Survive: Season 6, it’s that recent F1 news has been so explosive we wish it were talking about this year’s action rather than the last season. Some have accused it of being a bit out of touch with the real story of F1, but could you really expect the production team to guess Lewis Hamilton was about to jump ship from Mercedes to Ferrari? Give it some slack and Drive to Survive still doles out plenty of the glossy behind-the-scenes footage that made this series such a smash.
And on the big screen...
Dune: Part 2
We have good news and bad news. Good first: Dune: Part 2 is pretty awesome, a sci-fi epic that ups the ante from the first instalment of this series without trading away what made the first part so compelling. The bad news: only a couple of sci-fi epics have a chance of reaching anything like these heights later this year (we’re thinking Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga and Civil War). Dune: Part 2 is one to savour, preferably on the biggest screen near you. There’s plenty of it too, clocking in at just under three hours.
Out now in cinemas
Avatar: The Last Airbender
Almost 15 years ago, M. Night Shyamalan’s The Last Airbender tainted our view of what a live action adaptation of Avatar could be. The curse has been lifted. Netflix’s new take is dramatically better, trading a 5% Rotten Tomatoes score for a roughly 60% one. OK, so it’s not quite classic-standard yet, with criticisms of the uneven tone and pacing. But it should help teach plenty of younger viewers about the ways of the air benders.
Sunderland ‘Til I Die
After three season this documentary series is coming to an end. It follows the Sunderland football club through the 2021/2022 season of football. Sure, some might not want to spend time retreading old ground but this set of episodes in particular packs a real emotional punch that reminds you of the passion the game instills in people. If you decide to start this one, make sure you stick around for the third, heart-rending episode.
Can I Tell You a Secret?
This Netflix documentary delves into a form of crime much closer to home than the subject of most true crime shows: cyberstalking and cyber-bullying. It’s a two-parter that follows the real experiences of three women. It’s a chilling look at something that could happen to just about anyone, and the unsettling obsessions of those who live so much of their lives online.
Constellation
Apple TV+ has a thing for epic sci-fi, one that continues with Constellation. Noomi Rapace is an astronaut who survives an incident aboard the ISS. But when she returns to Earth, she discovers this isn’t quite the world she left behind. It doesn’t quite manage to keep up the energy of its, no pun intended, stellar start. But with the eight episodes set to roll out into the end of March, we’re going to stay glued to this one.
Star Wars: Bad Batch season 3
Disney’s excellent animated series Bad Batch comes to an end with season 3. It’s a spin-off of The Clone Wars and sees a gang of clone troopers defect. They’re no ordinary soldiers, either, but super warriors from Clone Force 99. The beginning of this last season takes place during the events of Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith. We’re setup for a stellar end to the show, and the last episode will air on May 1.
The Way
If you only know Michael Sheen for his star turns in films like Good Omens and The Sandman, you’re missing out on a significant part of his character. The man absolutely loves Wales. This series sees Sheen direct a dystopian thriller set in Wales’s own Port Talbot, as an ordinary family is forced to flee the country after civil unrest breaks out. Sheen worked with auteur documentary maker Adam Curtis on this project, and it’s just as unusual as that collaboration might suggest. Thrilling stuff.
Past Lives
The greatest film of 2023? Find out yourself now as it’s streaming on Netflix. This Oscar nominee for the Best Picture gong looks into regret, the passing of time and what might have been, if life had panned out differently. Yep, it’s going to get you in the feels, but not in that exploitative Marley & Me way. It’s part in Korean, part English, but don’t let that put you off. It’s an unmissable watch.
The Vince Staples Show
Netlflix’s The Vince Staples Show is odd. Staples is a rapper in the real world, and in the show. He made the series with multi-time collaborator Calmatic, director of the not-very-good White Man Can’t Jump. But this series? It’s much more interesting. Staples plays a fictionalised version of himself as strange events unfold around him.
A Killer Paradox
A Killer Paradox is a South Korean crime drama in which an ordinary University student is implicated in a murder. And it’s one he did commit. But the murdered person was also a serial killer. The show’s curling plot sees the student try to evade the glare of the case’s homicide detective. Oh, and you may recognise the lead, played by Choi Woo-shik, who starred in the brilliant Parasite.
Daughters of the Cult
Another month, another true crime documentary. This Disney+ offering looks at Ervil Morrell LeBaron, the leader of a fanatical Mormon cult who ordered the killing of his perceived rivals. And those killings took place after Ervil’s own death. It’s a strange cult tale you may not have encountered before, and features real-life testimony from Anna and Celia LeBaron, descendants of the cult leader himself.
Ishura
Ready for some proper anime? Ishura is an intense watch that pulls you into its violent world right from the first 24-minute episode. The plot? The Demon King has been slain, like the boss character to a video game prequel of this show. But no-one knows who performed the deed, leading to a contest between the world’s top warriors to see who comes out on top.
Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One
US viewers have had Mission Impossible Dead Reckoning streaming on Paramount Plus for weeks now. But UK folks should head over to NOW to catch up with the latest adventures of Ethan and the gang. It’s likely in our top three movies of the series, and we can’t wait for this story to get its conclusion. But that’s not coming until 2025, so it might be time for yet another run through the entire series. Who’s game?
True Detective Night Country finale
The final episode of True Detective’s season four, Night Country, is out on February 19. Haven’t caught up with this season yet? It features Jodie Foster as Liz Danvers, an investigator Foster herself described as an “Alaska Karen.” There are dead bodies out in the snow, and she has to find out who did it. Some say it’s a return to form for the series, which famously never managed to reach the incredible heights of its legendary first season.
Curb Your Enthusiasm season 12
After almost 24 years, Curb Your Enthusiasm has reached its final season, number 12. And it’s an absolute barnstormer. Larry gets in legal trouble after breaking a strange and arcane Atlanta law. But, as ever, the plot isn’t the point with Curb. We have 10 episodes left, set to be broadcast into April. Cherish them while they last.
One Day
Released in time for Valentine’s Day, One Day is a superior romance TV show that charts the relationship of Emma and Dexter across two decades. Each year gets an episode. It’s based on a novel by David Nicholls, which was made into a movie in 2011. But this show? It’s just better than the film.
The Marvels
Some of you may be sick of Marvel at this point. But The Marvels solves the issue we usually have when considering sitting down in front of the latest MCU flick: it’s not that long. At 1hr 45, this is the shortest film of the entire 16-year run. The plot is kinda nonsense, revolving around a trio of characters (including Mrs. Marvel and Ms. Marvel) who body swap when they use their powers. But it’s also good fun, thanks to strong performances from those three female leads.
The Bricklayer
OK, so this Aaron Eckhart action movie isn’t going to win any major awards. But it is fun action genre fare, and one of Renny Harlin’s best movies in a couple of decades. Eckhart is Steve Vail, a CIA agent turned bricklayer who gets pulled into a conspiracy in which his old agency appears to be implicated in the murder of journalists.
Upgraded
Looking for a new rom-com to watch around Valentine’s Day that isn’t awful? Try Upgraded. Camila Mendes plays Ana, a young woman working the art world. She bumps into rich young man Will Delaroche on a work trip and, well, that’s our romantic pairing for this solid romance comedy. Marisa Tomei also stars as Ana’s toxic boss.
Raël: The Alien Prophet
In the 1970s a strange movement — or cult — began called Raëlism. Claude Vorilhon claimed to have been visited by aliens, who told him the human race was made by an alien civilisation called the Elohim. Weird, right? This four-part documentary looks into the creation and legacy of this “religion.” The series features interviews with proponents, critics and Raël himself, who is still alive.
Mr. And Mrs. Smith
It’s early days but Prime Video’s Mr. And Mrs. Smith TV show sounds like it eclipses the film original, which raked-in almost $500 million back in 2005. In that movie, a married couple, both spies, discover they have been hired to kill the other. In this TV version, the pair are strangers, but work for a spy agency and have to pose as a married couple. And the roles of Sandra Bullock and Brad Pitt are replaced by Donald Glover and Maya Erskine. The main complaint from the few unpersuaded critics is that their bickering gets old after a while. And, well, that’s part of the point here.
Orion and the Dark
Who would have predicted Charlie Kaufman, writer of existential movie classics like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Being John Malkovich, would go on to write a kids’ movie? Well he did, and it’s called Orion and the Dark. Orion is a young, scared kid who gets taken on a wolf tour by Dark — your classic personification of a concept, in the vein of Pixar’s brilliant Inside Out. Orion and the Dark isn’t quite at that level, but it’s not that far off either.
Alexander: The Making of a God
OK, so this one’s a little bit History Channel. It’s an extremely ripe docuseries about Alexander the Great. You get talking heads who sound a bit like historians, combined with slightly odd dramatised sections that could have been clipped from a made-for-TV action movie. It’s all pretty hokey stuff. But enjoyable? Absolutely. Just don’t spout what you learn down the pub as gospel to people who actually know their stuff.
Six Nations: Full Contact
This documentary aims to do what Drive to Survive did for F1 back in 2019, but for rugby. It follows the tournament’s teams as trudge through the 2023 competition, and releases just as the 2024 tournament kicks off. Judging by the reviews it might actually help if you’re only a moderate fan of the sport. Reviews from The Independent and The Guardian suggest it’s a bit shallow and dated. However, if you’re looking for a way to get revved up before watching the actual Six Nations games, maybe it’ll prove just the ticket.
The Greatest Night In Pop
We are the World — is it an abomination, or does it make you feel all warm-hearted about things? The correct answer is clearly the former. But this documentary about the making of the song is anything but an embarrassing dirge. The ever-watchable Lionel Richie is our lead talking head, recounting stories from back in the mid-80s when the song was made. It’s packed with great little anecdotes from a different era of celebrity.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem
Who would have guessed a Ninja Turtles reboot could be as good as this? Mutant Mayhem came to cinemas in August 2023, and earned a pretty incredible 95% score at Rotten Tomatoes. The film has a beautiful new art style, but one that doesn’t lose the nostalgia factor for those who remember the Turtles from way back in the 1990s. It’s charming, snappy and slick.
and on the big screen...
Argylle
We at Shortlist are bigger fans of Argylle than most. It’s a strange and silly spy movie where an author ends up predicting real-world events in her fiction, and gets hunted down as a result. The critics don’t love it, landing it a so-so 34% Rotten Tomatoes ranking at present. But we are all-in on its knowing nods to spy films of the past and it's over-the-top, balletic set pieces. But we think its cardinal sin is (like so many movies) it’s just too long for its own good. Bring patience as well as popcorn and there’s fun to be had here. Fun fact: Argylle is based on a novel by Elly Conway, and the i
