Decide of the week
Good day Tomorrow!
It’s the American dream however not fairly as you already know it. This retro-futuristic drama takes place in a twee however automated US, seemingly caught between the aesthetics of the Fifties and the know-how of the 2050s with a way of lingering darkness. Billy Crudup performs Jack Billings, a gross sales government for Brightside – a hucksterish operation that sells actual property on the moon. Billings is slick, persuasive however barely determined: there’s a way of vacancy in each his character and his career. When he stiffs callow younger buyer Joey Shorter (Nicholas Podany), he additionally recruits him into the gross sales drive. However can Shorter’s naivety survive contact with Billings’s actuality? Phil Harrison
Apple TV+, from Friday 17 February
African Queens: Njinga
Pre-colonisation Africa is commonly tacitly portrayed as uniformly primitive by historians however this collection, narrated by Jada Pinkett Smith, suggests that’s an ignorant and racist rewriting of historical past. On the coronary heart of occasions is Queen Njinga – a fierce warrior who assumed management of Ndongo (now Angola) after her father was killed. The story depends on each the testimony of historians and reconstructions, and there’s loads of fascinating historic element – for instance, in a blow to assumptions of patriarchy, Njinga had a posse of male concubines to take care of her sexual wants. PH
Netflix, from Wednesday 15 February
Excellent Match
A World Cup of Netflix relationship exhibits? Or, when you’re feeling barely extra cynical, the hookup Starvation Video games? This collection brings collectively a few of the hottest singletons from Too Sizzling to Deal with, Love Is Blind, The Mole and The Circle and packs them off to a tropical island. Will sparks fly? Virtually actually – as members pair off and participate in varied challenges, there may even be a component of matchmaking from inside the group. It appears completely doubtless that thoughts video games, trickery and chaos will ensue. Nick Lachey is your romantic ringmaster. PH
Netflix, from Tuesday 14 February
Full Swing
Sizzling on the heels of Netflix’s tennis-themed Break Level and new episodes of Prime Video’s cricket documentary The Check comes this newest fly-on-the-wall sport collection from the producers of Components 1: Drive to Survive. This time, golf will get the remedy – and with a breakaway match threatening the Tour, it’s an attention-grabbing time to be monitoring the sport. Skilled golf is a blue-riband, big-money affair. The stress is intense and it’s fascinating to see, up shut, the toll it takes on gamers equivalent to Jordan Spieth, Rory McIlroy and Ian Poulter. PH
Netflix, from Wednesday 15 February
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The Twelve
Felony juries supply the right format for tense, twisty human drama: a bunch of strangers positioned collectively to carry out a troublesome job beneath intense duress. On this gripping Australian 10-parter starring Sam Neill, a jury is convened over the case of Claire Spears, a 14-year-old who’s lacking and presumed murdered by her aunt. Nevertheless, the members of the jury are coping with problems with their very own – from a person with a playing drawback to a girl with a horrific household secret, it appears inevitable that the case will unlock hidden trauma. Hollie Richardson
ITVX, from Thursday 16 February
Carnival Row
A second and concluding season for this endearingly foolish fantasy collection starring Orlando Bloom and Cara Delevingne. The vibe is steampunk Dickens – it’s a grubby, dirty however faintly magical world of fae, pix, critches and even the odd human. It’s finest to not dig too deeply into the logic of its world-building, or spend too lengthy pondering the doable metaphorical subtext about minorities persecuted by the fearful authorities. However there may be enjoyable available within the overripe performances, the properly stylised settings and the underdog story on the present’s coronary heart. PH
Prime Video, from Friday 17 February
Star Trek: Picard
As soon as extra unto the bridge for the estimable Patrick Stewart, who reprises his function as Jean-Luc Picard for what we’re instructed would be the final time. As we start, Picard is in an avuncular temper; there’s a way of the wistfulness that comes with age and endings. However early impressions are misleading: Starfleet is to face an assault that can threaten the foundations of his life. It’s a narrative of vengeance and betrayal centred by Stewart’s efficiency – he assumes the character of Picard with the easy familiarity of a person placing on a cushty previous sweater. PH
Prime Video, from Friday 17 February
