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CHLOE (PRIME VIDEO)
Six-part British psychological thriller that follows the troubled Becky Green (Erin Doherty), a young woman who becomes increasingly obsessed with stalking her childhood friend Chloe Fairbourne’s (Poppy Gilbert) perfectly curated social media presence. Struggling to cope with looking after her mother, who has early onset dementia, Becky spies an opportunity to assume a new identity and social circle when Chloe suddenly dies in mysterious circumstances.
Best known for her work on Netflix’s Sex Education, writer-director Alice Seabright has crafted an extremely clever tale, one that’s likely to keep you guessing – and on the edge of your seat – until the final frames.
Much of its appeal comes from its complicated, unreliable protagonist. We initially wonder what her motivations are, why she feels the need to fill office whisky with wee and how much of what she perceives is actually all in her mind.
Doherty, whose breakout role was as The Crown’s Princess Anne in seasons three and four, is a revelation here, twisting and turning her various personas in order to get what she wants, while also clearly in a great deal of psychological torment herself. It’s a stunning performance – a rare skill to make this potentially one-note villain, something far deeper, nuanced and potentially sympathetic.
FOR ALL MANKIND (APPLE TV+)
The 10-part, season three of this critically acclaimed, alternate reality sci-fi series jumps ahead to 1995.
The Red Planet are now become the new frontier in the Space Race, not only for the US and the Soviet Union, but also an unexpected new entrant with a lot to prove – and even more at stake. Our characters find themselves going head-to-head, as their ambitions for Mars come into conflict and their loyalties are tested.
“The series continues to excel at balancing its sprawling ensemble of characters, all of whom are driven by a dizzying array of motivations, with the precise textural demands of a well-dressed period piece,” wrote Paste magazine’s Alexis Gunderson.
SUPPLIED
Eight great shows to stream this week.
READ MORE:
* Neon’s First Lady, Amazon’s Outer Range, Apple’s Roar amongst April’s must see TV
* Downton 2, Fantastic Beasts 3, New Zealand-shot X amongst April’s must see movies
* Question Team: Richard Ayoade and friends hilariously ‘rewrite the panel show’
* The Chase USA: Bigger money, extra Jeopardy, but somehow not quite as much fun
* Winning Time: Neon’s wildly entertaining look back at a crazy decade
Supplied
Irma Vep is now available to stream on Neon and Sky Go.
IRMA VEP (NEON)
Frenchman Olivier Assayas directs this eight-part remake of his 1996 movie of the same name, which was itself inspired by the seven-hour-long, 10-part silent serial Les Vampires, as well as 1973 Academy Award winner Day For Night and legendary German director Rainer Fassbinder’s Beware of a Holy Whore.
While its sometimes cynical (and occasionally excoriating) examination of modern day movie-making won’t appeal to everyone, this offers plenty of intrigue and a terrific turn from Alicia Vikander in the lead role. If you enjoyed Assayas’ polarising collaboration with Kristen Stewart – 2016 supernatural psychological thriller Personal Shopper – then you’d be best advised to free up your calendar for this.
At times, resembling the best kind of French farce, at others the European equivalent to Robert Altman’s The Player or Barry Levinson’s Wag the Dog, Irma Vep definitely isn’t short on humour, or people behaving badly.
THE LAZARUS PROJECT (NEON/SKY GO)
I May Destroy You’s Paapa Essiedu is George, a man who wakes up one day with a distinct sense of déjà vu in this eight-part, sci-fi-infused action-thriller. He’s reliving a day from his past, with some notable exceptions – his success at work and marriage to the love of his life seem to never have happened.
While convinced he has lost his mind, he instead finds himself recruited into a secret organisation who claim to be able to turn back time whenever the world is under threat of extinction.
Viewers could be given for feeling more than a little exhausted by the initial instalment’s exposition and action, but fans of sci-fi-infused dramas like Tenet, Station Eleven, Doctor Who, Timecop and The Adjustment Bureau should be well-satisfied.
Screenwriter Joe Barton, who helped successfully create an English-language adaptation of Sweden’s Humans and was behind last year’s under-rated Riz Ahmed thriller Encounter, again demonstrates his ability to make the fantastical seem organic and mine evocative, sometimes gritty personal drama out of potentially preposterous concepts.
Sky TV
Sci-fi thriller The Lazarus Project follows a secret organisation that can go back in time whenever the world is threatened with extinction.
LOOT (APPLE TV+)
Bridesmaids’ Maya Rudolph headlines this 10-part workplace comedy about a billionaire whose dream life falls apart when her husband of 20 years betrays her.
Spiralling publicly, she’s headed for rock bottom when she learns she actually has a charity foundation who are desperate for her to stop generating negative headlines. Cue a journey of self-discovery as she finds out the benefits of giving back to others.
“Philanthropy as a whim? It’s funny enough, and it gives Rudolph plenty of room to play grandiose while simultaneously making fun of filthy rich people’s lives,” wrote Boston Globe’s Matthew Gilbert.
THE RESPONDER (TVNZ ONDEMAND)
While not nearly as dark as Cracker or Luther, nor boasting the attention-to-detail and police politics of Line of Duty, this is nevertheless an absorbing character study and cracking thriller.
Cleverly crafted by former Merseyside police officer Tony Schumacher, it purposefully only drops hints as to troubled police officer Chris Carson’s high-flying past and fall from grace, leaving the viewer desperate to know more, while also unsure which way Martin Freeman’s character will play things.
That’s also testament to Freeman’s skill as an actor, making you forget his past baggage as a Baggins and Dr. Watson and ensuring you care about his ultimate fate, even as you’re not convinced he’s going to end up on the right side of the law.
Netflix
Season 3 of The Umbrella Academy is now available to stream on Netflix.
THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY (NETFLIX)
As season three of this popular superhero series begins, the Umbrella siblings find themselves in an altered timeline after their Dallas “adventures”. It is revealed that after their encounter in 1963, Sir Reginald chose not to adopt them, but 6 other children instead, building them into a competent and popular superhero team dubbed “The Sparrow Academy”.
However, while they reach an uneasy agreement, a time anomaly caused by crossing timelines poses a threat to them all.
“Think Wes Anderson meets Curb Your Enthusiasm – with a sprinkling of “biff pow!” comic book excitement stirred through,” wrote The Daily Telegraph’s Ed Power.
UNDER THE BANNER OF HEAVEN (DISNEY+)
The latest adult drama to make its unlikely home on Disney+ is further proof that Andrew Garfield is in the acting form of his life.
Based on Jon Krakauer’s (Into the Wild, Into Thin Air) 2003 investigation into the 1984 murders of Brenda and Erica Lafferty, Under the Banner of Heaven sees the 38-year-old American-born, England-raised Garfield play East Rockwell, Utah detective Jeb Pyre.
Like 99 per cent of the town, he’s a god-fearing member of the Latter-Day Saints (LDS), using the teachings of Joseph Smith to guide his actions and way of life. But he is shaken to the core by the “house of horrors” he encounters one evening, a 24-year-old and her 15-month daughter brutally slain, their blood splattered across a wide area.
Strip away the religious trappings and investigation into the history of one particular faith and, at its heart, Under the Banner of Heaven is quite simply a terrific true crime dramatisation. Gripping and dripping with dramatic tension, this feels like a lost series of True Detective.
