TV & Film Journal | 15.04.22

After finishing the last episodes of many shows this week, boohoo - namely The Dropout, WeCrashed and Severance - all of which were SO good and couldn't recommend more, I'm looking to start all of these over the bank holiday weekend now I have the bandwidth. As well as these, I'm also reaaally enjoying Single Drunk Female on Disney+ which has been out a couple weeks and the easiest watching going in tiny bitesize episodes. Happy long weekending!

 1. Roar on AppleTV+

I think out of everything I am most excited for this - from the creators of GLOW, Roar is adapted from the short story collection by Cecilia Ahern. I'm always here for an anthology series - Black Mirror, Modern Love, Easy - and this female-centric, slightly wacky concept of this looks right up my straza. Starring Nicole Kidman, Alison Brie and many other recognisable faces, the stories follow varying concepts of what it means to be a woman today, blending magical realism with familiar domestic scenes - titles of some of the episodes are: The Woman Who Ate Photographs and The Woman Who Was Fed by a Duck. Intrigued!

Trailer: Watch here

2. Anatomy of A Scandal on Netflix

The very highly anticipated Anatomy of a Scandal comes onto Netflix this week. Starring Rupert Friend and Sienna Miller (finally back!) as a powerful politician and his long-suffering wife respectively who end up in the middle of a controversial media storm after his affair is exposed, which ends up unravelling something much darker. Promising mysterious and dark intrigue, as well as a stellar wardrobe from Sienna which already had articles written about it before it's even available to watch, leaves us with very high hopes! 

 Trailer: Watch here

3. Why Didn't They Ask Evans? on Britbox

Based on the original Agatha Christie novel, Why Didn't They Ask Evans? tells the story of Bobby Jones, a vicar's son, who begins investigating the death of a man who dies asking the titular question. Starring Will Poulter as Bobby (who was so great in Dopesick), Lucy Boynton, a cameo from Emma Thompson and Jim Broadbent, plus both directed by and starring Hugh Laurie, it is jam packed with a very well known cast and it's just fact that AC adaptations are always (usually) worth watching, particularly TV series. Other really good adaptations recently were And Then There Were None and The Pale Horse, for when you inevitably binge this. Also my first foray on Britbox! 

Trailer: Watch here

4. The Northman in cinemas

Slathered over every bus in London right now, The Northman is the next big actioned-filled blockbuster to hit the cinemas from Robert Eggers, following his 2019 film The Lighthouse. The story follows a young Viking prince on his quest to avenge his murdered father and stars much-loved Anna Taylor-Joy, Alexander Skarsgard, Nicole Kidman and lots of other famous people. I feel like this is definitely a tango-ice-blast-slurping, jumbo-popcorn cinema film best seen on the big screen on a Sunday afternoon. Viking sagas aren't usually my thing but I'll give this a go for the epic cast and general mania surrounding it's release.

Trailer: Watch here

5. Benedetta in cinemas

The less mainstream but potentially better choice of film in cinemas this week is Benedetta by Paul Verhoeven, most well known for erotic thriller Basic Instinct, and in his new work is definitely sticking to that realm. Set in 17th century Tuscany and based on a true story, Benedetta tells the story of a scandal that rocks a convent, as a nun, suffering from shocking visions through the night, becomes entangled in a forbidden lesbian affair. 

Trailer: Watch here