TV & Film Journal | 29.04.22

In between revelling in the Spring bank holiday we have been graced with this weekend (great) and enviously scrolling through the sun-soaked holiday snaps from just-about-everyone who seems to be abroad right now (not that great), there are many telly and cinema things to watch this week. Side note: AppleTV+ is having such a moment right now (within my flat at least and predictably with many others) and has become increasingly one of the streaming services we use the most. The launch of Shining Girls this week (Elizabeth Moss fans unite) is no doubt going to keep that momentum going and the trailer for the upcoming The Essex Serpent looks creme de la creme, like the rest of their recent series'... give us more!

 Shining Girls on AppleTV+ 

With our beloved Severance and WeCrashed having just come to an end, we are blessed with another AppleTV+ series that has already got raving reviews. Anything with Elizabeth Moss I will usually give a go, and the premise of this new series sounds fascinating and mind-bending. Based on the novel by Lauren Beukes, the story follows Kirby, years after a brutal attack, discovering that a recent murder is linked to her assault. The series tackles her approach to the trauma through a visceral, shifting reality to add to the disorientating and undefinable nature that the trauma invokes in her. The first three episodes are out on Friday 29 April so there will be at least three hours (obviously more) of the bank holiday weekend I will be glued to the sofa. 

Trailer: Watch here

Ten Percent on Amazon Prime

Following the notable Call My Agent! phase of the first lockdown back in 2020 comes the UK's answer to the ASK agency and much has been speculated on whether it will match up to it's original, given it's universal adoration and charm. Taking the same premise, we first meet Jim Broadbent, playing Richard Nightingale, the Nightingale Hart agency co-founder, expectedly dying and leaving the agency in the hands of it's staff. Celebrity cameo's are the linchpin of Call My Agent, and Ten Percent delivers in the form of Helena Bonham Carter, Emma Corrin, Dominic West and many more over the eight episodes. I have very high hopes for some easy watching over the weekend (it's out from the 28th April). 

Trailer: Watch here

The Sex Lives of College Girls on ITV2

Not technically new, but premiering for the first time in the UK on ITV2 this week, The Sex Lives of College Girls has been referenced on many a (American) podcast I've listened to as being so good, but we haven't been able to watch it until now. Created by Mindy Kaling, it follows the lives of four freshman 18-year-olds in college in Vermont, navigating their lives and new-found freedom. It gives me Girls vibes and promises to be endearing and infuriating in equal measure. 

Trailer: Watch here

The Outfit in cinemas 

Somewhat quashed by the likes of The Northman and Batman, The Outfit is a new thriller in cinemas created by the writer of The Imitation Game, and tells the story of an English gentleman's tailor in 1956 Chicago, played by Mark Rylance, and his assistant Mable, played by Zoe Deutch, who makes suits for the men of the city, most of those being criminals. One night, the two worlds collide and chaos ensues in the hunt to find a mole who betrayed the city's most notorious mobster. Not my usual film genre of choice but very into the cast, the plot - and surely, the outfits?

Trailer: Watch here

Heartstopper on Netflix

New to Netflix in the last week, Heartstopper is making serious waves and breaking hearts, with it's staggering 100% Rotten Tomatoes score, coined as optimistic and wholesome anti-Euphoria, and already set for a second series. Played out in eight chapters, Heartstopper is based on Alice Oseman's graphic novels and follows British teens navigating their way through love, sexuality and relationships, capturing the feel-good without overlooking the challenges of an LGBTQ+ teenagers.

Trailer: Watch here