Netflix
Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story
TV, 2023 – out 4 May
When Netflix scores one of their own, they naturally want to milk it. Thus the hugely popular period drama Bridgerton series (based on Julia Quinn’s Regency romance novels) is now into its third season with Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story, a prequel pivoting around the titular monarch (India Amarteifio) and her relationship with King George (Corey Mylchreest).
One review claims it’s the show’s most political season yet, reporting that it “finally tackles race head-on”.
I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson, season three
TV, US, 2023 – out 30 May
All kinds of comedy are difficult, but sketch comedy is hellaciously tough. For me, I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson is one of the funniest of all time, showcasing the American comedian’s great knack for taking small and/or silly ideas and running with them to the edge of oblivion.
If you’re uninitiated with Robinson’s distinct brand of quirk, why not get started: here’s a sketch involving a hat, another involving a burger and one more about a guy in a hotdog suit.
Working: What We Do All Day
TV, US, 2023 – out 17 May
Do you love your job? Do you hate your job? Are you ambivalent towards your job? If Barack Obama knocked on your door and started asking questions, would you open up? Inspired by Studs Terkel’s 1974 book Working, the former US president narrates and presents this documentary series, which explores the question: what makes a good job good?
Obama focuses on three different industries – home care, tech and hospitality – and acknowledges the shifting sands of contemporary workplaces. Including, as he notes in the trailer, “artificial intelligence, remote work [and] spiralling inequality”.
Honourable mentions: Hannah Gadsby: Something Special (TV, 9 May), Queen Cleopatra (TV, 10 May), Halloween Ends (film, 11 May), Black Knight (TV, 12 May), Mulligan (TV, 12 May), Halloween Kills (film, 12 May), The Mother (film, 12 May), Aftertaste season 1 (TV, 16 May), Bros (film, 25 May).
Stan
Ten Pound Poms
TV, UK/Australia, 2023 – out 15 May
This UK/Australia co-production begins in a dreary ol‘ England, circa the 50s, where a group of Brits decide to start over in “Australia, mate!” Created by Danny Brocklehurst and directed by Jamie Stone and Ana Kokkinos, the show is quick to its feet, relocating the characters to the Great Southern Land within the first 10 minutes. Arriving in a remote place that, according to one character, looks “like a prisoner of war camp,” the Poms get a crash course in “not on the brochure” advertising.
Who will make a good fist of it and who will shrivel like a prune in the scorching Aussie sun? The first episode has certainly whetted my appetite.
Honourable mentions: Superbad (film, 1 May), Alice, Darling (film, 7 May), No Time to Die (film, 11 May), The Kids Are Alright (film, 13 May), The Great season 3 (TV, 13 May), Nacho (TV, 27 May).
Amazon Prime Video
Plane
Film, US, 2023 – out 19 May
They left a word out of the title: “crash”. The plane Gerard Butler pilots in his new rootin’-tootin’ B movie goes down about 20 minutes in, all passengers and crew unharmed thanks to the protagonist’s calm-under-fire manoeuvring. But, oh dear, they’ve landed somewhere his co-pilot describes as “very very bad” – an island controlled by violent rebels.
This is a genre exercise, told competently but without flair, though the film does pack a bit of grunt and might hit the spot if standards are kept low. Butler is the human equivalent of junk food: you keep returning to him even though you know it’s not good for you.
Edge of Tomorrow
Film, US, 2014 – out 19 May
The greatest video game movie that isn’t actually a video game movie. Fighting on a carnage-strewn battlefront against a hideous alien species, Tom Cruise’s Major William Cage dies continuously on the battlefield, only to awaken, again and again, at the beginning of the day, like Bill Murray in Groundhog Day – but with massive guns and a mech suit. With help from Emily Blunt’s Sergeant Rita Vrataski, Cage improves his combat strategies and learns about the aliens’ weaknesses, becoming an increasingly formidable force. A paean to the death-defying infallibility of the Hollywood hero.
Honourable mentions: The Hobbit trilogy (film, 1 May), Walking Tall (film, 1 May), Midsommar (film, 12 May), The Wolf of Wall Street (film, 19 May), The Woman King (film, 20 May).
ABC iView
The Messenger
TV, Australia, 2023 – out 14 May
The day after foiling a robbery, young taxi driver Ed (William McKenna) receives an ace of diamonds with three addresses on it. This card gamifies his life, providing locations he’ll visit and discover a problem to solve – or a wrong to right – at each. Adapting Markus Zusak’s bestselling novel of the same name, The Messenger is lean and charmingly downbeat, with young adult neo-noirish vibes that reminded me of Rian Johnson’s 2005 film Brick – albeit with a more laid-back Aussie spirit.
Folau
TV, Australia, 2023 – out 18 May
Aware that she’s entering an explosive space, director Nel Minchin (who co-directed the terrific Firestarter: The Story of Bangarra) performs a constant juggling act in her two-part documentary about former cross-code superstar Israel Folau, who was sacked by Rugby Australia after publishing a deeply offensive and bigoted social media post. Interviewees have been selected very carefully and diligently, including coaches, players, religious leaders, sports commentators, members of the Pasifika community and LGBTQI voices.
There’s a sense Minchin is treading on eggshells, but the production is unquestionably successful in its effort to explore nuance. The second episode in particular really gets into the thorny issues, pivoting around the clash between freedom of expression versus the right not to be vilified.
Kevin Can F**k Himself
TV, US, 2021-2022 – out now
Creator Valerie Armstrong’s bitterly dark and highly original series executes a twisted premise that dramatically pairs the psychology and circumstances of the protagonist with the form of the show. Whenever Allison (Annie Murphy) and her doofus husband Kevin (Eric Petersen) share the same scenes, the series is a sitcom, replete with cheesy jokes and canned laughter. When Kevin isn’t around, it’s a gritty drama, dark and unsettling, focusing on the long-suffering Annie and her growing resentment towards her belittling husband.
Armstrong uses this concept to comment on the sexist history of sitcoms, including how these shows so often get behind badly behaving men (think Everybody Loves Raymond, The King of Queens, Home Improvement, The Simpsons) no matter how stupid or irresponsible their actions. The first season arrives on iView on 2 May; the second lands on 30 May. (It is also available on Prime Video.)
Honourable mentions: Portlandia (TV, 1 May), Documentary Now! (TV, 4 May), Interview with the Vampire (TV, 5 May), Mayfair Witches (TV, 5 May), The North Water (TV, 13 May), Sister Boniface Mysteries (TV, 13 May), Ragdoll (TV, 13 May), In Limbo (TV, 14 May), Ningaloo Nyinggulu (TV, 16 May), Jonestown: Terror In The Jungle (TV, 21 May), Suffragette (film, 21 May), If Beale Street Could Talk (film, 26 May).
SBS On Demand
Safe Home
TV, Australia, 2023 – out 11 May
Safe Home, from creator Anna Barnes, is a drama which examines domestic abuse in Australia. The narrative is centered around Phoebe (Aisha Dee, star of the excellent horror movie Sissy), who begins working as a communications specialist for a family violence legal centre. She’s exposed to terrifying realities, including, in the first episode, an abusive husband who sneaks into the building on her watch.
The show jumps around quite a bit, sometimes to its detriment, creating a destabilising energy. But in this discordance some compelling narratives emerge, as well as a sense of immediacy and urgency.
Sound of Metal
Film, US, 2019 – out 5 May
I’ve never seen a film about hearing loss as captivating as Darius Marder’s drama about Ruben (Riz Ahmed), a punk-metal drummer who is going deaf and is instructed by a doctor to avoid all loud noises. He doesn’t listen, of course. But Marder avoids familiar territory by introducing the protagonist’s past (he’s a recovering addict) and a clinic that helps people deal with hearing loss.
Ahmed delivers a terrific, unfaltering performance, and the sound design cleverly takes us inside the head of the protagonist with audio effects applied in very interesting ways.
Honourable mentions: Leave No Trace (film, 1 May), Sex, Lies and Videotape (film, 1 May), Peggy Sue Got Married (film, 5 May), Oliver! (film, 5 May), Body Double (film, 12 May), The Big Chill (film, 12 May), The Bridge on the River Kwai (film, 12 May), The Age of Innocence (film, 12 May), Blue Lights (TV, 18 May), Normal People (TV, 25 May), The Night Logan Woke Up (TV, 25 May), History of the Sitcom (TV, 31 May).
Disney+
The Clearing
TV, Australia, 2023 – out 24 May
Everybody loves a story about cults, right? Notorious Melbourne-based cult The Family has inspired a documentary series, a nonfiction book, a novel by JP Pomare and now an eight-part TV drama adapting Pomare’s narrative. The Clearing comes packed with pedigree, starring Miranda Otto as cult leader Adrienne (a character inspired by Anne Hamilton-Byrne) and Teresa Palmer as Freya, a former member of the cult.
The Muppets Mayhem
TV, US, 2023 – out 10 May
What should Disney do with The Muppets? Those lovable furry rascals occupy a permanent place in popular culture, though they’re hardly at the forefront of it. The latest attempt to keep them relevant, or at least busy, is a series about the famous Muppets band: Dr Teeth and the Electric Mayhem. The story revolves around the band’s efforts to record their first album.
Hang on … first? What have they been doing all these years? How much wacky tobaccy have they been smoking? Expect lots of celebrity cameos and a party vibe that’s sensational, inspirational, celebrational, muppetational.
Honourable mentions: Ed Sheeran: The Sum Of It All (TV, 3 May), Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures (TV, 4 May), Star Wars: Visions (TV, 4 May), Crater (film, 12 May), White Men Can’t Jump (film, 19 May), American Born Chinese (TV, 24 May).
Binge
White House Plumbers
TV, US, 2023 - out 3 May
HBO’s five-part satirical drama inspired by historical events begins with what we assume is going to be the Watergate break-in – only for it to be revealed that the thieves have brought the wrong tools. This establishes a kooky tone that, going forward, veers on the cartoonish – a curious way to approach the story of rightwing political operatives and so-called “White House Plumbers” E Howard Hunt and G Gordon Liddy. Hunt is played with very odd and slippery rhythms by Woody Harrelson, who brings a spitting chips demeanour and has an odd way of raising his bottom lip towards the sky, as if trying to swallow his own face. If you’re a Harrelson fan, it’s worth a look.
Carnifex
Film, Australia, 2023 - out 25 May
An aspiring documentarian and two young conservationists head into the Australian bush at night to track how bushfires have affected the lives of animals. And then ... the drop bears attack!! No, seriously. This low-budget Australian creature feature hasn’t received a lot of love since premiering on the festival circuit last year but it’s entertaining and quite well made, with director Sean Lahiff doing a good job building and maintaining tension with limited resources.
Honourable mentions: Play Misty for Me (film, 2 May), Confess, Fletch (film, 2 May), The Kids Are Alright (film, 8 May), Halloween Ends (film, 11 May), The Woman King (film, 20 May), Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai: Season 1 TV, 25 May), Bros (film, 25 May).
Apple TV+
Silo
TV, US, 2023 – out 5 May
The imagery in this adaptation of Hugh Howey’s sci-fi novels is striking from the start, with shots that scream “this show cost a tonne”. Silo has one hell of a central setting: a huge underground edifice where thousands of people live in a post-apocalyptic future. There are crops on some levels, grass-grazing cows on others, and market-like areas that reminded me of Mad Max’s Bartertown. Thing is, the inhabitants don’t know who built this place or what happened to the world outside – though they can choose to leave (but never return) at any time.
Rashida Jones’s Allison starts investigating the place’s past, asking important questions: why don’t the powers that be want her and her partner, David Oyelowo’s Holston, to have children? I’m totally taken in – hook, line, sinker.
Honourable mentions: Still: A Michael J Fox Movie (film, 12 May), City on Fire (TV, 12 May), High Desert (TV, 17 May), Platonic (TV, 24 May).
Paramount+
Fatal Attraction
TV, US, 2023 – out now
Most critics stopped asking the question “do we really need a remake of … ” long ago, given the answer was invariably “no!” The latest remake nobody asked for reworks Adrian Lyne’s 1987 thriller Fatal Attraction, about a New York lawyer (Michael Douglas) obsessively stalked by a jilted lover (Glenn Close). Refitted with a contemporary setting, the two key roles this time are played by Joshua Jackson and Lizzy Caplan. The reviews have been so-so, though the Guardian’s Joel Golby described the eight-part series as “a particularly interesting example of remakemania” that “surprised me with how gripping it was”.
Honourable mentions: Confess, Fletch (film, 2 May), Death’s Roulette (film, 5 May), Five Bedrooms season 4 (TV, 14 May), Smile (film, 16 May), Ghosts of Beirut (TV, 20 May), The New Infernal Machine (film, 23 May), Triangle of Sadness (film, 30 May), The Visitor (film, 31 May).
• This article was amended on 3 May 2023 to clarify that Israel Folau was sacked by Rugby Australia, not the NRL.
