Pick of the week
Fatal Attraction
The phrase “bunny boiler” feels like a relic of the last century. Sadly, it’s probably the most lasting cultural legacy of the 1987 erotic thriller. So how will this remake fare? As we begin, Dan Gallagher (Joshua Jackson) is being considered for parole a decade after Alex Forrest’s (Lizzy Caplan) murder and we meet his daughter, who is in therapy partly because of her father’s misdeeds. Dan is an unsympathetic figure this time round, but the tone feels confused – the series uses the extra running time to build backstories but loses the harsh (albeit problematic) energy of the film. And, as Dan and Alex are drawn to each other, the underpinning sexual politics don’t feel much more progressive.
Paramount+, from Monday 1 May
***
A Small Light
This series explores the extraordinary heroism of Miep Gies (Bel Powley) – the Dutch woman who helped hide Anne Frank’s family in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam. Miep is strong-willed, plain-speaking and, according to her adoptive mother, “really annoying”. But once emigre Jewish businessman Otto Frank (Liev Schreiber) takes her under his wing, her loyalty leads her down a dangerous path as his circumstances change along with that of his family who arrive as refugees from Germany. Joe Cole is also excellent as Gies’s studious but similarly courageous husband Jan.
Disney+, from Tuesday 2 May
***
Ed Sheeran: The Sum of it All
He has never been the most enigmatic of pop stars but, while the boy-next-door vibes stay intact, this documentary series does catch Ed Sheeran at his most vulnerable. During the course of filming, Sheeran’s wife Cherry encountered serious health problems and he lost his best friend, the entrepreneur Jamal Edwards. Accordingly, while it’s still very much an officially sanctioned version of intimacy, we get to know Sheeran better than is often the case in such films. In the end, whatever your feelings about his music, it’s hard to take against the man himself.
Disney+, from Wednesday 3 May
***
Jewish Matchmaking
In the wake of the hugely problematic Indian Matchmaking, a show that seemed to glorify a particularly entitled brand of masculinity and scorn career women, comes this Jewish variation overseen by Orthodox Jewish dating coach Aleeza Ben Shalom. This series feels equally culturally specific but slightly more universal and, as a result, it slips down more easily. There’s a little more self-deprecation from some of the men at least, though one does consider a woman having cats to be a red flag – which feels like a red flag in itself.
Netflix, from Wednesday 3 May
***
Tom Jones
No TV network ever went bust by overestimating the UK public’s taste for a costume drama. And here’s another one – a slightly generic reimagining of Henry Fielding’s classic novel The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling. It’s a bright and breezy adaptation of what’s actually quite a formally adventurous book, but the story of forbidden love at the novel’s heart remains seductive and resonant. Hearty, handsome, rootless Tom is played by Solly McLeod, while Sophie Wilde is the squire’s daughter and object of Tom’s affections, Sophia Western.
ITVX, from Thursday 4 May
***
Queen Charlotte
“There are worse fates,” the young Queen Charlotte is assured, “than marrying the King of England.” But is that true? This Bridgerton prequel isn’t without a degree of modern resonance, exploring the problems facing an outsider entering the royal family. India Amarteifio is Queen Charlotte, a young woman initially considered little more than a babymaker, but soon forced to demonstrate resourcefulness and courage. The Bridgerton universe – simultaneously reassuringly traditional and subtly progressive – is again realised perfectly.
Netflix, from Thursday 4 May
***
Silo
Another post-apocalyptic drama for anyone missing The Last of Us; this one is adapted from Hugh Howey’s novel series. Silo finds the last 10,000 people on Earth living in a vast underground complex, with no real idea why they’re there, or when they might be able to leave. It’s a convincingly built world – there’s currency, street markets, a live music scene – but it’s still a study in dystopian alienation as the question emerges: is this self-contained community a refuge or a prison? A decent cast includes Rashida Jones, Rebecca Ferguson and Tim Robbins.
Apple TV+, from Friday 5 May
