Pick of the week
Station Eleven
Ready for a drama about the aftermath of a devastating flu outbreak yet? Based on Emily St John Mandel’s novel, it tells the story of Jeevan (Himesh Patel), an anxiety-ridden dropout who receives a warning about the seriousness of the virus and, in the company of a randomly acquired child, Kirsten (Matilda Lawler), tries to prepare for disaster. Given recent history, there’s a grim fascination in the familiarity of initial responses – denial, evasion, panic. But, crucially, the story hops between timelines, veering off into the distant future. What it finds there is surprisingly uplifting, with initial claustrophobia and terror giving way to renewal and even hope.
StarzPlay, from Sunday 30 January
***
Pam & Tommy
It’s 1995. Mullets are still being worn just about unironically. The internet is the wild west. And voyeurism hasn’t quite yet become a global hobby. Into this innocent world arrives a video tape featuring Baywatch pin-up Pamela Anderson and her rock star beau Tommy Lee engaging in vigorous adult recreational activity on their honeymoon. This hugely entertaining romp stars Seth Rogen as the building contractor who, justifiably furious after professional dealings with Lee (a gloriously infuriating Sebastian Stan), steals the tape and bootlegs it. Lily James plays Anderson with real heart, sweetness and empathy.
Star on Disney+, from Wednesday 2 February
***
The Tinder Swindler
“You can find a bit of everything on Tinder.” This documentary (from the team behind Don’t F**k With Cats) suggests you can certainly find trouble. The grubby story of Shimon Hayut, a catfishing conman who used the dating app to extract money from a series of women, is a cautionary tale – his web of lies included stories about everything from diamonds to the Russian secret services. The women’s life-savings funded Hayut’s lavish, globetrotting lifestyle, until several of his victims found each other and plotted revenge.
Netflix, from Wednesday 2 February
***
Murderville
Law & Order meets Whose Line Is It Anyway? Based on BBC Three’s patchy but intriguing Murder in Successville, this peculiar new Will Arnett vehicle is a comic crime procedural with a twist. Each week, Arnett’s Detective Terry Seattle will be accompanied by a new celebrity guest star and, clue by clue, they’ll attempt to improvise their way through a murder investigation before the guest is asked to identify the killer. Joining Arnett on this strange journey will be heavy hitters including Kumail Nanjiani, Annie Murphy and Sharon Stone.
Netflix, from Thursday 3 February
***
Cry Wolf
From Borgen writer Maja Jul Larsen, here’s an award-winning tense family drama under the Walter Presents umbrella. Lars (Bjarne Henriksen) is a heavy metal-loving social worker assigned the case of 14-year-old Holly (Flora Ofelia Hofmann Lindahl), who writes a school essay revealing that her stepfather abuses her and her younger brother. Cue a complicated unravelling of a fractured family, with Holly’s mother claiming it’s nothing more than a teenage rebellion as her children are taken into care. HR
All 4, available now
***
Suspicion
A gritty adaptation of Israeli thriller False Flag, this drama series stars Uma Thurman as icy American media mogul Katherine Newman, whose son is kidnapped. The suspicion falls upon five seemingly oblivious Londoners whose only connection is that they all happened to be in New York at the time of the disappearance. There’s a distinct sense that Newman is a woman with many dark secrets and very few scruples – but can the hapless suspects prove their innocence? Kunal Nayyar, from Suspicion’s tonal antithesis The Big Bang Theory, also stars.
Apple TV+, from Friday 4 February
***
Reacher
A hilarious (possibly even deliberately so) adaptation of Lee Child’s action thriller novels about a former cop returning to small-town civilian life who can’t help drawing the attention of the local constabulary after the town is hit by its first murder in decades. Reacher is played by Alan Ritchson, who has the killer combination of boy-next-door charm and muscles in places most people didn’t know existed. As a criminal conspiracy begins to swirl around, he’s forced to flex them.
Amazon Prime Video, from Friday 4 February
