Pick of the week
The Most Hated Man on the Internet
When the history of the early, wild west era of the internet is written, Hunter Moore will have a baleful starring role. His revenge porn website IsAnyoneUp.com was an early warning of the kind of disinhibited cruelty that can be enabled by people online. For the uninitiated, Moore encouraged users to send compromising photos of ex-partners and then refused to take them down. The bullying was part of the fun. This series (inevitably from the creators of Don’t F*** With Cats) tells the grim story of Moore’s rise and, thankfully, his fall too. Netflix, from Wednesday
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The Resort
Set in the fictional holiday resort of Akumal, this odd, feverish and unpredictable mystery comedy initially promises quirky vacation capers before transforming into something darker and more psychedelically inclined. Cristin Milioti and William Jackson Harper are Emma and Noah, a couple celebrating their 10th wedding anniversary with a dream tropical jaunt. But there’s something strange about this place. When Emma finds an old mobile phone, a missing persons cold case turns into a series of existential quandaries and all hell breaks loose. Peacock, from Thursday 28 July
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Keep Breathing
When a small plane crashes in the Canadian wilderness, Liv Rivera (Melissa Barrera) is the only survivor. What follows is as much a psychological purge as a physical ordeal: as Liv attempts to survive in the wilderness – to work out which berries to eat, how to make a fire and shelter – she must also undertake a reckoning of her life. As a career-oriented attorney, she’s sometimes kept emotional attachment at arm’s length – and this intriguing series intercuts her struggles with flashbacks as she learns a few lessons about what survival really means. Netflix, from Thursday 28 July
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Uncoupled
Co-created by Emily in Paris showrunner Darren Star (but maybe try to look past that?), Uncoupled shows a similar fascination with the melodramatic trials and tribulations of wealthy urbanites. Estate agent Michael (Neil Patrick Harris), dumped by his long-term boyfriend in his mid-40s, is reintroducing himself to the gay dating scene. This world of dick pics, Grindr and recreational drug binges is at once jarringly alien and reassuringly familiar. It’s glossy, faintly irritating and carried by Harris’s amiably baffled lead performance. Netflix, from Friday 29 July
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Paper Girls
A group of young friends in 1980s small-town America are inexplicably transported into a peculiar supernatural mystery? There’s an obvious comparison to be made with Stranger Things, but in fairness to Paper Girls, it’s adapted from Brian K Vaughan and Cliff Chiang’s series of graphic novels. It’s not without its unique charm – the all-girl friendship group are cute and funny as they find themselves in 2019, navigating future shock, meeting their older selves and searching for a way back to their childhood. Amazon Prime Video, from Friday 29 July
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Surface
“If my life was so perfect, why did I try to end it?” This series taps into a mystery of memory reconstruction. Sophie (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) is wealthy, beautiful and ostensibly happy. So why did she plunge off the back of a boat? When she wakes, with a head injury and no recollection of the events leading up to the incident, difficult questions emerge. Did she fall or was she pushed? Can her husband and friends be trusted? Can she even trust herself? Surface takes itself incredibly seriously, but it’s an interesting premise. Apple TV+, from Friday 29 July
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Under the Banner of Heaven
Leaping back and forth between different timelines – a brutal murder and the deeply ominous path the victim Brenda Lafferty took towards her death – this series (based on a real-life case) is more whydunnit than whodunnit. Andrew Garfield is detective Jeb Pyre, a devout Mormon who finds himself embroiled in an investigation into the soul of his own church. Daisy Edgar-Jones is excellent as Brenda, whose free-spiritedness within an isolated community carries fatal risks. It’s bleak but the creeping air of menace behind the fixed smiles and performative piety of the Lafferty family is expertly evoked, as is the tortured battle between religious faith and genuine morality. Disney+, from Wednesday 27 July
