Pick of the week
The Savant
Dramas about online life are hard to get right; how much tension can really be conjured by watching someone stare at a screen? This explosive thriller, which stars Jessica Chastain as Jodi, an agent who specialises in infiltrating hate groups, fares better than most. It helps that the subject matter – lone wolf, far-right terrorists whose fantasies spill out into the world – feels grimly relevant. But Chastain also embodies the duality many of us now feel; the impossibility of reconciling online identities with real life. Using the persona “Fleshy MF”, Jodi understands the impulses of her chatroom comrades – and stopping the extremists becomes a challenge with potentially terrifying consequences.
Apple TV+, from Friday 26 September
