Pick of the week
Widow’s Bay
Could island town Widow’s Bay be the next Martha’s Vineyard? Despite the non-existent wifi, the pervasive atmosphere of gloom and his teenage son’s brutal verdict (“like a prison”), Matthew Rhys’s mayor Tom Loftis thinks so. But there’s another problem: the island is so full of sinister myths, it risks being the new Salem instead. Is there a supernatural element to its frequent fogs? An absurd suggestion, but Tom’s attempts to turn Widow’s Bay into a tourist destination do seem cursed. Created by Parks & Recreation co-writer Katie Dippold, Widow’s Bay sustains an unusual tone. It’s comedic but not wacky: crucially, the horror elements retain just enough genuine creepiness to raise the stakes. Phil Harrison
Apple TV, from Wednesday 29 April
***
Should I Marry a Murderer?
When Dr Caroline Muirhead said she was driving to the Scottish Highlands for a hill-walking date with a man she’d met online, her friends were cautious. “What if he turned out to be a murderer?” said one. Sometimes, it doesn’t pay to joke about such things. Muirhead fell in love with Alexander McKellar, who was charismatic and, as she discovered once she’d agreed to marry him, responsible for the killing of cyclist Tony Parsons in 2017. This grimly compelling documentary series is rendered still more visceral by the extensive mobile phone footage of the couple’s relationship and by Muirhead’s anguished reflections. PH
Netflix, from Wednesday 29 April
***
Songs in Sign Language
A lovely project to help ensure everyone can enjoy Disney magic: director Hyrum Osmond has led a team of 20 animators to recreate three beloved songs from recent hit features with the characters using American Sign Language. They have worked with experts to make engaging videos for The Next Right Thing (from Frozen 2), We Don’t Talk About Bruno (Encanto) and Beyond (Moana 2). And a short behind-the-scenes film explains exactly how they did it. Here’s hoping they give some more Disney bangers the same treatment. Hollie Richardson
Disney+, from Monday 27 April
***
Straight to Hell
One of the wilder lives of the 20th century gets a fictionalised treatment in this Japanese drama, which explores the vertiginous ups and terrifying downs of Kazuko Hosoki. She grew up during the second world war (enduring poverty so extreme she was forced to subsist on a diet of worms) before becoming a nightclub host, falling into debt to organised crime gangs and, once again, losing everything. At which point, she reinvented herself as a fortune teller and hoodwinked the vulnerable. Glossy and melodramatic, but still a remarkable story. PH
Netflix, from Monday 27 April
***
The House of the Spirits
Doing justice to the sheer scope of Isabel Allende’s magical realist masterpiece in a TV series is an ambitious undertaking. This adaptation (executive produced by Eva Longoria) boasts the approval of the author and offers a faithful, lavishly realised version of the source material. It focuses on four generations of a Chilean family, most notably Clara (Dolores Fonzi), a woman with apparent clairvoyant abilities. Via the family’s struggles and triumphs a larger story is told: that of Chile itself as, across the 20th century, its people fought for social and political freedom. PH
Prime Video, from Wednesday 29 April
***
Man on Fire
The fearsome special forces soldier gone to seed and struggling with civilian life is a familiar set-up. The latest man-mountain to reveal his vulnerable side is John Creasy (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II). John is a washed-up mercenary, struggling with PTSD and generally regarded as a spent force. But are his struggles to move on connected to his need for revenge in the wake of a mission that continues to haunt him? His need to confront his past takes him to Rio, where a mixture of dark professional obligations and even darker pleasures begins to unfold. PH
Netflix, from Thursday 30 April
***
Taskmaster NZ
There’s something utterly singular about Taskmaster; the comic chemistry between Greg Davies and Alex Horne and the atmosphere it produces is incredibly difficult to replicate. That hasn’t stopped other countries from borrowing the format though. If you can’t get enough ridiculous parlour games, grotesque prize tasks and peculiar presentational power dynamics, seasons one to three of Taskmaster New Zealand are available now. Jeremy Wells and Paul Williams are your Greg and Alex surrogates and, while it’s little more reserved, it’s still full of cheer. PH
Channel 4, from Friday 1 May
