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Pick of the week
Stranger Things
The concluding episodes of the Duffer brothers’ smash-hit coming-of-age, sci-fi nostalgia-fest (maybe the secret of the show’s success is how many genres it manages to incorporate?) will be dropping all over the festive season – and they are blockbuster whoppers. Devotees will be up bright and early on Boxing Day for episodes five to seven (the finale airs on New Year’s Day). Events are dominated by Will’s new powers, which present a massive threat to Vecna. But why is Vecna so wary of the cave in which Max is hiding? As the finale looms, the past and present are set to fall into place – and the now visibly twentysomething cast will be able to move on with their lives.
Netflix, from Boxing Day
The Lowdown
Lee Raybon (Ethan Hawke) keeps a lot of plates spinning. He also watches plenty of plates crash to the ground. His family life is a mess. His business is failing. In his self-styled role as a “truthstorian” (a dirt-digging, investigative journalist), he has a knack for upsetting Tulsa’s most dangerous people. This drama from Sterlin Harjo lands somewhere between noirish crime thriller and stoner caper. The story, which takes in racist neo-Nazis and systemic corruption, is dark and conspiratorial, but Hawke’s performance invests Raybon with a quirky charm and adds nuance and heart.
Disney+, from Boxing Day
Fallout
For a show with such an apocalyptic premise, Fallout teems with new life. It’s just that the life in question is generally grotesque, vicious and corrupt. The second season of this video game adaptation continues to transcend its origins but fans of the original will find themselves on familiar (if terrifying) ground as the action heads to New Vegas. Much pivots on the love/hate relationship between Ella Purnell’s Lucy and the Ghoul (Walton Goggins) as Lucy searches for her nefarious father. The world-building is immaculate, the writing is witty and it never hesitates to get properly nasty.
Prime Video, from Wednesday 17 December
Emily in Paris
The increasingly misleadingly named romcom returns as Emily’s Roman holiday continues. While the show is still bewilderingly poor, it has become more likable as it leans into its own cartoonish absurdity. Emily is struggling in Rome: Marcello has taken her for an afternoon truffle-hunting even though she’s turned up to their date wearing heels. Professionally, things aren’t brilliant either – though to be fair, Emily has always been terrible at her job with no ill-effects on her lifestyle. Besides, as she quips inevitably, “Rome wasn’t built in a day”.
Netflix, from Thursday 18 December
Born to Be Wild
Whereas the BBC’s Natural History Unit will show the animal world red in tooth and claw, that generally isn’t Apple’s approach. And this six-part series, narrated by Hugh Bonneville, shamelessly leans into the cuteness factor. The animals it follows are orphans, raised by humans from an early age but being prepared to return to the wild. As this parade of interactions between humans and baby elephants, lemurs, lynx, bears, penguins and cheetahs suggests, some of them have become worryingly (albeit delightfully and photogenically) attached to their rescuers.
Apple TV, from Friday 19 December
Stranded
For many people, being stranded by snow in a ski resort over Christmas would be a dream come true. But this Italian thriller, via Walter Presents, takes a different tack. Banker Giovanni Lo Bianco is on holiday with his children and soon discovers that one of his fellow guests is a figure from his past with the potential to expose his double life. But things can always get worse – and when the hotel’s electricity is cut off, the situation becomes life-threatening and the guests can only survive by trusting each other. Which is a big problem. Contrived but fun.
Channel 4, from Friday 19 December
Breakdown: 1975
The mid-1970s was a difficult time for the United States: the country faced humiliation in Vietnam, the aftermath of Nixon’s presidency and a series of social and financial crises. However, as this fascinating documentary shows, at least plenty of great cinema emerged from the turbulence. In fact, director Morgan Neville suggests that films such as Taxi Driver and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest were, thanks to their sense of disillusionment, a window into America’s soul. Martin Scorsese and Ellen Burstyn contribute, while Taxi Driver star Jodie Foster narrates.
Netflix, from Friday 19 December
