What to watch this weekend.
Credit: Netflix / Starz
Wild-haired musical geniuses. Cheeky British spies. Lost boys turning on one another in a hellish examination of human nature, and whether or not life in a state of nature truly is nasty, brutish and short. These, plus investigative sheep, diabolical serial killers, and drag stars all grace our screens this weekend, whether you’re watching at home on your TV, on your mobile device or heading to theaters.
There’s something for everyone, basically, in one of the busiest weeks of new entertainment content in a good, long while. I’ve been watching mostly British mystery thrillers lately. I blew through the first season of DCI Banks, which was nothing particularly special but very solid, and then started Endeavor, about a young Inspector Morse, which is excellent. I’m also working my way through the first season of The Devil’s Hour, which is super creepy and really fascinating with a bunch of paranormal mystery and horror elements. If you’re looking for UK detective shows, any of these should do nicely.
Oh, and I finally started Star Wars Maul: Shadow Lord, which is actually quite good. I’m not as big into animated Star Wars overall, but the animation, writing and voice-acting here is all superb.
As always, I’ve scoured the internet for the best TV shows and movies streaming on Netflix, Prime Video, Apple TV, Disney+ and more this weekend. If you have any recommendations, tips or other thoughts feel free to shoot me a note. Let me know what you’re watching these days, or if you’ve enjoyed any of my recommendations, on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook. Be sure to also check out last weekend’s streaming guide below:
Here’s everything new this weekend on all your favorite streaming services.
New TV Shows To Watch This Weekend
Lord Of The Flies (Netflix)
Based on the book by William Golding, Lord of the Flies is a new 4-part adaptation about a group of young British schoolboys who find themselves trapped on an island with no adults to watch over them. I’ve only ever read the book, and I’m not sure I’m in the mood for such a grim tale at the moment, but the trailer certainly makes this look excellent. Critics and audiences are split, however, with a 96% RT score from critics but a rotten 59% from viewers.
Legends (Netflix)
Could Legends be Netflix’s answer to Slow Horses? The trailer certainly makes it look that way. Tom Burke and Steve Coogan star in this series about a team of civil servants tasked with combating the flood of drugs that hit the streets of Britain in the ’90s. It looks quite a bit funnier than I expected when I first read about this show, which is inspired by a true story. The series currently has a 90% on Rotten Tomatoes and all episodes are currently available. This one is definitely at the top of my weekend to-watch list.
The Chestnut Man: Hide and Seek (Netflix)
I only recently watched the first season of The Chestnut Man on Netflix, a Nordic Noir series about a really terrifying serial killer and the two detectives who set out to track him down and put an end to the killing. Hide and Seek once again follows detectives Naia Thulin (Danica Curcic) and Mark Hess (Mikkel Boe Folsgaard) as they track down yet another vicious killer. Anyone who enjoys Nordic Noir should give this a watch. Same goes for fans of True Detective Season 1, which the first season reminded me of to some degree.
Amadeus (Starz)
I’m not sure if I’ll watch the new Starz take on Amadeus. Critics have been mostly very positive, with an 88% RT score, but audiences give it a very poor 37%. The problem is, the movie is such a classic. The story of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and his rival, Salieri, is at once quite funny and quite sad, and while I like Will Sharpe and Paul Bettany a great deal, I can’t imagine this living up to the film.
Citadel – Season 2 (Prime Video)
The first season of Amazon’s big, flashy, expensive spy thriller, Citadel, bombed pretty hard and none of its spinoffs took off, either. I suppose this is why Amazon has done essentially zero marketing for Season 2. I only knew there was a Season 2 when I saw this pop up in the Prime Video app. As much as I love spy thrillers, I couldn’t get past the first episode of Season 1 so I really don’t know what to tell you about this one. It’s a globetrotting spy show with some very talented actors and, by all accounts, a very messy script.
The Terror: Devil In Silver (AMC)
I’ve only seen the first season of The Terror but I thought it was absolutely phenomenal. Of course, it was about two British exploration ships trapped in the arctic and the horrors, er, terrors the officers and crew experience in this dreadful, isolated part of the world. The show was named after one of these ships, The Terror (the second was The Erebus) and it’s all based on a true story, though wildly embellished both out of necessity and for entertainment purposes. The third season, Devil In Silver, is based on the book by Victor LaValle, about a working class man mistakenly committed to a psychiatric hospital where things get very, very dark. Dan Stevens stars.
RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars – Season 11 (Paramount+)
If you like drag shows, you almost certainly already watch RuPaul’s Drag Race. All Stars features drag queens primarily from the original series invited back to compete.
Song of the Samurai (HBO Max)
Based on the Chiruran: Shinsengumi Requiem manga, Song of the Samurai follows the Shinsengumi samurai force during the late-Edo period Kyoto. The Japanese-language martial arts series is a collaboration from the Tokyo Broadcasting System, video streaming platform U-NEXT and studio house, THE SEVEN.
M.I.A. – Season 1 (Peacock)
New Movies To Watch This Weekend
Remarkably Bright Creatures (Netflix)
Greenland 2: Migration (HBO Max)
Gary (Hulu)
Gary (The Bear)
Credit: Hulu
New Movies In Theaters This Weekend
The Sheep Detectives
Mortal Kombat II
TV Shows Currently Streaming Weekly
From – Season 4 (MGM+)
The third episode of the MGM+ hit FROM drops on Sunday. I’ve been really enjoying this season and the second episode introduced some cool new threads that tied back to a handful of earlier episodes including the series premiere.
The series follows a group of townsfolk who find themselves trapped in a terrifying, unnamed town gripped by some mysterious evil. Monsters wander the streets at night as our heroes search for clues about the nature of this place and how to escape. New episodes drop Sundays.
Widow’s Bay (Apple TV)
Widow’s Bay follows the efforts of town mayor, Tom Loftis (Matthew Rhys), as he tries to turn the ailing New England island town into a tourist hub. Things don’t go as planned. Something dark and mysterious lurks beneath the town. When things go supernatural, the question becomes: Is this really a curse, or is something more nefarious at work? Part comedy, party mystery, party horror, the series also stars Kate O’Flynn, Kevin Carroll, Dale Dickey, Kingston Rumi and Stephen Root.
I’ve watched the first two episodes and enjoyed the hell out of it. Honestly, it’s such a great blend of humor and horror, I did not expect to be so thoroughly freaked out. New episodes drop on Thursdays, which translates to Wednesday evenings on Apple TV. Highly recommend you give this one a watch! Critics give this one a sterling 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, and audiences aren’t far behind with 93%.
Outlander – Season 8 (Starz)
I have now penned two pieces about my gripes with Outlanders 8th and final season. The first was a list of the various mistakes the writers have made with characters like William and Fergus; the second focuses on Claire and Jamie and the way this season has sidelined their story and neutered Claire as the protagonist. I’m still enjoying it for what it is, but I’m sad that so much of the final season feels like a waste of time and that we haven’t returned to Scotland, where this show was at its best. The series finale is the only episode left after next weekend’s penultimate episode (the show is on break this week). The finale drops on May 15th after a week break.
The Boys – Season 5 (Prime Video)
The Boys
Credit: Prime Video
While I’ve enjoyed the fifth and final season of The Boys for the most part, it does have some pretty glaring problems. My guess is that the shortcomings we’ve experienced across the first five episodes of the season are largely due to a lack of content. The story keeps shuffling its feet because there’s only really enough actual story to last a couple episodes, and the best part of the season will be the final showdown between the Boys and Homelander / Vought. In other words, I still have high hopes that this will end well, but it’s a lot of filler on the way. You can read my latest critique of Season 5 right here. New episodes drop Wednesdays.
Your Friends & Neighbors – Season 2 (Apple TV)
Your Friends & Neighbors
Credit: Apple TV
Your Friends & Neighbors star John Hamm is joined by James Marsden this season because Marsden is everywhere (or just seems to be since I just watched Jury Duty). I’m all caught up on the second season and so far it’s still highly watchable but not quite as compelling as the first. It’s more of the same, basically, though one can’t help but wonder if this would have made more sense as a limited series – not because it’s bad, by any means, and Marsden’s character is a lot of fun, but because they’re dragging out a story that was mostly at a nice stopping point at the end of Season 1. New episodes drop Fridays.
Margo’s Got Money Troubles (Apple TV)
Margo’s Got Money Troubles
Credit: Apple
Elle Fanning stars as Margo, a young college student who gets knocked up by one of her professors and decides to move back home and have the baby. Her parents are played by Michelle Pfeiffer and Nick Offerman. I watched the first episode and thought it was quite good. I’ve been a big fan of Fanning since The Great and she is, once again, great here. I haven’t watched enough of the show to have a full-fledged opinion, but so far it’s pretty funny and very well-written. New episodes drop on Wednesdays.
Half Man (HBO Max)
Richard Gadd wrote, starred-in and created the heartbreaking Netflix drama, Baby Reindeer, and now he returns with Half Man, a new limited series on HBO Max. It’s getting much more mixed reviews than Gadd’s first series, though it looks to be treading similar ground in its exploration of a complicated, tumultuous and at times violent relationship between two very different men across two different times in their lives. I started the first episode last night but was a bit too tired and decided I’d finish it later. I will report back with my impressions. New episodes drop Thursdays on HBO Max.
The Testaments (Hulu)
The Testaments
Credit: Hulu
This new spinoff of The Handmaid’s Tale follows Agnews (Chase Infiniti of One Battle After Another) and Daisy (Lucy Halliday), young women at Aunt Lydia’s elite preparatory school for future wives. Aunt Lydia (Ann Dowd) is the major crossover from the original series, though it appears she’s having a major change of heart. Naturally, our heroes begin to question the brutal regime they are a part of, and rebellious thoughts begin to guide their actions. New episodes land Wednesdays.
The Audacity (AMC / Samsung TV Network)
AMC’s new tech-bro drama, The Audacity, is an interesting series so far. I’ve seen the first two episodes and I can’t decide if I like it or not. The story follows Duncan Park (Billy Magnussen) a very anxiety-prone, mildly sociopathic tech CEO whose relationship with his therapist, Dr. JoAnne Feder (Sarah Goldberg) takes some ethically dubious turns. Like Succession, none of these people are likable at first. The big question is whether they’ll be likable enough to keep watching. Somehow Succession managed to get us to care about the rich, spoiled Roy family. The Audacity creator, Jonathan Glatzer, was a writer on that show as well. We shall see. New episodes drop Sundays.
Euphoria – Season 3 (HBO Max)
The third and final season of Euphoria has been controversial to say the least. Its Rotten Tomatoes score has fallen to just 40%. Zendaya, Sydney Sweeney and the rest of the cast return to the coming-of-age story, but the show itself seems to have made too many changes to what made it Euphoria to begin with and both fans and critics have been left shaking their collective heads. New episodes drop Fridays.
Hacks – Season 5 (HBO Max)
HBO’s popular comedy, Hacks, returns for its fifth and final season this Sunday with a perfect 100% Rotten Tomatoes score, which is pretty much in keeping with every previous season (after cratering to 98% in Seasons 3 and 4). The story follows comedian Deborah Vance (Jean Smart) and writer Ava Daniels (Hannah Einbinder) and their careers and relationship, and whether both can survive in a landscape of ego, ambition and comedy. New episodes drop on Thursdays.
For All Mankind – Season 5 (Apple TV)
For All Mankind
Credit: Apple TV
The space race, or at least the alt-history space race, continues in Season 5 of For All Mankind. Each season of the show takes place across a different decade, with the most recent in the 2010’s. The premise is simple: What if the Russians had been the first nation to land a man on the moon, galvanizing US politicians and spurring a real drive to invest in technology and science? What if the space race hadn’t ended and humanity had kept pushing into the stars in earnest? What might our world look like now? Season 5 has a 92% Rotten Tomatoes score. New episodes drop Fridays on Apple TV (which translates to Thursday evening).
Be sure to check out last week’s streaming guide right here.
What are you watching these days? Let me know on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook.