With the summer holidays approaching, most elite streamers will be saving their hottest premieres for September. But there’s still some new and exciting stuff out there this week.
Two long-awaited shows are returning, a new series about ballet, of all things, is premiering, and just in case you wanted to know more about the mighty penguins, James Cameron has produced a remarkable documentary about these spectacular flightless birds.
Andor Season 2 (Hulu/Disney Plus)
You don’t even have to be a fan of the Star Wars franchise to enjoy Andor, a brilliant spinoff series praised almost universally by film critics.
That’s because the show isn’t really about spaceships and laser guns – it’s very political, mature, and nuanced. The series is also dark and grim, even though, of course, the good guys will probably win.
If you’re suspicious of surveillance states, mass incarceration, and anti-unionism, Andor might just be the show for you.
You Season 5 (Netflix)
Just like in Caroline Kepnes’ novels, Joe Goldberg is the obsessed bookstore manager and serial killer. Finally, though, his journey is nearing its end – Season 5 will be the last.
The series has attracted a lot of fans as well as critics, with the latter saying that You is the perfect symbol of Netflix becoming unbearably bland. You might still be interested in seeing how it all ends – whether it’s because the show is finally over or because you just need closure.
The killer is now back in New York to try and live a normal life – will he succeed, or will he finally face the music?
Havoc (Netflix)
There’s a ton of action thrillers on Netflix these days, and we get it – it’s mostly a safe bet. Millions will watch it and forget it the next day. Havoc, though, stars Tom Hardy and has already been called the most anticipated Netflix movie of the year.
In the film, Hardy is a tough detective in a city plagued by crime and corruption. His days are messy enough, but a weird incident makes one of them a whole lot worse – in short, it’s a classic.
What could make Havoc a bit different is the movie’s Welsh director, Gareth Evans, best known for Indonesian action crime films including The Raid and for co-creating the crime drama series Gangs of London. These were all praised – and it’s always a good sign.
Étoile (Prime Video)
Gilmore Girls, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel – Amy Sherman-Palladino has truly given the TV world a lot. But she also loves ballet, and she’s devoting her new show Étoile to this particular topic.
The series stars Luke Kirby and Charlotte Gainsbourg as the directors of two ballet companies in, respectively, New York and Paris, who embark on an ambitious gambit to save their renowned institutions. The gambit? A swap.
Amazon trusts the series will be a success. Prime Video made a two-season order for Étoile – it means a principal dancer in a ballet company in French – before the show even premiered.
Secrets of the Penguins (Hulu/Disney Plus)
Years of filming, often in extreme conditions, have provided new insights into the extraordinary challenges endured by penguins for a new documentary series that premiered on Monday, the eve of Earth Day.
Secrets of the Penguins took more than two years to film and looks amazing. Even James Cameron involved himself as the executive producer.
In a way, this isn’t a surprise because the three-part series depicts a world the Avatar filmmaker is familiar with – the vast Antarctic tundra is cold, alien, and unforgiving.
Indeed, the emperor penguins live right on the edge of what is possible in nature. Impressively, the documentary’s crew stayed in Antarctica throughout the winter, when the average temperature is a brutal -56 degrees Fahrenheit.
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