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Pick of the week
Your Friends & Neighbors
Manifesting his signature blend of unshakeable self-confidence and understated self-loathing, Jon Hamm stars in this midlife-crisis satire. Coop (Hamm) is a hedge fund manager who, after years gazing down at the world from an ivory tower, finds his life falling apart. His wife has gone, his kids are expensive, his sister’s mental health problems are getting worse and he’s lost his job. “Your biggest mistake,” his boss tells him, “was thinking any of this was ever yours.” At a barbecue hosted by friends, he has an idea: the people around him are awful and undeservedly rich – so why not rob them? Soon, everything is spiralling out of control in very entertaining fashion.
Apple TV+, from Friday 11 April
The Handmaid’s Tale
Depending on your tolerance levels for horrifyingly prescient dystopian parables, this is either a brilliant time for the whole of this fine, gruelling series to reappear on Channel 4’s streaming site or a terrible one. The saga is about to reach its climax with the imminent UK release of season six. But if you can bear it, go back to the beginning of the story, based on the novel by Margaret Atwood, but soon taking on a life of its own and exploring extreme, coercive patriarchy via the harrowing journey of June Osborne (the brilliant Elisabeth Moss). Kate Bush’s This Woman’s Work will never sound the same again.
Channel 4, from Friday 11 April
Married to the Game
The second series of this wallow in the wealth of professional footballers is here. While the focus is on the wives of the players, this series introduces three new couples: Gabriel Magalhães and Gabrielle Figueiredo; Leon Bailey and Stephanie Hope; and Marc Cucurella and Claudia Rodríguez. Annoyingly for Chelsea-haters, the Cucurella clan seem lovely – Marc and Claudia have been together since their late teens and their family includes three children, one of them autistic. But otherwise, it’s not particularly illuminating television.
Prime Video, from Tuesday 8 April
Bad Influence: The Dark Side of Kidfluencing
Is there a more dismaying portmanteau than “momager”? It crops up early on in this bleak documentary series, which begins as a story about pre-teen influencer Piper Rockelle but soon pivots into examining the role of her mother Tiffany. Piper came to prominence as a member of the Squad, a group of friends whose pranks earned them millions of followers on social media. But with huge sums of money coming in, this couldn’t stay childish hijinks for long. Did Tiffany sexualise the group’s content? And what happened to the kids who wanted out?
Netflix, from Wednesday 9 April
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The Ex-Wife
The return of the nuance-free domestic thriller in which the protagonists’ lives ricochet wildly between bliss and horror. Tasha (Céline Buckens) is at a beachside cafe in Cyprus with her beloved daughter Emily (now called Lucy). But a sharp exit hints at problems and it soon emerges that Tasha is on the run and almost out of money. Worse still, Tasha’s ex, Jack, is about to be released from prison after taking the rap for Emily’s apparent death. It’s an absurd, tangled web and, if you can suspend disbelief, a pretty compelling potboiler.
Paramount+, from Thursday 10 April
Black Mirror
Never let it be said that Charlie Brooker’s dystopian anthology doesn’t keep pace with current events. The seventh season includes a USS Callister sequel that feels like an allegory for the amoral ruthlessness of big tech. Also, Common People uses revolutionary brain surgery to explore the degradation of online existence, as a woman’s inability to afford upgrades means she can’t stop spamming her own life with adverts. And the casts are sensational, with Rashida Jones, Peter Capaldi, Issa Rae, Paul Giamatti and Emma Corrin.
Netflix, from Thursday 10 April
Pets
“I would like all the cats I rescue to have a ‘forever home’. Or should I say ‘purr-ever home?’” You might regard this documentary – directed by Bryce Dallas Howard – as cute or twee, possibly even both, but it can’t be accused of not fully buying into its own concept. It’s essentially a celebration of humanity’s relationship with animals and the stories it tells are relentlessly upbeat. Expect gentle explorations of everything from the effect dogs can have on the happiness of disabled children to the way horses can comfort people near the end of their lives.
Disney+, from Friday 11 April
