Multiple times per week, our TV and film experts will list the most important ten streaming selections for you to pop into your queues. We’re not strictly operating upon reviews or accrued streaming clicks (although yes, we’ve scoured the streaming site charts and ratings) but, instead, upon those selections that are really worth noticing amid the churning sea of content. There’s a lot out there, after all, and your time is valuable.
10. (TIE) Turning Red (Pixar film on Disney+)
Pixar has brought the world a coming-of-age tale the likes we’ve never seen before, and it’s not only a rager but one of the better Pixar movies in several years. Mother-daughter conflict abounds, and this is a much more updated take on female adolescence than, say, Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret could ever hope to be. If you loved Soul, then you’ll appreciate how this movie’s even more of an outside-the-box presentation of a question that mulls over our very existence. Not only that, but this (since it’s a Pixar movie) will tug at your heartstrings in a way that you can’t resist. Surrender to the panda.
10. (TIE) Deep Water (Hulu movie)
Ben Affleck is the alpha cuck who rises victorious, sort of, while Ana de Armas’ is the saucy temptress who seems really bored and could use a vocation, rather than whatever it is that’s going on in this coupling. Still, this is a victoriously sleazy ride from director Adrian Lyne, who’s somehow upping his own stakes (or, at least, the body count) after both Unfaithful and Fatal Attraction. Those snails might be having the most enjoyable time of all, though.
9. Metal Lords (Netflix film)
It’s a love letter to spandex and bad hair and music that’s got more to do with classical than many people ever give it credit for. HBO Game of Thrones co-creator D.B. Weiss teamed up here with Tom Morello (Rage Against The Machine axeman) to pen this story about high schoolers who team up for context glory and, ultimately, the right to rock out. Don’t think too hard about this one, just click play.
8. Taboo (BBC One/FX series on Hulu)
Tom Hardy gets cryptic and intense in this 2017 show that will soon have a Season 2. Also, many people only recently discovered this joint, and as a bonus, a self-assured Jessie Buckley pops outta nowhere to counter Tom’s prodigal son. He may or may not be able to stay alive as The Devil Delaney, whose romantic interests are, well, taboo, and he’s attempting to claim his late father’s empire. Hardy had a huge hand in the planning of this show, too.
7. Bad Vegan (Netflix series)
There’s no telling, exactly, how or why subject Sarma Melngailis truly fell into the trap of her eventual husband, Anthony Strangis, before the two stiffed her employees and investors as the famed vegan restauranteur fell from culinary grace. Sarma has since pushed back at multiple Netflix approaches to marketing this show, but the fact remains that she and the fake-black-ops dude headed into fugitive mode while apparently squandering $2 million of other people’s money. All for the promise of dog immortality? Oh girl, you could have done so much better, Alec Baldwin or not.
6. The Girl From Plainville (Hulu series)
Another straight-from-the-headlines show arrives here with Elle Fanning starring as the seemingly heartless Michelle Carter, who became the center of the infamous “texting-suicide” case. For a primer, head over to Jesse Barron’s Esquire article, which provided the show’s framework after Conrad Roy III took his own life and Carter got convicted for involuntary manslaughter. Chloë Sevigny’s also onboard, and she’s everywhere lately.
5. Atlanta (FX series on Hulu)
Time for another dose of Donald Glover’s scathing brainchild. Glover’s Earn is back, along with Zazie Beetz as Van, LaKeith Stanfield as Darius, and Brian Tyree Henry as Paper Boi. Much of this season was filmed in Europe, where the show was able to draw inspiration and tweak its existing cultural critique, but that season opener (and awful fried chicken) launched the return of one of the best shows on TV.
4. Bridgerton (Netflix series)
The bees are back, man. This Shondaland series keeps churning up scandal for a second round, albeit a less steamy one, but it’s nonetheless sustaining momentum even without The Duke. The show’s largely shifted into the story of Anthony Bridgerton and his search for a lifelong match, and it’s not hard to tell where this season will end, but as even Julia Quinn’s readers will attest, it’s all about witnessing a magical confection.
3. Tokyo Vice (HBO Max series)
Michael Mann crosses his fingers for more Heat while crossing into grittier Miami Vice territory with yakuzas and everything in the Japanese underworld. Ansel Elgort portrays an outsider (an American journalist), for which he actually went undercover during role preparation, even learning how to speak Japanese adequately enough to convince the audience. Ken Watanabe is on hand to portray a detective, and this crime thriller’s a slick watch so far.
2. Better Call Saul (AMC series on Netflix)
Get ready for full-on Jimmy/Gene/Saul madness when Season 6 arrives on April 18. For now, though, it’s time to worry about Kim Wexler. Maybe she’ll show up at Cinnabon in the opening scene and make us all stress a little bit less as the final round of episodes progress? Nah, that’d be too easy. She’s in full-on Saul Goodmanification mode, and hopefully, the viewers won’t pay for it with our sanity as this prequel approaches the Breaking Bad timeline. Is it too much to ask for a Jesse and Walt combo cameo, perhaps? There’s a lot to look forward to here while one of the most compelling sets of character barrels into truly ominous territory.
1. Moon Knight (Disney+ series)
Everyone who’s anyone is either in the DCEU or the MCU, which has now claimed Oscar Isaac and Ethan Hawke among its stars. Isaac’s pulling plenty of duties here as a character who suffers from dissociative identity disorder, and one of those characters just happens to be a hero who became an Avenger in the comics. Hawke’s a cult leader who’ll remind you a lot of David Koresh, and there’s a wiseass Egyptian god who’s
calling it like he sees it. This series only includes six episodes, and it makes ’em count.