Every single 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) 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. Squid Game – Netflix series
The high-stress survival series did it again, perhaps because the show’s sinister message strikes fear into the heart of an audience living in, well, current times. Credit goes to the gutsiness of creator Hwang Dong-hyuk for making the message literal as well as entertaining, and fingers are duly crossed for him to be able to take a nap before the third season. That will also surface this year, so get ready to see more misery for Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) while the series’ newly ambitious pace charges straight ahead.
9. Star Wars: Skeleton Crew – Disney+ series
It’s no secret that Star Wars shows have stumbled in viewership lately, and this Jude Law-starring show has received a lukewarm reception until now, but most watching parties agree that the series hit the season finale out of the Goonies-inspired ballpark. Additionally, more Andor and Ahsoka will be on the way, and Baby Yoda might still be hanging out there waiting for more action, too. The Force is not exactly strong with this one, but it’s percolating.
8. Emilia Pérez – Netflix film
Karla Sofia Gascón, Zoe Saldana, and Selena Gomez shine in one of two enormously successful musicals to release last year (Joker who?) as straight-up talent showcases and messages that will carry beyond theaters and streaming devices. The drama story hails from auteur Jacques Audiard and revolves around about a cartel leader who fakes their own death and emerges as a woman, Emilia Pérez. That’s only the baseline structure, and what unfolds is breathtaking [insert Scorsese meme] cinema.
7. The Pitt – Max series
Primetime medical dramas run for dozens of seasons for a reason, and Max has taken a swing at conjuring up ER vibes by putting Noah Wyle in scrubs again. The 15 episodes of this season will each chart an hour in the ridiculously long shift of Wyle’s physician in Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Hospital’s emergency room. This is a less soapy affair than his NBC drama of yesteryear, but there’s no shortage of additional topics to draw from with this series aiming for more realism by covering contemporary crises.
6. Black Doves – Netflix series
This lovely pair of spy-assassins (portrayed by Keira Knightley and Ben Whishaw) are still kicking it near the top of the Netflix weekly streaming list. If you’d ever told me that Keira would convincingly drop the corset roles and throw down serious John Wick and Taken vibes, you would have received a skeptical look, but the world is onboard with stellar dynamics and convincing writing in a very unrealistic setting. That balance works, as it turns out, and we will see Helen and Sam again in about a year.
5. The Night Agent – Netflix series
With the second season (that begins in Bangkok) preparing to launch, fans are catching up to prepare for Peter Sutherland’s ascendance to full Night Action status. This series is as bingeworthy as Prime Video/Amazon’s Reacher but is soon going international with full espionage and conspiracy flavor on display. The new scenery doesn’t hurt, either. No longer is the action limited to D.C., but never fear, Rose does catch up with Peter again, so their chemistry is in full effect with the second season, which will surely move this show nearer to the top of this list next week.
4. Landman – Paramount+ series
The wait for the second season has begun after Billy Bob Thornton’s Tommy Norton saw his stressors grow, and Jon Hamm’s character looked to be on the verge of death. The only bright side of that turn of events is that Demi Moore’s tycoon-wife will be poised for greater action if the show returns. In the meantime, Jacob Lofland’s Cooper has positioned himself well for the future, and Michelle Randolph’s Ainsley continues to be the most viral hitmaker of the entire series. Taylor Sheridan devotees will soon be turning their attention toward the return of 1923, and Randolph will be on hand there, too, but Landman proves that Sheridan doesn’t really need Yellowstone to keep cranking out crowd pleasers. And he’s so far beyond being a low peg on the Sons Of Anarchy call sheet that it’s not even funny.
3. Silo – Apple TV+ series
Season finale time has arrived for Rebecca Ferguson’s mechanical genius, Steve Zahn’s bearded Solo survivor, and Common’s still silly leather jacket. Those are only a few of the show’s motley crew of characters, and this week’s episode ended with a scene that felt straight out of another world. There’s a reason for that WTF reaction, and answers will not be coming there until the third season, but hey, at least Juliette’s situation appeared to be vastly improving, and Solo is no longer alone. He was fine alone, of course, but he was even better with his newfound fam, and we haven’t seen the last of that group, but get ready for this worldbuilding exercise to get much larger.
2. American Primeval – Netflix series
A team of creative minds behind Narcos, The Revenant, and Friday Night Lights have come together for this Neo-Western limited series in which Taylor Kitsch and Betty Gilpin go through hell on earth. The year is 1857, and they’re fighting through frigid elements amid the Mountain Meadows Massacre, during which Mormon soldiers killed hundreds of pioneers at the behest of Brigham Young (Kim Coates of Sons Of Anarchy). This clash involves Indigenous nationals also rising up to fight for their own survival within the same contested territory, and this ain’t Yellowstone, baby.
1. Severance – Apple TV+ series
Yoooo, here we go. The office has returned for the Innies after their illicit journey into the Outie world. This new season will go to new literal places (like a snow retreat) that few could have envisioned after watching discomfort emerge under florescent lighting three years ago. As well, the inner journeys of Mark, Irving, and Dylan, and Helly are about to grow more hellish as creator Dan Erickson and director Ben Stiller unleash new degrees of mindf*ckery. By the way, did you catch the show’s Grand Central Station staging this past week? Guerrilla marketing at its finest.