TV & Film Journal | 06.05.22

For the first time in perhaps months, I actually turned down what's been an almost-weekly cinema trip since they've been back open, due to the fact there really is nothing on that I'm toooo fussed about seeing. Following the overspill of an on-off two year lockdown, the flurry of films that hit this first half of year has dried up somewhat, while being in anticipation picking back up again this summer with the likes of Don't Worry, Darling (the new trailer is gold), Where The Crawdads Sing and Jordan Peele's Nope, all coming this July. Instead, it's a new-series-heavy week with so many new juicy shows - mostly American series that I've been desperate to watch - so here you are if you need ideas on what to watch this week... 

 The Staircase on Sky/NowTV

Based on a (13-part) documentary that's currently on Netflix, The Staircase is a new and perfectly packaged, eight-part drama starring -the- Toni Collette and Colin Firth, telling the real-life true crime story of a novelist (played by American-accent bearing Colin) who is suspected of killing his wife (Toni) when she fatally falls down the stairs. Not only does it star two absolute favourites, Sophie Turner, Dane DeeHaan (from A Place Beyond the Pines) and Rosemarie DeWitt make up the rest of the cast. I have it on good authority (the PilotTV podcast) that this is really good, worth watching and maybe it'll be up there with some of those really great series' on Sky last year - The Undoing, Mare of Easttown - that we haven't had in ages! 

Trailer: Watch here

Love Life Season 2 on BBC1

One of my favourite shows of last year, if you didn't see the first series of Love Life, you are so lucky to have the whole show ahead of you - it is feel good, relatable, and heartwarming; such a beautiful, sometimes sad and sometimes hilarious chronicle of something we all experience differently. *Gushy, but it is just that great. The premise of the first series was following Darby, played by Anna Kendrick, in the highs, lows and unexpected turns of her turbulent dating life and hard relationships, from long-term to one night flings, and cements that all-important life lesson: never date a chef. (Joking, or am I?). The new series that starts this week moves on to follow Marcus, played by William Jackson Harper, who has a chance meeting at Darby's wedding that turns his life upside down. I want this series to go on and on forever!

Trailer: Watch here

The Wilds Series 2 on Amazon Prime

Like a kind of Lost meets Euphoria hybrid with a few twists thrown in, The Wilds revolves around a group of teenagers who survive a plane crash but are "left stranded" on a desert island; unaware they are the subjects of a pretty damn unethical social experiment. It's as much about each characters backstory as it is about their survival, with flashback scenes making up a lot of the show. This series, it's not just the girls, but a group of boys who also find themselves in this sandy, Lord of the Flies predicament. Didn't blow my mind but kept me watching kind of series, and all of the young actors are brilliant. 

Trailer: Watch here

Stranger Things Series 4 (Volume 1) on Netflix

Probably don't need me to tell you that the fourth series of Stranger Things is out this week given its anticipated arrival for the last millennia by the whole planet but I could hardly not include one of the most talked about shows basically ever. The fourth series is split into two volumes; the first being this week, and the second five weeks later in July. This second-half gatekeeping concept that Netflix is doing with it's big hitters like Ozark is an interesting way of drawing things out that I can't help but feel loses the momentum, rather than prolongs it, but I'm down to be proven wrong this time. 

Trailer: Watch here

The Terror - Infamy on BBC2

I haven't been "anticipating" this as much as the others above and definitely one for full-concentration sans distractions, but The Terror, like The North Water, is really a spectacle and flies high above many things on TV right now in many respects. The main selling point being that it's produced by Ridley Scott, and it really shows, alongside a really unique and fascinating premise will maybe sway you into adding into your TV show queue. Based on real events, The Terror is a horror anthology series where each season is inspired by an infamous, mysterious and somewhat supernatural historical tragedy. This series, a Japanese-American fishing community is threatened both by internment camps following pearl harbour, as well as the possibility that spirits may be among them. 

Trailer: Watch here