Almost no new movies hitting streaming services this week, but it’s a big one for series fans as we get the nerve-wrecking final episodes of Ozark, the premiere of Shining Girls – AppleTV+’s hotly anticipated adaptation of Lauren Beukes’ acclaimed novel – and Mike Meyers is also back on screens with The Pentaverate! Plus more!
SERIES
The Shining Girls S1
AppleTV+ – 29 April 2022
South African author Lauren Beukes’ critical hit novel The Shining Girls was an incredible twist on a serial killer story with its time-travelling murderer. Now brilliant award-winning actress Elisabeth Moss produces, directs, and stars as Kirby Mazrachi, one of the few victims of temporal killer Harper Curtis (Jamie Bell), who is out to find her would-be killer. For this adaptation though Silka Luisa is changing things from the source though, as it appears that Harper’s actions throughout the timeline is actively changing Kirby’s world and she’s the only one who notices. At least that’s what I get from the trailer. Either way, I am stoked!
Ozark S4: Part 2
Netflix – 29 April 2022
Will the Byrdes finally get to flee the coop? Across three-and-a-half series of nail-biting twists and turns as criminal accountant Marty Byrde and his family did everything they could (and there were some bad things) to stay ahead of the many criminals trying to use them, I’ve always got the sense that things were never going to end well for them. Well, now we get to see if my portentous premonition was right as the final seven episodes of Ozark is finally here.
Undone S2
Amazon Prime Video – 29 April 2022
I will admit, I had somehow never really heard of Undone before today, but after watching this trailer for the new second season debuting today, I think I’m going to fix that! Starring Rosa Salazar, this was Amazon’s first adult animated show and the first to use rotoscoping, i.e. the technique of drawing animated frames over live-action captured performances. The end result is a visually striking show that appears to get all sorts of trippy and deep, which is probably what led to the widespread critical acclaim of its first season.
Meltdown: Three Mile Island
Netflix – 4 May 2022
As somebody who worked at Koeberg Nuclear Power Station for over a decade, I had of course heard about Three Mile Island, and specifically the partial core meltdown that occurred at the Pennsylvanian nuclear plant in 1979, becoming the biggest nuclear accident in US history. This documentary series from Netflix digs deep into what went wrong to create this “nuclear nightmare” which led to long-term contamination and cover-ups.
The Pentaverate S1
Netflix – 5 May 2022
With the exception of one or two smaller appearances, Mike Myers has largely been out of the limelight for a good few years with 2008’s The Love Guru being his last headlining role. That would have been a very bad note to end his leading man career on, so the comedian is back with The Pentaverate! Myers stars as all five members of a secret group of men silently controlling the world, as well as a Canadian journalist and a few of his cohorts who are trying to infiltrate and bring down the Pentaverate.
Clark
Netflix – 5 May 2022
Bill Skarsgård leads this Swedish mini-series as Clark Olofsson, the scheming, lying criminal whose exploits and manipulations during a botched bank heist would inspire the classification of “Stockholm Syndrome”.
Blood Sisters S1
Netflix – 5 May 2022
Netflix has a made huge inroads when it comes to producing content from Africa and Blood Sisters is the streamer’s first original Nigerian series. The official tagline describes the drama as “Two friends, a dark secret and a shallow grave”.
MOVIES
Spencer
Google Play Movies – 29 April 2022
Kristen Stewart was nominated for an Oscar for her portrayal of Princess Dianna Spencer in this sumptuous drama that follows “Lady Di” during the emotionally-tense Christmas holidays she spent with the British royal family at Sandringham estate in Norfolk, England, where she decided to end her long-time, tumultuous marriage with Prince Charles. If you missed it in cinemas, you can now rent Spencer on Google Play Movies.
Jackass Forever
Google Play Movies – 29 April 2022
And now for something completely different. If you’re disillusioned with modern comedy and long for the good old days when grown men hit each other in the testicles for jokes, or checked to see who can withstand the most bodily harm for a gag, well then Jackass Forever is here to scratch that very particular itch. And then nearly decapitate you with a giant inflatable hand. Bringing back original Jackass members of Johnny Knoxville, Danger Ehren, Steve-O, Dave England, Chris Pontius, Wee Man, and Preston Lacy, and throwing some new idiots into the mix, this revival was a surprise box office hit when it released in cinemas in February. If you want to see what all the fuss was about, you can now rent it on Google Play Movies. I am going to offer a warning though: This movie starts with a literal monstrous dick joke and then only gets more messed up from there.