There’s not much in the way of new movies on this week’s streaming releases, but there are some big series though. Specifically a series about a big literary hero, Jack Reacher, finally getting his properly sized adaptation in Amazon’s new TV series Reacher. There’s also some killer – literally – other shows like Netflix’s hilarious improv whodunnit Murderville and the return of anti-hero killer Dexter on Showmax. And just to offer some variety, we get twisty with AppleTV’s kidnapping mystery Suspicion and go all sci-fi with the return of Raised by Wolves. All this and more below!
SERIES
Reacher S1
Amazon Prime Video – 4 February 2022
Tom Cruise is an incredible action hero – arguably the biggest action hero in the world. He’s just not actually all that big. And that was a problem for fans of writer Lee Child’s Jack Reacher novels when Cruise brought the character to life in a pair of movies (the first one being great, the second just OK). But now, with Child’ blessing, Amazon is giving Reacher another go with star Alan Ritchson, standing at around 1.9m of bulging muscles, actually matching Reacher’s man-mountain description in the books. And according to early reviews, Ritchson does more than just bring impressive physical stats to the table, as this action-packed series about the ex-military man drifter solving problems, is off to a great start.
Murderville S1
Netflix – 3 February 2022
In what may be one of the greatest ideas for a series ever, Murderville is a comedy-whodunnit following Will Arnett’s homicide detective trying to solve a different murder each week. Here’s the catch: Every episode sees him team up with a different partner played by various famous actors/celebs, but they weren’t given a script. They just have to respond to Arnett and everybody’s else’s actions and make it up as they go along and it looks like a complete riot!
Suspicion S1
AppleTV+ – 4 February 2022
AppleTV+ doesn’t boast the frenzied release schedule of some of its streaming peers, but the releases are almost always star-studded and of a damn high quality. And the latest entry that seems to follow that pattern is Suspicion, a twisty mystery-thriller led by Uma Thurman as a powerful businesswoman whose son is kidnapped. Police quickly round up four suspects as the gang of kidnappers, but there’s just one problem… the would-be kidnappers are complete strangers to one another and all claim innocence and that they’re being framed for a crime they didn’t even know about.
Raised by Wolves S2
Showmax – 4 February 2022
I kind of lost interest in Ridley Scott’s eerie sci-fi about robots raising children on a desolated future planet about halfway through the first season (I was mostly watching to play “Spot the Landmark” as it was all filmed here in Cape Town), but my completionist streak is compelling me to get back into it. Especially now that the second season has debuted, continuing this enigmatic tale. The first two episodes debuts on Showmax today (just one day after international debut), with subsequent episodes following weekly.
Dexter: New Blood
Showmax – 1 February 2022
Dexter, the show about a homicidal serial killer who somehow sorta kinda the good guy, ran for 8 seasons from 2006 to 2013 and was hugely popular. Until it wasn’t. Don’t worry though, as having one of the most despised series finale in modern times will not be the final legacy of Michael C. Hall’s titular sociopath, as a limited series revival titled Dexter: New Blood premiered late last year to give the show a proper ending that fans actually loved. And if you missed the weekly releases, you can now binge the entire 10-episode run on Showmax.
MOVIES
Glasshouse
Showmax – 7 February 2022
If I have one complaint about local South African movies, it’s that they tend to stick to certain genres, specifically dusty Afrikaans drama, slapstick, and rom-coms. That’s been changing over the last few years though, and Showmax has definitely been helping massively with this. And the streamer’s latest contribution is Glasshouse, the first in a planned series of three post-apocalyptic tales. This one is set in the days after The Shred, an airborne virus that causes dementia, has ravaged the Earth and ruined existence for those not able to avoid. Living in an airtight glasshouse, one family of sisters has managed to just that, until a stranger appears, throwing their entire world – and history they thought they knew of their family – into disarray. Glasshouse made its theatrical debut at various international film festivals last year where it garnered plenty of praise. And now we can actually see what the fuss was about.