GUS SILBER
Uncut Gems (Netflix): Best known for playing the warm-hearted klutz in a series of forgettable knockabout comedies, Adam Sandler reveals himself to be an actor of extraordinary depth in this intense, claustrophobic thriller about a charismatic New York diamond-dealer trying to weasel his way out of a serious gambling problem.
Giri/Haji (Netflix): Following the culture-crossing path of a Tokyo detective who journeys to London in search of his brother, a renegade Yakuza gangster, this mesmerising series breaks every rule in the book as it delves into the intersecting lives of its quirky cast of characters with as much heartfelt empathy as slam-bang action.
The Planets (Showmax): There’s nothing in the regulations to prevent you from standing on your balcony or going out into your garden to gaze at the stars. And if you’d like to learn more about what you’re gazing at, try this breathtakingly brilliant BBC series which uses groundbreaking CGI (computer-generated imagery) to explore the life-stories of our planetary neighbours. Presented by Professor Brian Cox, the five episodes will forever broaden your horizons at a time when we most feel the need to break free of our boundaries.
Ozark (Netflix): A mild-mannered financial planner gets caught up in a drug-money quagmire, and flees with his family to a quiet and charming resort community. Except it’s not as quiet and charming as it seems, in this dark and brooding tale of greed, bloodlust, and desperate survival. If you loved Breaking Bad, then Ozark will grab you by the collar and drag you right into its curiously green-tinted netherworld.
Cheer (Netflix): You’ll feel every wince of bone-jarring agony, and every sweet surge of high-fiving triumph, as you surrender to the charms of this rousing reality series about a squad of cheerleaders in training at a college in a small Texan town.
Hostages (Netflix): While you’re waiting for the next season of Fauda, the heart-pounding Israeli series about a special-forces squad on an undercover mission deep inside Palestinian territory, here is another Israeli action series to grip your attention and rivet your imagination. In Hostages, a brilliant surgeon is kidnapped by four masked men, and forced to perform an operation that puts her own life and the very future of the country in peril. It’s a thriller so tense, so involving, that you almost have to remind yourself to breathe, all of which makes it ideal viewing while you’re in hostage to lockdown.
Veep (Showmax): Julia Louis-Dreyfus – you know, Elaine from Seinfeld – is at her smirky, sardonic best as a ruthlessly ambitious vice-president in this razor-sharp satire of American political wrangling and wangling. Much of the hilarity derives from the blood-drawing dialogue, so exercise all due caution if you’re allergic to invective at its most inventive.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine (Showmax): A procedural cop comedy with uncommon heart and soul, and a cast of realistically flawed characters you’ll fall head-over-heels in love with, this super-smart series tackles such real-world issues as racism, workplace harassment, and police brutality, without ever sounding preachy or losing its comic grounding.
After Life (Netflix): Ricky Gervais of Office fame, master of the ingratiating smile and the inappropriate gag, takes his anti-social comedy to a whole new level here, as he portrays a small-town newspaper reporter whose world comes crashing down when he loses the love of his life. The comedy is dark and bitter, but it works its way towards the light with sure-footed grace, and it feels just right for our times.
Succession (Showmax): Each character in this seductive, fast-moving drama about generational wealth is more obnoxious and Machiavellian than the next, and yet you will very likely find yourself magnetically attracted to them as they revel in their ill-gotten opulence and plot to tear each other apart. It’s either a vicious satire of capitalism, or a primer for post-Corona empire-builders, but more than anything, it’s the most wicked and delicious family soap opera since Dallas.
The Detectorists (Acorn): Metal-detecting for fortune and glory in deeply-green English fields, where they hope to uncover legions of long-hidden Roman coins, an odd couple explore the intricacies of life and friendship in this whimsical and perfectly-pitched series. It’s also the perfect intro to the joys of Acorn TV, a niche streaming channel that focuses on the best of British movies and television. They’re offering a free one-month trial as a lockdown special. Visit acorn.tv to sign on.
