In the midst of disaster, Mister Rogers always taught us to look for the “helpers.” We’re certainly living through a disastrous age, and there are people still working hard to help change people’s minds and inspire them to act. These bingeable streaming shows and films will either light a fire under you to keep going or help you find the joy in our weary world, or both. Here’s my list of the best things to binge this week:
Adolescence — It’s the number one show on Netflix for a scary-good reason. Well-written and acted, the four-episode limited series out of the UK marks a remarkable debut turn from 15-year-old star Owen Cooper, who plays the adolescent in question, Jamie, who is suspected of being an incel murderer of a girl in his school. While the show is being hailed as an unprecedented look into the misogynistic radicalization of young boys on the internet, it’s actually quite precedented to center disturbed boys at the expense of the girl and women victims at the end of their knives.
True to form, the girl that’s murdered in Adolescence is not the focus of any of the four episodes. Her devastated Black girl best friend is tossed to the side after the second episode, never to be seen again. Girls are merely collateral to this series as it focuses on the real concerns: what’s going on with this boy and the dad who raised him. Even the boy’s sister and mom are no more than props to be pushed around at the dad’s whim, to show how deeply disturbed and broken the dad is. Do they ever get to break at the terrors they’ve had to live with and sleep next to for years? Who knows. Who cares. This is about the boys.
Still, it has sparked worthwhile conversation among parents and teachers about what toxic masculinity and misogynistic men are teaching young boys through podcasts, chat forums like Reddit and 4Chan and how to recognize the signs of a little incel-in-the-making. For that reason, and to encourage people to be more aware and involved in the lives of the boys in their care, it’s worth a watch.
Watch Adolescence on Netflix.
Clean Slate — On the week to celebrate Trans Day of Visibility, there’s no better time to start the quick binge of this Prime Video series. Starring LaVerne Cox in the classic rom-com trope of city girl returning home to small-town Alabama, Clean Slate follows Desiree Slate (Cox) as she reconnects with her father Harry (George Wallace), whom she hasn’t seen in 17 years—since before she transitioned. This sweet, father-daughter reunion story subverts expectations by allowing the shocked and stubborn Harry to still be accepting and loving of his daughter immediately and for Desiree’s transness not to be the butt of the joke in this comedy. With the help of Desiree’s childhood (and closeted queer) best friend Louis (D.K. Uzoukwu), Desiree shakes the town up and helps everyone become a little bit more free. Clean Slate is a wholesome good time that’s long overdue.
Watch Clean Slate on Prime Video.
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Number One on the Call Sheet: Part 1 & 2 — This two-part documentary film features many of Black Hollywood’s biggest stars and tells the story of the industry through their rise. Part one focus on leading Black men, while part two centers leading Black women. Part two is the better half, as it’s more in-depth and honest about the challenges that Black women have faced in Hollywood (considering that Halle Berry is still the only Black woman to win Best Actress at the Oscars) and part one is more of a celebration of the men with a “we’ve still got a long way to go” caveat clipped onto the end.
There are a few headscratchers in the mix on part two who shouldn’t really be there—and especially not at the expense of legendary #1s on the call sheet like Sanaa Lathan, and Queen Latifah. But overall, it’s an interesting documentation of Black film history and what it took to rise in an industry that remains determined to shut the door on us.
Watch Number One on the Call Sheet on AppleTV+.
One of Them Days— I never reviewed this hilarious buddy comedy starring Keke Palmer and SZA back when it premiered over MLK weekend, but that’s not because I didn’t like it. I love it! I did some consulting work with the Sony marketing team and I like to avoid the appearance of impropriety at all times. But this film is LOL funny and follows two best friends on the first of the month scrambling to make back their stolen rent money by 6 P.M. I love a comedy with a message and this one is chock full of them—calling out gentrification, capitalism and all the other anti-Black systems that try to keep us down. Just like in real life, in the end, it’s community that helps us survive. If you need a genuine laugh and a bestie in your head that knows what you’re going through, this film is it.
Watch One of Them days on Netflix.
Survival of the Thickest S2— I guess this is going to be a Netflix-heavy post today! Season two of comedian Michelle Buteau’s show about Mavis, a 30-something, plus-sized fashion stylist making in the big city, is out now. From an Italian villa to AfroPunk, the show takes Mavis around the world and back as she finds herself and helps others do the same through fashion. The show centers fat bodies, queer bodies, Black women’s bodies and all the intersections in between, in a way we never get to see on screen. It’s a charming, quick binge that will leave you feeling warm and fuzzy.
Watch Survival of the Thickest on Netflix.
The Residence — The always excellent Uzo Aduba hasn’t really gotten her due since her award-winning supporting actress turn in Orange is the New Black. But that may change with The Residence, Shonda Rhimes’ new show from her Netflix deal. If not for that pesky Adolescence being #1 for two weeks straight, The Residence would definitely hold that spot. Aduba stars as Detective Cordelia Cupp, a clearly neurodivergent problem-solver brought in to investigate the death of the White House butler (a fantastic Giancarlo Esposito). When the powers that be are ready to call the death a suicide, Cupp puts the clues together that determine he was actually murdered in seconds. But this Agatha Christie who-dunnit will take 8 episodes for even the brilliant Cupp to solve. With great turns from Susan Kelechi Watson, Edwina Findley and Randall Park, it’s well worth the fun and funny ride.
Watch The Residence on Netflix.
The Studio — This comedy about a bumbling film studio head who wants to make great films but is hamstrung by an art-hating capitalist CEO hits a little too close to home. Enemy number one during the writer’s strike was Warner Bros. head David Zaslav and he continues unabatted with the same mission as the CEO in The Studio. But if you have to cry about the state of the industry, why not laugh? That’s show creator and Seth Rogen’s mantra, I guess. The series follows Matt (Rogen) as his old boss Patty is fired for greenlighting too many women films and he’s promoted in her place if he promises to stop trying to make great films but focuses on ridiculous money-grab IP like, say, a Kool-Aid movie. Matt easily drops his morals for the chance to be a studio head and we’re off to the races as his new job turns him into everything he claims to hate. It might be a little too inside-baseball to know that Matt’s old boss Patty, played by the hilarious Catherine O’hara, is a version of IRL disgraced Sony producer Amy Pascal whose racist emails leaked in the Sony Email Hack of 2014—but you can still enjoy the show without knowing all the little nuances. With The Studio, it seems all of Hollywood knows the truth about studio execs—they’re driving this industry straight into the ground and they don’t care, as long as they can make a buck on the way down.
Watch The Studio on AppleTV+.
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