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Looking for something to get stuck into?
Here's this week’s new shows on Netflix, Amazon and other download sites:
FILM OF THE WEEK
Jojo Rabbit
From April 27 on Amazon Prime Video and other download services
Ten-year-old Johannes Betzler (Roman Griffin Davis) lives in Nazi Germany with his mother (Scarlett Johansson).
The youngster is an enthusiastic member of the Hitler Youth and undergoes training with best friend Yorki. Returning home one day, Jojo discovers a Jewish girl called Elsa Korr hiding in his late sister's bedroom. The boy intends to notify authorities but Elsa points out that Jojo's mother would be executed for harbouring a Jew. Jojo turns to his imaginary best friend, Adolf Hitler, to decide the best course of action.
Adapted from Christine Leunens's novel Caging Skies, Jojo Rabbit is a daring comedy drama, which navigates some tricky and delicate changes in pacing and tone including an unexpected sucker punch to convey one character's fate.
London-born actor Davis beautifully captures the naivete of an impressionable tyke on a challenging and morally complex journey of self-discovery.
Rating: ****
FILM Birds Of Prey (And The Fantabulous Emancipation Of One Harley Quinn)
From April 27 on Amazon Prime Video and other download services
The toxic romance of unhinged Gotham City psychiatrist Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) and Joker ends badly. Once news hits the streets of Gotham that Harley is no longer under the criminal mastermind's protection, she falls into the clutches of sadistic gangster Roman Sionis (Ewan McGregor) and his slippery henchman, Victor Zsasz.
To spare herself a close encounter with Victor's blade, Harley promises to reclaim a precious diamond, which has been stolen from Roman by teenage pickpocket Cassandra Cain.
Insults and bullets fly as Harley engineers her hare-brained plan, which positions her on collision courses with Gotham City police detective Renee Montoya, crossbow-wielding vigilante The Huntress and nightclub singer Dinah Lance.
Narrated by Harley in skittish fashion, Birds Of Prey is a giddily violent and profane frolic, which is the cinematic equivalent of being trapped inside a neon-lit carnival fun house for almost two hours with the music blaring at full volume.
Rating: ***
SERIES Code 404
Six episodes, streaming from April 29 exclusively on NOW TV
The future of policing rests with state-of-the-art technology in a six-part Sky One comedy written by Daniel Peak. In the near future, best friends John Major and Roy Carver are detective inspectors working for the Metropolitan Police's Special Investigation Unit (SIU).
They are involved in an undercover sting that goes horribly wrong and in the ensuing melee, Major is gunned down and killed. The future of the SIU hangs in the balance until top brass green lights an experimental artificial intelligence project to reanimate Major's lifeless body. Meanwhile, Carver is riddled with guilt about the loss of his partner. In the midst of grief, he turns to Major's wife for emotional support. They are stunned by the arrival of Major 2.0 and face tough choices to teach the artificial intelligence how to become a better police officer and man.
FILM Extraction
From April 24 exclusively on Netflix
Chris Hemsworth swaps Thor's mighty hammer for more crude fighting techniques in director Sam Hargrave's action-packed thriller, which was filmed on location in India and Thailand. Black market mercenary Tyler Rake (Hemsworth) is a gun for hire, who fears only the spectre of his dead son. Through his beautiful associate Nik, Tyler accepts a daredevil job to rescue the son of an imprisoned Indian drug lord. The boy has been kidnapped by a sadistic Bangladeshi rival. Unfortunately, the mercenary meets fierce resistance and must navigate an underworld of weapons dealers and drug traffickers to survive the onslaught. Extraction is produced by Joe and Anthony Russo, directors of Avengers: Endgame and Avengers: Infinity War.
FILM Calm With Horses
From April 24 on Amazon Prime Video and other download services
Nick Rowland makes his feature film directorial debut with a gritty Irish drama of crime and punishment, adapted from one short story in Colin Barrett's collection Young Skins. Paudi Devers and his brother Hector are drug dealers, who preside over a vast network of low-lives and criminals paid to do their bidding. Their cousin Dympna is a lieutenant in the operation and he is entrusted to oversee former boxer Douglas, who doles out beatings at the Devers' command. Douglas needs the work to support his autistic five-year-old son Jack, who requires expensive specialist schooling. The hard man recognises his boy's behavioural traits in himself and Douglas contemplates the possibility that he has a similar developmental disorder. As Douglas seeks answers, he is ordered to kill for the first time and the Devers expect their enforcer to oblige.
The Willoughbys
Netflix
If you're a massive Holly Willoughby fan, prepare to be disappointed - this is not a reality TV show in which cameras follow the popular This Morning presenter around. Instead it's a lively and colourful animation from Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2 director Kris Pearn. Based on a book by Lois Lowry, it focuses on the four Willoughby siblings who, after being abandoned by their selfish parents, must make their own way in the big, wide world. However, adapting their old-fashioned approach to modern life will be far from straightforward. The impressive vocal cast includes Ricky Gervais.
DOCUMENTARY Murder to Mercy: The Cyntoia Brown Story
Netflix, from April 29
Cyntoia Brown didn't get a great start in life. Her mother was a drug addict who couldn't care for her, and after being fostered, she began to get involved in petty crime. Eventually she ran away from a youth facility and ended up on the streets of Nashville, where she became a prostitute. In 2004, at the age of 16, she was picked up by a 43-year-old man and later shot and killed him. Brown claimed it was in self defence, but she was tried as an adult and jailed for life. This documentary looks at how factors in her background may have caused her to turn to violence; there's also an insight into the changes in juvenile sentencing laws that allowed her to go free, as well as a look at how Brown has turned her life around after embracing education and becoming a model prisoner.
SERIES Hollywood
Netflix, from May 1
Everything Ryan Murphy touches seems to turn to gold. He's the creator or co-creator of such series as Nip/Tuck, Glee, American Horror Story, American Crime Story, Scream Queens, Feud and Pose. Now he's back with another project, this time set just after the Second World War. It follows the progress, or otherwise, of a group of young actors and film-makers who will stop at nothing to make it in Tinseltown. Each episode reveals the difficulties they face, whether due to their race, gender or sexuality; some characters are fictional, while others are based on reality. Queen Latifah and Jake Picking play Hattie McDaniel and Rock Hudson respectively.
SERIES Trying
Apple TV+, from May 1
If those working in front of and behind the camera are anything to go by, Apple TV+'s latest series should be a real winner. It's an eight-part relationship comedy and is the platform's first British show. Directed by Catastrophe's Jim O'Hanlon and written by former Mock the Week scribe Andy Wolton, the project features a cast that includes Rafe Spall, Esther Smith, Phil Davis, Darren Boyd and Imelda Staunton. Smith and Spall play Nikki and Jason, who are young and in love. They are also desperate to have a baby - and it appears to be the one thing they cannot have, prompting them to make a momentous decision. The premise might not sound as if it would generate many laughs, but this promises to be a touching tale about a couple navigating a life-changing journey.
