Pick of the week
The Castaways
Sheridan Smith and Céline Buckens star in this adaptation of Lucy Clarke’s 2020 mystery thriller, in which a young woman attempts to discover the truth behind the apparent plane crash that led to the disappearance of her sister while they were on holiday in Fiji. Erin (Buckens) has an intriguingly unreliable – and often unsympathetic – perspective on events: she’s obsessive about conspiracy theories surrounding the crash and may or may not be suffering from survivor’s guilt. After an offer is made by the insurance company, she returns to Fiji to poke around in the affairs of her sister (Smith). Things soon get even murkier. A darkly plotted and sunnily staged piece of escapism.
Paramount+, from Boxing Day
***
Money Heist: Berlin
A prequel of sorts to the adrenalised Spanish thriller Money Heist, in the shape of this origin story of Pedro Alonso’s charismatic, terminally ill jewel thief Berlin. This is a more carefree Berlin: at this point, he has no idea of his medical status and is planning heists for the sheer hell of it. Pertinently, he’s also surrounded by a completely different crew, which doesn’t bode well for their staying power. The gang have their beady eyes on a Paris auction house – but their colourful private lives could easily derail them first. It’s absurdly hammy and stylised, and somewhat ludicrous, but that’s a big part of its charm.
Netflix, from Friday 29 December
***
Gyeongseong Creature
This series is a weird hybrid of period drama and creature feature. Set in 1945, with the world recovering from war and colonial rule still in full swing, a hospital in the Korean district that would become Seoul was playing host to some nightmarish experiments. Park Seo-joon and Han So-hee star as an entrepreneur and an amateur sleuth, thrown together by chance and looking to expose the people behind these nefarious goings-on. The horror of the beast at the centre of the story is revealed gradually – for the most part, it’s a stylish story of subterfuge.
Netflix, out now
***
My Mom, Your Dad US
A UK version aired this year but here’s the original US version of this midlife dating show in which adult children volunteer their parents to be packed off to a resort to meet other midlife singletons. It’s kind of Love Island with grey hair and reduced expectations – the kicker is that the kids get to watch and comment upon their elders’ occasionally hapless seduction efforts. It is pretty excruciating; it’s a shame no one has told these people that dating apps exist. But fans of real-life cringe will find much to enjoy. Actor and comic Yvonne Orji hosts.
ITVX, out now
***
Ricky Gervais: Armageddon
More performative contrarianism from Gervais, who brings his edgelord standup shtick out for another go round. This time, he’s offering his musings on the subject of death (“We’re all going to be dead one day, and we’re all going to be dead for ever”) which gives him an excuse to rail against the impossibility of avoiding weddings and explain his love of funerals. In a sequence that Netflix has faced pressure to remove, he also has some unusually trenchant thoughts on the subject of the Make a Wish foundation for terminally ill children.
Netflix, from Christmas Day
***
Hell Camp: Teen Nightmare
The promise was that this camp in the Utah desert would “wear down” troubled teens and cure them of their incipient delinquency. At the very least, parents who sent their kids to Challenger Foundation were hopeful they’d come back in one piece. As this startling documentary shows, that wasn’t always the case. The camp was the brainchild of Steve Cartisano, a man whose robust disciplinary methods were accused of being abusive. Eventually, a girl died. As one survivor says: “The hardest thing about being there was knowing my parents did it to me.”
Netflix, from Wednesday 27 December
***
Pokémon Concierge
A brightly coloured and slightly trippy stop-motion animation series about Haru (voiced by The Boys’ Karen Fukuhara) who gets her dream job as the concierge at a hotel for Pokémon characters. Initially, she’s blissfully happy but the job turns out to be harder than it looks – Pokémons aren’t always the best at telling you exactly how they feel. This is the cue for some very mild character development as Haru realises that this can be the case for human beings, too. It’s tooth-achingly sweet but sure to prove irresistible to fans of the franchise.
Netflix, from Thursday 28 December
