Pick of the week
The Savant
Dramas about online life are hard to get right; how much tension can really be conjured by watching someone stare at a screen? This explosive thriller, which stars Jessica Chastain as Jodi, an agent who specialises in infiltrating hate groups, fares better than most. It helps that the subject matter – lone wolf, far-right terrorists whose fantasies spill out into the world – feels grimly relevant. But Chastain also embodies the duality many of us now feel; the impossibility of reconciling online identities with real life. Using the persona “Fleshy MF”, Jodi understands the impulses of her chatroom comrades – and stopping the extremists becomes a challenge with potentially terrifying consequences.
Apple TV+, from Friday 26 September
***
House of Guinness
Booze, crime, family conflict, street politics and stylish violence: it’s hard to think of a tale more suited to the signature style of Steven Knight. With its ornate dialogue and lavish period flourishes, the essence of Knight is so strong in this drama that it approaches self-parody. It tells the story of the aftermath of the death of Benjamin Guinness in 1868, whose passing leaves a vacuum to be filled by some combination of his four dissolute, complacent, scheming children. Meanwhile, outside their inheritance battle, Irish republicanism is stirring. James Norton, Emily Fairn and Louis Partridge star.
Netflix, from Thursday 25 September
***
Tulsa King
Sylvester Stallone’s lugubrious wiseguy Dwight Manfredi has had a successful time since he moved to Tulsa. But he’s made a few powerful enemies along the way and, as we return for season three of this generic drama, a few chickens have come home to roost. He’s been cornered by old-money crime family the Dunmires, who are menacing everything he’s built. However, Dwight still has a few tricks up his sleeve, so expect these threats to be addressed with cunning and violence. It remains watchable, largely thanks to Stallone’s lunkhead charisma.
Paramount+, from Sunday 21 September
***
Sneaker Wars: Adidas vs Puma
The town of Herzogenaurach in Bavaria is an unusual place: despite a population of fewer than 25,000 people, it boasts the headquarters of two of the most prominent footwear brands in the world. With exclusive access to both companies, this series tells the parallel stories of Adidas and Puma, via the warring brothers Adi and Rudi Dassler who built the two businesses, their changing commercial fortunes and various athletes and influencers. David Beckham, Usain Bolt, Neymar and other sneakerheads are among the contributors.
Disney+, from Wednesday 24 September
***
Slow Horses
Back at Slough House for another season in espionage hell, the Slow Horses gang are a mess, struggling with grief, addiction and the ennui of careers going nowhere. Apart from, that is, Roddy, who is suddenly and mysteriously flushed with self-confidence and seemingly dating a woman way out of his league. Of course, there’s a catch, but how is it related to a spree shooter who has himself been shot in mysterious circumstances and a London mayoral election? As ever, a beautifully sour peek behind the curtains of the British establishment.
Apple TV+, from Wednesday 24 September
***
Wayward
A magnificently creepy and cold-eyed Toni Collette stars as charismatic guru Evelyn Wade in this drama about a secluded camp for troubled youngsters in rural America. Tall Pines Academy claims to offer “groundbreaking therapeutic techniques to solve the problem of adolescence”. But something much less wholesome is going on, and when teen stoners Abbie and Leile reluctantly arrive, they soon realise things aren’t right. Written by Mae Martin (who also co-stars as detective Alex Dempsey), it’s a clever, sinister spin on small-town isolation.
Netflix, from Thursday 25 September
***
Cocaine Quarterback
How does a high-flying, all-American college footballer end up a drug kingpin? This gripping if frequently sensationalist three-part documentary tells the wild story of Owen Hanson. The signs were there from early on as Hanson started smuggling steroids. But his criminality escalated as his football prospects declined, and before long he was building relationships with cartels and enmeshed in a world of trafficking and violence. Among the contributors to the series is Hanson himself, who somewhat wistfully reflects on his rise and fall from a prison cell.
Prime Video, from Thursday 25 September
