8 hours ago
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Pick of the week
The Four Seasons
Three apparently stable couples, all deep into middle age and preoccupied with statins and second homes, go on an annual holiday together. It’s expected to be a gentle affair but Nick (Steve Carell) is about to drop a bombshell: he’s bored and frustrated and he’s leaving Anne (Kerri Kenney-Silver). Tina Fey’s comedy, adapted from a 1981 film starring Alan Alda who cameos here, is a mixture of deepest cringe – an unsuspecting Anne has organised a vow renewal party and invited everyone they know to witness their collapsing marriage – and melancholy revelations about fading dreams. Before long, the other two relationships are getting a thorough stress test too.
Netflix, from Thursday 1 May
Suspect: The Shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes
With a botched surveillance operation followed by a shameful attempt at covering tracks, the killing of innocent Brazilian electrician Jean Charles de Menezes was a tragedy that became first a scandal, and then an insight into issues at the Metropolitan police. Jeff Pope’s drama is a tense rendering of the events of summer 2005, dramatising the bombings on 7 July and the feverish atmosphere of the following weeks. It’s rightly severe on the Met’s top brass but, crucially, never forgets the story of the blameless victim – played stoically and sensitively by Edison Alcaide.
Disney+, from Wednesday 30 April
Flintoff
The first act of Andrew Flintoff’s life – a brilliant cricket career during which he was the central figure in the greatest Ashes series of all time – was remarkable enough. What followed would have stretched the bounds of fiction if it wasn’t true: Flintoff sustained life-altering injuries in a car crash before attaining national treasure status all over again thanks to his moving series Freddie Flintoff’s Field of Dreams. This intimate documentary sees him in vulnerable mode, talking frankly about the anxieties of life in the public eye and the still-lingering trauma of his accident.
Disney+, out now
Chef’s Table is 10 years old this month. And after a decade of luxuriously produced food porn, it’s having a party. This anniversary show looks back over the decade and salutes a selection of chefs who have made a significant impact. These include Alice Waters, a passionate pioneer of the “farm to table” movement that emphasises personal relationships with producers and regional terroir; José Andrés, who has combined high-end cuisine with humanitarian work; and our very own Jamie Oliver, who has democratised good cookery on reasonable budgets.
Netflix, from Monday 28 April
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Carême
Back in 19th-century France, Antonin Carême became the first celebrity chef and laid the foundations of the French culinary tradition. After beginning his career in a cheap restaurant, he rose through Parisian society – first as a pioneer of exquisite and absurdly lavish table decorations, then as a master chef. This glossy drama depicts Carême (Benjamin Voisin) as an incorrigible sensualist – a man for whom food was simply one facet of the decadence with which he lived his life. It’s a melodramatic and frequently risque telling of an enjoyably wild story.
Apple TV+, from Wednesday 30 April
The Eternaut
Adapted from a graphic novel by Héctor Germán Oesterheld, this metaphorical and literal chiller from Argentina has vague echoes of The Day of the Triffids. A group of men in an underground bunker avoid a midsummer snowfall in Buenos Aires; what they find when they reach the surface is baffling and terrifying – the snow is toxic and precedes an alien invasion of Earth. With most of the population dead, there’s an enemy army to fight and not many people left to do the fighting. Full of overfamiliar apocalyptic tropes but entertaining hokum all the same.
Netflix, from Wednesday 30 April
Turning Point: The Vietnam War
Is there anything new to add to the discourse around the Vietnam war? Ken Burns and Lynn Novick’s 2017 series felt definitive but it’s an itch that TV just cannot help but scratch. This latest offering marks 50 years since the war ended and benefits from an influx of Vietnamese witnesses: too often it’s a story told exclusively from an American perspective. With its exploration of the effects of the war on US national identity, it also feels piquant in the context of the current turmoil across the Atlantic – Vietnam was a generational trauma whose effects are still being felt.
Netflix, from Wednesday 30 April
