Five intriguing things to watch
BLOOD & WATER — NETFLIX
Netflix’s second original African series is set in the world of a private school in Cape Town, where a young girl battling a tragic family secret sets out to solve the mystery that’s torn her family apart. Directed by Nosipho Dumisa, it’s a wellexecuted if somewhat familiar piece of YA intrigue that offers a glimpse of millennial life in the Mother City that’s refreshing to see on screen.
JEFFREY EPSTEIN: FILTHY RICH — NETFLIX
Available from May 27. It seems such a long time ago since disgraced billionaire and accused paedophile Jeffrey Epstein died in a US prison cell in August 2019. Produced by his former Palm Beach neighbour, bestselling author James Patterson, this deeply uncomfortable but necessary docuseries traces the story and terrible perversions of the man once described as the “Great Gatsby” of one-percenter American society through the voices of his victims.
HOMECOMING SEASON 2 — AMAZON PRIME VIDEO
In spite of a welcome starring role for singer Janelle Monáe, the departure of creator Sam Esmail and previous star Julia Roberts leave a bit of a hole in what was a fascinating and complicated psychologically twisted exploration of trauma and its consequences. That said, Monáe delivers a strong performance even if she’s too often let down by a second season that’s never quite able to escape from the shadow of the first.
DISPATCHES FROM ELSEWHERE — AMAZON PRIME VIDEO
Jason Segel creates and stars in this quirky series about an ordinary man looking to bring excitement to his life by joining a group of similar searchers in a strange game that will change their lives. There’s a lot of Charlie Kaufman style psychological postmodern play and a welcome love of subversion of expectations that make it an intriguing, smart but sometimes uneven fantasy adventure with a good dose of black humour at its heart.
WHITE LINES — NETFLIX
Created by Álex Pina, this crime caper celebrates the heady, trippy madness of the club life of Ibiza. When a woman arrives on the island in search of answers to her DJ brother’s death some years earlier, she’s drawn into a web of gangsters, drugs and thumping club life that leads her to learn some hard truths about herself.