Five things to watch
SHIRLEY — NETFLIX
Regina King stars in this timely biopic of the life and struggles of civil rights and feminist icon Shirley Chisholm, who in 1968 became the first black woman to be elected to the US Congress and in 1972 launched an unsuccessful but significant presidential campaign. Director John Ridley is suitably respectful of his subject. King gives an excellent performance, conveying the contradictions between Chisholm’s elegant, reserved public manner and her behind-the-scenes feistiness and belief in her cause.
THE SIXTH COMMANDMENT — SHOWMAX
A miniseries based on the true story of a man who preyed on the elderly residents of the Buckinghamshire village of Maids Moreton, gaslit them and their families and was eventually arrested. The depths of his depravity were revealed in a highly publicised trial. Timothy Spall plays Peter Farquhar, a retired schoolmaster who falls hard for a young pupil and church warden Ben Field (Éanna Hardwicke), who becomes indispensable to him and soon takes over his life. When Farquhar dies under mysterious circumstances, Field becomes the confidante of his neighbour, Ann MooreMartin, with equally devastating results. The series is a savage examination of evil and its consequences.
TRACKING THABO BESTER — SHOWMAX
The series was almost cancelled last week, thanks to a lastminute court bid by Thabo Bester and his partner in crime, celebrity doctor Nandipha Magudumana, to have it withdrawn. But director Nikki Comninos’ four-part docuseries about the notorious Facebook rapist and his escape from prison in May 2022 is now the most-watched documentary in Showmax history. It unravels the history of Bester and his crimes and offers contextual analysis — from the dedication of journalists to the scourge of gender-based violence and the cancer of corruption that allowed him to fake his death in a fire in the Mangaung maximum security prison.
THE MADNESS OF KING GEORGE — PRIME VIDEO
Director Nicholas Hytner’s 1994 adaptation of the stage play by Alan Bennett offers an entertaining, superbly acted reminder of the long history of royal cover-ups. Nigel Hawthorne stars as ageing King George III, whose mental affliction is little understood in 1788. As he descends into dementia, his wife, Queen Charlotte (Helen Mirren), must work with the prime minister, William Pitt, the Younger (Julian Wadham) to stop the ambitious prince of Wales (Rupert Everett) and his cohort of enemies from trying to usurp the throne.
TOKYO SONATA — MUBI.COM
Japanese director Kiyoshi Kurosawa may be most famous for his gruesome contributions to the genre of J-Horror, but in this 2008 film he took a left turn that proved him to be a masterful handler of touching dramatic material. Ryohei Sasaki plays a family man who is falling apart due to his inability to disappoint his wife and two sons by telling them that he’s lost his job. It’s only a question of time as to when his wife will find out and what the discovery will mean for their marriage.