SERIES TO STEAM ON NETFLIX

Nine year-old orphan Beth Harmon is quiet, sullen, and by all appearances unremarkable. That is, until she plays her first game of chess.

Her senses grow sharper, her thinking clearer, and for the first time in her life she feels herself fully in control. By the age of 16, she’s competing for the US Open championship.

But as Beth hones her skills on the professional circuit, the stakes get higher, her isolation grows more frightening, and the thought of escape becomes all the more tempting. ‘THE WITCHER’

The Witcher is a fantasy drama web television series created by Lauren Schmidt Hissrich for Netflix. It is based on the book series of the same name by Polish writer Andrzej Sapkowski. The Witcher follows the story of Geralt of Rivia, a solitary monster hunter, who struggles to find his place in a world where people often prove more wicked than monsters and beasts. But when destiny hurtles him toward a powerful sorceress, and a young princess with a special gift, the three must learn to navigate independently the increasingly volatile Continent.

‘MAID’

Qualley plays Alex, a young mother who flees an abusive relationship with her boyfriend, Sean (Nick Robinson). The two share a young daughter, who Alex struggles to provide for on her own. Eventually, she’s forced to take a job cleaning the homes of elite local families while seeking government assistance, trying to repair her broken relationship with her own mother, and fighting her ex for custody of their child. It’s a gut-punching look at how the cycle of poverty is designed to keep women and single mothers shackled to dangerous and unhealthy environments. But Qualley is mesmerising and the story will stick with you.