NETFLIX TV ON DEMAND
TROLL SCANDINAVIAN MONSTER MOVIE
Norway isn’t exactly famous for big-budget, all-action monster movies but that might be about to change. This fantastic epic channels the spirit of Godzilla and Independence Day to tell the story of what happens when modern-day Scandinavia is threatened by a gigantic stony creature straight out of the region’s folk tales. When something massive and mysterious stirs in an ancient mountain range, palaeontologist Nora (Ine Marie Wilmann) is called in to investigate, only to soon find herself running for her life from a troll the size of a skyscraper. Full of jumpy shocks, adrenaline-fuelled chases and an excellent line in dry wit, this Norwegian monster flick matches the very best of Hollywood’s efforts. From Thursday
SCROOGE: A CHRISTMAS CAROL MUSICAL VERSION OF
DICKENS’S MASTERPIECE
ANIMATED FESTIVE CLASSIC
The festive period usually brings new twists on A Christmas Carol to our screens (we’ve already had Spirited with Will Ferrell on Apple TV+), and Netflix’s animated musical effort has a big Disney feel and an efficient running time of just 96 minutes. The setting is chocolate box, Dickensian London on Christmas Eve, and the impressive voice cast includes Luke Evans as Scrooge and Olivia Colman as the Ghost of Christmas Past (both below). From Friday
FIREFLY LANE FRIENDS TO THE END
Heartfelt, funny and crushingly dramatic, the first series of Firefly Lane was a lovely piece of TV, with Sarah Chalke and Katherine Heigl excelling as lifelong friends who face romance, tragedy, excitement and all the other thrills growing up has to offer. The finale to series one had Kate and Tully at a crossroads, and the new final series picks up with that moment in mind, and is peppered with flashbacks to their younger lives. Brace yourselves… Series 1 already available; series 2 from Friday
ROMESH RANGANATHAN: THE CYNIC
RAZOR-SHARP
LIVE COMEDY
Believe it or not, this is actually Romesh Ranganathan’s first Netflix stand-up special. For a while it seemed as if he was booked on every game show, travelogue, sitcom and panel show going, but it’s taken him a while to join the hundreds of other comics showcasing what they do best on the streaming service. It’s been worth the wait though — Ranganathan’s (left) sharp and refreshingly acerbic strand of comedy comes across brilliantly in a special filmed at the Hawth Theatre in his home town of Crawley, West Sussex. He riffs on his own veganism, his children and — in one very fine moment — Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars: ‘Chris
Rock should have slapped him back for Wild Wild West and Men In Black II…’. From Tuesday