Things to watch this weekend
FREUD Netflix —
This German series is nominally about the early life and challenges of the father of psychoanalysis, who is here presented as a cocaine-addicted, spiritualist womaniser looking for the meaning of life in his 20s. It’s often silly, always over the top and has very little to do with the real-life character at its centre but it remains reasonably intriguing on its own nutty terms if you just forget everything you think you know about the real Sigmund Freud.
THE MIRE — Netflix
Poland makes an entry into the already crowded European crime thriller genre on the platform with this bleak, handsomely produced show set in the 1980s under communist rule. A detective and a journalist are drawn into an increasingly treacherous maze of deceit and political back-stabbing while investigating the deaths of teenage prostitutes. It’s a solid addition to the genre with enough well-realised period details and moody atmosphere to keep you intrigued for its six hard-hitting, existential angstridden episodes.
TIGER KING — Netflix
This seven-part docuseries tells the incredibly bizarre true-life story of the world of US big cat breeders. Meet Joe Exotic — the gay, mulletted, gun-toting tiger lover and big cat zoo owner and his group of misfit employees, who are pitted against a determined animal rights activist in a fight that gets increasingly absurd and ugly and ends up sending them on a journey that’s so strange and has so many incredible twists and turns it could only be true and has to be seen to be believed.
SELF-MADE: Inspired by the life of Madam CJ Walker — Netflix
Octavia Spencer, Tiffany Haddish and Blair Underwood star in this inspiring drama based on the little-known true story of first US female black entrepreneurial millionaire. Born into poverty, lacking formal education and not blessed in the looks department, CJ Walker takes on racism and sexism within her community to raise herself up and become the head of a thriving black beauty empire against all the very difficult odds stacked against her.
LOCKDOWN COLLECTIONS — Showmax
In anticipation of the inevitable frustration, boredom and irritation that will plague many families during the coronavirus lockdown, Showmax has curated a selection of films to keep everyone from mothers and fathers to the teens and youngsters happy. There are the prehistoric thrills of the Jurassic Park collection; the bombastic action of the Transformers films; the animated high jinks of How to Train your Dragon and Kung Fu Panda; the nostalgic time-travelling adventures of Back to the Future and the tense drama of The Hits Collection, which brings together a selection of dramas set in the boxing ring.