Five (more) things to watch this week
APPLE TV+ Michael Douglas has lots of twinkly eyed, cheeky fun donning period costume to examine the role Ben Franklin played in diplomatic manoeuvring to secure a treaty between the US and France to help fund the War of Independence against the British. It’s December 1776 when Franklin arrives in France with his grandson, Temple (Noah Jupe), on a mission that will see him deftly avoid the nefarious machinations of British spies, loyalist French aristocrats and charming women.
TOKYO VICE SEASON 1 SHOWMAX
Ansel Elgort stars as US crime reporter Jake Adelstein in this neo-noir adaptation of Adelstein’s non-fiction account of his battles with the Tokyo underworld. Already an outsider in a neon-drenched and strange environment, Adelstein’s life becomes complicated when his reporting leads him into conflict with the city’s powerful crime boss. It’s a tale of corruption that offers insight into the underbelly of Tokyo.
FALLOUT
Amazon Studios is betting big on this adaptation of the video game starring Ella Purnell, Walton
PRIME VIDEO
Goggins and Aaron Moten. In a post-apocalyptic Los Angeles decimated by the effects of a nuclear explosion, citizens live in underground bunkers to avoid radiation, mutants, bandits and each other.
GIRLS STATE APPLE TV+
After the success the 2020 documentary Boys State, which followed the journey of 1,000 17-year-old boys from Texas participating in an experiment to rebuild the US government from the ground up, directors Amanda Mcbaine and Jesse Moss change the focus to young Texan women.
ONE LIFE — RENT OR BUY FROM APPLE TV +
Anthony Hopkins stars in this solidly respectful and inspiring biopic of Sir Nicholas “Nicky” Winton, a London broker who, after a visit to Prague in 1938, returned to his homeland determined to do something to help hundreds of Jewish children escape the encroaching horrors of Nazi Germany. Fifty years later, Winton is still haunted by the faces of the children he didn’t manage to save until an appearance on the BBC programme That’s Life reunites him with some of those he did save. It’s a fitting tribute to a small, heroic act that’s carried by strong performances.