Things to stream
IF YOU HAVE 3 HOURS
Bad Boy Billionaires India Netflix There were meant to be four episodes in this docuseries examining the extravagant lifestyles, dodgy practices and questionable ethics of some of India’s filthy rich, but court cases and legal threats have muddied the waters. Netflix has released three episodes dealing with the rise and fall of “King of Good Times” liquor tycoon Vijay Mallya, dodgy diamond dealer Nirav Modi and Subrata Roy, the head of the Sahara conglomerate, who’s fighting charges for his involvement in a massive Ponzi scheme to defraud millions of India’s poor. They’re not nice men but there’s something intriguing about their nefarious and depressing King Midas stories.
IF YOU HAVE 3.5 HOURS
Journey of an African Colony Netflix
As Nigeria celebrates 60 years of independence, Olasupo Shasore, historian, writer and former attorney general and commissioner for justice in Lagos State, takes us on an epic, bloody and greed-filled journey through the turbulent history of the country. Going back to the early history of the area and its slave trade and colonial past, it’s a powerful reminder of the terrible circumstances out of which the country was born that offers a fascinating insight into its little-known history in the company of an engaging and insightful guide.
Emily in Paris Netflix
Created by Sex and the City’s Darren Star, this horribly out-of-touch show is something to watch for sheer gobsmacking disbelief at its shallow vision of Paris as seen by its Midwestern American protagonist (Lily Collins), who lands her dream job working for a pharmaceutical PR firm in the city of love. After absorbing its lazy excuse of a story and begrudgingly admiring its dreamy evocations of a Paris that no-one believes exists anymore – do yourself a favour and read the bitter, hilarious reviews of the show by French critics which will provide far more real laughs than the show itself.
IF YOU HAVE 8 HOURS On Becoming a God in Central Florida
Showmax Kirsten Dunst stars in this dark comic drama about a working-class Florida water park employee who wangles her way up the ranks of a multimillion-dollar pyramid scheme to take revenge for the destruction its promises of easy money and American Dream riches have wreaked on her family. Set in the 1990s, it’s a smart period drama whose themes are depressingly relevant now. Dunst excels at navigating narrative territory that surprises in its twists and turns but manages to maintain its relevance to our universal anxieties.