The Week’s guide to what’s worth watching
The Amusement Park
Like a zombie from one of his own films, a lost George Romero horror classic has risen from the grave. In 1973, the Night of the Living Dead director was taking any work he could when he accepted a commission from a Pittsburgh-based Lutheran group to make a movie dramatizing the indignities of aging. His patrons recoiled when they saw the 52-minute dark fable Romero produced, but the rediscovered film remains a blisteringly relevant indictment of how little society cares for the weak. And it’s all packaged in one elderly man’s nightmare visit to an amusement park. Available Tuesday, June 8, Shudder
Awake
Chaos erupts worldwide in this feature-length thriller when a mysterious event causes a total global power outage while robbing humans of the ability to sleep. Gina Rodriguez stars as a mother and war veteran who has the skills to survive amid the violence of a world turning mad. She also has a preteen daughter who could be key to saving civilization. Available Wednesday, June 9, Netflix
Lupin
The French-made heist series that highjacked Netflix’s ratings in early 2021 is back. Omar Sy returns as Assane Diop, a man on a revenge mission who models himself after fictional gentleman thief Arsène Lupin. Diop has become a much-wanted man as the stakes ratchet up: His son has been kidnapped by the billionaire aristocrat whose crimes he seeks to expose. Available Friday, June 11, Netflix
Blindspotting
Blindspotting the movie was a prescient take on gentrification and double-standard policing in Oakland. This spin-off series doesn’t have Daveed Diggs, but it brings back Jasmine Cephas Jones and gives the Emmy winner and original Hamilton cast member room to deliver a star turn. Jones plays Ashley, a young mother whose man Miles is in jail. To stay afloat, she and the couple’s school-age son agree to move in with Miles’ mother, played by Helen Hunt. But it’s
Miles’ half-sister who proves harder to live with. Sunday, June 13, at 9 p.m., Starz
Tuca & Bertie
A curious cancellation by Netflix becomes a boon for Adult Swim, which picked up this gutbusting animated series for its Season 2. Tiffany Haddish and Ali Wong again supply the voices of Tuca and Bertie, a toucan and a song thrush who are odd-couple best friends. The new episodes begin with Bertie trying to exorcise old demons in therapy sessions and wild-girl Tuca creating a “Sex Bus” to score herself a mate. Sunday, June 13, at 11:30 p.m., Adult Swim
Other highlights
2021 CMT Music Awards
Maren Morris, Mickey Guyton, and Chris Stapleton will be among the performers at country music’s second big awards show of the season. Nominees Kane Brown and Kelsea Ballerini will co-host. Wednesday, June 9, CMT In the Heights
Lin-Manuel Miranda’s new movie musical could be summer’s first big hit in theaters, but it’s arriving concurrently on HBO’s streaming service. Available Friday, June 11, HBO Max
Betty
The skater girls of Betty get back on their boards for a second season, which covers the season of Covid lockdowns in New York City. Friday, June 11, at 11 p.m., HBO Max