fri 05/09/2025

Netflix

theartsdesk Q&A: Suranne Jones on 'Hostage', power pants and politics

If she decided to run for election, Suranne Jones would probably stand a good chance of winning. The Chadderton-born actress and producer has been a driving figure in British television ever since she became known for playing Karen McDonald on...

Read more...

Hostage, Netflix review - entente not-too-cordiale

Conceived and written by Matt Charman, whose CV includes an Oscar nomination for his work on Steven Spielberg’s film Bridge of Spies, Hostage is a rather puzzling mix of political thriller and domestic drama which can never decide whether it’s...

Read more...

The Waterfront, Netflix review - fish, drugs and rock'n'roll

You wouldn’t really want to belong to the Buckley family, a star-crossed dynasty who run their fishing business out of Havenport, North Carolina. As Bree Buckley (daughter of Harlan and Belle) tells recently-discovered family member Shawn, “I wouldn...

Read more...

Too Much, Netflix - a romcom that's oversexed, and over here

A thirtysomething American woman with wavering self-confidence, a tendency to talk too much and a longing for married bliss with Mr Darcy at his gorgeous country pile tries to reset her life post-breakup with a grown-up new job in London. Welcome to...

Read more...

Sarah Silverman, Netflix Special review - finding the funny in losing a parent

Death can be a powerful driver for comedy, as countless stand-ups and sitcom writers will affirm, but it has to be sensitively handled. Dark humour can be, forgive the pun, life-affirming, and an excuse for the tears, whether of pain or pleasure, to...

Read more...

Dept. Q, Netflix review - Danish crime thriller finds a new home in Edinburgh

Netflix’s new detective-noir is a somewhat cosmopolitan beast. It’s written and directed by an American, Scott Frank, derived from a novel, Mercy, by the Danish crime writer Jussi Adler-Olsen, and set in Edinburgh (as well as other flavourful...

Read more...

The Trunk, Netflix review - stylish, noir-ish Korean drama wrapped around a beguiling love story

The trunk in the title is a luxury item, worth 50 million won – just north of £27,000 – shown sinking in deep water in the opening credits. It weaves through one of the classiest recent collaborations between Netflix and Korean TV, a haunting...

Read more...

The Potato Lab, Netflix review - a K-drama with heart and wit

When the world’s darkness is too much, there is a Netflix rabbit-hole you can disappear down to a kinder place: the Korean romcoms section. This is a recommendation for romcom fans, a warm indulgent bubble bath of a watch. It's like turning the...

Read more...

Adolescence, Netflix review - Stephen Graham battles the phantom menace of the internet

A dictionary definition of adolescence is “the transitional phase of growth and development between childhood and adulthood”, but in this four-part drama it looks more like a nightmare zone of uncontrolled rage, anxiety and sexual confusion.Created...

Read more...

Drive to Survive, Season 7, Netflix review - speed, scandal and skulduggery in the pitlane

Last year’s sixth season of Drive to Survive radiated an air of diminishing returns. It was as though the novelty of its spy-in-the-paddock ethos was wearing off as the Formula One teams sought to mould the show to suit their own interests, and what...

Read more...

Zero Day, Netflix review - can ex-President Robert De Niro save the Land of the Free?

It seems that esteemed former US President George Mullen is subsiding gently into retirement on his luxurious country estate, with a publishing contract for his memoirs if he can ever manage to knuckle down and write them, when fate throws a curve-...

Read more...

Surviving Black Hawk Down, Netflix review - the real story behind Ridley Scott's Oscar-winner

Ridley Scott’s 2001 film Black Hawk Down was a technically superb blockbuster bristling with thunderous action sequences and famous actors, though its gung-ho depiction of the heroics of American special forces during the appalling Somalian civil...

Read more...
Subscribe to Netflix