The Killer — Netflix
Director David Fincher reunites with Se7en screenwriter Andrew Kevin Walker for this moody noir about a vengeful hitman played with icy composure and black humour by Michael Fassbender. High on craft, with an impressive visual realisation that mirrors the dedication to his job of Fassbender’s unnamed protagonist, the film, adapted from a French graphic novel, follows the assassin for hire as he seeks vengeance on those responsible for putting his girlfriend in hospital. As he travels the world in search of his targets, accompanied by a pitch-perfect score from regular Fincher collaborators Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, Fassbender takes some jabs at the shallowness of modern consumer society and keeps his killer laser focused on the job at hand, which, though it involves many of the tropes of the hitman genre, subverts expectations with effective slyness.
The Buccaneers — Apple TV+
Shows like Bridgerton have demonstrated an enthusiasm for period dramas that use colour-blind casting, anachronistic modern music and strong feminist messaging impossible within the era they depict but timely for current audiences. This entry into the genre, adapted from an unfinished novel by Edith Wharton, continues the trend with verve and wit in its tale of a group of young, independent-minded American women who travel to 19th-century London in search of husbands and titles. They give the constricted, polite English courting scene a much-needed kick in the nether regions while they are there. Fun, energetic and unashamedly modern, it is a dose of entertaining romance for both older and younger fans of the genre.
Spinners — Showmax
A Showmax Canal+ co-production, this high-action, high-stakes drama explores the harsh realities of life on the Cape Flats through its story of a young teenager who finds the possibility of escape through his talents as a driver in the world of car spinning. As he is drawn into the world of the sport, he is also under increasing pressure from a local gang for whom he works. With his two worlds threatening to collide and possibly tear his life apart, a tough decision needs to be made if he is to have any chance of a new life. It is directed by Jaco Bouwer and features an excellent cast of young actors who breathe some empathetic life into the drama that unfolds between its well-executed scenes of rubber burning thrills.
Culprits — Disney+
A familiarly plotted but well-enough realised crime caper thriller series that follows the fortunes of a gang of elite criminals, who, after a high-stakes heist, go their separate ways expecting to live new lives off the profits of their crimes. Fate and the past intervene when a mysterious and bloody-minded assassin starts targeting the crew and they must reconvene to find out who is responsible and why before there is no-one left.
Silver Dollar Road — Prime Video
Oscar-nominated director Raoul Peck (I Am Not Your Negro) examines the heartbreaking story of the Reels family from North Carolina, whose fight to hold on to their land in the face of decades of racial discrimination resulted in imprisonment, persecution and dispossession. It is urgently relevant, often gut-wrenching but imbibed with a celebration of the power of family unity in the face of obstacles. It is another singularly smart and powerful documentary in Peck’s long line of piercing critiques of racism and its consequences on the lives and psyches of those subjected to it.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.