📺 A Fleabag-esque comedy, a war drama, a Colin Farrell P.I. thriller...
Plus Renegade Nell, 5 new TV series & 2 new movies
Happy Thursday! The spring crop of new and returning TV shows is going strong — there’s a ton of exciting stuff to watch this week. Also exciting, but not TV-related…the eclipse coming to a path of totality (hopefully) near you next Monday?! If any of you have plans to see it, make sure you’ve got your eclipse glasses or equivalent eye protection. And have fun out there! 😎
In today’s edition:
Weekly Watchlist
Big Mood (Tubi, Channel 4)
Sugar (Apple TV+)
We Were the Lucky Ones (Hulu)
Renegade Nell (Disney+)
— Jess Spoll and Jenni Cullen
First time reading? Subscribe to receive Double Take weekly.
Below is a selection of new shows and movies premiering this week. Our full list of April releases, including theatrical releases and streaming debuts, is available here and published monthly for our premium subscribers.
Música (Movie) — Rudy Mancuso stars and directs this coming-of-age romantic comedy film about a man with a neurological condition that makes everyday sounds turn to music in his brain.
Watch on Prime Video: April 4Scoop (Movie) — Gillian Anderson, Billie Piper, and Rufus Sewell star in this docudrama about the events leading up to the infamous Prince Andrew interview in 2019.
Watch on Netflix: April 5Ripley (Limited Series) — This adaptation of Patricia Highsmith's novel The Talented Mr. Ripley stars Andrew Scott as the titular conman who is hired to convince a wealthy man's son to return from his extended vacation in Italy. Johnny Flynn, Dakota Fanning, and John Malkovich also star.
Watch on Netflix: April 4 (all 8 episodes)Sugar (Season 1) — Colin Farrell executive produces and stars in this mystery series about a private detective tracking down an elite Hollywood producer’s beloved granddaughter who has disappeared.
Watch on Apple TV+: April 5 (2 of 8 episodes, then weekly)Dinosaur (Season 1) — The latest female-led British comedy from Fleabag producers follows an autistic woman navigating life after her sister — and anchor — gets suddenly engaged.
Watch on Hulu: April 5 (all 6 episodes)Mary & George (Limited Series) — This period series stars Julianne Moore as a desperate countess who positions her son to be the lover of King James I. Together, the pair cheat and scheme their way to power in court.
Watch on Starz: April 5 (all 7 episodes)Fallout (Season 1) — Following in the footsteps of The Last of Us, this game-to-TV adaptation is a story of survival in a post-nuclear apocalypse version of Los Angeles.
Watch on Prime Video: April 11 (all 8 episodes)
Our thoughts on brand new streaming content, and where you can watch.
Big Mood
Keywords: comedy-drama, mental illness, female friendship
Watch if you like: Please Like Me, Broad City, Such Brave Girls
Jenni’s Rating: A-
Created by Camilla Whitehill, Big Mood is a new comedy-drama starring Nicola Coughlan (Derry Girls, Bridgerton) and Lydia West (Years and Years) as decade-long best friends Maggie and Eddie. Nearly 30 and still trying to figure out adulthood, the pair spend six episodes fighting against the increasing pressures of work, life, and mental health hurdles that threaten to strain their bond.
This series is equal parts sad, funny, messy, and unexpected. It feels like it’s following in the footsteps of shows like Fleabag or Please Like Me in that way: swinging from cute, goofy fun one moment to the catastrophic feeling of not being in control of your own life the next. For instance, the initial tension in this series arises from Maggie’s attempt to get out of a writing slump by skipping doses of Lithium — a prescription that helps manage her bipolar disorder. Following that premise, the show could easily skew heavy and dark, but it balances the unglamorous and serious consequences of Maggie’s choice with parallel moments of bubbly, bright, joyous comedy. At its center, this is still a show about two witty late-twenty-somethings supporting each other through job woes, awkward birthdays, and weird hookups. One of them just happens to be struggling with her mood disorder.
If I have one critique it’s that this season was wildly short for what it seemed to want to cover. I could have used more time, and with that time more nuance and development for all the characters. There’s a ton of great groundwork, but pieces felt underdeveloped and the show ends on a cliffhanger that begs for another few episodes — if not a full next season — to wrap things up.
— Jenni
Length: 30-min runtime, 1 season / 6 episodes
Watch on: Tubi (April 19), Channel 4 (UK)
Sugar
Keywords: private detective, film noir, sci-fi
Watch if you like: C.B. Strike, Poker Face, Twin Peaks
Jess’s Rating: B
Set in modern day Los Angeles, Sugar follows a private detective (Colin Farrell) as he goes down a rabbit hole of murder, violence, and deception in pursuit of a famous film producer’s missing daughter. An ode to film noir, the series takes obvious inspiration from the genre — even going so far as to splice in clips from films of the past — but is updated stylistically and thematically for the 21st century.
While the premise is straightforward, there are subtle hints throughout that things might not be as they first appear. And after watching three episodes, the idea that I don’t yet have a firm grasp on where this show is going makes it hard to fully recommend. Even if there are still layers to be peeled back, though, what is there is mostly working. Farrell seems born to play the suave, dangerous, but pensive P.I., and he’s complemented by his affable but enigmatic handler (Kirby aka Sasha from Barry). The neo-noir motifs, along with clear homages to classic movies, add an interesting stylistic flair even if they haven’t yet proven their purpose.
Although it’s taking its sweet time to lay the groundwork, there are clues in Sugar that point to a more interesting show waiting to be revealed, and that will surely keep me coming back for more. Will it pay off in the end? That’s the question that remains.
— Jess
Length: ~40-min runtime, 1 season / 8 episodes (first two premiere April 5)
Watch on: Apple TV+
We Were the Lucky Ones
Keywords: World War II drama, inspired by a true story, book adaptation
Watch if you like: A Small Light, All The Light We Cannot See, Transatlantic
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Double Take to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.