📺 Two true crime adaptations & a provocative historical drama

plus A Gentleman in Moscow and upcoming premieres for the next week

Welcome back! Exciting news for those of you intrigued by our review of Big Mood from a few weeks back — the episodes officially drop in the U.S. this Friday on the free streaming service Tubi. And if you can tear yourself away from the new Taylor Swift album that drops tomorrow (we understand if you can’t), you’ll find a handful of other recommendations for what to watch this weekend below.

In today’s edition:
Weekly Watchlist
Under the Bridge (Hulu)
Mary & George (Starz)
Baby Reindeer (Netflix)
A Gentleman in Moscow (Showtime)

— Jess Spoll and Jenni Cullen

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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.

• Dinner With the Parents (Season 1) — A remake of a British sitcom titled Friday Night Dinner, this new single-camera comedy series centers around a weekly family get-together that always devolves into chaos.
  Watch on Amazon Freevee: April 18 (4 of 10 episodes, then weekly)

• Rebel Moon Part Two (Movie) — Zack Snyder’s Rebel Moon sci-fi duology tells the story of a war in the far reaches of space between a peaceful colony and its tyrannical oppressors.
  Watch on Netflix: April 19

• Big Mood (Season 1) — Nicola Coughlan (Bridgerton, Derry Girls) stars in this vibrant, messy, and hilarious comedy-drama about female friendship and navigating mental illness.
  Watch on Tubi: April 19 (all 6 episodes)

• The Jinx — Part Two (Limited Series) — A continuation of the Emmy-winning documentary series further explores the crimes of Robert Durst after he was famously captured on tape saying “Killed them all, of course.”
  Watch on HBO/Max: April 21 (1 of 6 episodes, then weekly)

• Anyone But You (Movie - Streaming Premiere) — Glen Powell and Sydney Sweeney star in this rom-com that was a sleeper hit at the box office, with some hailing it as a promising revival of the overlooked genre.
  Watch on Netflix: April 23

• The Big Door Prize (Season 2) — This delightful small-town show mixing sci-fi mystery with character-driven ensemble comedy returns for a second season.
  Watch on Apple TV+: April 24 (3 of 10 episodes, then weekly)

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Our thoughts on brand new streaming content, and where you can watch.

Under the Bridge

Photo: Hulu

Keywords: true crime, drama, miniseries
Watch if you like: Unbelievable, A Friend of the Family, Under the Banner of Heaven
Jess’s Rating: B

Adapted from a book by Rebecca Godfrey, Under the Bridge is a true crime dramatization about the disappearance of 14-year-old Reena Virk in 1997. Using a clever storytelling device, Riley Keough stars as Godfrey on a journey to research the book that later becomes this show. Joining Keough in the star-led cast is Academy Award nominee Lily Gladstone as an officer investigating the case.

The series begins with Godfrey returning to Victoria, British Columbia to research the wayward young girls of her hometown. When she happens upon the recent case of Reena’s disappearance, she gets close to the local teens who were the last people to see the young girl alive. Jumping between past and present timelines, we see Reena’s final days unfold as we follow the parallel investigations of Godfrey and Officer Bentland (Gladstone).

True crime dramatizations are not going away any time soon, so despite my wariness of them and their inherently exploitative nature, it’s worthwhile to call out one that is done (seemingly) respectfully. Although it’s unclear if the Virk family signed off on this adaptation, Reena’s parents spent decades campaigning against bullying and speaking out about the tragedy (source), in addition to publishing their own account of the story. Also of note is how the series avoids common pitfalls of the genre; it doesn’t glorify the perpetrators, it doesn’t gloss over the victim’s life, and it doesn’t depict gratuitous violence.

Keough and Gladstone give — unsurprisingly — stellar performances, although their characters are clearly given screen time to attract viewers to the show, rather than out of necessity to tell Reena’s story. That said, there’s still proper care spent on the teenage victim and perpetrators. Godfrey and showrunner Quinn Shephard have both said that they were interested in diving into the psyches of teen girls and the potential for violence within them, and this focus differentiates Under the Bridge from the innumerable true crime stories perpetrated by men. It’s a powerful story to watch, provided you can bear the relentless grimness of it.

— Jess

Length: ~45-min runtime, Limited Series / 8 episodes (2 available now, then weekly on Wednesdays)
Watch on: Hulu

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Mary & George

Photo: Starz

Keywords: historical drama, limited series, raunchy
Watch if you like: The Tudors, The Borgias, Bridgerton
Jenni’s Rating: B

Mary & George tells the story of the Countess of Buckingham’s (Julianne Moore) cunning bid for power in 17th century England, and how she used her handsome son (Nicholas Galitzine) to seduce the king and secure her family’s fortunes. Loosely based on Benjamin Woolley's non-fiction account of King James I and George Villiers’ affair, this miniseries settles comfortably between the soapiness of The Tudors and the sharp archness of The Favourite.

From the first moments of the pilot, it promises high stakes, crafty plotting, and a lot more fun than I was expecting. Definitely not your grandma’s period drama (although who am I to judge your grandma) — there’s plenty of coarse language, sex, and dark humor throughout. Similar to predecessors like The Tudors, Mary & George is unapologetically sex-forward, with lavishly raunchy scenes ranging from royal orgies to secret trysts in dark alleyways.

With only two episodes out so far, I feel the need to be a bit conservative in my rating and praise for the series. My interest did wane halfway through a slightly less-focused second episode. However, I feel no reservations in declaring just how spectacular Julianne Moore is in this role. Her Mary is a relentlessly calculating puppet master and problem-solver in a society built to keep women down. She’s witty, cold at times, and always pragmatic. Even if the rest of the show doesn’t measure up, I might still watch more episodes just to see her scheme and verbally spar with other members at court.

Overall, I find this family and their story fascinating. I’m excited to keep rooting for one of the original “mom-agers” and watch the stakes rise as Mary and George climb higher up the social ladder in a visually sumptuous production.

— Jenni

Length: 50-min runtime, 1 season / 2 of 7 episodes out, new on Fridays
Watch on: Starz

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Baby Reindeer

Photo: Netflix

Keywords: thriller, dark dramedy, eerie, mental health
Watch if you like: Beef, I May Destroy You, Flowers