Week of April 18 – 24

Ready to watch? Because we’ve got some heavy-hitters returning to the ring this week. Let’s just jump right in. Richard Gadd, who created a sensation with “Baby Reindeer,” returns with a new limited series on HBO called “Half Man.” Got it? Good. Charlize Theron stars in a thrilling new movie called “Apex” on Netflix. That clear? Right. The “Stranger Things” gang returns in an animated spinoff called “Tales from ‘85” on Netflix. And that’s not all – we’ve got a new Disneynature documentary (“Orangutan” on Disney+), a new Nikki Glaser standup special (“Good Girl” on Hulu) and Zach Galifianakis hosting a gardening show (“This Is a Gardening Show” on Netflix).

On with the television! 

Half Man

Thursday, April 23 at 9 p.m., HBO

Source: HBO/BBC

Richard Gadd, the Emmy-winning creator of “Baby Reindeer,” is back with a brand-new series. And the logline is … well, read for yourself: “Niall and Ruben are brothers. Not related in blood but the closest you can get. One, fierce and loyal. The other, meek and mild-mannered. Inseparable youth. Brought into each other’s lives through death and circumstance, all they have is each other… But when Ruben turns up at Niall’s wedding three decades later, everything seems different. He is on edge. Shifty. Not acting like himself. And soon, an explosion of violence takes place which catapults us back through their lives, from the eighties to the present day.”

Gadd and Jamie Bell play the brothers as adults, with a pair of different actors capturing them in their teenage years, with a supporting cast that includes Stuart Campbell, Mitchell Robertson, Neve McIntosh, Marianne McIvor and Charlie De Melo. The six-part limited series, a co-production with the BBC, explores “brotherhood, violence, and the intense fragility of male relationships.” Will this be the zeitgeist-capturing, all-anybody-can-talk-about sensation that “Baby Reindeer” was? Or will it keep a low profile? There’s only one way to know – and that’s to watch “Half Man.” [TRAILER]

Abbott Elementary

Wednesday, April 22 at 8:30 p.m., ABC

Source: ABC

The critically acclaimed ABC sitcom, created by and starring Quinta Brunson, wraps up its fifth season ahead of a return for a sixth season. And if you haven’t watched it yet, you’re missing one of the most lauded (it’s been nominated for 30 Primetime Emmys since it began) and entertaining series on television. Pull up a chair! [TRAILER]

Apex

Friday, April 24, Netflix

Source: Netflix

Charlize Theron suffers a personal tragedy and heads to the Australian outback to find herself. Instead, she runs afoul of a maniac serial killer (Taron Edgerton), who spends most of the movie attempting to hunt her down and kill her. But this is Charlize we’re talking about, Furiosa herself. She puts up a good fight. “Apex” was directed by Baltasar Kormákur, who has made several compelling survival thrillers – everything from 2015’s big-budget “Everest” to the more intimate, hugely underrated “Adrift” to 2022’s “Beast,” where Idris Elba and his family are hunted by a pack of bloodthirsty lions.

Kormákur’s latest isn’t as entertaining or edge-of-your-seat as those earlier movies, but he does give the proceedings a palpable tactility; you can feel “Apex” underneath your fingernails and smell it on your clothes. Theron is tough, but Edgerton, so charming and affable in so many movies, is the real revelation – a ruthless, singularly driven psychopath who uses the craggy landscape of the Australian wilderness as his personal deathtrap. [TRAILER]

Orangutan

Wednesday, April 22, Disney+

Source: Disney+

Most of the time, Earth Day means a new Disneynature documentary. The Disneynature movies, which started back in 2008 and harkened back to the Oscar-winning “True-Life Adventures” nature documentaries that Walt Disney pioneered, usually focus on a type of animal or a specific environment. They also normally have energetic celebrity narration, which gives personality and context to the animals or biomes. (The Catherine Keener-narrated “Polar Bear” from 2022 remains a bleak favorite.) This time around, the focus is on Indah, “an inquisitive adolescent orangutan learning how to navigate life as she prepares to leave her family and venture out on her own for the first time,” according to the official release.

“Orangutan” is set in Southeast Asia, with Josh Gad serving as the narrator who will take audiences “into the world’s most majestic rainforest canopy.” Every time a new Disneynature movie is released, it feels like a miracle. They are entertaining and deeply environmental, even without any explicit messaging. This became even truer once Disney, with their acquisition of the 21st Century assets, owned National Geographic. But we’ll celebrate Disneynature movies for as long as they are released. Truly, an endangered species worth rooting for. [TRAILER]

No Other Choice

Friday, April 24, Hulu

Source: NEON

One of the best movies of last year, “No Other Choice” was oddly omitted from the Best International Feature Film Oscar race. Instead, it will live on as a favorite for those who saw it, which will soon be a much bigger group thanks to its appearance on Hulu. The latest from visionary filmmaker Park Chan-wook, “No Other Choice” follows a man (Lee Byung-hun) who is laid off from his job at the paper factory. His search for employment becomes so desperate that he starts murdering those who would probably pose the greatest threat to him on the job market. Inspired by mystery writer Donald Westlake’s 1997 novel “The Ax” and co-written by Canadian filmmaker Don McKellar, “No Other Choice” is both hilarious and deeply unsettling, full of the kind of suspense set pieces that only Park could orchestrate, combining edge-of-your-seat thrills with totally absurd humor. One of the filmmaker’s very best movies, you really shouldn’t miss “No Other Choice.” You really – wait for it – don’t have any other choice. [WATCH]

Source: Netflix