Netflix

The perfect mini series is an elusive beast. In the pre-Sky and Netflix era, you’d get the DVD and it would last you a few weeks (back then, reading books was still a thing), lend it to friends, and fawn over it at dinner parties for the next few months. Yet back then we were watching less, didn’t have much choice, and consequently, weren’t so picky. The rise of on-demand TV was like moving from small town to the big city: our standards jumped, except this time, the dumped girlfriend was ITV, and the new belle was Sky Atlantic. When there’s so much new TV to choose from, it’s rather

At the moment, what everyone needs is a good laugh. This doesn’t necessarily mean that the funniest comedies have to exist in their own bubble; many of the best examples of the genre have held a mirror up to society, in all its complexity and absurdity. But then many also manage to divert and entertain on their own terms, too. Whether you’re into jet-black political satire, deceptively clever romantic comedies or broad farce, there’s something here for everyone. Even if humour remains the most personal of inclinations, these half-dozen masterpieces are endlessly, hilariously rewatchable. The Death of Stalin Armando Iannucci’s second film is a note-perfect combination of humour and horror,

From serious sci-fi to spoofs in space, here are films and TV to watch on Netflix if you’re after some futuristic entertainment… Annihilation One of Netflix’s in-house productions, Annihilation sees Natalie Portman play a biologist leading a rescue mission into a mysterious zone on the US coastland known as The Shimmer. It’s an area hit by a meteorite that is expanding and doing bizarre stuff to any living things that come into its orbit. What unfolds is a tense and imaginative sci-fi adventure that chucks plenty of other genres and film references into the mix. There are elements of Apocalypse Now in there as Portman’s crew head into this futuristic

Gomorrah (Sky) Life in the Naples Mafia (the Camorra) is nasty, brutish, short – and nothing like Goodfellas. Even when you’ve made your millions from the drugs trade, there’s nothing to spend it on save your fleet of armoured 4 x 4s and your gilded cage in some bleak, rundown suburb which it’s never safe to leave because you’ll only end up arrested or shot. Spoiler alert: almost everyone dies over the four seasons of this mesmerisingly bleak, moodily soundtracked, fabulously compulsive drama. But though it’s immensely depressing and quite shockingly violent – it has been described as the series ‘where characters die before they become characters’ – it’s also

With over 160 million subscribers – which ranks somewhere between the population of Bangladesh and Nigeria – Netflix’s biggest shows command staggering audiences worldwide. But the streaming platform has also snapped up the rights to hundreds of lesser known series, some of which are just as good. Here’s our pick of the undiscovered gems: Rectify When it comes to sheer critical acclaim, few shows can match Rectify. From the moment this slow-burn crime drama debuted in the US in 2013, it was praised to the hills by television aficionados. Yet even after four successful seasons, and an excellent finale, the show remains relatively unknown compared to the likes of Breaking

As this year’s Oscar-winning films continue their box office reign, it’s salutary to remember that some excellent films have been honoured over the years. Even as many have faded from memory (Crash, anyone?), some of the award-winners that can be found on Netflix represent the very best in contemporary cinema. Here are some of our favourites. The Silence Of The Lambs (1991) Jonathan Demme’s psychological thriller was the last (to date) film to win the ‘big five’ at the Oscars – Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Adapted Screenplay. Although many aspects of it, especially Anthony Hopkins’s performance as the intellectual cannibal Hannibal Lecter, have been

With South Korean film Parasite taking home the Best Picture gong at this year’s Oscars, it’s clear that foreign language films and series are having a bit of a moment. Keen to polish your language skills whilst devouring a good box-set at the same time – or just looking to sound more cultured at your next dinner party? Either way, you won’t regret getting stuck into these subtitled Netflix dramas: Fauda Following hot on the heels of Homeland (which also began life in Israel), Israeli terorrism thriller Fauda – which means ‘chaos’ in Arabic – has been a bit of a global smash for Netflix. While the show has tension

1917, the World War One epic that has picked up 10 Oscar nominations (including for Best Picture and Best Director for Sam Mendes), is currently going great guns in cinema. If it has put you in the mood for more war on screen, then fire up Netflix, where there are plenty of military flicks to pick from. Jarhead 1917 is not Sam Mendes’s first foray onto the battlefield. Jarhead, released in 2005, was an adaptation of a memoir written by US marine Anthony Swofford about his experience of serving in the first Iraq war – the resulting film is a different kind of war movie in which the longueurs of

These days we political anoraks can usually get more than our fill of drama – and laughs – from the real world. Just look at what’s happening in Westminster – not to mention the White House. But what if you’re still craving more? Here’s our list of the best Netflix choices, including documentaries, dramas and comedies, for political obsessives. Mitt Through intimate access to Romney and his family on the campaign trail, Mitt seeks to present a more rounded picture of the man who failed to defeat Barack Obama in 2012. And the picture that emerges is a quietly moving one: a man of charm and kindness who never quite