Is summer a good time for movies and TV? The answer depends on what kind of content you like to watch. If you’re big on brand new independent films, then it’s a bummer of a season, whilst if blockbusters are your jam, then you’re going to have a lot of fun, with everything from Thor: Love and Thunder to Nope, The Gray Man, DC League Of Super-Pets and many more being released.
Such may explain the lack of quality streaming content this week, with series like Stranger Things and Black Bird still producing good numbers from previous weeks. There are new releases to be had this weekend, but none of them looks to be stirring any creative cauldrons, with early buzz suggesting that they could be damp squibs.
This means there should be only one place you’re heading to escape the heat: the sofa. Here are three releases on Netflix that will help cool your jets.
Farzar: Season 1 (2022) – Netflix – July 15th
We always tend to favour brand new releases when it comes to recommending the best pieces of content to watch this weekend, and whilst Farzar is indeed fresh out the box, it also doesn’t look that great. Taking the number ten spot, the first season of Farzar (and potentially the last) shows off a wacky sci-fi adventure taking place on the title planet that sees a domed world being overtaken by a strong alien force.
An animated comedy along the lines of Rick and Morty and Family Guy, Farzar looks a little outdated in tone, but hey, hopefully we’ll be proved wrong.
Persuasion (2022) – Netflix – July 15th
From one sour-looking new release to another, Netflix’s latest content drops aren’t looking too great with the Jane Austen adaptation of Persuasion getting some early negative buzz. The period piece tells the story of Anne Elliot, a woman who was persuaded not to marry a dashing young man, only for the humble gentleman to re-enter her life eight years later, leaving her with quite the romantic quandary.
With a dazzling cast that includes the likes of Richard E. Grant, Henry Golding, Dakota Johnson and Yolanda Kettle, this one is sure to be fun, even if it fails to deliver quality drama.
The Father (2021) – Netflix – July 17th
A harrowing journey of personal decay, The Father is led by an Oscar-winning performance from the great Anthony Hopkins, elevating this otherwise simple film into something quite extraordinary.
Helmed by the French writer and playwright, Florian Zeller, who wrote the original award-winning play that shares its name with the film, The Father recreates this simplistic theatrical feel whilst ingeniously toying with the simplicity of cinema. Co-starring Olivia Colman, Mark Gatiss and Imogen Poots, Zeller’s film is a remarkable portrayal of a cracking mind and the fragile soul underneath.
