This was a big week for streaming TV. The Mandalorian season 2 got a new trailer, while The Falcon and the Winter Soldier finally resumed filming after a months-long delay due to the pandemic. In terms of actual new stuff to watch, too, it’s been a huge few days. From big new original Netflix series to a couple of acclaimed movies, there’s plenty to check out on streaming services over the weekend.
Below, we’ve selected eight highlights to watch, and we’ll explain how you stream each one in both the US and UK. And if all of this isn’t enough to keep you busy, Netflix has also just released the animated series Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous, if you’re in the mood for dino-peril. That’s available worldwide.
Here’s what you can stream this weekend on Netflix, Disney Plus, Hulu and Apple TV Plus.
Ratched (Netflix)
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We’ve seen the first episode of Ratched, and it’s surprisingly goofy and melodramatic – even for co-creator Ryan Murphy, the writer/director behind American Horror Story. This is ostensibly a One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest prequel series, about the memorably appalling nurse of the same name. Starring the always-excellent Sarah Paulson and an ensemble of recognizable faces, Ratched is an expensive-looking show, and perhaps worth checking out if you’re a diehard horror fan. Just don’t expect something in the tonal range of The Haunting of Hill House – this is a little too trashy for our tastes.
Now streaming on Netflix
The Devil All The Time (Netflix)
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The big Netflix movie of the week is this adaptation of Donald Ray Pollock’s novel, which stars Tom Holland and Robert Pattinson, among many other big-name actors. Critics mostly like The Devil All The Time – and it’s worth watching for the cast alone. Set in a timeframe that spans World War II and the Vietnam War in the town of Knockemstiff, Ohio, it’s an epic (if depressing) drama about the clashing morality of the town’s various citizens.
Look, just watch it to see Pattinson stealing yet another movie, this time as a corrupt preacher, okay?
Now streaming on Netflix
Residue (Netflix)
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Easily the most acclaimed Netflix release of the week at 100% positive reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, Residue is about a Black filmmaker called Jay who returns to his old Washington DC neighborhood with the intention of writing a script about his young life there, only to find it’s been completely gentrified. This is director Merawi Gerima’s feature debut, and it was selected for the Venice Film Festival. It’s also showing in some theaters in the US.
Now streaming on Netflix
Dragon’s Dogma (Netflix)
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Netflix has a surprising number of videogame-related series available to stream – shows based on Castlevania, Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy are all available to watch already. This latest effort is based on something more obscure: the fan-favorite action RPG Dragon’s Dogma from Capcom, which first released on PS3 and Xbox 360 all the way back in 2012, and has seen several revivals on newer formats since then.
This animated series is about a man who hunts down a dragon after his home is destroyed, with the help of a ‘pawn’ – a warrior ally, basically, which is a reference to how the game would enlist AI-controlled versions of your friends’ characters to take on powerful enemies.
Now streaming on Netflix
Becoming (Disney Plus)
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The entire season of this aspirational new show from Disney Plus has been released, with each episode focusing on how someone famous – including the likes of Nick Kroll, Anthony Davis and Julianne Hough – became a success, overcoming challenges in order to do so. Becoming is probably a good match for younger people in your life, and not those of us who have already entered our 30s and 40s, and see little ahead but disease, steady decline and eating mozzarella straight from the refrigerator.
Now streaming on Disney Plus
Pen15 (Hulu)
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One of Hulu’s most acclaimed shows returns for a second season. In this comedy, actresses Maya Erskine and Anna Konkle play awkward 13 year-old versions of themselves in high school in the year 2000. Definitely an acquired taste, given the high-concept of adults playing children, Pen15 was Emmy-nominated last year for its writing and is well worth trying if you’ve got a Hulu subscription.
Pen15 is streaming on Sky and Now TV in the UK, though it’s unclear when it’ll be showing season 2.
Now streaming on Hulu
Archer season 11 (Hulu)
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In case you missed it, long-running animated spy sitcom Archer entered its 11th(!) season on FX this week in the US. Like all of FX’s originals, you can stream episodes the next day on Hulu. The first two episodes – ‘The Orpheus Gambit’ and ‘Bloodsploosh’ – are available right now, with more following every Thursday.
In the UK, Archer’s streaming home is usually Netflix. Hopefully season 11 will be added within the next few months.
Now streaming on Hulu
Long Way Up (Apple TV Plus)
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Apple TV Plus scores another big exclusive with Long Way Up, a sequel series to Ewan McGregor’s biking journey series Long Way Round and Long Way Down, each of which he made in collaboration with best friend Charlie Boorman. The first three episodes of this new installment are available now, taking the duo from Argentina all the way up to Los Angeles. You can also enjoy the two preceding series on Apple TV Plus if you’ve never seen them before.
Now streaming on Apple TV Plus