What to watch on Netflix: February 2020
“There’s just so much choice” you cry from your sofa as you flick through the eternal Netflix catalogue, the bespoke categories getting gradually more obscure until you hit “Irish talent shows featuring giraffes” and decide to call it a day.
To help you make the most of your Netflix subscription (or your Mum’s, your brother’s best mate’s or your housemate’s ex’s stepdad’s for that matter) we have put together a shortlist of our top picks of currently available content.
Image: Netflix
The one-off hit: Miss Americana
A long time in the making, Taylor Swift's biographic mini-film arrived on Netflix at the end of last week. Directed by Lana Wilson, the feature focusses on the darker side of the music superstar's rise to fame. The theme that frames Swift's journey, is her desperation for approval in every aspect of her professional and personal life. Sequinned suits, marshmallow pink video shoots and disco ball awards dress feature heavily in the background, but the foreground touches on much more serious issues such as sexual assault and its subsequent treatment in Hollywood – Taylor's song 'Clean' was inspired by her experience. Also discussed are Taylor's troubled relationship with eating and body image; the relentless paparazzi and its intrusive impact on her life; and, perhaps the story told with most nuance: Taylor's decision to share her political views despite heavy pressure to keep buttoned.
The 90 minute film is, as you can imagine, studded with Swift’s music. Such listening is largely interwoven through sit-in scenes on the song-writing process which, regardless of your personal views, are enough to leave anybody convinced of her prodigy. Not just the blonde sweetheart sculpted by the media, Swift is portrayed as an intelligent and in-touch business woman whose heart is in the right place – or it certainly will be when it joins us at Glastonbury later this year! Hats off to Tay-Tay, whose new album 'Lover' is available now.
The binge-in-a-day thriller: The Stranger
Netflix’ latest crime thriller will have you hooked within its first 20 minutes. The series’ premise hangs off of the unpicking of secrets which, once unveiled, send the characters spinning through a web of red herrings and tangled mistruths. Initially the drama feels like it may have got lost on its way to a BBC 9pm slot, but the unapologetic gore that ensues after the first couple of episodes soon ensures you that writer, Danny Brocklehurst, is not messing around.
The Stranger’s sprawling cast does some serious justice to Harley Coben’s novel with polished performances from Richard Armitage in the male lead as Adam and Siobhan Finneran as the no-bullshit female detective who pulls the story together. The Greater Manchester landscape casts a gritty urban shadow across the story and provides a number of clever location opportunities for the production team.
We hope there is more to come from The Stranger, not least because unanswered questions lingered at its end, although perhaps this is part of the appeal.
The specific-but-terrific documentary: Cheer
You are highly unlikely to have heard of 'Navarro Cheer' before this documentary, but if you choose to indulge, we can assure you that you will never forget the name again. A documentary about cheerleading no doubt raises images of sickly American teenagers singing irritating chants and being chased around by 'jocks' who skipped leg-day and 'math class' one time too many. 'Cheer' however is far from a One Tree Hill throwback. The athletes at Navarro College are champions of cheerleading at its most competitive level who have largely joined the programme, led by Monica Aldama, from lives on the outskirts of society.
The series provides an in depth view of the cheer programme and its astoundingly tough physical and mental expectations (think repeated backflips and somersaults on multiple broken ribs…) Far from sunny, the camerawork is murky in tone and is offset by an uncomfortably melodic segue jingle – a juxtaposition that mirrors that of the hardships faced by the team members against their impressive success. The cheerleaders each tell us their individual stories and before they've reached the ground, you have formed an emotional attachment strong enough to wield tears during the climatic competition final in episode six.
The all-round star: Sex Education
Just as we’d recovered from the withdrawals following Season One, the second helping of Sex Education has landed, oozing with more charisma, libido, multi-coloured nylon and little gooey moments that pull up the corners of even the grumpiest mouths around. For those not familiar (we’re trying not to judge…) the series follows the sixth form days of Otis Milburn and his friends at Moordale Secondary School. The premise underpinning the first season was that Otis, despite being a somewhat awkward teen, found himself selling advice that he’d learned from his sex therapist mother (played by Gillian Anderson) for pocket money to his peers.
Season two uses the carefully curated sit-com to more broadly deal with the concerns facing teenagers as they learn the birds and the bees and so much more. The character development during season two is executed exceptionally - the layers of emotion and personality within each character unravel slowly and strategically so that we fall uniquely in love with every one of them. Sex Education’s approach to issues ranging from sexual assault to disability and sexual orientation to gynaecological health is so brilliantly sensitive thanks to its characters, being both necessarily direct whilst also accepting of every shade of grey conceivable.
Grey is not a word you would associate with the show; Laurie Nunn, the creator, blends British characters, US high school culture and 80s pop music and fashion. The result - a screen so vibrant it could be the set for Disney's next makeover movie (in only the good ways) and a soundtrack filled with bangers by Fleetwod Mac, Salt-N-Pepa and Ezra Furman that will have you bopping your way into the summer before February has even got started!
Words by Lucy Firestone
