From HBO’s I Know This Much Is True to the return of Amazon Prime Video’s Homecoming and Netflix’s Dead to Me, Eddie Mullan picks the programmes worth seeing this month.
Homecoming
The slow-burn thriller returns, without its original lead Julia Roberts but with multi-talented popstar/actress Janelle Monáe taking her place, as a character who wakes in a rowboat on a lake with no memory of who she is or how she got there. Her search for the truth will lead her to the Geist Group, the unconventional wellness company that was at the heart of the first series. Stephan James (If Beale Street Could Talk) reprises his role as traumatised military veteran Walter Cruz, still trying to successfully transition back to civilian life following the traumas of war. Watch the trailer here. Premieres 22 May on Amazon Prime Video (Credit: Amazon Prime Video)
Upload
A co-creator of both the US Office and Parks and Recreation, Greg Daniels has not one, but two shows released this month, the first of which is this sci-fi rom-com, set in a future with hologram phones and 3D-food printers. We follow app developer Nathan Brown (Robbie Amell), who has a decision to make following a self-driving car accident – because luckily in this imagined future, anyone who is near death can be uploaded into a virtual afterlife of their choosing. So after a rushed deliberation with girlfriend Ingrid (Allegra Edwards), Nathan is uploaded to her family’s luxurious afterlife. There, he meets charismatic concierge Nora Anthony (Andy Allo), who helps him navigate this new digital extension of life. Watch the trailer here. Premieres 1 May on Amazon Prime Video (Credit: Amazon Prime Video)
Space Force
Daniels’ other series – co-created with its star Steve Carell – provides an unusual spin on the workplace comedy. Carell stars as general Mark R Naird (Carell), a decorated pilot with dreams of running the Air Force, who is amazed when he finds himself called up to lead the newly formed sixth branch of the US armed forces: the titular Space Force. After Mark and his family are moved to a remote base in Colorado, he and a team of scientists and ‘spacemen’ are tasked by the White House with getting US boots on the Moon once again. John Malkovich, Lisa Kudrow, and Ben Schwartz also star. Premieres 29 May on Netflix (Credit: Netflix)
I Know This Much Is True
Writer and director Derek Cianfrance (Beyond the Pines) reportedly finished editing this six-part series in his basement, while under lockdown. Featuring Mark Ruffalo in a dual role as identical twins Dominick and Thomas Birdsey, this adaptation of Wally Lamb’s family saga follows the brothers at different stages in their lives, beginning as they approach middle-age. Thomas has paranoid schizophrenia, so it falls to Dominick to take care of him, just as their mother (Melissa Leo) starts to experience poor health – and Thomas’s behaviour becomes increasingly dangerous. Also stars Kathryn Hahn, Rosie O’Donnell and Juliette Lewis. Watch the trailer here. Premieres 10 May on HBO and 11 May on Sky Atlantic (Credit: HBO)
Snowpiercer
Anyone who enjoyed Bong Joon-ho’s recent Oscar-winner Parasite may want to check out this similarly socially-conscious thriller series, which is a spin-off from Bong’s 2013 film of the same name, as well as the graphic novel on which that was based. Set seven years after the world has become a post-apocalyptic frozen wasteland, it centres on a group of human survivors circling the globe on a perpetually-moving train of 1001 carriages. Expect a heady brew of class warfare, social injustice and the politics of survival. Starring Jennifer Connelly (Requiem for a Dream) alongside Daveed Diggs (Black-ish), Alison Wright (The Americans) and Mickey Sumner (Frances Ha). Watch the trailer here. Premieres 17 May on TNT (Credit: TNT)
Ramy
Portrayals of Muslims in western entertainment have been prone to stereotype, if they have been present at all, but Egyptian-American stand-up comedian Ramy Youssef is helping to change that with his semi-autobiographical series, now returning for a second run, which is set in New Jersey and explores the challenges of what it’s like to be caught between a religious community who believes life is a moral test, and a millennial generation that doubts an afterlife exists. This time around, Ramy goes deeper on his spiritual journey, finding a new Muslim community in the process. Premieres 29 May on Hulu (Credit: Hulu)
Dead to Me
Christina Applegate and Linda Cardellini are also back with another series of Netflix’s black comedy about an acerbic widow, Jen (Christina Applegate), and her friend Judy (Linda Cardellini), who get caught up in all manner of trouble. With their lives spinning out of control, following season 1’s climactic death, they’re clinging to each other – but with a surprising new visitor in town and detective Perez (Diana Maria Riva) hot on their heels, they have to take drastic measures to protect their loved ones and each other. Watch the trailer here. Premieres 8 May on Netflix (Credit: Netflix)
Trying
All Jason (Rafe Spall) and Nikki (Esther Smith) want is a baby. But it’s the one thing they just can’t have. This British series, the first UK show from Apple TV+, is in a similar vein to recent comedy-drama Catastrophe, exploring the difficulties of growing up, settling down, and starting a family. As Jason and Nikki struggle to conceive, they decide to adopt – only to face a raft of new challenges that come with the process. Watch the trailer here. Premieres 1 May on Apple TV+ (Credit: Apple TV+)
The A Word
This affecting family drama centred around a boy living with autism returns for a third series. Two years on and a lot has changed for Joe (Max Vento), now 10 years old, living in two places at once, as a result of the divorce of his parents Alison (Morven Christie) and Paul (Lee Ingleby) – and struggling to process the seismic change in his life through the filter of his condition. Only Joe’s tactless grandfather Maurice (Christopher Eccleston) is holding the family together. New faces joining this series include Julie Hesmondhalgh, Sarah Gordy and David Gyasi. Watch the trailer here. Premieres 5 May on BBC One (Credit: BBC One)
Central Park
This animated comedy musical from Bob’s Burgers co-creator Loren Bouchard, which has a similar look and feel to that show, centres on the Tillermans, a family who live in, and look after, New York’s most famous park. As Owen, the park manager, and his journalist wife Paige, raise their kids Molly and Cole, they fend off hotel heiress Bitsy Brandenham and her long suffering assistant Helen, who would love to turn the beloved green space into condos. Famous voices in the series you’ll recognise include Kristen Bell, Tituss Burgess, Kathryn Hahn, Stanley Tucci and Josh Gad. Watch the trailer here. Premieres 29 May on Apple TV+ (Credit: Apple TV+)
