Source : PERTHNOW NEWS
CAPE FEAR
Apple TV, June 5
This 10-part miniseries will be the third screen adaptation of John D. MacDonald’s The Executioners (fourth if you count that amazing The Simpsons episode, and you should), and it’s always an intimidating act to follow Martin Scorsese.
But Nick Antosca has, with Scorsese and Steven Spielberg’s blessing, who are both executive producers on this series which features a crazy good cast including Javier Bardem, Amy Adams and Patrick Wilson.
With 10 hours to fill, the core story of a unhinged and vengeful ex-con targeting the lawyer he deemed responsible for putting him in prison has been expanded with new characters and complications so that you’re never entirely sure what’s actually going on.
THE BEAR S5
Disney+, June 26
Is it heating up in the kitchen or has the tension finally dissipated now that Carmy has handed over the restaurant to Sydney, Richie and Natalie? How will it all end for our Chicago foodies?
The Bear returns this month for its fifth and final season, and while the zeitgeist has shifted elsewhere, this has remained one of the most interesting shows of the past few years, and propelled the careers of Jeremy Allen White, Ayo Edebiri and Ebon Moss-Bachrach.
If you haven’t watched the surprise drop of that prequel special, Gary, do before this rolls out because there’s a cliffhanger at the end of that that will, presumably, be addressed here.
NOT SUITABLE FOR WORK
Disney+, June 2
Young people in Manhattan! Young people in Manhattan trying to manage fledgling careers! Young people in Manhattan trying to manage fledgling careers while living in the same building!
The obvious comparison is Friends, but the genre of the youth hang-out show is teeming with examples, and there’s a reason why audiences are constantly drawn to it. But the key is whether you get the character and chemistry mix correct.
Not Suitable for Work hails from Mindy Kaling and stars Ella Hunt (Dickinson), Jay Ellis (Top Gun: Maverick), Avantika, Jack Martin, Will Angus and Nicholas Duvernay.
THE AGENCY S2
Paramount+, June 21
We love a slow-burn espionage drama with world-class actors and prestigious heritage – in this case, an English-language adaptation of the brilliant French series, Le Bureau des legendes.
The first season premiered at the tail end of 2024 with Michael Fassbender in the role of “Martian”, a CIA undercover agent who has returned to normal life in London and struggles to re-acclimate after a long time as someone else, especially when a woman from that other life re-enters his sphere.
With a cast that also includes Jodie Turner-Smith, Jeffrey Wright, Richard Gere, John Magaro, and Katherine Waterston, the second promises action, betrayal and a mole hunt.
HOUSE OF THE DRAGON S3
HBO Max, June 22
At times, the behind-the-scenes drama – the feud between George R.R. Martin and showrunner Ryan Condal – have threatened to be more interesting than anything on the show itself.
It’s all those near-identical-looking peroxide blondes. So many Targaryens. It becomes confusing for casual audiences who aren’t deep in Game of Thrones lore.
There had been some complaints that the previous season didn’t have the big dragon-fighting action sequence that was expected, but don’t worry, that was moved to this instalment, so fiery deaths and a high body count are guaranteed.
TWO YEARS LATER
Paramount+, June 4
Oh, hey! An Australian rom-com series – rarer than you think.
The eight-part show stars Phoebe Tonkin and Brendan Thwaites as two young people who caught the same Brisbane bus every day, and were just working up to maybe taking their flirtations off public transport when the pandemic locks the world down.
Two years later (aha, the title), they reconnect and venture out into the real world. Things have changed, they’ve changed, their lives have changed, but they’re still drawn to each other, and if the pandemic taught us anything, it’s to give things a go, right?
THIS IS NOT A MURDER MYSTERY
SBS On Demand, June 4
This is very much this month’s cosy English country house murder mystery, except that it is technically a Belgian series. But it is still predominantly in English and set in England.
The six-episode show takes place in the 1930s and features historical figures from the surrealist arm movement including Man Ray and Salvador Dali. But the central character here is Belgian artist Rene Magritte (you know, he painted The Son of Man, which is the man with an apple and a top hat).
The group, which also includes Lee Miller, Max Ernst and ELT Mesens, are gathered a country manor when one of them is murdered and everyone is a suspect.
OFFICE ROMANCE
Netflix, June 5
If the combination of Jennifer Lopez and rom-com has you reaching for the off button, no one would blame you. No one needs to be triggered with memories of Gigli, Second Act or Shotgun Wedding. Humanity deserves better.
But … there is a sliver of promise here, which is that the screenplay is by Brett Goldstein, who also stars, and Joe Kelly, who is one of Goldstein’s co-writers on Ted Lasso. Like, that should be a good thing.
JLo is a high-flying (literally) airline executive with a reputation for being no-nonsense and kind-of scary. Goldstein is a new lawyer in her team and the two start some forbidden hanky panky, which puts both their jobs in jeopardy.
ALICE AND STEVE
Disney+, June 8
Alice and Steve has marketed itself as a “wrong-com”, which is clever little twist on a promise.
The six-episode British comedy stars Nicola Walker and Jemaine Clement as two old friends, besties, if you will, whose friendship is severely test when he starts dating Alice’s daughter. That’s the “wrong” in “wrong-com”.
Alice is obviously not happy about this, and she tries everything she can to end things, but Steve is ready to counter, resulting in an escalating feud.
OVER YOUR DEAD BODY
Prime Video, June 10
This Samara Weaving and Jason Segel horror-comedy premiered at SXSW in Austin and got a limited run in cinemas in the US, but Australia was not so lucky. So, we’ll have to settle for a streaming release.
A remake of a Norwegian film and directed by The Lonely Island’s Jorma Taccone, the story follows a couple on the verge of separation who decide to take a secluded trip, each with a plan to murder the other for life insurance and out of general bitterness.
But their unbeknownst to each other’s best laid plans are interrupted when two escaped convicts and their guard take them hostage. Now, they have to actually work together to survive.
THE ROOKIE S8
7plus, June 8
Police procedurals are still popular – who doesn’t like a low-commitment distraction? And, come on, Nathan Fillion is very charismatic.
The Rookie returns for its eighth season, back on the beat in Los Angeles and … Prague? Yes, the season opener takes some of the crew on an international operation to Czechia where they have to work with an old enemy to catch someone even worse.
SUGAR S2
Apple TV, June 19
Awww, it was Colin Farrell’s birthday yesterday! He turned 50, which is wild.
The first season of this Farrell series was keeping a big secret, and maybe for too long because it did have that “treading water” vibe until the reveal at the end of episode six that his private investigator character was (two-year-old spoiler alert) an alien.
Look, anytime there’s a take on the PI in the dank underbelly of Los Angeles, it elicits curiosity. The alien thing (which is not explicit in even the season two trailer) is just another twist on a beloved genre.
VOICEMAILS FOR ISABELLE
Netflix, June 19
Zoey Deutch should be a bigger star. She can create onscreen chemistry with anyone and just has this magnetic screen presence that makes you want to watch her. Hopefully, that will buoy this romantic drama she shares with Nick Robinson.
She plays Jill, a young woman in San Francisco whose sister recently died. She starts leaving voicemail messages on her sister’s old phone number, telling her about her day and her life, except that phone number has since been transferred.
So, yes, Wes has been listening to all these messages and when he meets Jill (a meet-cute he contrived based on the information he gleaned), the only way forward is if he can find a way to confess.
TIP TOE
Binge, June 2
Russell T. Davies has become one of the best storytellers in Britain, adeptly capturing a national mood through his characters and their challenges. He returns here with Tip Toe, which stars Alan Cumming and David Morrissey.
The two play neighbours, Leo, the owner of a gay bar, and Clive, an electrician, who wind up in an increasingly acrimonious feud that manages to pull in many of the contemporary issues kitchen tables all over the world are grappling with – trans rights, politics, the manosphere, social media and more.
IN THE HAND OF DANTE
Netflix, June 24
A made-for-cinema movie that is, more or less, going straight to Netflix, In the Hand of Dante had its world premiere last year at the Venice Film Festival.
Directed by Julian Schnabel (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly), the film stars Oscar Isaac (who replaced Johnny Depp, who was attached years earlier, phew) in the dual role of Dante Alighieri and 21st century author Nick Toscas who is hired by a gangster to steal the supposed original manuscript to The Divine Comedy.
The film also stars John Malkovich, Al Pacino, Jason Momoa, Gal Gadot, Gerard Butler, Sabrina Impacciatore and Martin Scorsese. With that cast and Schnabel, it’s shameful that no one bought this for a cinema release.
COLDWATER
SBS On Demand, June 10
David Ireland is predominantly known as a playwright (The Fifth Step), but he has ventured into TV before, most notably for his 2023 rom-com The Lovers. Now he’s back with a thriller, the Scotland-set Coldwater, which stars Andrew Lincoln, Indira Varma, Ewen Bremner and Eve Myles.
Lincoln plays a middle-aged man who moves his family from London to a small Scottish village after an incident which makes me reconsider who he thinks he is. In their new home, he’s beguiled by Tommy, a neighbour who seems to be perfect but is anything but.
THE KILLINGS AT PARRISH STATION
Stan, June 24
Set across two time periods 37 years apart, Mia Wasikowska and Heather Mitchell play the younger and older versions of Detective Georgia Cooke, who was sent to investigate the massacre of four scientists in 1987 at a research station.
The crime is so gruesome and complex, that it changes Georgia’s life. Almost four decades later, a spree of murders has a chilling familiarity, which begs the question, did they really discover what happened at Parrish Station?
This Australian series also features Xavier Samuel, Robert Taylor, Emma Lung, Doris Younane and Alan Dale.
MRS X
Binge, June 30
What started off as a plot by a suburban mum to scare her wayward husband back into the family home, soon becomes a complex clusterf—k when there’s an accidental homicide. Now the criminal underworld is involved, and so are the cops.
The drama-comedy comes from New Zealand and stars Melissa George, Simone Kessell, Dean O’Gorman and Oscar Kighley.
