The Sunday Times - UK (2022-05-29)

29 May 2022 39

THE BEST TV FROM NETFLIX AND BEYOND... SUNDAY 29 MAY

The film Men, in cinemas

from Wednesday, continues

a run of applauded films for

the Oscar-nominated Irish

actress Jessie Buckley. Film4

this week is showing two of

the movies that made her

name: 2018’s Wild Rose

(today, 11.20pm) and 2017’s

Beast (Monday, 11.15pm).

To stay in tune with Men’s

weirdness, however, you

might prefer to watch her in

Charlie Kaufman’s excellent

2020 film I’m Thinking Of

Ending Things (Netflix).

Also on a roll is Men’s British

writer-director, Alex Garland.

Watching his 2020 TV series

Devs (BBC iPlayer) and

his 2018 film Annihilation

(Netflix) will bring you

up to date with his recent

successes. His directorial

debut, 2014’s Ex Machina

(Starzplay), is further proof

of his ingenuity.

Edward Porter

Monsters University

(BBC1, 2pm)

The prequel to 2001’s

Monsters, Inc tells us how

Mike the walking eyeball

and the furry hulk Sulley

became friends in their

student days. This visit to the

past is a slight backward step

by the film’s studio, Pixar, and

the movie’s concepts are not

as fresh or ingenious as those

of the original. Still, the

company’s excellence as a

school of animation means

that even its lesser products

do it credit. Assessed on its

merits, this ebullient, zingy

film earns a good grade as

family entertainment.

Dir: Dan Scanlon (2013)

Dear Evan Hansen (Sky

Cinema Premiere, 5.35pm)

Stephen Chbosky’s film of

the musical about an anxiety-

racked 17-year-old is spoilt by

miscasting: Ben Platt is too old

to be a convincing Evan. Still,

newcomers might appreciate

the movie as a chance to catch

up with a show that became

a big hit on stage. (2021)

Edward Porter

Bibaa and Nicole (BBC2, 9pm) Mike’s scary first day (BBC1, 2pm)

FILM CHOICE

ON DEMAND

The Time Traveler’s Wife

(Sky/Now)

Steven Moffat’s adaptation of

Audrey Niffenegger’s 2003 sci-fi

romance bestseller bobs along

with almost overdetermined

jolliness. Theo James quips,

broods and emotes as Henry,

a hunky librarian cursed with

a genetic disorder that causes

Our Father (Netflix)

The story of Donald Cline,

an Indiana fertility doctor

who used his own sperm to

inseminate patients, requires

a sensitivity of approach. Yet

thanks to certain dramatic

reconstructions (one graphic

one in particular), Lucie

Jourdan’s film feels insensitive

to both the subject and victims.

Harrowing, but perhaps not

in the way it was intended.

Andrew Male

You Shall Go To The Ball

(BBC iPlayer)

For 250 years, the “London

season” has been a rite of

passage for the daughters of

aristocracy. Now fighting for

its future, it has opened its

doors to “new money and

people from other cultures”.

In this funny yet melancholy

film, Jasleen Grewal-Dhoot, a

state-school hopeful, moves

through the vetting process,

meeting fellow “debs”.

Cyrano (Buy as

stream/download)

The fact that this take on

Cyrano de Bergerac is a musical

certainly distinguishes it

from other movie versions of

the story, but its generic songs

are not a strong reason to give

it your time. By that measure,

the film’s outstanding asset

is Peter Dinklage as Cyrano.

His superb performance

needs no tunes to enhance it.

Dir: Joe Wright (2021) EP

him to time travel at the

worst possible moments,

and Game of Thrones’ Rose

Leslie is equally ebullient

as his soulmate, Clare,

destined to keep losing

Henry throughout her life.

But, behind the sub-Sorkin

dialogue and enervatingly

jolly score, Moffat’s version

hints at a darker story about

men abandoning women

and not even having the

decency to say goodbye.

Now see here: devoted sisters Margaret and Elizabeth in 1947 (BBC1, 7.45pm)

Elizabeth — The Unseen

Queen (BBC1, 7.45pm)

Buckingham Palace’s release

of several of the Windsor

family’s charming and

colourful home movies for

this 75-minute documentary

succeeds in humanising “the

firm” in a manner that even

behind-the-scenes archive

newsreels simply cannot

achieve. Two little girls hoick

up skirts to paddle through

the shallows of a Balmoral

loch, ride their ponies and

picnic in the heather, their

father grinning a tobacco-

stained smile directly to

what appears to be his wife’s

camera. Accompanied by

the words of Her Majesty,

they speak to a hunger for

time spent out of the public

eye, making one all the more

aware of the sacrifices

involved in the Queen’s

lifetime of service.

Helen Stewart

Two Daughters (BBC2, 9pm)

When sisters Bibaa Henry and

Nicole Smallman were brutally

murdered two years ago, their

family’s grief was exacerbated

by police officers’ conduct at

the crime scene — including

taking selfies to share on

WhatsApp — and by the Met’s

slow response to the women’s

disappearance, which forced

the family to conduct a search

themselves. In this poignant

documentary, Stacey Dooley

visits the women’s mother

regularly over the subsequent

18 months. Mina Smallman

remembers her daughters,

asks if racism and misogyny

were relevant factors in the

police’s performance and

veers, as she grieves, between

depression, crusading anger

and Christian acceptance.

John Dugdale

Midsomer Murders — 25

Years Of Mayhem (ITV, 7pm)

Television’s bucolic deathtrap

receives a cheery anniversary

tribute, featuring John Nettles

and Neil Dudgeon. Fans can

relive the best cameos and

most rococo murders (who

could possibly forget Martine

McCutcheon’s death by

cheese?), but a new series of

bizarre slayings begins at 8pm.

Gentleman Jack (BBC1, 9pm)

Sally Wainwright’s drama

concludes with Anne Lister

(Suranne Jones) under

increasing pressure. With

Sutherland (Derek Riddell)

out to name her as a “fortune-

hunter” and “predator”,

her fractious union with

Ann Walker (Sophie Rundle)

is at risk — can there be a

happy ever after?

Five Dates A Week (C4, 10pm)

A budget cross between Love

Island and Big Brother, this

live-in dating show sends

five would-be partners to

compete for the attention of

one singleton in the “romantic”

Cupid Cottage. Tonight’s

Prince Charming is Instagram

“content creator” Michael:

let the side-eye begin.

Victoria Segal

CRITICS’ CHOICE

Mad Men

and women