We are spoiled for choice at the moment, with coming-of-age tales, gripping true fashion stories, thrilling detective plots and nail-biting rugby to watch as we sink into our sofas…
For the sentimentalists: One day on Netflix
Netflix has recently released yet another bingeable limited series, One Day, based on the book by David Nicholls. A familiar story that was previously told in the 2011 film with Anne Hathaway, Emma Morley and Dexter Mayhew meet for the first time on the night of their graduation from Edinburgh University. Both from very different backgrounds, the unlikely pair become best friends – after a failed attempt at romance that is. The series (and book) follows their story by checking in on them on the same day, July 15, each year. Themes of love, loss, hurt, substance abuse, figuring-out-life-in-your-twenties and friendship umbrella the series, with a killer soundtrack to boot. Leo Woodall (previously seen in The White Lotus) and a debuting Ambika Mod bring these characters to life in a beautifully sensitive way. The episodes are half an hour long so one episode a night will just not cut it – you’ll race through this in no time, and wish you could watch it for the first time all over again. Familiar faces such as Eleanor Tomlinson, Tim McInnerny and Essie Davis also grace the series. Photograph via Netflix.
For more fashion: The New Look
On Apple TV+: The New Look will be released on Valentine’s Day this year. It is a ten-part historical series on Apple TV+ which captures the tensions and rivalries within the world of haute couture and the life of Christian Dior. If you binged the Balenciaga biopic and are in need for more true fashion stories – this one will pick up right where you need it to! The all-star cast includes Ben Mendelsohn, Maisie Williams, John Malkovich, Emily Mortimer, Claes Bang, Glenn Close and Juliette Binoche. Inspired by true events and filmed in Paris, the series centres on fashion designers Christian Dior, Coco Chanel and their contemporaries, including Pierre Balmain and Cristóbal Balenciaga and how they navigated the war, especially the Nazi occupation of Paris. While you wait, read everything you need to know before you can watch here. Photograph via AppleTV.
For thrill seakers: True Detective: Night Country
On Sky Atlantic: Starring Jodie Foster and Kali Reis, the latest series of True Detective (executively produced by Matthew McConaughy, Woody Harrelson and Jodie Foster – so you know it’s good!) is set in Alaska during the darkness of winter. Let us tell you, this one is dark but seriously gripping. An episode is released each Sunday and there are three for you to get to until the next one comes around. As all gripping series start, in medias res, the mystery begins with a vanishing of eight men from the local arctic research station in the fictional mining town of Ennis, Alaska. Jodie Foster plays Detective Danvers who investigates the case at hand. We will say no more, as not to spoil it – but keep an eye out for Irish actor Owen McDonnell whose character appears to be the most mysterious of them all! Photograph via Sky Atlantic.
For Narcos fans: Griselda
On Netflix: Inspired by true events, Griselda is a gripping mini-series starring Sofía Vegara as Griselda Blanco, a savvy and ambitious Colombian drug lord who operated during the 1970s through to the early 2000s. This series dramatically documents her journey from the Medellín to becoming “the Godmother” of Miami’s drug empire. The 70s style, from costume to cinematography, is emulated fantastically in this series and with Sofía Vegara (in prosthetics) in charge, it is bound to be a binge watch. Photograph via Netflix.
For rugby fans: Six Nations: Full Contact
On Netflix: In true Formula 1: Drive To Survive style, Netflix has done it again with Six Nations rugby and what a perfect time to get stuck into it as the boys in green take to the pitch again this season. As you nervously follow the matches this season, get to know the players and the behind-the-scenes lives of the rugby players with Netflix’s new eight part series Six Nations: Full Contact. Round by round, match by match, the best rugby teams in Europe battle it out to take home the trophy in the 2023 Guinness Six Nations Championship. With beautifully candid stories and accounts from some of the European players, including the Irish prop Andrew Porter, the documentary seriously opens your eyes to the tough but rewarding gig that is rugby – and life. Photograph via Netflix.
For fashion gurus: Cristóbal Balenciaga
On Disney + : Cristóbal Balenciaga written by Lourdes Iglesias is out on Disney+ now. If you like fashion history, you will like this. This biopic not only has stylish interiors and costumes but it gives us a real insight into Balenciaga’s time in Paris during World War II, his interactions with his contemporaries including Coco Chanel, and his puritanical “perfectionism” which he was so well known for. Balenciaga was known for being a very private man and Spanish actor Alberto San Juan brings him to life. Enjoy it this weekend. Read more about it ahead of watching here. Photograph via Disney+.
For more style and drama: Feud: Capote vs The Swans
Coming to Disney+: Viewers in the US can watch Ryan Murphy’s new FX series Feud: Capote vs The Swans now on FX and Hulu, and the series will land on Disney+ at a later date where viewers in Ireland will be able to watch all eight episodes. Oh my it will be worth the wait. With a stellar cast including Naomi Watts, Demi Moore and Chloë Sevigny, Feud is a perfect cocktail of style and spite. It tells the story of American novelist Truman Capote (played by Tom Hollander) and his high profile fallout with his female friends, whom he befriended in the 50s, 60s and 70s, and who he called his “swans” as they were all slim, impeccably dressed and were infamous for their tangled love lives and affairs. It sounds very stylish and exciting, keep an eye out for it on Disney+, but until then read more about it here.
For gorgeous interiors: Home of The Year
On RTÉ: Season 10 of Home of The Year is due to return to our screens this February. We can’t wait! The judges; interior design experts Sara Cosgrove and Hugh Wallace, and legendary architect Amanda Bone, will return to touring Ireland and visiting 21 homes over an eight-week period to see who will win the ‘Home of The Year’ Title. It is destined to be full of gorgeous interiors, lots of laughs and lovely watching. The first episode airs on Tuesday February 20 on RTÉ.
