Recent reports suggest the Paris Saint Germain of video on-demand services Netflix, are set to spend an eye watering $8 billion on original content in 2018, which for all those out there who manage to find a spare eight hours on the weekend to binge on the latest box set could be met with excitement and joy, or on the other hand it could be a red flag and warning that 2018 is the year you need to get out more.
Either way they surely won’t let us down, here’s the highlights of what’s new on Netflix in the coming months.
Coming Soon
Dirty Money – January 26th 2018
This docu-series directed by Alex Gibney (Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief) looking at corporate greed and the brazen acts of corruption within the highest echelons of western society, doesn’t really sound like a recipe for an evening of Netflix and chill. A sure to be anger-inducing journey through the corporate empires that were built on lies and truly audacious instances of greed and the duplicitous tactics therein.
Coming under scrutiny are the Payday lenders and their unscrupulous interest rates, HSBC proving they really are the world’s ‘local bank’ by laundering millions of dollars for Mexican drug cartels, and of course the Donald himself. What a world we live in!
Love: Series 3 – March 29th 2018
For those that haven’t seen the first two series of the expertly written, brilliantly acted, subtle alt-romcom Love should do so post haste. Co-created by Judd Apatow it stars the wonderful Gillian Jacobs as Mickey a loose cannon radio producer and the hilarious Paul Rust as Gus a wannabe writer and all round pop culture geek, as their will-they won’t-they relationship takes more twists and turns than Spaghetti Junction.
Not your typical sentimental, cloying romantic comedy, expect Mickey and Gus to get together, break up, get together again, break up and… well we’ll have to wait and see.
The OA: Season 2 – Filming has started so expect the unexpected at the back end of 2018/start 2019
The supernatural/sci-fi sleeper hit of 2017 appeared on the new releases board without so much as tagline let alone any fanfare, although to be honest that might just be because they don’t know what the hell it’s all about either. Filling the Stranger Things shaped void in our lives, the OA will return for a second season this year.
The story centres around Brit Marling’s (Creator & Exec Producer) character Prairie who after disappearing seven years earlier is returned to her parents, oh yeah and she was blind but now she can see (which sounds like a Primal Scream lyric). Where’s she been and what’s Jason Isaacs character up to??
Also, anyone who knows what the Season 1 finale was about, then send your theories on a postage stamp to The MALESTROM HQ, England – thanks in advance. There is a teaser this time, although to describe it as such would be the equivalent of selling a blank piece of paper on Dragons Den for half a million quid, you’re not quite sure what you’re buying into.
Dogs of Berlin – This year, but when we can’t say
Brand new on Netflix is their second German production, Dogs of Berlin, which is sure to whet the whistle of gritty crime drama fans everywhere. Focused on two German cops unwillingly forced to team up and take on the seedy and violent underworld of Europe’s trendiest city, while reflecting on their own moral values.
It sounds like a combination of cop buddy success to us. And just like 2018 in the Chinese calendar, this year could be the year of the dog(s).
Daredevil Season 3 – Late 2018
Daredevil returns to cement its status at the top of Netflix’s original content tree. Having been tied up with the motley crew of The Defenders, Matt Murdock is back dealing with business solo style and, spoiler alert, Vincent D’Onofrio also makes a welcome appearance as he reprises the role of Kingpin Wilson Fisk, which should, fingers crossed, see a return to the dizzying action filled heights of Season 1.
Having been wallowing in prison since Season 1, the emotionally unstable Fisk’s character is by all accounts set to be explored in greater detail, presumably leading to all out war with Murdock’s Daredevil on the streets of Hell’s Kitchen. We’re not complaining about that.
Maniac – Some point in 2018
With a cast including Emma Stone, Jonah Hill and Justin Theroux and True Detective Season 1 director Cary Fukunaga at the helm, this dark comedy about two patients in a mental institute who’s lives linger somewhere between reality and fantasy has box office written all over it. Based on the original Norwegian series, here Stone and Hill spend their days in a psychiatric ward allowing their imaginations to run wild and create an ulterior existence. Take a look at the outlandish trailer for the original.
Seven Seconds – February 23rd
A pertinent sounding premise sees Regina King as the grieving proud wife and mother of a black teenager who was accidentally run over and critically injured by a white cop. Following which Jersey city gives way to riots as racial tensions reach boiling point. Expect corruption and cover ups in this anthology crime drama that culminates in the ‘trial of the century’.
Exploring the human stories behind the headlines, this Netflix series looks set to be relevant and packed full of tension.
Making a Murderer – Soonish we hope!
More in hope than full on expectation, surely 2018 is the year when the follow up to the incredible series Making a Murderer finally hits our screens. It’s hard enough trying to avoid news updates on the trials and tribulations of Steven Avery and his seemingly endless fight for justice, however, if the word on the street is one to be trusted, we can expect the next installment to screen before the year ends. Please let it be true.
What to watch right now
Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee
Comedian Jerry Seinfeld is the brainchild and host of this simple, yet brilliant series that’s just parked up on Netflix with all of it’s four seasons of goodness. Every episode we get Jerry, driving a different vintage car, calling up a comedian and driving them to get a coffee together and often a spot of lunch.
On the surface this may sound pretty mundane, but it’s often absolutely hilarious as he riffs with some of the funniest people on the planet. Whether he’s with Jim Carey watching on as the Pet Detective star stands on his seat in a diner trying to aim his sweetener into his coffee cup from varying heights or creasing up laughing with his good friend and former Seinfeld writer Larry David, who, you’ll be glad to know, is just as Larry in real life as he is in Curb.
The episodes are so short (around 15 mins) that we bet once you get started with this one you’ll find it hard to stop.
The Frozen Dead (Glacé)
The Frozen Dead or Glacé to give it it’s title en français, is a six episode French-language serial killer thriller set in the wintery wilds of the Pyrenees. The plot follows a rather grisly equine find on top of a mountain which brings investigator Detective Martin Servaz back to a case that has haunted him for years and onto the trail of a killer.
Lovers of murder mysteries and pitch-black dark thrillers will be in their element here and there are more twists than a bag of pretzels to keep everyone firmly on their toes.
Rotten
Ah the world of delicious, delicious food, a lovely place free of corruption and full of big corporations doing things the right way. Oh hold on, actually after watching Netflix series Rotten, it seems there might be something decidedly unsavoury and indeed corrupt when it comes to our foodstuffs.
This documentary series sheds light on the US food industry, uncovering some things people might not want to know about how their dinners arrive on their plates. Get prepared for some stomach-churning food revelations that’ll have you never looking at those chicken nuggets in the same way again.
Forbidden Games: The Justin Fashanu Story
The compelling and tragic real-life tale of the first footballer to openly come out as gay is told here by documentary maker Jon Carey. Using archive footage, vignettes of dramatised reconstructions, and new interviews from friends of Justin, the film unravels some of the mythology around a man who now an icon of the game, struggled with race and sexuality under the microscope of the media.
Shot in the Dark
Those who saw the scuzzy 2014 Jake Gyllenhaal thriller Nightcrawler will at least be prepared when watching this unsettling documentary series. A film crew follows three Los Angeles stringers, these are the worst kind of journalists, those who listen to radios tuned to an emergency wavelength at night and then chase across the city to capture scenes of tragedy that they can sell on to news networks for a tidy profit.
This literal ambulance chasing may be too much for some to stomach, but the more macabre out there will get their fill of kicks.
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