Bite-sized Reviews

'Below Zero', 'Raised by Wolves': Five awesome things to stream now

The best movies and series to binge on Netflix, Showmax and Apple TV

07 February 2021 - 00:01
By tymon smith AND Tymon Smith
Naomi Watts in 'Penguin Bloom'.
Image: Supplied Naomi Watts in 'Penguin Bloom'.

PENGUIN BLOOM 

Naomi Watts and The Walking Dead's Andrew Lincoln star in this heartfelt, slight but charming family fare based on the true story of an outdoors woman who's paralysed after a terrible accident but finds a new lease on life when her children bring home a wounded baby magpie they name Penguin. It's inspiring, affirming and sentimental but Watts and Lincoln give some dedicated performances that lift it above the status of a Lifetime TV movie. It's satisfying if not particularly memorable.

Where to stream it: Netflix

How much time you'll need to binge it: 2 hours

BELOW ZERO

A solid piece of fast-paced Spanish action in which one determined cop fights off a bloodthirsty group of prisoners after their transport crashes in the freezing cold of a rainy midwinter night. It's all thrilling skop, skiet en donner fun that's entertaining enough to make its two hours pass by easily.

Where to stream it: Netflix

How much time you'll need to binge it: 2 hours

PALMER

Justin Timberlake stars in this drama about a fallen football star and ex-con Eddie Palmer who returns home to try to rebuild his life. When a hard-living neighbour disappears, leaving her young son in his care, Palmer finds a chance to redeem himself in a familiar but moving tale of letting go of the past and learning to live with and for others.

Where to stream it: Apple TV

How much time you'll need to binge it: 2 hours

BOSCH SEASON 6 

Titus Welliver returns as determinedly righteous LA detective Harry Bosch in the latest season of the imminently watchable and satisfyingly twisty adaptation of the popular series of novels by Michael Connelly. This time he's fighting for the soul of LA while trying to uncover the truth about a brutal murder that involves a dead physicist, radioactive material and the nefarious machinations of a federal investigation.

Where to stream it: Showmax

How much time you'll need to binge it: 10 hours

RAISED BY WOLVES 

Executive produced by sci-fi master Ridley Scott who, at age 83, shows he still has plenty of imaginative genius and a singular ability to evoke the awe of other worlds in his direction of the first two episodes. Raised by Wolves is a smart, philosophically challenging, thinking person's sci-fi that asks difficult questions about the relationship between humans and artificial intelligence. It's the story of two androids who land on a mysterious planet with the task of raising human children only to find that humans may not be that easy to control.

Where to stream it: Showmax

How much time you'll need to binge it: 10 hours