Bite-Sized Reviews

'In the Same Breath', 'Schumacher': Five new shows to stream now

Worth binge-watching or a waste of time? We weigh in on the latest movies and documentaries

19 September 2021 - 00:00
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A still from 'In the Same Breath'.
A still from 'In the Same Breath'.
Image: Showmax

IN THE SAME BREATH

Nanfu Wang's elegantly executed documentary tracks the collision of political PR and public health in China during the initial period of the Covid-19 outbreak in Wuhan to thoughtful and often chilling effect.

Where to stream it: Showmax

How much time you'll need to binge it: 90 minutes

WATCH | 'In the Same Breath' trailer.

UNTOLD: CRIME AND PENALTIES

The so-nuts-it-had-to-be-true story of a waste management mobster who bought his wayward 17-year-old son an ice hockey team. Calling themselves the Danbury Trashers in honour of their owner's business and their commitment to causing violent chaos for the entertainment of their bloodthirsty fans, they were a real-life losers-to-heroes Mighty Ducks story until the criminal enterprise that funded them came to a spectacular end.

Where to stream it: Netflix

How much time you'll need to binge it: 90 minutes

WATCH | 'Untold: Crime and Penalties' trailer.

SCHUMACHER

It's taken three German directors just over three years to make this documentary - filled with archive material and stuffed with interviews of family and close friends - about the Formula One Legend, but the result is unfortunately underwhelming. It's good enough on the behind-the-scenes story of the legend, but it tiptoes around the tragic 2013 skiing accident that left Schumacher in a coma and doesn't give us any satisfactory details of what sort of state he's currently in.

Where to stream it: Netflix

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

WATCH | 'Schumacher' trailer.

WIFE OF A SPY

Critical darling Japanese director Kiyoshi Kurosawa offers some solid, historical espionage drama in this story of wartime Japan that has just enough Hitchcock-style melodrama and thrills to keep you thoroughly entertained and engaged with its old-fashioned but lushly realised epic tale.

Where to stream it: Mubi.com

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

WATCH | 'Wife of a Spy' trailer.

MONSTERS INSIDE: THE 24 FACES OF BILLY MILLIGAN

A fascinating examination of the case of accused serial rapist Billy Milligan who was arrested for a series of attacks on the Ohio State University campus in 1977.

It wasn't the details of his crime that intrigued those responsible for catching him so much as what they and a horde of psychologists discovered when they began to interview him. Milligan seemed to be suffering from the most severe case of multiple personality disorder ever recorded and claimed to be inhabited by 24 different personalities, two of whom were responsible for the rapes without his knowledge.

As the nation watched, glued to their televisions to see what fate would befall Milligan and his personas, the overriding question remained, as it still does, whether he was what he claimed or something far more sinister and cunning.

Where to stream it: Netflix

How much time you'll need to binge it: 4 hours

WATCH | 'Monsters Inside: The 24 Faces of Billy Milligan' trailer.


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