What to watch this April

The shows never stop.

HALO 

One of Rotten Tomatoes’ most anticipated shows of 2022, Halo brings one of the highest grossing gaming franchises of all time to the small screen, 21 years after the epic Xbox military science fiction game first launched. Already renewed for a second season, Halo follows Master Chief, a cybernetically enhanced super-soldier, as he defends humanity from an alien threat known as the Covenant. 

BEL-AIR | 

Executive produced by controversial 2022 Oscar winner Will Smith, the brand-new Fresh Prince-inspired series, Bel-Air, is full of surprises. It’s set in modern-day America, but it’s also a prequel to the hit ‘90s sitcom. And it’s a drama, bringing a whole new take to Will’s life-altering journey from the streets of West Philly to the gated mansions of Bel-Air. 

YELLOWJACKETS 

Equal parts survival epic, psychological horror story and coming-of-age drama, Yellowjackets has a 100% critics’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes, where it was the fourth highest-rated drama of 2021, and became the second-most streamed series in Showtime’s history. Monica Lynsky co-stars alongside Oscar nominee Juliette Lewis (Natural Born Killers), Emmy nominee Christina Ricci (The Matrix Resurrections), and multi-award-winner Tawny Cypress (The Blacklist: Redemption) as the now-adult survivors of a plane crash that stranded their wildly talented high school girls’ soccer team deep in the Canadian wilderness in 1996.

RAY DONOVAN: THE MOVIE

Ray Donovan: The Movie picks up where the seventh and final season of the Emmy-winning series left off, with Mickey (Oscar winner Jon Voight) in the wind and Ray (eight-time Emmy nominee Liev Schreiber) determined to find and stop him before he can cause any more carnage. 

SOMEBODY SOMEWHERE S1 

The show centres on Sam, a 40-something woman grappling with loss and acceptance as she fields a mid-life crisis following her sister’s death. Sam returns to her hometown but struggles to fit into its mould, until she finds her saving grace in singing, and a community of outsiders who don’t fit in, and don’t give up.

SMALL AXE

A collection of five films by Oscar winner Steve McQueen (12 Years A Slave), Small Axe is based on the real-life experiences of London’s West Indian community between 1969 and 1982.

CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM S11 

Nominated for no fewer than 47 Emmys (with just two wins), Curb Your Enthusiasm is #54 on IMDb’s Top Rated TV list, with a 94% critics’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes for Season 11. Giving it a 100% rating on Metacritic, The Daily Beast says, “It’s reassuring to know that no amount of paradigm-shifting, reality-altering events can stop the fictional Larry David from being a smug, screamy, narcissistic loon, and the real Larry David from being the funniest comedian on television.”

PHOENIX RISING

Written, directed by and starring John Lurie, co-founder of musical group The Lounge Lizards, the series is part meditative tutorial, part fireside chat. Each episode has John at his worktable at his home in the Caribbean, honing his watercolour techniques and sharing what he’s learned about life, reminding us to prioritise some time every day for creativity, fun and a bit of mischief.

FLATBUSH MISDEMEANORS

Comedy series Flatbush Misdemeanors follows Dan and Kevin, two longtime friends trying to climb out of their heads and connect with others in their brash new surroundings in Flatbush, Brooklyn. 

AMERICAN RUST S1 

Set in a small Rust Belt town in Pennsylvania, American Rust stars Emmy winner Jeff Daniels (The Comey Rule, The Newsroom) as police chief Del Harris, who finds himself in a compromised position after the son of the woman he loves (Emmy nominee Maura Tierney from The Affair, Your Honor) is accused of murder.

THE CLEANING LADY | 

Based on the Argentine series La Chica que Limpia, The Cleaning Lady follows a whip-smart Filipina doctor (Elodie Yung from The Hitman’s Bodyguard and The Defenders), who comes to the U.S. for medical treatment to save her son. When the system fails and pushes her into hiding, she becomes a cleaning lady for the mob and starts playing the game by her own rules. 

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