Flavour of the month #2a
Rounding up March viewing recommendations
What a difference a month makes.
The world is now more green than brown—occasionally bedazzled with heart-lifting froth of pink and white.
The light itself is getting more self-assured. Less of an artsy pale wash, a daily building saturation of warmth. Glorious technicolour returning.
I love this time of year. To feel the unfurling and see it reflected back. The subtext of a shared ‘good morning’ on a canal walk is no longer gritted teeth endurance ‘this is good for us—like fibre’, but a wide-eyed ‘hey, I’d forgotten how beautiful this place is, life is good’ . Sentimental, perhaps. Accurate, definitely.
That said, I appear to have spent much of this month lost in brilliant books, fantastic films and tantalising TV programmes instead of leaping on the seasonal bandwagon of mowing the lawn incessantly and soaping clean the windows suddenly rendered filthy by the pesky glorious sunshine.
My neighbours may despair, but I know you, dear readers, are grateful to have a newsletter full of helpful recommendations—and thanks to the state of the windows, I can’t see the lawn well enough to be troubled by it— so on we go!
FYI: This newsletter was growing exponentially as I wrote through the week, somewhat akin to a knitted swimsuit. So I’ve decided to split it up and share the books I’ve read this month next Friday, rather than offer you something you’d need a hearty slab of kendal mint cake to make it to the end of.
For your viewing pleasure
I started the month on a crime spree.
Firstly heading to Wales for the distinctly better than average The One That Got Away (BBC iPlayer). The murder plot itself was suitably peppered with twists and turns, but I particularly liked the chemistry between the two detectives and their messy backstory. Richard Harrington is always great and lovely to see him back cracking crime, even if it feels somewhat ageing to acknowledge his shift from Hinterland’s dark brooding DCI to cagouled beardy dad detective.
Next stop was the BBC’s new Agatha Christie remake, Towards Zero. Like many viewers, I went into this carrying baggage (which Laura Thompson summed up expertly in this Substack newsletter)—the general feeling that the BBC has lost its way somewhat with their shift towards taking the cosy and the classic out of Christie’s crime remakes. I’m absolutely not against it. I don’t need Miss Marple cheerfully getting under policemen’s feet or Poirot endearingly combing his moustache just so to enjoy a Christie adaptation. I’m all for fresh perspectives on old favourites (something I’ll certainly be discussing in connection with Austen adaptations as the year progresses). In fact the first of the BBC’s darker takes on Christie, And Then There Were None (now unbelievably ten years old), was so utterly chilling in it’s clever resolution that as brilliant as I thought it was, I can’t rewatch it—and it’s got Poldark in it, so that’s saying something.
However, since then the focus has shifted further towards the drama than the crime. The cast lists are incredible, they are filmed beautifully, they are sexier and creepier and glossier and more modern, but not always particularly satisfying as a whodunnit, which if you’re adapting Christie’s playbook is very much the point. It’s a fine line and one that has inched steadily towards style over substance.
So breath was definitely bated before diving into Towards Zero. True to recent form, the cast list was incredible, starring Claire favourites Matthew Rhys and Oliver Jackson-Cohen. It was wonderful to see Anjana Vasan again after loving her turn in Wicked Little Letters and the icing on the cake (autocorrect wanted to change icing to icon, which feels rather fitting) was matriarchal majesty courtesy of actual Angelica Huston for goodness sake! I am very happy to report that—aside from the most shoehorned in and geographically unlikely sex scene (I mean, really?!) and (and I’m saying this as someone who enjoys both swearing and Matthew Rhys) an unnecessarily profane detective (solving a dark sexy crime is apparently f*cking hard work)—this was an excellent taut drama that definitely kept me guessing and was just the right side of shocking and sinister. Lessons have seemingly been learned, and Agatha fans can breathe a sigh of relief.
Speaking of Agatha fans, if you are not following the excellent
on her comprehensive Christie reading project, do go and have a look.
Mid-month I shifted gear to some big hitters that I’ve been waiting to dive into. I am absolutely ruined for weekly episodic TV viewing. I need immersion, to be able to allow the next instalment to roll straight on in if the tension is too high and my resolve too low to wait until the next night. I want to carry the story with me until we’re done. And so when everyone else is talking big prestige shows week by week, I shove my fingers in my ears until I reach my pre-calculated start date knowing I can watch an episode a night and hit the finale at the same time as the rest of the viewing public. Complicated? Undoubtedly. Mildly obsessive? Very probably. Works for me? Definitely.
First up was Paradise (Disney+), about which I’d only read good things and stood out immediately for being centred around the magnificent Sterling K Brown. He shone in This is Us and turned out an Oscar-nominated performance in American Fiction, so if he’s in something, I’m going to be watching. And wow. It’s a great premise—I can’t really say too much without giving away the twist that makes this show something quite different. Brown is a secret service agent and is trying to get to the bottom of a high-profile murder, but all is not as it seems on so many levels. It’s exciting viewing and Brown carries this lead role with ease—the gravitas and charisma combination is spectacular. The penultimate episode makes for stunning TV. Action, tension, emotional performances and so many ethical questions raised—I barely breathed for an hour. It would have made for an incredible one-off drama series, but the (economic?) pull of more seasons prevailed. I’m not sure it will look or feel quite the same going forward, but with Brown at the helm I’ll certainly turn up and find out.
And then on to my favourite TV watch of the month, Severance. I feel like I cheated the system a little by only watching the first season back in January, so only had to wait a couple of months rather than three years to find out what happened next. AppleTV+ has enormous budgets, huge stars and make some fantastic TV, but for the most part it feels like their shows are not really getting watched. So it’s joyful to see Severance has been talked about everywhere over the past weeks.
The premise of the show is that a very shady company, Lumon Industries, has offered employees the chance to be ‘severed’—they can live their outside lives with no memory at all of what they do at work all day. People choose this for various reasons mostly seeking ways to escape themselves and their unhappy lives. But the ‘innies’ finally begin to question this bizarre company and the ‘work’ that they are droning their way through each day. And in trying to make sense of their existence and communicate with their ‘outies’ they begin to make increasingly disconcerting discoveries and their robotic compliance—to the company and their ‘outies’—is no longer guaranteed. It’s just brilliant. So clever (loved this Substack newsletter mapping the plot to Greek mythology), so weird, and offers the viewers no easy pass in figuring out what on earth is going on. We are as much in the dark as the innies and outies. It reminded me of early Lost in this regard.
Season two answered a lot of questions and the finale was breathtaking. Definitely more story to come (what a beautiful, brilliant way to end it), but enough action and resolution to feel like a pay-off. The central performances were so so strong. Director Ben Stiller (yes, really) has said you couldn’t ask for better than Adam Scott in his portrayal of the innie and outie version of Mark. They get to talk to each other! And there’s an incredible sequence in the finale with Mark and another key character being together in four different permeations (outie/innie, both outies, both innies, innie/outie) in quick succession—mindblowingly good.
Here are a couple of Severance-based treats if (like me) you’re missing it already.
The most Lumon pomodoro you could find to enhance your productivity, I give you Music to Refine to. Ingeniously the work/rest ratio is 59 minutes to one, with your one minute break reminding you that:“Lumon cares. You’re not alone, we’ve hired people to work with you!”
Love the theme tune? Turns out it sounds excellent on classic guitar. And bonus points to this guy for his innie/outie costume detail.
Let’s go to the movies
March has also been excellent for movie-watching, and I’ve finally started to make a dent in my awards season watchlist. What better way to start than with Conclave. I loved this. I was expecting a good enough thriller with an excellent cast, but it was so much more than that. The label thriller is too simplistic for this story of choosing a new pope. There is undoubtedly intrigue aplenty, and the sequestration and huddled plotting leads to a whole heap of tension. But it’s also quiet and intelligent and funny and moving and questioning, and on top of all those elements it looks incredible. Just beautiful. The costumes and set and music—chef’s kiss. Who knew watching luxuriously berobed clerics walking up and down marble staircases to a Volker Bertelman soundtrack could bring such joy? The cast are all brilliant, but Ralph Fiennes—cut above. Director Edward Berger keeps making the point in interviews that despite being the main character, Fiennes doesn’t actually have the most lines. So much of this exceptional performance is delivered through his eyes, face, body language. A wholehearted recommend from me.
Ralph also gets all my plaudits for this utter gem recorded on New Year’s Eve after a slug of tequila. The multi-Oscar-nominated actor puts his whole self into delivering the viral Jools Debron ‘very demure, very mindful’ TikTok monologue. Worth an Oscar in itself. We are all the co-host who is rendered incapable of speech.
The other two awards season films I’ve seen are (somewhat overlooked) Sing Sing and (perhaps overawarded) Anora. Don’t get me wrong, I did enjoy Anora. Mikey Madison’s performance as stripper Ani is very strong—moving, comic and impressively bendy. I watched the film post-Oscars, so it bore the weight of my expectation, which it didn’t quite live up to. I didn’t anticipate the shift to screwball comedy in the middle and I enjoyed the unexpectedness of that. The final scene stopped me in my tracks, but overall not my best picture. (PSA: features a lot of gyrating thonged (and indeed dethonged) bottoms, bouncy unsatisfying looking sex and very random use of Take That songs, so choose your viewing partner(s) accordingly.)
Sing Sing is simply a great film, helmed by a great actor. The true story of a theatre group for inmates of Sing Sing prison, the film uses many former prisoners playing themselves, which works so well. Colman Domingo is wonderful (in general and in this film). He delivers some incredible monologues, and I repeatedly found myself sobbing—one of the parole board scenes broke my heart into pieces. The film focuses on optimism, finding and holding onto hope in the most testing situations. Ultimately, a very moving and uplifting watch.
MUBI is continuing to provide me with a lot of excellent entertainment and I’m cramming in as many brilliant indie films as I can before my free trial ends next month. In March I’ve enjoyed a Mia Hansen-Løve double bill of Bergman Island and One Fine Morning (Seriously enjoyed the latter, but I must admit I got a little confused by the end of Bergman Island, so if you can help me unpick what really happened and what was film sequence come let me know in the comments!).
How to have Sex is quite the hard watch. Mia McKenna Bruce won the BAFTA Rising Star award on the strength of this performance last year and her vulnerability and confused stoicism are pretty heartbreaking to behold. High & Low: John Galliano is a fascinating documentary. The man is undoubtedly a creative genius and highly troubled and did something horrendous. The film tries to be even handed by showing the ongoing trauma experienced by one of the victims of Galliano’s drunken racist rants, while also sharing his tumultuous backstory and his later path to recovery. It leaves a lot of questions with the viewer and whether it is a redemptive story will be a very individual take.
Finally, I watched Sofia Coppola’s beautiful Priscilla. What a quiet and nuanced counterpoint to the cartoonish Elvis. The film was made with Priscilla Presley very much involved, so while we can see the grooming and the control and the gilded cage life she led, we can also see the genuine love between them and her growing self-assuredness to a place of being able to walk away and build her own life. It is a visually stunning film—the glorious details Coppola revels in tell so much of the story, perfect feet on the deepest pile carpet, meticulous application of eyelashes before heading to hospital to give birth. I had no issue with Jacob Elordi’s Elvis—his height and slight build added to the dark fairytale vibe. But it’s Cailee Spaeny’s Priscilla who steals the show—and rightfully so.
So there we are, a veritable smorgasbord of film and TV recommendations to sink your teeth into. It feels like there really is an embarrassment of riches to take advantage of at the moment and I intend to make the most of it.
Next month for me will be trying to complete my awards season movie bingo card, and finally starting season three of The White Lotus of course perfectly timed to be able to arrive at the finish line with everyone else.
Anything else you’d recommend I add to my April viewing list?
Thank you, as ever, for reading and have a wonderful weekend.
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Thank you for mentioning my Agatha Christie obsession! I still haven’t managed to read Toward Zero yet, simply because I’m scared they’ll have messed it up again - but I trust you so will give it a go.