'What have you been watching?” Chances are answering with the likes of Squid Game or Mare of Easttown isn’t really going to make an impression. You need an unexpected title - which means you need Craig Mathieson's list of 2021’s hidden gems CMscreens
Apple TV’s commitment to big ticket sci-fi resulted in both a hit and a miss this year, but it was this alternate history of the space race that continued to impress with its second season.
The tightly wound narrative distils the wounded history of gangster films, but Leclercq’s set-pieces are deeply contemporary, with a spatial awareness and vigour worthy of Kathryn Bigelow.SBS’s commissioning of micro-series that cover more ground than their six 10-minute episode structure suggests continued to bear fruit this year.
But over eight episodes, the show uses those identifying traits as a framework for a wonderfully warm and frequently funny exploration of someone so uncertain about how to live their life that they’re happier dedicating themselves to others.