Sometimes it is worth looking past the content that is aggressively pushed

How often has this happened to you? You turn on Netflix, hoping for something to watch to pass the time, and you are instantly flooded with suggestions and content you are not sure is right for you. Time is money and you don’t like investing it in something that turns out bad or – God forbid – a series that gets cancelled too soon.

Sure, you have your Top 10 lists, your major hits and the content Netflix aggressively promotes. But sometimes things get lost in the process. Netflix puts out a ton of content so it is to be expected that some just slip through the cracks of our collective attention span.

Mitchells vs. The Machines (2021)

Whenever someone asks me for a suggestion for something to watch on Netflix, this is my go-to movie and it never, ever fails. I have no idea why this brilliant animation film isn’t up there with the likes of Inside Out or Shrek. Probably because its creators went on to produce the immensely successful Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse, also on Netflix by the way.

Mitchells vs. The Machines tells the story of the titular Mitchells, your average dysfunctional but deep down loving family. Daughter, Katie, is prepared to finally spread her wings and leave her home to start film school. There, the artistically frustrated Katie hopes to “find her people”.

Trying to hold on to the last remnants of family life, her dad decides that the whole family should drive Katie to college, much to her dismay. While on the road though an evil AI decides to unleash hell and conquer humanity and the Mitchells find themselves to be Earth’s last chance!

An amazing film for the whole family, I cannot recommend this enough.

The Unforgivable

From fun-for-the-whole-family animation, we move to gripping dramas with powerful performances. The Unforgivable is a 2021 film starring Sandra Bullock as Ruth, a woman imprisoned for murder, who is released and tries to rebuild her life. Bleak and moody, The Unforgivable explores issues like prison rehabilitation, forgiveness and coming to terms with one’s worst mistakes. Bullock shines and this underrated gem will have you tearing up.

Ruth Slater is released from jail after serving a 20-year sentence for killing a sheriff. Wanting to put her past behind her, she tries to reconnect with her family and integrate back into society. Societal norms though and prejudices stand in her way, making her path to atonement an uphill battle.

Happy!

Some shows find success not because they are better than others but because they capture the pop-culture zeitgeist at just the right moment. Others suffer because they are just ahead of their time. If Happy! dropped today it would have been a huge success but alas it premiered back in the distant 2017 before dark humour really took off. Thus, it only lasted for two seasons but, boy, what a ride it is!

Happy! is a dark comedy starring Christofer Meloni as Nick Sax, a disgraced former cop turned alcoholic hitman, who finds himself looking for a kidnapped girl. Brutal, macho man protecting a sweet, innocent girl? I can hear your protests! This is a trope done to death! Man on Fire, Mandalorian, The Last of Us, the world is full of movies and series that are variations of this exact same plotline.

But here’s the thing: Happy! has a twist. At some point Sax gets hit in the head and hallucinates a cuddly animated unicorn, the little girl’s imaginary friend. Hilarity ensues. Bonus point, the unicorn is voiced by Patton Oswalt!

Happy! has an odd-ball concept, it’s hyper violent and funny at the same time. I guarantee you will love it and with two seasons only is easy to binge over the weekend!

Age of Samurai: Battle for Japan

Did you like Shogun, the historical fiction series about the first white person who became a samurai? Are you intrigued by the history of feudal Japan and how it became a single state? Are you the kind of a person that absolutely loves historical documentaries?

Age of Samurai: The Battle for Japan is a six-part docuseries that focuses on the Sengoku era (15th -16th century) and the rise of historical figures such as Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and Tokugawa Ieyasu. Mixing narrative with high-budget historical reenactments, Age of Samurai goes deep into the story of feudal Japan and unfurls a world filled with political intrigue, large-scale battles and personal loss. It is a gripping series, one that you are guaranteed to devour over a single weekend.