9 Unmissable TV Shows & Films This Week

MONDAY

The Gilded Age, HBO

The battle for New York high society is far from over. The fourth season of The Gilded Age picks up in 1886, with Bertha Russell (Carrie Coon) facing the personal fallout of her ruthless climb up the social ladder. Her marriage to railroad tycoon George (Morgan Spector) remains under strain, while old-money stalwart Agnes van Rhijn (Christine Baranski) spots an opportunity to reclaim her place at the top. Elsewhere, Marian Brook (Louisa Jacobson) pursues a new direction, Peggy Scott (Denée Benton) navigates the expectations of her future in-laws and Oscar van Rhijn (Blake Ritson) teams up with wealthy widow Enid Winterton (Kelley Curran) to shake up the established order. 

TUESDAY

Tall Tales & Murder, BBC

This darkly comic Irish crime drama begins with an unlikely partnership between Bridget (Ella Lily Hyland), an unconventional night nurse at a Dublin nursing home, and Paul (Casey Walsh), a young car thief in serious trouble. Their lives take a dramatic turn when a mysterious comatose patient, known only as Anonymous, wakes up to reveal himself as Grinner McNair (Aidan Gillen), a long-lost gangster who claims to know where a stash of buried Celtic gold is hidden. With money and freedom on the line, the pair set off in search of the treasure, soon finding themselves pursued by dangerous criminals. Created by Stuart Carolan (Love/Hate) and Chris Addison (Veep), the series has a distinctly Irish sense of humour.

THURSDAY

Black Doves, Netflix 

Keira Knightley returns as Helen Webb, the government insider secretly passing classified information to the covert organisation known as the Black Doves. With her husband Wallace (Andrew Buchan) pursuing his political ambitions, Helen’s dangerous double life becomes even more precarious when her handler, Mrs Reed (Sarah Lancashire), disappears amid an internal power struggle. Forced to reunite with her assassin best friend Sam Young (Ben Whishaw), Helen must untangle a growing conspiracy while trying to stay one step ahead of those who want her silenced. There are some new faces this time around,  including Neve Campbell, Ambika Mod and Sam Riley.

FRIDAY

La Bola Negra

This ambitious Spanish drama from filmmaking duo Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi, known as Los Javis, traces three interconnected stories across 1932, 1937 and 2017. Inspired by an unfinished play by Federico García Lorca, it explores queer identity, desire and the ways history can bury personal truths. In 1932 Granada, a young man faces rejection from an exclusive club amid rumours about his sexuality; during the Spanish Civil War, a nationalist soldier forms a connection with a Republican prisoner; and in 2017, a queer historian uncovers family secrets through an unfinished manuscript. With Penélope Cruz and Glenn Close among its cast, the film spans generations to examine memory, art and the lives that history leaves out.

I Play Rocky

Before Rocky became one of cinema’s most enduring underdog stories, Sylvester Stallone was a struggling actor with a script he refused to sell unless he could star in it himself. This biographical drama follows Stallone (played by Anthony Ippolito) as he writes the screenplay in just a few days, only to face studio executives who want an established star in the lead role. Despite being offered life-changing sums for the script, he holds his ground and bets on himself, fighting to bring the film to the screen on a limited budget. Directed by Peter Farrelly, the film also stars AnnaSophia Robb, Matt Dillon and Stephan James as Carl Weathers.

Merry Christmas Aubrey Flint

John Bradley (Game of Thrones) stars in this festive comedy-drama as Aubrey Flint, a reclusive painter with a deep dislike of Christmas. After a chaotic altercation lands him with court-ordered community service, he is sent to Willow Lodge, a struggling retirement home facing closure. There, staff member Ellen (Sophia Di Martino) persuades him to help its eccentric residents put on a production of A Christmas Carol. As rehearsals descend into chaos, Aubrey is forced to confront his own past and reconsider the value of friendship and community. Set in York, the film also stars Celia Imrie, Richard E. Grant, Adjoa Andoh and Jim Broadbent.

George Michael: The Faith Tour

Fans of George Michael can revisit the singer at the height of his solo career in this restored concert film, assembled from previously unseen 35mm footage of two performances in Paris in May 1988. Capturing the Faith tour in all its live glory, the film showcases the vocals and stage presence that made Michael one of the defining pop stars of his era. The concert is preceded by Finding Faith, a short directed by Mary McCartney featuring previously unreleased interviews, behind-the-scenes footage from the Faith music video and photographs by Herb Ritts. The result is an intimate glimpse into a landmark period in the singer’s career.

Wild Horse Nine

Martin McDonagh, the filmmaker behind The Banshees of Inisherin and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, returns with this darkly comic political thriller. Set shortly before Chile’s 1973 coup, it follows two CIA operatives and veteran killers, Chris (John Malkovich) and Lee (Sam Rockwell), who are sent from Santiago to Easter Island by their bureau chief (Steve Buscemi). What should be a remote assignment becomes increasingly complicated when Chris connects with two rebellious local students, threatening to expose the tensions and secrets surrounding the men’s work. Tom Waits and Parker Posey also feature in a cast led by McDonagh’s trademark mix of sharp humour, moral ambiguity and simmering menace.

The Assassin, Prime Video 

Keeley Hawes returns as Julie Green, a former elite assassin whose hopes of leaving her dangerous past behind are derailed when her estranged son Edward (Freddie Highmore) finds himself in trouble. Edward’s honeymoon with his new wife Kayla (Shalom Brune-Franklin) takes a terrifying turn when she is kidnapped, forcing him to seek help from the one person with the skills to get her back: his mother. Reunited, the pair head into Spain’s criminal underworld, navigating corruption, high-speed pursuits and a new cast of dangerous adversaries. The six-episode season promises more action, family tension and uneasy alliances as Julie and Edward attempt to work together without falling out along the way.

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