If you’re spending more time on your couch either because you’re in lockdown or just because it’s far too fresh outside, we’ve got you sorted no matter which streaming platform you subscribe to.How about you discover a recent release or a hidden gem you hadn’t considered?BINGE*Dave: Dave Burd, also known as Lil Dicky, plays a fictionalised version of himself, a neurotic Jewish man trying to launch a rap career. Dave is loose, absurd and frequently relies on infantile humour but it’s also really, really funny, and much smarter and less crass than it sounds. Who knew d**k jokes could be that hilarious?The Great North: Big-hearted and warm – ironic, because it’s set in Alaska – this adult animation is centred on the Tobin family and features the voice talents of Nick Offerman, Jenny Slate and Will Forte. It’s as generous and comforting as a mug of hot chocolate.Mare of Easttown: As if we needed reminding what an amazing actor Kate Winslet is, but if you did hit your head and ended up with amnesia, Mare of Easttown will set you straight. Winslet plays a small-town cop with more problems than Imelda Marcos had shoes.I May Destroy You: Michaela Coel’s drama is insightful, witty and a blistering examination of sexual assault, based on her own experience of rape. An authentic and provocative work, it’s a storytelling perspective on the aftermath of sexual assault that’s never been done like this before on TV.Watch Dave on Binge. New customers get a 14-day free trial, sign up at binge.com.auNETFLIXRELATED: Florence Pugh pumped for the Marvel Cinematic UniverseLupin: Every moment is a thrill in this Parisian heist drama, inspired by Maurice LeBlanc’s novels about gentleman thief Arsene Lupin. Starring the impossibly charismatic Omar Sy, Lupin is compulsive viewing, a wild ride from one episode to the next.Sweet Tooth: A delicate balance between light and dark, Sweet Tooth is set in a post-pandemic world in which babies are born as human-animal hybrids. Gus and unlikely new friends set off to find the truth about his parentage and the events that led to civilisation’s collapse.Call My Agent: No matter how good you are at your job, nothing ever goes to plan when it involves corralling entitled and difficult actors. This hilarious French film is a heightened workplace comedy set in a talent agency and features the likes of Juliette Binoche, Cecile de France, Sigourney Weaver and Jean Reno guesting as versions of themselves.Atypical: This comedy is centred on an 18-year-old guy on the autism spectrum who declares he’s ready to take on the world and goes off to college. That flush of independence is momentous for anyone but particularly for Sam. It stars Keir Gilchrist, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Michael Rapaport.APPLE TV+The Mosquito Coast: Starring Melissa George and Justin Theroux, adapted from his uncle Paul Theroux’s novel, this handsomely crafted drama is about an idealistic and suspicious man on the run from the government.Mythic Quest: Most workplace comedies rely on antics and conflict between opposing personalities, which Mythic Quest has in spades. But this smart series also has real character development, plus a brilliant bottle episode that rates among the best of any TV series.Trying: When Jason and Nikki can’t conceive, they decide to investigate adoption but planning for a family in London is far from simple and Jason isn’t even sure if that’s what he wants anymore. Sunny, sweet and sometimes goofy, there are two seasons with a third already commissioned.Central Park: A musical animation with TV, movie and Broadway talents Josh Gad, Daveed Diggs, Leslie Odom Jr, Tituss Burgess and Stanley Tucci? What more could you want? How about a charming story about a family trying to save Central Park from developers.FOXTEL NOW*RELATED: What’s new to streaming in JulyMrs Fletcher: Who says coming-of-age stories are the sole reserve of the young? When her son leaves for college, divorcee Eve decides to have a sexual reawakening of her own with a younger man. Adapted from a Tom Peralta novel and starring Kathryn Hahn, it’s an under-appreciated gem.Mr Inbetween: A hit man with a complex family life? The possibilities are endless! Not exactly endless because it just wrapped up its third and final season but this dark dramedy created by and starring Scott Ryan is riotous and morally grey.The Plot Against America: Adapted from Philip Roth by The Wire’s David Simon and Ed Burns, the story reimagines history as if Nazi sympathiser and American hero Charles Lindbergh won the US presidency and played into the US’s isolationist tendencies to keep it out of WWII. It’s thematically loaded and urgent.The End: Death is to be avoided at all costs and talking about death even more so. The End is an Australian series that confronts it with humour and heart, a story about a woman whose mother is intent on going out on her own terms. It stars Harriet Walter and Frances O’Connor.SBS ON DEMANDThe Bureau: Spanning five seasons, French drama The Bureau was inspired by real-life stories of the French intelligence service. From deep-cover missions overseas to challenges on the home front, the series stars Mathieu Kassovitz and Sara Giraudeau.The Good Fight: The sharp and bitey The Good Fight is one of the more politically and socially engaged series with its signature blend of absurdist humour and searing commentary. Love it.Shrill: Starring Saturday Night Live’s Aidy Bryant, Shrill just wrapped its three-season run which makes it the perfect time to binge it all. She plays Annie, an insecure young woman who discovers confidence, focus and self-acceptance while trying to balance love, family, friendships and work.The Unusual Suspects: With a megawatt Australian cast including Miranda Otto, Heather Mitchell and Michelle Vergara Moore, this four-part heist dramedy is set in Sydney’s ritzy eastern suburbs where a multimillion-dollar diamond necklace goes missing, exposing secrets and betrayals.ABC IVIEWRELATED: ScarJo finally gets to show the world who Black Widow really isStarstruck: With a premise that reads like a gender-flipped Notting Hill, Starstruck may be inspired by classic rom-coms but this six-part comedy created by and starring Kiwi comedian Rose Matafeo stands out as a fresh and funny voice in a genre that’s been wildly inconsistent.Wakefield: Nurse Nik is the most grounded and capable person on the mental health ward at an institution in the Blue Mountains where emotional devastation and farce are inseparable. But Nik’s world starts to unravel when his own past traumas start to take over his present.Jack Irish: It all came to a head with the final season of Jack Irish dropping only a few weeks ago. Guy Pearce’s lawyer-turned-private eye returns to a gentrified Fitzroy and a case that drags up the past in a collision course with the present.Fisk: Kitty Flanagan brings her oddball and snarky energy to Fisk, a series she co-wrote with sister Penny Flanagan. Helen Fisk is on a downward spiral, from her high-flying corporate gig and marriage to a suburban wills and probate shop and an Airbnb. Quirky, hilarious and surprisingly understated, Fisk is very absorbing.STANThis Way Up: Witty, insightful and occasionally heartbreaking, Aisling Bea’s series took its merry time getting to Australia but it finally did this year – yay us! She plays a language teacher named Aine who’s trying to get her life back together after a nervous breakdown. Sharon Horgan plays her sister in this emotionally honest and very funny show.Girls5Eva: Created by Meredith Scardino, the series is centred on four women who were part of one of those label-manufactured 1990s girl groups that sang earworms with questionable lyrics. Now, approaching middle age and with their lives in various states of chaos, an ambitious reunion is on the cards. Tina Fey is a producer and her brand of humour is all over it.It’s A Sin: Emotionally wrenching, It’s A Sin tells the story of a group of gay men during the HIV crisis of the 1980s, at a time when the disease was little understood. Russell T. Davies’ writing is devastating and beautiful. This series may break you.Bump: The logline about a high school student who gives birth without knowing she was even pregnant isn’t super inspiring but this Sydney-set story has a lot of heart and a charismatic young cast of up-and-comers.AMAZON PRIME VIDEOThe Underground Railroad: Oscar-winning filmmaker Barry Jenkins adapted Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer winning novel, a magical realism narrative that reimagines the enslaved people’s network the Underground Railroad into a literal one. It’s breathtaking – both for its master storytelling but also for its raw honesty.Invincible: An animated superhero series that explores the challenges of becoming a powerful crusader when 17-year-old Mark comes into his powers. The voice cast includes Sandra Oh, Steven Yeun, J.K. Simmons, Zazie Beetz and Andrew Rannells.The Wilds:The Wilds is much more than a modern-day Lord of the Flies, though its teenagers stranded on an island after a plane crash story suggests it might be. In truth, it’s a nefarious social experiment. Among an influx of youth adult series, The Wilds transcends its genre.Upload: A warm and funny under-the-radar gem that quietly dropped last year, it’s created by The Office US’ Greg Daniels. Upload follows a man killed in a car crash whose memories and personality is uploaded to a virtual after-death environment.DISNEY+High Fidelity: Even though it was cancelled after one season, at least it was a good one. Zoe Kravitz stars in this remake of the Nick Hornby story, as the owner of a record shop in a hip neighbourhood who explores her failed relationships through fourth-wall breaking stories to the audience.Loki: Ambitious, visually impressive and grappling with curly ideas about fate and free will, Marvel’s favourite villain, trickster god Loki returns to tussle with the Time Variance Authority, a mysterious organisation that controls, well, apparently everything.The Mysterious Benedict Society: Four young loners are put through a series of strange and vigorous tests by a renowned ethicist and scientist – they are to form a team to take down the dastardly powers who have enchanted the world into fear and paranoia. This family adventure stars Tony Hale and Kristen Schaal.The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers: A blend of nostalgia for parents and family friendly messages for their kids, the sequel picks up with a new generation of rejected kids. And Coach Bombay may be exactly what they need to win.Share your TV and movie obsessions | @wenleima*Binge and Foxtel Now are majority owned by News Corp, publisher of news.com.au
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