A few dates to remember in May:
4th – Don’t be that person who posts “May the Fourth be with you” on Facebook. Just don’t do it.
13th – Mother’s Day. Be sure to call your mum/grandmas/aunties. Stuck for last minute gift ideas? Elizabeth Arden’s Red Door 100ml is a crowd pleaser/the Picnic bar of women’s fragrances. Thank me later.
16th – Deadpool 2. What have Deadpool and his faithful cabbie friend Dopinder been up to? How many F-bombs are allowed now that Disney bought 20th Century Fox? Will Josh Brolin’s villain be anywhere near as badass as his portrayal of Thanos in Infinity War? So many unanswered questions.
And here are the best new Netflix Originals for all the days in between.
John Mulaney: Kid Gorgeous at Radio City (Comedy Special)
Anon (film)
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Sci-fi maestro Andrew Niccol (Gattaca, In Time) returns with another epic that’ll have you purchasing a VPN and taping over your webcam by the third act.
Anon is set in a world without privacy and anonymity – and by extension, crime. Think Minority Report meets Black Mirror. When his eyeball tech gets hacked, Detective Sal Frieland (Clive Owen) has to rely on those without digital footprints for help. No biggie, just means that a stranger could hack into your vision and manipulate everything you see, causing you to drive into oncoming traffic when all you’re seeing are clear roads. Goddamn, that trailer was intense.
Anon airs May 4 on Netflix Australia.
The Rain (series)
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The Rain is Netflix’s first-ever Danish original series, and every hypochondriac’s nightmare. There’s a storm coming, and it’s basically bringing the plague with it. Anyone caught in its virus-filled shower will immediately die a painful death. (At least it’s immediate?)
With the world dying around them, Simone (Alba August) and her young brother hide out in a bunker in the woods. Six years go by, and the siblings venture out to find total devastation. Believing her brother is the key to fixing the plague, Simone is determined to keep him safe.
The Rain airs May 4 on Netflix Australia.
Evil Genius (documentary)
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On August 28, 2003, middle-aged pizza deliveryman Brian Wells walked into a bank in Erie, Pennsylvania and passed the teller a note. He and the other bank employees had 15 minutes to fill a bag with $250,000. Wells lifted his shirt to reveal a bomb device locked around his neck. The employees handed over what they could, and Wells drove off (after helping himself to a lollipop from the counter). He was soon caught by authorities, and fessed that some men had forced him to rob the bank. He asked if his employers had been told of his whereabouts. Moments later, the bomb detonated and killed him. The bomb squad arrived three minutes later.
And that’s only the beginning. “What prosecutors found next will shock you!”
The four-part Evil Genius series airs May 11 on Netflix Australia.
Cargo (film)
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If there’s a genre that refuses to die (is undead, if you will), it’s zombie films. And that’s a good thing. Especially when there are two Aussies at the helm, and is taking place in our desolately stunning outback. Yolanda Ramke and Ben Howling’s original short was only seven minutes long, and released to critical acclaim at 2013’s Tropfest.
The pair also co-wrote and co-directed this upcoming full-length remake. Cargo stars Martin Freeman and Susie Porter as parents with an infant daughter, hopeful that their houseboat will eventually drift to an army base. When Andy’s wife gets bitten, she, in turn, bites him. He then has 48 hours to find a cure to protect his daughter.
Cargo airs May 18 on Netflix Australia.
The Break with Michelle Wolf (series)
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If her savage takedown of the administration at last week’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner was anything to go by, Michelle Wolf’s new show is sure to be a winner. A seasoned stand-up and ex-writer for the Daily Show, Wolf says that her weekly talk show will offer a break from the seriousness of late-night comedy. “There will be no preaching or political agenda – unless it’s funny.”
That being said, political zingers are clearly her forte, as seen in her opening comments at the WHCD:
“It’s 2018 and I’m a woman, so you cannot shut me up… unless you have Michael Cohen wire me $130,000.”
The Break with Michelle Wolf begins airing May 27 on Netflix Australia.
