Image via Hulu
This week’s What to Watch is packed with some exciting new releases for you to dive into.
Hulu’s Mike, the eight-part limited bio-series based on boxer Mike Tyson’s life, is arriving this week. The unauthorized series will chronicle the ups and downs of the heavyweight champion’s life and stars Moonlight’s Trevante Rhodes as Tyson. Idris Elba is having back-to-back releases with last week’s Beast and this week’s Three Thousand Years of Longing—and it might just be one of our favorite movies of the year. John Boyega is starring in Breaking, which follows a real-life story of a Marine veteran named Brian Brown-Easley who was denied financial support from Veterans Affairs, leading him to take matters into his own hands.
Only Murders in the Building’s Season 2 finale also hit Hulu this week, and if you’re a fan of the show, you need to tune in sooner than later to avoid any spoilers. There was no telling where the Selena Gomez-starring series would go following the intense Season 1 finale, but this season has been just as captivating, and well worth a binge-watch if you haven’t tapped in yet.
There was a wide range of new content to sift through this time around—including Netflix’s new series Mo and Prime Video’s Sylvester Stallone superhero movie Samaritan—so we have selected what we believe to be the most worthwhile TV and movies to hit theaters and streaming this week.
Check our choices below and come back next week for more.
'Mike'
When: Thursday, Aug. 25
Where: Hulu
The unauthorized telling of Mike Tyson’s life Mike arrived on Hulu this week. The eight-part bio-series traces the former heavyweight boxing champion’s tumultuous life from his childhood to his rise in the boxing world, to his scandals including alleged drug use and his 1992 rape conviction. TV critics and reporters were sent five episodes of the eight episodes, and while watching Trevante Rhodes transform into the role was mesmerizing, the series often leaves you wanting more or in some cases, less. Episode 5 focuses on Desiree Washington, the 18-year-old beauty pageant contestant who accused Tyson of rape in 1991 and it is difficult to watch the retelling of that incident and the trial that ensued. That episode and others make it clear why the creator/screenwriter Steven Rogers didn’t get Tyson’s approval prior to working on the show. (Rogers previously was the screenwriter for I, Tonya, but he based that film on interviews he did himself about ice skater Tonya Harding. Hulu also released Pam & Tommy, a limited series about the Pam Anderson and Tommy Lee sex tape controversy without their involvement.)
This time around, the subject was also not involved in the making of the project and it was instead based on the boxer’s 2013 one-man show Mike Tyson: Undisputed Truth. Tyson has made it clear that he did not support Hulu releasing the show and shared a strong message on Instagram ahead of Mike’s release, writing: “Don’t let Hulu fool you. I don’t support their story about my life. It’s not 1822. It’s 2022. They stole my life story and didn’t pay me. To Hulu executives I’m just a n****r they can sell on the auction block.” He captioned the post: “Hulu is the streaming version of the slave master. They stole my story and didn’t pay me.” Whether or not you choose to support the show is up to you.
Russell Hornsby, who plays Don King, told Complex in an interview that he believes Rhodes delivered an “award-worthy” performance as Tyson. And based on the five episodes I saw, Mike is a valid effort to capture the life of one of the most polarizing and controversial figures in sports and is definitely worth a watch. —Karla Rodriguez
'Samaritan'
Date: Friday, Aug. 26
Where: Prime Video
Euphoria fans may have been left heartbroken by young Ashtray’s death in the Season 2 finale, but if they miss seeing the actor Javon Walton in action, he’s starring in this week’s Samaritan alongside Sylvester Stallone. Walton is playing a young boy named Sam Cleary who is running away from a group of kids looking to hurt him when a man with supernatural strength who lives across the street steps in to save him.
Sam realizes that the man is a famed superhero named Samaritan who was thought to have gone missing after an epic battle 25 years ago and has been living among them in secret all these years.
Sam is tasked with the responsibility of convincing Samaritan to return to fighting the crime that’s overtaking their city and in the process, the pair build an unlikely friendship. It’s a different sort of superhero movie than what we have been getting recently, and seeing Stallone back as an action star well into his 70s is refreshing as hell. The movie also stars Hannah Montana’s Moises Arias and Orange Is the New Black star, Dascha Polanco. — Karla Rodriguez
'Mo'
When: Wednesday, Aug. 24
Where: Netflix
Netflix’s Mo is a must-see. I haven’t been this excited for people to watch a new show as much as I am with this one in quite some time, and it’s one of the ones on this list that I highly recommend you check out before anything else. There is so much in this story, which was created by comedian Mo Amer, that we have never seen on a TV show before. The comedy-drama series is based on Amer and his family’s experiences as refugees. The family moved to Houston in the 80s after his parents were displaced from Palestine to Kuwait where Amer was born.
Years later, and after losing their patriarch, the Palestinian family awaits their pending asylum request and they have to deal with everything from not having access to healthcare, to the risk of deportation, to not being able to work due to not having a work permit. All of these extremely heavy concepts are explored so honestly while still being drenched in humor, which makes the issues easier to process for those unfamiliar with those topics while also adding a level of humanity that is needed for a group of people we don’t usually see portrayed on TV in this way.
The show is also an ode to Houston and Texas, and the musical influences from Paul Wall to Bun B to mentions of Selena Quintanilla make this show even richer. Mo is hilarious and heartfelt, and one of my favorite shows of the year. We chatted with Amer about his journey, and you can read that interview in full here. —Karla Rodriguez
'Three Thousand Years of Longing'
When: Friday, Aug. 26
Where: In theaters
When thinking of director George Miller’s last film, Mad Max: Fury Road, the first word that may spring to your mind is bombast. While there are plenty of quiet moments in 2015’s action masterpiece, Fury Road could be seen as an engine—roaring like a lion as its plot sped across the screen. Miller’s follow-up, Three Thousand Years of Longing, is the direct opposite. It’s quiet—almost intentionally so—and decidedly introspective to a fault. But if you’re anticipating Fury Road 2, Miller has other plans.
Instead, Three Thousand Years of Longing is a fantasy fairytale, a story about the power of stories. Based on the short story The Djinn in the Nightingale’s Eye by A. S. Byatt, Longing follows Alithea Binnie (Tilda Swinton), a narratologist who has spent her life studying stories and their impact on history and culture alike. While on a work trip in Istanbul, Alithea comes across a lamp containing a mystical Djinn (Idris Elba) who appears to her and promises to grant her three wishes. As a researcher of stories, Alithea knows that any story involving a djinn is a “cautionary tale” but is drawn to him nonetheless.
The djinn spins stories about his past experiences, which Miller renders with a fantastical quality. Beautifully shot—some visuals are just as memorable as the iconic imagery of Fury Road—Miller crafts a lush tale about love, the power of myth, and the influence stories have in our lives. That may sound trite, but Miller is subtle in his approach, working off a script he adapted alongside writer Augusta Gore. Elba and Swinton are wonderful, too.
Longing may not be for everyone, but for those whose interests align with Miller’s, the film feels as magical as the Djinn himself. It’s moving, transportive, dream-like, and easily one of my favorite movies of the year. If you’re willing to let Miller’s magic wash over you, it might be one of yours, too. —William Goodman
'Breaking'
Date: Friday, Aug. 26.
Where: In theaters
Breaking tells the true story of a Marine veteran named Brian Brown-Easley that took place in 2017. After Brian was denied financial support from Veterans Affairs, he finds himself financially desperate, at risk of homelessness, with a child to feed, and all out of options. His despair leads him to holding a Wells Fargo Bank and its employees hostage with a bomb threat.
The film version of the tragic events was directed by Abi Damaris Corbin and stars Boyega as the lead, Nicole Beharie (Miss Juneteenth), Selenis Leyva (Orange Is the New Black), Connie Britton (Friday Night Lights), and the late Michael K. Williams, making Breaking his last feature film before his untimely death in 2021.
We chatted with Boyega in July about the role and he told us about the responsibility he felt to do justice to Easley’s story, which is a reality for many veterans in the United States. It is a heartbreaking and poignant story, and even if we already know how it ended in real life, it doesn’t make it any easier to watch. —Karla Rodriguez
