What to Watch This Week: 'Swarm,' 'Shazam 2!,' 'Power Book II,' 'Ted Lasso' and More

Awards season might be over but there is still plenty of new projects to watch this week to keep us entertained. Here are our choices for the best releases.

Swarm Dominique Fishback Interview
Amazon

Image via Amazon Studios

Swarm Dominique Fishback Interview

Award season has come to an end and now we can all look ahead. We have spent the last few months reminiscing about the best projects and performances that we saw last year and now we can sink our teeth into all the new projects that are dropping this year. March is having a strong month with the arrivals of Creed III and Scream VI, which both killed it at the box office. Hearing about the numbers those two films brought in is a reminder that the box office is alive and well, even without superheroes! 

While Shazam! Fury of the Gods drops this weekend, TV is really winning this week. From the arrival of Donald Glover’s new show Swarm and Ted Lasso (read our Season 3 review) and Power Book II: Ghost returning with their respective third seasons, there is so much to watch from the comfort of home. Hulu and Disney+ are also releasing Boston Stranger, which is also a pretty heavy film focusing on a serial killer but it is a good watch nonetheless. Check out our choices for the best and most popular releases this week, and check back in next week for more.

'Swarm'

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When: Friday, March 17

Where: Prime Video

We need to talk about Donald Glover for a second. Not only is he a groundbreaking musical artist, but he has now created two of the best TV I’ve ever seen. What is going on inside his brain? After Atlanta ended last year, Glover, co-creator Janine Nabers, and the team got right back to work and started working on Prime Video’s latest psychological series, Swarm. The show stars Dominique Fishback as the lead, Dre, who is a young woman living with her sister Marissa (Chloë Bailey) and is obsessed with a fictional pop star named Ni’Jah—directly inspired by Beyoncé. In seven episodes, the show uncovers how the obsession with a pop star is just the start of what Dre is dealing with mentally and shortly after she suffers a major loss, spirals out of control and a serial killer is born.

The show is haunting, entertaining, funny and Fishback delivers a career-defining performance in the role. Paris Jackson and Billie Eilish also appear on the show, melting into the characters they play so that you forget who they are outside of this world for a second. Swarm is another win for Glover and the team, and my only wish is that we got more time with Bailey and Damson Idris, who plays Khalid. Aside from that, if you have limited time, let this be the show you watch this weekend. 

'Ted Lasso' Season 3

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When: Wednesday, March 15

Where: Apple TV

Oh, my sweet Ted is back. The first season of Ted Lasso dropped in the thick of the pandemic and it felt like a balm for our over-worried and broken hearts. While Season 1 was lighthearted, hilarious and a perfect comedy, Season 2 dropped some more serious and glum storylines like Ted’s anxiety and Jamie Tartt’s broken relationship with his father. Season 3 kicks off a bit gloomy as well. We find Ted (Jason Sudeikis) at the airport in Episode 1, struggling with living in London and being so far from home. He has let his beard grow out, he looks disheveled, and heartbroken as he drops his son off at the airport after spending his summer vacation together. Airport goodbye scenes mess me up every time, and I wasn’t prepared to feel so much sadness within the first few minutes of the new season. But the show’s funny one-liners and pop culture references managed to cheer me up as the episode went on.

Ted is still figuring out how to make his team AFC Richmond stronger in Season 3, after losing Nate in Season 2 when he betrayed the team by accepting a job coaching their biggest competitor. The premiere episode may have been slower and less Lasso than we wanted but it’s great nonetheless. The rest of the season is more promising, judging by the first four episodes Apple TV shared with Complex. New episodes will drop every Wednesday, so let Lasso and the team get you through the week as this may just be the show’s last season. 

'Shazam! Fury of the Gods'

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When: Friday, March 17

Where: In theaters

Shazam! Fury of the Gods, the sequel to 2019’s Shazam!, continues with the story of a teenager named Billy Batson (Asher Angel) who transforms into his adult Super Hero alter ego, Shazam (Zachary Levi) when he recites the magic word “SHAZAM!” Shazam! Fury of the Gods, directed once again by David F. Sandberg, finds the titular hero and his super-family trying to interrupt a plan by the Daughters of Atlas (Helen Mirren, Lucy Liu, and Rachel Zegler) who are on a mission to restore magic powers to the gods, even if it means destroying Earth in the process. Adam Brody, Meagan Good, Djimon Honsou, Jack Dylan Grazer, D.J. Cotrona, Grace Caroline Currey and Ross Butler are all returning for the sequel. Critics are already saying the sequel isn’t as good and less focused than the first, but that’s to be expected. On Rotten Tomatoes it currently sits at a 53 percent critics rating, but at 84 percent with the audience score. If you’re looking for a popcorn flick to get lost in this weekend, grab some tickets for Shazam 2!

'Power Book II: Ghost' Season 3

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When: Friday, March 17

Where: Starz

Tariq St. Patrick (Michael Rainey Jr.) is always in some mess. But that’s expected from the firstborn son of James “Ghost” St. Patrick and Tasha Green-St. Patrick, who watched his parents live a life of crime firsthand. Now that he has taken over and has launched a life of crime himself in Power Book II: Ghost, Season 3 finds that the stakes are higher, his run-ins with the law are getting even more complicated, the crimes more serious as more and more people suffer the consequences of being involved with a St. Patrick. Season 2 left us with an explosive finale and now Tariq will get to prove if he is, in fact, smarter and better than his father. The new season, appropriately dropping on St. Patrick’s Day, will also feature performances from Mary J. Blige, Woody McClain, Gianni Paolo, Cliff “Method Man” Smith,  Redman, and more.

'Boston Strangler'

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When: Friday, March 17

Where: Hulu

Boston Strangler is a true-crime thriller, starring Keira Knightley and Carrie Coon, about the two trailblazing and courageous reporters who broke the story of the notorious Boston Strangler murders of the 1960s. The film follows Loretta McLaughlin (Keira Knightley), a reporter for the Record-American newspaper, who becomes the first journalist to connect the Boston Strangler murders. As the mysterious killer claims more and more victims, Loretta attempts to continue her investigation alongside colleague Jean Cole (Carrie Coon). The reporter duo tries to find answers as they deal with the rampant sexism in journalism during that era. It is up to McLaughlin and Cole to stop the killer and they bravely pursue the story at great personal risk, putting their own lives in danger in order to uncover the truth to protect other women because no one else would. It’s a solid watch and an empowering story about how sometimes you have to take matters into your own hands for the greater good.

'Inside'

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When: Friday, March 17

Where: In theaters

Willem Dafoe’s performance in Inside stayed with me long after I left the theater. In Inside, Dafoe plays Nemo, a high-end art thief who becomes trapped inside a luxury, high-tech penthouse in New York City’s Times Square after his heist doesn’t go as planned. After getting locked inside with nothing but priceless works of art, he must use all his survival skills and inventions to make it out alive. The things he endures when he is left without food, water, and access to the outside world I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy, but if thrillers are your thing, and you are not anxiety-prone go check this one out in theaters.

 

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