Sci-fi series based on Stephen King novel arrives on Stan
No, we're not talking about Stranger Things, though you could be forgiven for thinking so.
The Institute is based on a Stephen King novel of the same name and follows brainiac Luke (Joe Freeman), who, at just 14 years old, is already too smart for high school and is about to head off to college. But before that can happen, he's kidnapped in the middle of the night and brought to The Institute, where very little is explained to him, and he has serious doubts he'll be returned to his home.
He's got some telekinetic ability, but nothing he can control. There are other kids with similarly fledgling powers, and all of them are just as in the dark as he is about their fate.
Meanwhile in the outside world, Tim Jamieson (Ben Barnes, with more free time now Shadow and Bone was cancelled) picks up a job as a semi-civilian police employee whose only task is to walk through the small town at night knocking on doors of businesses to make sure they're not being broken into.
But there's an offbeat unhoused woman along his route who knows some things that she shouldn't and has him wondering if there's some sort of conspiracy in town.
Mary Louise Parker also stars in this sci-fi thriller. Two episodes were released to kick things off, with further episodes arriving weekly.
If you combined The Voice, Love is Blind and Popstars (you remember the one, our first introduction to Sophie Monk) you'd come close to Building the Band.
The competition singing show sees 50 wannabe boy band or girl band stars each confined to their own little pods in a big warehouse, listening to just one of their number singing their favourite song in the hope that their peers will want to work with them in a band.
You need at least five people to show interest in order to proceed in the competition, and then you can chat with your fellow singers to form a group of between three and five people.
None of the singers can see each other through this whole process.
Hosted by Backstreet Boy AJ McClean, the series also features judges Nicole Scherzinger, Kelly Rowland and Liam Payne in his last project before his tragic death.
This four-part true crime docuseries does something that many other entries in the genre fail to - it puts the victims front and centre.
The series delves into the murder of Maddie Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Ethan Chapin and Xana Kernodle, four University of Idaho students who were killed in the same off-campus share house in November, 2022.
Through interviews with the slain students' closest friends and family members, as well as the perspective of local media (who are portrayed as concerned locals while the national media are considered invasive vultures), true crime fans and faculty staff, the story of the foursome's lives and deaths comes into focus.
But by the nature of the case, this series doesn't have a resolution. We know who the murderer is (arrested suspect Bryan Kohberger pleaded guilty to the crimes only days before the series was released) but we still don't know his motive or how he actually knew the victims.
Without these crucial parts of the mystery, as a piece of content, One Night in Idaho is lacking. But it is still engaging and tragic, and you come away with a great sense of who these young people were and how big a hole they've left in the lives of those who loved them.
Lena Dunham's back with another show after the success of comedy series Girls. This Netflix offering also stars Dunham, but she's not the main character this time around. That honour belongs to Megan Stalter as Jessica, an advertising rep who hasn't quite come to terms with her recent breakup.
After a particularly humiliating encounter with her ex and his new girlfriend, Jessica decides to take up an opportunity to work at her company's London branch and get away from her sad reality.
She's determined to live out her London fantasy and almost immediately finds herself attracted to pub singer Felix (Will Sharpe), a new contender for the title of 'internet boyfriend'.
The comedy is a little brash and loud and American, to be expected of a series called Too Much, but fans of Dunham's work should like the show.
It is chock full of cameos and appearances from familiar faces, with just the first couple of episodes alone featuring Jessica Alba, Rhea Perlman, Rita Wilson, Andrew Rannells, Emily Ratajkowski, Richard E. Grant and Adwo Aboah, among many others.
If you were a fan of Bosch, there's a new spin-off to enjoy in Prime Video's Ballard. The crime series stars Maggie Q as the titular cold case detective who thinks she's found the work of a serial killer in a case more than two decades old. On Disney+ fans can rejoice in some behind-the-scenes action and interviews celebrating the legacy of the original summer blockbuster, with Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story. Meanwhile younger audiences can catch the latest Disney original musical with Zombies 4: Dawn of the Vampires. Disney+ also has the return It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, with season 17 starting on Wednesday. Over on AppleTV+ there's a new season of sci-fi drama Foundation, and nature documentary series The Wild Ones, which follows three experts trying to save several species from extinction.
Telepathic and telekinetic kids from middle America are scooped up and taken to a secret institution where tests are performed on them by people who say they're saving the world.
No, we're not talking about Stranger Things, though you could be forgiven for thinking so.
The Institute is based on a Stephen King novel of the same name and follows brainiac Luke (Joe Freeman), who, at just 14 years old, is already too smart for high school and is about to head off to college. But before that can happen, he's kidnapped in the middle of the night and brought to The Institute, where very little is explained to him, and he has serious doubts he'll be returned to his home.
He's got some telekinetic ability, but nothing he can control. There are other kids with similarly fledgling powers, and all of them are just as in the dark as he is about their fate.
Meanwhile in the outside world, Tim Jamieson (Ben Barnes, with more free time now Shadow and Bone was cancelled) picks up a job as a semi-civilian police employee whose only task is to walk through the small town at night knocking on doors of businesses to make sure they're not being broken into.
But there's an offbeat unhoused woman along his route who knows some things that she shouldn't and has him wondering if there's some sort of conspiracy in town.
Mary Louise Parker also stars in this sci-fi thriller. Two episodes were released to kick things off, with further episodes arriving weekly.
If you combined The Voice, Love is Blind and Popstars (you remember the one, our first introduction to Sophie Monk) you'd come close to Building the Band.
The competition singing show sees 50 wannabe boy band or girl band stars each confined to their own little pods in a big warehouse, listening to just one of their number singing their favourite song in the hope that their peers will want to work with them in a band.
You need at least five people to show interest in order to proceed in the competition, and then you can chat with your fellow singers to form a group of between three and five people.
None of the singers can see each other through this whole process.
Hosted by Backstreet Boy AJ McClean, the series also features judges Nicole Scherzinger, Kelly Rowland and Liam Payne in his last project before his tragic death.
This four-part true crime docuseries does something that many other entries in the genre fail to - it puts the victims front and centre.
The series delves into the murder of Maddie Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Ethan Chapin and Xana Kernodle, four University of Idaho students who were killed in the same off-campus share house in November, 2022.
Through interviews with the slain students' closest friends and family members, as well as the perspective of local media (who are portrayed as concerned locals while the national media are considered invasive vultures), true crime fans and faculty staff, the story of the foursome's lives and deaths comes into focus.
But by the nature of the case, this series doesn't have a resolution. We know who the murderer is (arrested suspect Bryan Kohberger pleaded guilty to the crimes only days before the series was released) but we still don't know his motive or how he actually knew the victims.
Without these crucial parts of the mystery, as a piece of content, One Night in Idaho is lacking. But it is still engaging and tragic, and you come away with a great sense of who these young people were and how big a hole they've left in the lives of those who loved them.
Lena Dunham's back with another show after the success of comedy series Girls. This Netflix offering also stars Dunham, but she's not the main character this time around. That honour belongs to Megan Stalter as Jessica, an advertising rep who hasn't quite come to terms with her recent breakup.
After a particularly humiliating encounter with her ex and his new girlfriend, Jessica decides to take up an opportunity to work at her company's London branch and get away from her sad reality.
She's determined to live out her London fantasy and almost immediately finds herself attracted to pub singer Felix (Will Sharpe), a new contender for the title of 'internet boyfriend'.
The comedy is a little brash and loud and American, to be expected of a series called Too Much, but fans of Dunham's work should like the show.
It is chock full of cameos and appearances from familiar faces, with just the first couple of episodes alone featuring Jessica Alba, Rhea Perlman, Rita Wilson, Andrew Rannells, Emily Ratajkowski, Richard E. Grant and Adwo Aboah, among many others.
If you were a fan of Bosch, there's a new spin-off to enjoy in Prime Video's Ballard. The crime series stars Maggie Q as the titular cold case detective who thinks she's found the work of a serial killer in a case more than two decades old. On Disney+ fans can rejoice in some behind-the-scenes action and interviews celebrating the legacy of the original summer blockbuster, with Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story. Meanwhile younger audiences can catch the latest Disney original musical with Zombies 4: Dawn of the Vampires. Disney+ also has the return It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, with season 17 starting on Wednesday. Over on AppleTV+ there's a new season of sci-fi drama Foundation, and nature documentary series The Wild Ones, which follows three experts trying to save several species from extinction.
Telepathic and telekinetic kids from middle America are scooped up and taken to a secret institution where tests are performed on them by people who say they're saving the world.
No, we're not talking about Stranger Things, though you could be forgiven for thinking so.
The Institute is based on a Stephen King novel of the same name and follows brainiac Luke (Joe Freeman), who, at just 14 years old, is already too smart for high school and is about to head off to college. But before that can happen, he's kidnapped in the middle of the night and brought to The Institute, where very little is explained to him, and he has serious doubts he'll be returned to his home.
He's got some telekinetic ability, but nothing he can control. There are other kids with similarly fledgling powers, and all of them are just as in the dark as he is about their fate.
Meanwhile in the outside world, Tim Jamieson (Ben Barnes, with more free time now Shadow and Bone was cancelled) picks up a job as a semi-civilian police employee whose only task is to walk through the small town at night knocking on doors of businesses to make sure they're not being broken into.
But there's an offbeat unhoused woman along his route who knows some things that she shouldn't and has him wondering if there's some sort of conspiracy in town.
Mary Louise Parker also stars in this sci-fi thriller. Two episodes were released to kick things off, with further episodes arriving weekly.
If you combined The Voice, Love is Blind and Popstars (you remember the one, our first introduction to Sophie Monk) you'd come close to Building the Band.
The competition singing show sees 50 wannabe boy band or girl band stars each confined to their own little pods in a big warehouse, listening to just one of their number singing their favourite song in the hope that their peers will want to work with them in a band.
You need at least five people to show interest in order to proceed in the competition, and then you can chat with your fellow singers to form a group of between three and five people.
None of the singers can see each other through this whole process.
Hosted by Backstreet Boy AJ McClean, the series also features judges Nicole Scherzinger, Kelly Rowland and Liam Payne in his last project before his tragic death.
This four-part true crime docuseries does something that many other entries in the genre fail to - it puts the victims front and centre.
The series delves into the murder of Maddie Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Ethan Chapin and Xana Kernodle, four University of Idaho students who were killed in the same off-campus share house in November, 2022.
Through interviews with the slain students' closest friends and family members, as well as the perspective of local media (who are portrayed as concerned locals while the national media are considered invasive vultures), true crime fans and faculty staff, the story of the foursome's lives and deaths comes into focus.
But by the nature of the case, this series doesn't have a resolution. We know who the murderer is (arrested suspect Bryan Kohberger pleaded guilty to the crimes only days before the series was released) but we still don't know his motive or how he actually knew the victims.
Without these crucial parts of the mystery, as a piece of content, One Night in Idaho is lacking. But it is still engaging and tragic, and you come away with a great sense of who these young people were and how big a hole they've left in the lives of those who loved them.
Lena Dunham's back with another show after the success of comedy series Girls. This Netflix offering also stars Dunham, but she's not the main character this time around. That honour belongs to Megan Stalter as Jessica, an advertising rep who hasn't quite come to terms with her recent breakup.
After a particularly humiliating encounter with her ex and his new girlfriend, Jessica decides to take up an opportunity to work at her company's London branch and get away from her sad reality.
She's determined to live out her London fantasy and almost immediately finds herself attracted to pub singer Felix (Will Sharpe), a new contender for the title of 'internet boyfriend'.
The comedy is a little brash and loud and American, to be expected of a series called Too Much, but fans of Dunham's work should like the show.
It is chock full of cameos and appearances from familiar faces, with just the first couple of episodes alone featuring Jessica Alba, Rhea Perlman, Rita Wilson, Andrew Rannells, Emily Ratajkowski, Richard E. Grant and Adwo Aboah, among many others.
If you were a fan of Bosch, there's a new spin-off to enjoy in Prime Video's Ballard. The crime series stars Maggie Q as the titular cold case detective who thinks she's found the work of a serial killer in a case more than two decades old. On Disney+ fans can rejoice in some behind-the-scenes action and interviews celebrating the legacy of the original summer blockbuster, with Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story. Meanwhile younger audiences can catch the latest Disney original musical with Zombies 4: Dawn of the Vampires. Disney+ also has the return It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, with season 17 starting on Wednesday. Over on AppleTV+ there's a new season of sci-fi drama Foundation, and nature documentary series The Wild Ones, which follows three experts trying to save several species from extinction.
Telepathic and telekinetic kids from middle America are scooped up and taken to a secret institution where tests are performed on them by people who say they're saving the world.
No, we're not talking about Stranger Things, though you could be forgiven for thinking so.
The Institute is based on a Stephen King novel of the same name and follows brainiac Luke (Joe Freeman), who, at just 14 years old, is already too smart for high school and is about to head off to college. But before that can happen, he's kidnapped in the middle of the night and brought to The Institute, where very little is explained to him, and he has serious doubts he'll be returned to his home.
He's got some telekinetic ability, but nothing he can control. There are other kids with similarly fledgling powers, and all of them are just as in the dark as he is about their fate.
Meanwhile in the outside world, Tim Jamieson (Ben Barnes, with more free time now Shadow and Bone was cancelled) picks up a job as a semi-civilian police employee whose only task is to walk through the small town at night knocking on doors of businesses to make sure they're not being broken into.
But there's an offbeat unhoused woman along his route who knows some things that she shouldn't and has him wondering if there's some sort of conspiracy in town.
Mary Louise Parker also stars in this sci-fi thriller. Two episodes were released to kick things off, with further episodes arriving weekly.
If you combined The Voice, Love is Blind and Popstars (you remember the one, our first introduction to Sophie Monk) you'd come close to Building the Band.
The competition singing show sees 50 wannabe boy band or girl band stars each confined to their own little pods in a big warehouse, listening to just one of their number singing their favourite song in the hope that their peers will want to work with them in a band.
You need at least five people to show interest in order to proceed in the competition, and then you can chat with your fellow singers to form a group of between three and five people.
None of the singers can see each other through this whole process.
Hosted by Backstreet Boy AJ McClean, the series also features judges Nicole Scherzinger, Kelly Rowland and Liam Payne in his last project before his tragic death.
This four-part true crime docuseries does something that many other entries in the genre fail to - it puts the victims front and centre.
The series delves into the murder of Maddie Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Ethan Chapin and Xana Kernodle, four University of Idaho students who were killed in the same off-campus share house in November, 2022.
Through interviews with the slain students' closest friends and family members, as well as the perspective of local media (who are portrayed as concerned locals while the national media are considered invasive vultures), true crime fans and faculty staff, the story of the foursome's lives and deaths comes into focus.
But by the nature of the case, this series doesn't have a resolution. We know who the murderer is (arrested suspect Bryan Kohberger pleaded guilty to the crimes only days before the series was released) but we still don't know his motive or how he actually knew the victims.
Without these crucial parts of the mystery, as a piece of content, One Night in Idaho is lacking. But it is still engaging and tragic, and you come away with a great sense of who these young people were and how big a hole they've left in the lives of those who loved them.
Lena Dunham's back with another show after the success of comedy series Girls. This Netflix offering also stars Dunham, but she's not the main character this time around. That honour belongs to Megan Stalter as Jessica, an advertising rep who hasn't quite come to terms with her recent breakup.
After a particularly humiliating encounter with her ex and his new girlfriend, Jessica decides to take up an opportunity to work at her company's London branch and get away from her sad reality.
She's determined to live out her London fantasy and almost immediately finds herself attracted to pub singer Felix (Will Sharpe), a new contender for the title of 'internet boyfriend'.
The comedy is a little brash and loud and American, to be expected of a series called Too Much, but fans of Dunham's work should like the show.
It is chock full of cameos and appearances from familiar faces, with just the first couple of episodes alone featuring Jessica Alba, Rhea Perlman, Rita Wilson, Andrew Rannells, Emily Ratajkowski, Richard E. Grant and Adwo Aboah, among many others.
If you were a fan of Bosch, there's a new spin-off to enjoy in Prime Video's Ballard. The crime series stars Maggie Q as the titular cold case detective who thinks she's found the work of a serial killer in a case more than two decades old. On Disney+ fans can rejoice in some behind-the-scenes action and interviews celebrating the legacy of the original summer blockbuster, with Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story. Meanwhile younger audiences can catch the latest Disney original musical with Zombies 4: Dawn of the Vampires. Disney+ also has the return It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, with season 17 starting on Wednesday. Over on AppleTV+ there's a new season of sci-fi drama Foundation, and nature documentary series The Wild Ones, which follows three experts trying to save several species from extinction.
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The Advertiser
2 days ago
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Nick Cave donates 2000 books to UK charity shop
A UK charity shop has received a donation of around 2000 books from Nick Cave's personal collection. Fans of the Australian rock singer flocked to the Oxfam Bookshop on Hove's Blatchington Road in an attempt to score an item from the collection, which previously formed part of an art installation that toured Denmark and Canada. The Times newspaper reported the collection included titles by Salman Rushdie, Ian McEwan and a first edition copy of the novel Man in White by Johnny Cash. Other treasures reportedly found included a boarding pass for a flight to Amsterdam, an empty packet of cigarettes and an envelope with the words "Luke's tooth" written in Cave's handwriting, relating to his son Luke. Cave and his family moved to the Brighton area in the 2000s but it was marked by tragedy after the death of his son Arthur in 2015, who fell from a cliff at Ovingdean Gap. "Brighton had just become too sad … we did, however, return once we realised that, regardless of where we lived, we just took our sadness with us," the singer said in an interview. with AAP A UK charity shop has received a donation of around 2000 books from Nick Cave's personal collection. Fans of the Australian rock singer flocked to the Oxfam Bookshop on Hove's Blatchington Road in an attempt to score an item from the collection, which previously formed part of an art installation that toured Denmark and Canada. The Times newspaper reported the collection included titles by Salman Rushdie, Ian McEwan and a first edition copy of the novel Man in White by Johnny Cash. Other treasures reportedly found included a boarding pass for a flight to Amsterdam, an empty packet of cigarettes and an envelope with the words "Luke's tooth" written in Cave's handwriting, relating to his son Luke. Cave and his family moved to the Brighton area in the 2000s but it was marked by tragedy after the death of his son Arthur in 2015, who fell from a cliff at Ovingdean Gap. "Brighton had just become too sad … we did, however, return once we realised that, regardless of where we lived, we just took our sadness with us," the singer said in an interview. with AAP A UK charity shop has received a donation of around 2000 books from Nick Cave's personal collection. Fans of the Australian rock singer flocked to the Oxfam Bookshop on Hove's Blatchington Road in an attempt to score an item from the collection, which previously formed part of an art installation that toured Denmark and Canada. The Times newspaper reported the collection included titles by Salman Rushdie, Ian McEwan and a first edition copy of the novel Man in White by Johnny Cash. Other treasures reportedly found included a boarding pass for a flight to Amsterdam, an empty packet of cigarettes and an envelope with the words "Luke's tooth" written in Cave's handwriting, relating to his son Luke. Cave and his family moved to the Brighton area in the 2000s but it was marked by tragedy after the death of his son Arthur in 2015, who fell from a cliff at Ovingdean Gap. "Brighton had just become too sad … we did, however, return once we realised that, regardless of where we lived, we just took our sadness with us," the singer said in an interview. with AAP A UK charity shop has received a donation of around 2000 books from Nick Cave's personal collection. Fans of the Australian rock singer flocked to the Oxfam Bookshop on Hove's Blatchington Road in an attempt to score an item from the collection, which previously formed part of an art installation that toured Denmark and Canada. The Times newspaper reported the collection included titles by Salman Rushdie, Ian McEwan and a first edition copy of the novel Man in White by Johnny Cash. Other treasures reportedly found included a boarding pass for a flight to Amsterdam, an empty packet of cigarettes and an envelope with the words "Luke's tooth" written in Cave's handwriting, relating to his son Luke. Cave and his family moved to the Brighton area in the 2000s but it was marked by tragedy after the death of his son Arthur in 2015, who fell from a cliff at Ovingdean Gap. "Brighton had just become too sad … we did, however, return once we realised that, regardless of where we lived, we just took our sadness with us," the singer said in an interview. with AAP
Sydney Morning Herald
6 days ago
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That it holds together as a whodunit and eventually an examination of what protecting your family really means is credit to the show's perseverance and our willingness to follow this genre's well-worn trail. Loading The first episode, in particular, is a spartan checking of boxes; beginning with a young woman plunging off the famous El Capitan granite monolith and the arrival of Turner, the park's criminal investigator. He's a scrupulous if taciturn detective and a sad drunk – he calls his remarried ex-wife Jill (Rosemarie DeWitt) at 2am, an unspoken loss haunting him. Vasquez is unperturbed by this lone ranger. 'I got a toddler at home.' she reasons. 'So I know how to deal with difficult.' A succinct six episodes, Untamed was created by the father and daughter team of Mark L. Smith and Elle Smith. The former's credits include the recent Netflix western American Primeval and his calling card is nature's fury magnified by humanity's hunger for violence. This show is nowhere near as calamitous, but it racks up bodies, facts about Yosemite anthropology, and some particularly prickly exchanges between Turner and the soldier-turned-wildlife-control-officer Shane Maguire (Wilson Bethel). Anything predictable is nonetheless professional, but a sharper directorial eye would have helped. Bana, who has aged exceedingly well into his silver fox era, puts emotional weight on the generic punctuation; his eyes say more than his dialogue in certain scenes. Sam Neill has even less to work with as Turner's boss and longtime friend Paul Souter, who needs the case solved as the media pack grows. By the final episodes, the story has dug down enough, with past crimes and melancholic discoveries, to give the leads more to do. It's just that Untamed requires patience to get that far. The Institute ★★½ (Stan) The screen rights for Stephen King's 2019 novel The Institute were sold on the day the book was released, in 2019. It's not difficult to see why. The story of a group of teenagers with telekinetic powers trapped in a monstrous institution running experiments on them was a throwback to some of the prolific author's earliest hits, which in turn had influenced the likes of Netflix's Stranger Things. This competent adaptation makes the creative circle complete. Loading Overseen by King veterans – writer Benjamin Cavell (The Stand) and director Jack Bender (Mr Mercedes) – the story sets up two strands: 14-year-old prodigy Luke Ellis (Joe Freeman) is violently abducted and sent to the secretive Institute, while in the nearby Maine town of Dennison River Bend a haunted police officer, Tim Jamieson (Ben Barnes) is trying to fix his life. The latter's arc is a holding action, barely ticking over until Luke's desperation brings him to Tim's attention. Life at the facility, with its adolescent inmates and creepy adult scientists, is bleak, but the horror in this science-fiction drama mostly feels compact and cautious. 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The Age
6 days ago
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This week's picks include an American murder mystery featuring Eric Bana and Sam Neill, a much-hyped Stephen King adaptation and sturdy crime procedural from the Bosch universe. Untamed ★★★ (Netflix) Early on in this American murder mystery, which is set in California's vast Yosemite National Park, a veteran federal agent, Kyle Turner (Eric Bana), takes a new park ranger, Naya Vasquez (Lily Santiago), out on official business via horseback. 'I haven't seen this view before,' Vasquez says as they cross a gorgeous riverside glade, to which Turner replies that most people only see the same 10 per cent of Yosemite. 'The rest of it's out there,' he sagely adds. That's also my take on Untamed. While it's made with care and staffed with capable performances, the take on crime and punishment in this limited series too often feels like the same 10 per cent of the crime genre we've seen before. In its outline and emotional currents, the show flirts with the generic at times. That it holds together as a whodunit and eventually an examination of what protecting your family really means is credit to the show's perseverance and our willingness to follow this genre's well-worn trail. Loading The first episode, in particular, is a spartan checking of boxes; beginning with a young woman plunging off the famous El Capitan granite monolith and the arrival of Turner, the park's criminal investigator. He's a scrupulous if taciturn detective and a sad drunk – he calls his remarried ex-wife Jill (Rosemarie DeWitt) at 2am, an unspoken loss haunting him. Vasquez is unperturbed by this lone ranger. 'I got a toddler at home.' she reasons. 'So I know how to deal with difficult.' A succinct six episodes, Untamed was created by the father and daughter team of Mark L. Smith and Elle Smith. The former's credits include the recent Netflix western American Primeval and his calling card is nature's fury magnified by humanity's hunger for violence. This show is nowhere near as calamitous, but it racks up bodies, facts about Yosemite anthropology, and some particularly prickly exchanges between Turner and the soldier-turned-wildlife-control-officer Shane Maguire (Wilson Bethel). Anything predictable is nonetheless professional, but a sharper directorial eye would have helped. Bana, who has aged exceedingly well into his silver fox era, puts emotional weight on the generic punctuation; his eyes say more than his dialogue in certain scenes. Sam Neill has even less to work with as Turner's boss and longtime friend Paul Souter, who needs the case solved as the media pack grows. By the final episodes, the story has dug down enough, with past crimes and melancholic discoveries, to give the leads more to do. It's just that Untamed requires patience to get that far. The Institute ★★½ (Stan) The screen rights for Stephen King's 2019 novel The Institute were sold on the day the book was released, in 2019. It's not difficult to see why. The story of a group of teenagers with telekinetic powers trapped in a monstrous institution running experiments on them was a throwback to some of the prolific author's earliest hits, which in turn had influenced the likes of Netflix's Stranger Things. This competent adaptation makes the creative circle complete. Loading Overseen by King veterans – writer Benjamin Cavell (The Stand) and director Jack Bender (Mr Mercedes) – the story sets up two strands: 14-year-old prodigy Luke Ellis (Joe Freeman) is violently abducted and sent to the secretive Institute, while in the nearby Maine town of Dennison River Bend a haunted police officer, Tim Jamieson (Ben Barnes) is trying to fix his life. The latter's arc is a holding action, barely ticking over until Luke's desperation brings him to Tim's attention. Life at the facility, with its adolescent inmates and creepy adult scientists, is bleak, but the horror in this science-fiction drama mostly feels compact and cautious. There's rarely a sense of the unhinged or genuinely otherworldly. As the uncompromising supervisor Ms Sigsby, Mary-Louise Parker is suitably unsettling, but like too much of this eight-part series, the capable never reaches the compelling. The Cleaner (season 3) ★★★½ (BritBox) The new season of this British comedy, where creator Greg Davies plays crime scene cleaning technician Paul 'Wicky' Wickstead, is starting to test the show's limits. In each episode, Wicky goes to a new crime scene and interacts with witnesses, officials, and survivors. It's an unlucky dip that makes Wicky look anew at his life. The writing is clever, the humour sardonic, and the reflections on lost opportunities always thoughtful, but Davies obviously wants to experiment with the format and tone. There are episodes here that start to unstitch the series. Ballard ★★★ (Amazon Prime Video) Adapted from the Los Angeles crime novels of Michael Connelly, the Bosch television franchise moves seamlessly into this spin-off, which follows dedicated LAPD detective Renee Ballard (Maggie Q, Designated Survivor). Shunned by colleagues for being a straight arrow, Ballard gets a Department Q -like shift into an understaffed cold case squad. With six Ballard novels to call on, the series is a sturdy procedural, complete with Bosch -friendly cameos, that is trying to very carefully grapple with institutional failings while maintaining a run-and-gun cop show momentum. The Keepers ★ ★ ★ ★ (Netflix) Netflix is a relentless producer of true-crime documentaries. The quality can vary greatly, but I'm not sure they've made one better than this still haunting 2017 series. Directed by Ryan White (Into the Fire: The Lost Daughter), it uses the unsolved 1969 murder of Baltimore Catholic nun Catherine Cesnik to examine corrupt institutional power and the pain of unacknowledged abuse. The show functions as a mystery, complete with cliffhangers, but at its core, it is a sombre study focused on individuals trying to advance justice. It hasn't lost a skerrick of its strength. Snowfall (seasons 1-6) ★★★½ (Disney+) There was a fair amount of attention for this American crime drama, which debuted in 2017 and was primarily set in Los Angeles during the crack epidemic of the early 1980s. But it's still worth a retrospective binge. With F1′ s Damson Idris as ambitious young drug dealer Franklin Saint, the show mixed The Wire 's grit with historical conspiracy theories such as the CIA aiding the crack trade to finance anti-communist rebels in Central America. The show's profile decreased behind Foxtel's pay TV wall, but now all six seasons are streaming on Disney+.
