TVNZ+’s Black Snow, Netflix’s I Think You Should Leave among great shows to stream this week

AMERICAN BORN CHINESE (DISNEY+)

Four of the key cast members from this year’s Oscars-dominating Everything Everywhere All at Once feature in an entertaining and engrossing new teen drama.

Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan, Stephanie Hsu and James Hong reunite for this eight-part adaptation of Gene Luen Yang’s 2006 graphic novel of the same name. Aiming to do for Chinese mythology what the Percy Jackson movies did for Greek gods, this sees an ordinary California high schooler’s life complicated by the arrival of a mysterious new exchange student.

While there’s definitely a few thematic and stylistic similarities between this series and one of last year’s break-out Disney+ teen show Ms. Marvel (right down to a character’s love of Bon Jovi), there’s also a refreshing down-to-earthness about the main protagonist and his problems, as well some skilful weaving of Journey to the West-inspired Chinese mythology into the mix.

BLACK SNOW (TVNZ+)

Vikings and Danger Close actor Travis Fimmell headlines this six-part Australian crime-drama about a Queensland detective who suddenly finds himself investigating a 25-year-old cold case, when the opening of a time capsule from 1994 unearths an unexpected secret.

“This is a moody, well-made crime drama that forefronts a little-explored area of Australian culture and history,” wrote Flicks’ Travis Johnson, while Concrete Playground’s Sarah Ward encouraged viewers to “come for Australia’s latest must-stream crime drama, and the first of 2023, then, but stay for a show that embraces and interrogates much more than its recognisable basic set-up typically indicates”.

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HIGH DESERT (APPLE TV+)

Patricia Arquette is Peggy, a former addict who decides to make a new start after the death of her beloved mother in this eight-episode black comedy created by Nurse Jackie and Grace and Frankie duo Nancy Fichman and Jennifer Hoppe-House (along with Miss Congeniality’s Katie Ford).

Still stuck in the small desert town of Yucca Valley, California, Peggy makes a life-changing decision to become a private investigator.

Matt Dillon, Christine Taylor, Brad Garrett, Bernadette Peters and Rupert Friend also feature.

“Ramshackle in the right ways, led by Arquette’s tour-de-force of mad, messy, brazen desperation and determination,” wrote The Daily Beast’s Nich Schager.

I THINK YOU SHOULD LEAVE (NETFLIX)

Former Saturday Night Live writer Tim Robinson is back with the third, six-part instalment of his sketch comedy series. In each segment, Robinson and his guests do whatever they can to try to drive someone to the point that they need – or desperately want – to depart. Among those set to feature are Andy Samberg, Will Forte, Vanessa Bayer, Cecily Strong and Fred Willard.

“The impressive thing about the series is how these now-familiar formulas in no way detract from the amusement of watching it. It remains one of TV’s best, and certainly most efficient, laugh machines,” wrote Rolling Stone’s Alan Sepinwall, while The Daily Beast’s Nick Schager believed that “trading in Robinson’s particular brand on taboo-smashing ridiculousness laced with crushing misery and frustration [and designed for instant meme-ification], it confirms that no one does unhinged better, or funnier”.

PLATONIC (APPLE TV+)

Rose Byrne and Seth Rogen re-team with the director of their Bad Neighbours movies, Nicholas Stoller, for this 10-episode comedy about former childhood best mates who reconnect after a long rift.

The duo’s friendship becomes all consuming, threatening to destabilise the lives they’ve created.

“Clever, funny, insightful and immediately addictive,” wrote Chicago Sun-Times’ Richard Roeper, while The Hollywood Reporter’s Angie Han thought “the series’ willingness to meet its messy characters where they are yields a fun, funny, surprisingly nuanced exploration of early middle age”.

SILO (APPLE TV+)

Rebecca Ferguson, David Oyelowo, Rashida Jones and Tim Robbins team up for this 10-part sci-fi drama based on Hugh Howey’s trilogy of best-selling dystopian novels.

It is set in the mile-deep home that apparently protects the last 10,000 people on Earth from a toxic and deadly world outside. However, no one knows when or why the silo was built – and it seems anyone who tries to find out faces fatal consequences.

“Part conspiracy thriller, part social commentary, part police procedural, the series holds our interest with intriguing characters and effective twists and turns,” wrote Chicago Sun-Times’ Richard Roeper.

A SMALL LIGHT (DISNEY+)

While featuring the story of the famous Frank family, immortalised in daughter Anne’s diary, this eight-part series is really all about the help they received from Amsterdam resident Miep Gies (Bel Powely) during the latter-half of World War II.

Former Grey’s Anatomy screenwriters – the husband and wife team of Tony Phelan and Joan Rater – have crafted an adroit and absorbing World War II drama that, despite the obvious tensions, lives up to its name thanks largely to Powley’s shining performance as the colourful Miep.

While the production design, costuming and Susanna Fogel’s (The Flight Attendant) direction are top-notch, it’s the emphasis on character that sets this apart from your standard World War II drama. Look out for Liev Schreiber, Joe Cole, Noah Taylor and Andy Nyman in key roles.

XO, KITTY (NETFLIX)

A spin-off series from the mega-popular To All the Boys movie trilogy, this 10-part romantic-dramedy focuses in on Anna Cathcart’s Kitty Covey.

A young woman who believes she is extremely knowledgeable about love, she decides to move to Korea with the aim of reconnecting with her long-distance boyfriend. However, Kitty quickly discovers that a relationship is much more complex when it is your own feeling of love at risk.

“A sweet, pretty cupcake of a teen romance,” wrote The Hollywood Reporter’s Angie Han, while Paste magazine’s Lucy Baugher thought that it “fully embraces the high camp of both young adulthood and the K-dramas that share its narrative roots”.