Sitcoms, sci-fi and young stars all coming your way this May
1. The Staircase (HBO Max)
The Staircase is HBO Max‘s first new release this May. It follows the case of Michael Peterson, a writer grieving a wife who died in a tragic accident, and who is also accused of killing her. Colin Firth and Toni Collette are the stars of this remake of the true crime documentary The Staircase, by Frenchman Jean-Xavier de Lestrade, who usually films for Netflix. This American version, inspired by a true story, is from Antonio Campos, director of The Devil All the Time, one of Netflix’s highest-rated films in 2020, and of the anthology “The Sinner” (2017).
2. Welcome to Eden (Netflix)
Pumping up momentum for the return of Stranger Things (Duffer Brothers, 2016) at the end of the month, Netflix has also lined up an absorbing thriller with a young cast: Bienvenidos a Edén. Created by Joaquín Gorriz and Guillermo López Sánchez, it features Amaia Salamanca and Amaia Aberasturi în a disturbing story about an exclusive party on a secret island, and to which they secure privileged passes through social media. But soon they discover there’s something strange going on in this Eden.
3. The Man Who Fell To Earth (Movistar+)
Movistar+ is set to stream episodes of The Man Who Fell To Earth, a remake of Nicolas Roeg’s film classic of the same name from 1976. The plot doesn’t stray too far from the original, with an alien landing on Earth at a pivotal point in its evolution. He has to confront his own past in order to determine the future of the human race.
The cast is headed up by stars Chiwetel Ejiofor and Naomie Harris, with Harris portraying an engineer who must face her own inner demons in order to act as his ally in a race to save the world.
4. How I Met Your Father (Disney+)
The Disney+ platform is bolstering its offering with the Hulu series How I Met Your Father, a spin-off of the legendary How I Met Your Mother (Carter Bays, Craig Thomas, 2005-2014), harnessing the familiar format of the sitcomthat dazzled both critics and audiences. This time, Sophie’s character tells her son the story of how she came to meet his father, sharing details of her dating life leading up to the discovery of who he really is. The series, brought to the small screen by showrunners Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger, will be out on the 11th.
5. Life and Beth (Disney+)
Disney+ is sure to be one of the most popular platforms this spring thanks to this ten-episode women-led comedy dropping on the 18th. It is directed by actress and screenwriter Amy Schumer, who also stars as Beth, a happy enough Manhattan wine distributor. She’s in a relationship with an attractive young man and life seems to be going well, until something forces her to revisit her past and realize how it is casting its shadow on her present. Accompanying Schumer are Michael Rapaport and Michael Cera.
6. Night Sky (Prime Video)
The celebrated Sissy Spacek returns to television drama on the 20th, starring in Night Sky, Prime Video’s new sci-fi series. The actress hasn’t been seen in a series since Homecoming (Eli Horowitz, Micah Bloomberg, 2018-2020), and this time is accompanied by J.K. Simons, Hollywood’s go-to character actor. They play a couple who years ago discovered a chamber buried in their backyard that inexplicably takes them to a strange, deserted planet.
7. Stranger Things (Netflix)
Those nostalgic for the 80s will be happy to hear Eleven and her gang are back for the fourth season of Stranger Things, arguably the most popular series in the history of Netflix. The new season from the Duffer brothers will be available from the 27th and boasts an even bigger budget than the last season of Game of Thrones (David Benioff, Dan Weiss, 2011-2019). In their return to the screen, the protagonists will for the first time go beyond their comfort zone, the town of Hawkins, in order to deal with an outside threat.
The series continues to feature Winona Ryder and David Harbour as the adults, while Millie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard, Noah Schnapp and Gaten Matarazzo once again portray the younger versions of their iconic characters.
8. “Obi-Wan Kenobi” (Disney+)
May 27th will also be a day for a double celebration for fans of the Star Wars saga and The Mandalorian (Jon Favreau, 2019) because the spin-off of one of the public’s most popular characters from the franchise, Obi-Wan Kenobi, has finally arrived. The lightsabers of the Jedi will be wielded once more as Ewan McGregor returns to play Luke Skywalker’s famous mentor in a series set ten years after the events that took place in Revenge of the Sith (George Lucas, 2005), and decades before the tales told in the trilogy that started it all.
