Wondering what to watch this week? Check out our weekly film and TV recommendations. We want to know what you’re streaming, too. Click here to share your picks with us.
“Mare of Easttown”
HBO’s darkly engaging crime story “Mare of Easttown” finds executive producer and star Kate Winslet playing a tough, tight-lipped Eastern Pennsylvania police detective coping with buried personal trauma, a year-old missing-persons case and the grisly murder of a teenaged girl. The murder, which implicates seemingly half of Easttown, lifts the lid off this Rolling Rock variation on “King’s Row” and “Peyton Place.” Winslet’s other role here is that of an Oscar-winning actress, highly skilled at a variety of American dialects, striking a valiant bargain with Delaware County, aka “Delco,” vowel sounds. At its best, which is pretty often, the results don’t sound like an actor doing a dialect. They sound like someone creating a quietly forceful characterization with a commitment to unselfconscious authenticity, even when the writing settles for less. (HBO, HBO Max) — Michael Phillips
“This Is a Robbery”
The biggest art heist ever — still unsolved — is examined in this true crime series, which attempts to understand how paintings by Rembrandt, Vermeer, Manet and more (a collection worth more than $500 million today) were stolen from Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum over St. Patrick’s weekend in 1990. Who took these works of art and why? To this day, no one knows for sure. I’ve griped about this before: The series is too long for what it is, and would have worked better as a standalone documentary film. The story of the heist is new to me, which means the first two episodes of this four-part series were enlightening; things get bogged down in the back end as it becomes a story of mobsters who may or may not have had anything to do with the crime. Note: If you’re looking for more, there’s also a 10-episode podcast from Boston public radio station WBUR called “Last Seen” that delves into the same mystery. (Netflix) — Nina Metz
“Land”
After a horrific tragedy, a Chicago woman retreats to an isolated cabin in the Wyoming wilderness, where she tests her own limits. Robin Wright gives a haunting performance that leaves you grieving along with her. (VOD) — Tracy Swartz
“AfroPoP: The Ultimate Cultural Exchange”
I don’t know about you, but since the pandemic has put restrictions on my mobility, I have been feeding my travel jones and curiosity through my television, which is where “AfroPoP: The Ultimate Cultural Exchange” comes in (i.e. “Mama Gloria”). Tune into AfroPop’s fourth episode, a shorts collection with stories about modern art, human rights and politics from the African Diaspora. The first two stories “Betye Saar: Taking Care of Business” by Christine Turner and “Elena” from filmmaker Michele Stephens, are both engaging in their own way, but it’s the latter story that has Chicago ties. “Man of the People” is an experimental film about late Chicago Mayor Harold Washington by filmmaker Amir George, cofounder of the touring film series Black Radical Imagination. George mixes archival video of Washington’s political campaigns of the 1980s with scenes from Chicago’s Black community back in the day. The imagery pays homage to the history-making leader at a time when those are needed in larger quantities. The short work shows Washington’s infectious enthusiasm and skill at connecting with all of those in our very segregated city. Set against music by Lilianna Zofia Wósko, the film looks back at a legacy and a time of hope, both cut short. Get the feels watching this one. (7 p.m., April 26, on World Channel, worldchannel.org) — Darcel Rockett
“Zappa”
Let’s get two words often used about Frank Zappa out of the way: Eccentric. Genius. Both true, both overused. Growing up listening to “Freak Out!” and “We’re Only in It for the Money” (with his The Mothers of Invention), it wasn’t until 1969’s “Hot Rats” that his intricate, swirling and always surprising music really clicked in for me. Alex Winter’s touching 2020 documentary is filled with all kinds of access to Zappa’s massive music vault, band members and footage explaining the composer and musician whose social commentary often manifested itself behind the goofiness and discomfort of a 13-year-old boy. The film opens, and later returns, to Zappa’s 1991 concert in Prague, where he was revered as one of the cultural heroes for the future Czech Republic’s revolution. Zappa never shied away from politics, and his Congressional testimony against labeling lyrics is given substantial screen time. Zappa was always in a hurry, too many ideas and too little time, especially after he was diagnosed in 1990 with the prostate cancer that would kill him three years later. Winter’s interviews with Zappa’s musicians are most revealing, especially with percussionist Ruth Underwood, who talks about how Zappa’s concerts opened up all musical possibilities for her. Had he lived past 52, Zappa’s musical and cultural possibilities certainly would have continued. Just imagine Zappa on Donald J. Trump. (Hulu, VOD) — Scott L. Powers
“Night Stalker: The Hunt For a Serial Killer”
Calling all true crime enthusiasts to checkout “Night Stalker: The Hunt For a Serial Killer,” a Netflix docuseries that chronicles the murders and heinous attacks by Richard Ramirez aka The Night Stalker, one of the most merciless serial killers in American history. The series centers on Los Angeles County Sheriff’s detectives Gil Carrillo and Frank Salerno, who solved the case a little over 35 years ago and recount what was really going on behind the scenes of this high-profile case. In 1984-1985, Ramirez committed a string of burglaries, carjackings, murders, kidnappings and sexual assaults across the greater Los Angeles area as well as San Francisco. At first, the spree of crimes across Los Angeles were thought to be unrelated as the victims ranged in gender, age, race and location. The thought that one individual could commit them all was unheard of in criminal history. (Netflix) — Hannah Herrera Greenspan
“Phineas and Ferb”
Created by a team who worked on “Rocko’s Modern Life” and “The Simpsons,” “Phineas and Ferb” is more than just a kids’ show. Phineas and his adoptive brother Ferb are on summer vacation, and unlike the typical kids of today, they will not be wasting their days in front of a screen. Under the ever watchful eye of their older sister Candace, the resourceful brothers build rollercoasters, ski slopes, dancing robots, shrinking submarines, travel in time, and have so many more amazing adventures. Little do they know, their family pet platypus is really a secret agent who fights the evil but never successful Dr. Doofenshmirtz. This musical animated series is packed full of chuckle-worthy jokes, catchy songs and the voice talents of many Disney Channel stars, including Ashley Tisdale (“High School Musical”), Alyson Stoner (“Camp Rock”) and Mitchel Musso (“Hannah Montana”). (Disney+) — Lauren Hill
“Wolfwalkers”
Oscar-nominated “Wolfwalkers” unspools a yarn about Robyn, an English girl in 17th century Ireland, who’s bitten by Mebh, a “wolfwalker” — a magical being who shapeshifts between human and wolf. It’s a smart, brisk story that explores the tension created when the villain Lord Protector attempts to civilize wild lands, and a daughter stakes out her independence despite her father’s entreaties to stay home. It’s the third in filmmakers Tomm Moore and Ross Stewart’s “Irish Folklore Trilogy,” which includes Oscar-nominated “The Secret of Kells” (2009) and “Song of the Sea” (2014). The animation here is mesmerizing — and completely unlike most of the computer-generated junk kids are so used to consuming. Hand-drawn images bring to mind the belovedness of storybooks and the dynamism of comics. The town the Lord Protector reigns over is all cool-hued geometry; the forests of the wolves are as glorious and tangled as Mebh’s fire-red hair. Some computer-generated effects are used — judiciously and well. The result is an affecting shift in perspective and some of the deepest looking 2-D animation you could imagine. Children will want to watch it again and again — as children do — but parents won’t mind. There’s just so much to see. (Apple TV+) — Jennifer Day
April 16
“Collective”
“Collective” is a terrific movie about the necessity of pain-in-the-ass investigative journalists. In 2015, a fire in a Bucharest, Romania, nightclub claimed 27 lives, with dozens more injured and hospitalized. An alarming percentage of those burn victims ended up dying as well. Why? Director Alexander Nanau answers that question by following the intrepid newshounds of the Sports Gazette, as they uncover scandal after scandal in the ranks of the Romanian government, the health ministry and hospitals that would’ve been better off being run by Harry Lime of “The Third Man.” It’s nonfiction — a documentary, with stunning access to all sorts of corridors of power — with the pace and electricity of a great thriller. “Collective” is up for two Oscars, in the documentary and international feature categories. (Hulu, VOD) — Michael Phillips
“Beforeigners”
A sci-fi buddy cop show, this Oslo-set Norwegian series imagines a world in which people from three distinct historical periods become one-way time travellers to the present. These Stone Age primitives, Vikings from the Middle Ages and Victorians from the 1800s — collectively referred to as “beforeigners” — become refugees of a sort in the modern world. A murder investigation pairs a grizzled cop with the police department’s first beforeinger hire, and together they take us into a city filled with amusing details (a caveman-turned-crime-boss; a bar that caters to rowdy, mead-loving Vikings) all while using the treatment of beforeigners as a metaphor for xenophobia and a host of other bigotries. A second season has been filmed but a premiere date has yet to be announced. (HBO Max) — Nina Metz
“The Last Cruise”
Using cell phone footage from passengers and crew, the documentary follows a cruise ship that experienced a COVID-19 outbreak early in the pandemic. The film is only 40 minutes long. Additional time could have been spent exploring the fear people stuck on the ship felt as more positive tests and passenger deaths were announced. (HBO Max) — Tracy Swartz
“The Barbarian and the Troll”
Thanks to Jim Henson, I’ll always be a big fan of puppetry. So imagine how I rejoiced when this new series premiered — a show that brings a meek troll prince together with a princess who was kicked out of the order of Warrior Princesses for no other reason than her independent streak. Brendar has been demoted from Warrior Princess to Barbarian, because she has taken up more than a fair amount of quests to find the demon who killed her mother and took her brother Kendar. Feared and revered throughout the land for her warrior skills, she continues on her mission sans tiara, sword and sensible shoes, with Evan, the troll prince. Evan until recently lived under a bridge collecting tolls for his father, until Evan’s musical ambitions led him to the same tavern as Brendar. When respect is lacking, her sword starts hacking. I can hardly wait to hear more about Brendar’s absurdly complex backstory as the season continues. As the two venture on her quest, Evan will write songs of Brendar’s adventures so all of Gothmoria will know of her. Evan may be a virgin to journeys, but along the way, we get an original song every episode that’s quirky enough to make you laugh. In just the first episode, we’ve seen cyclops barkeeps, dancing skeletons with bad dental plans, and a wizard with a daughter who was turned into an owl by her mother. Record episodes on Friday nights and watch it when you need a pick me up during the week. (Nickelodeon) — Darcel Rockett
“Superstore”
I am late to watching “Superstore,” the NBC sitcom that recently aired its series finale last month after six seasons. The show follows the employees of fictional St. Louis megastore Cloud 9 as they navigate the day-to-day operations in retail along with a few shenanigans. America Ferrera stars as Amy, one of the store’s level-headed and reliable employees who serves under the clueless but loveable store manager Glenn (Mark McKinney) and tough-as-nails (but equally hilarious) assistant manager Dina (Lauren Ash). The rest of the Cloud 9 family includes new-hire and dreamer, Jonah (Ben Feldman), sarcastic Garrett (Colton Dunn), overachiever Mateo (Nico Santos) and teen mom-to-be Cheyenne (Nichole Sakura). (Hulu) — Hannah Herrera Greenspan
“The Wedding Coach”
Planning a wedding can be stressful, and comic Jamie Lee knows it. Having nearly not made it down the aisle herself due to the immense pressure that comes from planning a wedding, Lee wrote a book in 2016 called “Weddiculous: The Unfiltered Guide to Being a Bride.” It aimed to help other brides throw away the stigmas invented by “Big Bridal,” as she calls the wedding industry. In April, she released this six-episode series, where she helped real brides make it down the aisle. And these poor couples had it rough — one bride had the worst bridesmaids I’ve ever seen and drama with her future sister-in-law. Another was pregnant, but hadn’t told her family or her Spanish-only-speaking in-laws. And a third couple wanted to plan a wedding festival with drag queens and a 20-minute choreographed dance number. These issues were driving the couples apart at a time when they should’ve been celebrating their love and union. I was impressed by how Lee helped these lovebirds. Along with her comedian friends (including Fortune Feimster and Punkie Johnson from “Saturday Night Live”), she had hard conversations with family members, watched embarrassingly inappropriate friends like a hawk, literally tied sashes on chairs an hour before a ceremony was supposed to start, and, in one instance, forced a couple to listen to each other’s feelings and make hard decisions. Any comedian can say they’re helping the average man, but few actually go out and make a difference in a very important moment in someone’s life. (Netflix) — Lauren Hill
“Schitt’s Creek”
You likely already know you should watch “Schitt’s Creek,” but I’m recommending it here for two reasons: First, to remind you, if it’s slipped down your list, given the surplus of options rolling in each week. I suspect few shows will bring you more pleasure than a half-hour spent with Eugene and David Levy’s delightfully skewed Rose family as they navigate their new lives post-financial ruin. I’m also writing out of a certain amount of chagrin: I thought I’d binged “Schitt’s Creek” last fall in the lead-up to the holidays. It only recently came to my attention that I’d missed half of the fun by engaging in any number of multitasking projects that took my eyes away from the screen. I’d more listened to it than watched it, and when I happened to sit down while my husband had it on recently, I realized just how much I’d missed. Yes, it was funny either way, but the missed facial expressions, body language and details in the costuming — Moira’s outfits deserve to be studied — have convinced me I could start the series all over again for another delightful run. So consider this a plea: Sit down and just watch. And oh my god, turn off the phone. You’re not being lazy; you’re being attentive — and that’s a skill worth indulging. (Netflix, YouTube TV, VOD) — Jennifer Day
April 8
“This Is Not a Burial, It’s a Resurrection”
Here’s something rich and eccentric and altogether new: “This Is Not a Burial, It’s a Resurrection” is the first-ever narrative feature to come out of the Southern African kingdom of Lesotho, starring the late, great South African performer Mary Twala Mhlongo. She plays a widower determined to be buried in the village cemetery targeted, as is the entire village, for massive controlled flooding to make way for a dam. The writer-director Lmohang Jeremiah Mosese, now based in Berlin, took elements of his own family’s story and created an intuitive meditation on the ravages of progress. It’s a marvelous farewell for Mhlongo, but it’s more than that. (Music Box Direct) — Michael Phillips
“Made for Love”
Adapted from Alissa Nutting’s 2017 satiric novel of the same name, “Made for Love” follows a young woman (Cristin Milioti) who escapes the swanky-creepy compound where she’s lived isolated in pristine luxury with her tech billionaire husband (Billy Magnussen) for the last 10 years. Her flight is prompted by the revelation that her spouse has implanted a souped-up LoJack in her head that also relays information about her emotional state. Once she busts out, she returns to the dump of a desert town where she grew up and seeks out her father (Ray Romano), a sad-sack but sweet-seeming reclusive who brings his life-size sex doll with him everywhere he goes. Tonally “Made for Love” is sardonic — this is dark, dark comedy — but also deeply disturbing. The show mocks tech titans who never bother to even blink at the potential harms and personal invasions their innovations may enable, but they’re not the only ones getting zinged here. Rippling beneath that satire is some very pointed commentary on the way men view women as things to be possessed. (HBO Max) — Nina Metz
“The Moodys”
The dysfunctional Moody family is back for Season 2. Denis Leary and Elizabeth Perkins play a Chicago couple whose three adult children are living in their home. It’s a low-stakes comedy that has some touching moments. Though the show was shot in Canada, the writers work hard to nail Chicago street names. (Fox) — Tracy Swartz
“Younger”
The final season of “Younger” will drop on Paramount+ on April 15, and that means it’s time for a marathon binge session this weekend. One word: Yassss! A downside: If you’re not a Paramount+ streamer, you’ll have to wait to see Season 7 on TV Land later this year. (Boooo!) But with the ending of the series (fingers-crossed) we will finally get a hard yes from Liza on one relationship over another: Charles (Peter Hermann) proposed in the Season 6 cliffhanger, but Liza also held on to a tattoo that Josh (Nico Tortorella) created just for her. Personally, I’m rooting for Charles, but then again, I was Team Aidan when it came to Carrie choosing between him and Mr. Big on “Sex and the City.” And then Team Alexandr Petrovsky as opposed to Mr. Big. In other words, anyone but Mr. Big. That’s me, always rooting for the underdog. I’ll miss Liza’s optimism, Kelsey’s ambition, and publicist Lauren’s antics. And any week where you don’t see Debi Mazar (Maggie Amato) in all her greatness is a week not worth remembering. These women embody friends that you hold dear, friends you may not have seen as much given this pandemic, but miss dearly — a posse that had your back no matter what. I’ll miss the show when it’s gone. Here’s to a happy ending — much needed right now. (Paramount+) — Darcel Rockett
“Cinderella”
It’s impossible not to love “Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella,” starring Brandy in the title role and Whitney Houston as the fairy godmother. This production by Disney and ABC (also produced by Houston) originally premiered in 1997 and quickly became a culturally significant performance due to the groundbreaking casting. The film has had such an inter-generational impact that Disney+ only recently added the musical to the streaming site after fans and Brandy made many urging requests over social media. “Cinderella” stars Whoopi Goldberg, Bernadette Peters, Jason Alexander, Victor Garber, Natalie Desselle-Reid and Paolo Montalban. (Disney+) — Hannah Herrera Greenspan
“The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers”
My first encounter with Emilio Estevez was not “St. Elmo’s Fire” nor “The Breakfast Club” — nor even “The Outsiders.” It was Walt Disney’s “The Mighty Ducks,” a story about a ramshackle group of misfit tweens who come together, with the help of their coach Gordon Bombay (Estevez), to become the greatest Pee-Wee hockey team in the world. OK, it was probably just in their small Minnesota town. What followed was two more films, an animated series and a lot of kids wanting to join their local hockey teams without ever ice skating before. The Disney+ miniseries is a whole new group of insecure outcasts, but Coach Bombay is back and hates hockey — again! But when a desperate mom played by Lauren Graham needs a place for her son’s hockey team to practice, we know his cold heart won’t last long. The Mighty Ducks team has become a powerhouse of work-no-play tweens and “Dance Mom”-esque parents pushing their kids to their physical and mental limits. Young Evan Morrow is kicked off the team, and with his mom’s encouragement, puts together a new one named “The Don’t Bothers,” based on his mom’s viral rant at the Ducks’ coach. We all know where this is headed, but it’s a fun journey along the way. (Disney+) — Lauren Hill
“American Utopia” and “Stop Making Sense”
Even in an age where seemingly everything is available to stream on demand, after a year stuck at home, it can feel tough to find something to watch that parents and young kids both genuinely enjoy. In our household, that’s when we turn to David Byrne. Good concert films are rare, and Byrne has starred in two excellent ones: “Stop Making Sense,” Jonathan Demme’s 1984 chronicle of a Talking Heads concert (circa “Speaking in Tongues”), and “American Utopia,” a 2020 Spike Lee joint capturing Byrne’s stellar Broadway show of the same name. Both films manage to capture the electricity of performance that we adults crave; both inspire our 4-year-old to dance herself into a stupor. As brilliant as these films are to watch, I think our daughter may have the better approach. Queue them up; I dare you to sit still. (“American Utopia”: HBO Max; “Stop Making Sense”: Amazon Prime, VOD) — Jennifer Day
“Q: Into the Storm”
So, who, or what, is Q? A shadow group with government contacts including former Trump administration national security advisor Michael Flynn, or a gamer fiction with more than a few similarities to “The X-Files” character Cigarette Smoking Man or ??? Government cover-ups and misinformation about events from the JFK assassination to Vietnam to the Tuskegee Study to Watergate and more have inspired nonfiction and fictional attempts to explain and entertain. “Q: Into the Storm,” a slow-moving six-part documentary series from director Cullen Hoback (“Terms and Conditions May Apply”) and executive producer Adam McKay (“Succession”) travels the globe in search of Q. Hoback is a participant observer, digging into some of the players (including former Tribune journalist Liz Conklin), and eventually settling on Fredrick Brennan, the founder of the 8chan website that was the main outlet for Q posts, and the father/son team of Jim and Ron Watkins, who took over the site. All three have been suspected of being Q. The series is strongest when it focuses on the clash of free speech, a free internet and a responsibility to verifiable facts, as well as when it reveals the personalities of the people behind the sites that host and celebrate Q and far more disgusting thinking. But Hoback lets his subjects play to the camera far too much, especially the Watkinses. They are eager to play mind games with the all-too-eager-to-comply Hoback and his viewers, making “Q: Into the Storm” a too sympathetic platform for the investigation it professes to be. (HBO Max) — Scott L. Powers
April 2
“Bad Trip”
If you know “The Eric Andre Show,” you know that Andre works beautiful, stupid, smart, stupid/smart magic, pranking the universe for the sake of hidden-camera humiliations of all stripes. In “Bad Trip,” which costars Chicago native Lil Rel Howery and Tiffany Haddish, we have one of the more buoyant examples of this comic sub-genre, not quite up to the first “Borat” but way, way out ahead of any of the “Jackass” movies. It’s unaccountably well-sustained raunch and harsh revelry. (Netflix) — Michael Phillips
“The Falcon and the Winter Soldier”
I’ll be the first to mention how I don’t like Marvel serializing what should be full-feature films. But after watching the first few episodes of “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier,” which picks up after the Blip and Captain America passing over his shield to Sam Wilson (Falcon), I stand corrected. It’s just enough action and mystery to keep you on the hook while the pandemic plays out. Wilson is coping with family problems and his Avengers responsibilities, while Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) is trying to make amends for his Winter Soldier days while trying to be more present in the world (read: therapy). It may not seem popcorn worthy, but after you see the new threat to the world and the new iteration of Captain America (after bingeing all of “WandaVision”), you’ll change your mind. (Disney+) — Darcel Rockett
“Finding Yingying”
Chinese student Yingying Zhang was abducted in 2017 as she headed to an appointment near the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign campus. For this heartbreaking and remarkably intimate documentary, a family friend followed Yingying’s family as they initially searched for clues about her disappearance and then sought justice for her brutal killing. (MTV on demand, Philo) — Tracy Swartz
“The Dog House: UK”
I’m only just getting around to this British docuseries, which debuted on HBO Max last year, about humans looking to adopt a dog. It’s gentle, easy watching, even if some of the people are more annoying than not. Maybe these kinds of shows bring out my inner misanthrope, but there’s something really off-putting about someone who expects scared shelter dogs to instantly greet them with unbridled joy. (Dogs don’t only exist to make you feel loved, they have their own wants and feelings too!) Luckily, not everyone featured is quite so pushy and needy, and the shelter staff put a lot of thought into matching the right dog with the right people. (HBO Max) — Nina Metz
“Breeders”
When a TV show pops a plot twist that makes you suspect its creators hid a GoPro somewhere on your body, it can make for must-see TV. “Breeders,” a set-in-London parental comedy now in its second season, is one of those shows. Created by and starring Martin Freeman (as Paul) with Daisy Haggard (Ally) as the mother of their two children, “Breeders” has its cute moments. But parental challenges — including getting kids to sleep as well as juggling careers, too friendly bosses and aging parents — are all there in raw form. The first season featured a guest turn by Michael McKean as Ally’s estranged but endearing father, and the early part of the second season focused more on their 13-year-old son’s growing issues in school as well as Paul’s anger issues that see him go through therapist after therapist. As their kids age, Paul and Ally’s problems turn increasingly serious, and it will be fascinating to see where Season 2 is headed as more of the half-hour episodes are available. (Hulu) — Scott L. Powers
“The Powerpuff Girls”
Sometimes you need a little sugar, spice and everything nice during these stressful times, and “The Powerpuff Girls” perfectly fills this void. The series follows a trio of superpowered sisters — Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup — who regularly save the citizens of Townsville from evil villains and monsters. Besides fighting crime, the girls deal with myriad issues children face, including sibling rivalries, going to school, standing up for yourself and girl empowerment. Now is the perfect time to catch up on the original animated series ahead of the CW live-action reboot series which will follow the now frustrated 20-something sisters who lost their childhood to saving the world. The new CW series will star Dove Cameron, Chloe Bennet and Yana Perrault as the Powerpuff Girls with Donald Faison as Professor Drake Utonium. (HBO Max, Hulu) — Hannah Herrera Greenspan
“Headspace: Guide to Meditation”
The pandemic has disrupted a lot of people’s routines, mine included. Some people, like me, no longer have an office to travel to every day. There’s no train ride or walk to work to breakup the grogginess of sleep and the stress of the workday. We’ve lost our “me time,” our “wake up time,” and replaced it with instant anxiety and stress from the moment our eyes open. At least that’s how I’ve felt recently. I have decided to turn back to morning meditations. I am a big fan of meditation and share with all newcomers that meditation is not just for people who are mentally or emotionally struggling, but also for anyone who needs a break in their day or wants to feel more pleasant in general. Headspace is a company that specializes in meditation. They have their own app and now, a Netflix miniseries with guided meditations for everything from how to manage stress to how to cope with physical pain and anger. Whether you want to methodically go through each episode or choose one that works best for you, this series will allow you to take a breath and take a break from the chaos of your day. (Netflix) — Lauren Hill
“Shtisel”
After becoming something of a phenomenon, the compelling Israeli series “Shtisel” has returned to Netflix for a third season. It follows a Haredi family as it navigates the drama of everyday life. No one is trying to flee (for that, see “Ultraorthodox,” based on the life of Deborah Feldman and starring “Shtisel” alumna Shira Haas). Instead, the show takes up the potentially more difficult task of situating the entire show within the confines of this closed, religious community and sitting with all the complications that inspires. What emerges is a complex portrait of family relationships that’s perhaps at its best when considering what it is to be a mother and wife — and how essential, yet thankless and conflicted, those roles can be. (Netflix) — Jennifer Day
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