5 must-watch movies and TV shows streaming right now: March 24, 2023

Welcome to boston.com weekly broadcast guide. Each week, we recommend five must-watch movies and TV shows available on streaming platforms such as netflix, Hulu, Amazon Premier, Disney+, HBO Maxand more.

Many of the recommendations are for new shows, while others are for under-the-radar releases you might have missed or classics that are set to leave a streaming service at the end of the month.

Got a new favorite movie or show you think we should know about? Let us know in the comments or via email [email protected]. Looking for even more streaming options? Consult previous editions of our list of essentials here.

Movies

“All Beauty and Bloodshed”

Growing up in suburban Boston, Nan Goldin pushed boundaries and broke taboos early in her photography career, producing galleries focused on the city’s gay and transgender communities in the 1970s. decade, Goldin raised the hell again, protesting against the very museums and galleries that housed his work for decades because of their philanthropic ties to the Sackler family, the founders of Purdue Pharma. Director Laura Poitras (“Citizenfour”) not only vividly captures the life of a rebellious activist, but she accurately traces the insidious network of black money that allowed the company arguably most responsible for the crisis opioids in the United States to remain in good standing for so long. Although it lost the Best Documentary Oscar to ‘Navalny’, ‘All the Beauty and the Bloodshed’ is one of the best of 2022.

How to watch: “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed” is streaming on HBO Max.

“John Wick”

Before you head to theaters this weekend to catch the action odyssey “John Wick: Chapter 4,” it’s worth catching up on the entire Keanu Reeves hitman franchise, starting with the original. from 2014. The story is quite simple: John Wick (Reeves) is the world’s greatest assassin. Despite his best attempts, he continues to be drawn into the surprisingly elaborate underworld of hitmen. What sets “John Wick” apart is the balletic quality of the action scenes, led by a veteran stunt pair in David Leitch and Chad Stahelski – the latter being Reeves’ stunt double for “The Matrix” and its sequels. Instead of the frenetic style of editing popularized by the “Bourne” franchise or the washed-out CGI sludge endemic to superhero franchises, each fight scene is brilliantly lit, delicately choreographed, and impressively inventive. If you want to get really ambitious, “John Wick: Chapter 2” and “John Wick: Chapter 3” are also streaming on Peacock.

How to watch: “John Wick” airs on Peacock.

TV

“Lucky Hank”

After the success of “Better Call Saul”, AMC remains wisely in the business of Bob Odenkirk. In the new “Lucky Hank” series, Odenkirk plays a misanthropic college professor who has lost the reputation of his decades-old romance and resents everything about his life. When a recording of Hank ranting about a brooding student and decrying his mediocre college begins to spread, it has a ripple effect on Hank and his colleagues at the island campus. Odenkirk plays the grumpy, self-absorbed English teacher perfectly, but whether his character will be likable enough to keep average viewers tuned in remains to be seen. Whatever your first impressions, the talent of showrunners Paul Lieberstein (Toby on “The Office”) and Aaron Zelman (“Damages”), as well as the supporting cast of Cedric Yarborough (“Reno 911!”), Oscar Nunez ( “The Office”) and Diedrich Bader (“The Drew Carey Show”) mean you’d have to give “Lucky Hank” a few episodes to find its footing.

How to watch: “Lucky Hank” airs on AMC+, with new episodes airing Sundays at 9 p.m. on AMC.

“The Night Officer”

At its core, “The Night Agent” is a fairly straightforward spy thriller, but small touches throughout elevate this new Netflix series from Shawn Ryan (“The Shield”). The titular night operative is Peter (Gabriel Basso, “Hillbilly Elegy”), who’s buried so deep in the FBI’s organizational chart that he spends his time sitting next to a little-used emergency phone line on hold. of a call that will almost certainly never come. When it does, Peter springs into action, trying (and sometimes struggling) to protect a young tech CEO (Luciane Buchanan) wrapped up in a larger conspiracy neither of them can understand. Basso and Buchanan have great chemistry, and Oscar-nominated Hong Chau (“The Whale”) playing a brusque, professional White House chief of staff is a highlight. Be warned: “The Night Agent” is incredibly binge-worthy, and you’ll fly through its ten episodes in a single weekend if you’re not careful.

How to watch: “The Night Agent” is streaming on Netflix.

“Succession”

With Jesse Armstrong announcing that his hit HBO drama “Succession” will end after four seasons, the countdown is on for viewers to catch up before the Roy family leaves the airwaves for good. For those unfamiliar, the series follows Rupert Murdoch-esque mogul Logan Roy (Brian Cox) and the small army of backstabbing adult children, conniving stepparents and sycophantic hangers in his orbit who hope one day rule his media empire. Each season has seen the fortunes of Logan’s heirs rise and fall, perhaps no more dramatically than “number one boy” Kendall Roy, played in blind desperation by Emmy winner (and Boston native) Jeremy Strong. . Assuming the upcoming fourth season lives up to the previous three, Armstrong deserves a lot of credit for wrapping up his show while leaving viewers wanting more, a rare quality in today’s streaming landscape.

How to watch: “Succession” airs on HBO Max, with Season 4 premiering Sunday, March 26.