Are you looking for something unique to watch this May while you wait for the June premieres of The Bear and The Boys? Well, there’s a ton of high-profile shows in May, like the third season of Hacks and the latest season of Doctor Who. You might still be trying to decompress from last month’s Baby Reindeer as well!
If you’re looking for something off the beaten path that you might not have heard of, we have some picks for you, including a compelling Holocaust drama and a murder mystery set in Ireland. Check them out while you wait for your favorite shows to return next month.
Bodkin (2024)
An Irish dark comedy thriller, Bodkin is a sort of buddy-cop series about a podcaster and an investigative journalist who travel together to the Irish coastal town of Bodkin to investigate two cases. Gilbert Power (SNL cast member Will Forte) is an American podcaster who has the dual focus of both looking into the cold case of three people who disappeared years before and learning more about his own Irish roots. Dubheasa “Dove” Maloney (Siobhán Cullen) has been sent by her editor to look into the death of her source there, a government whistleblower.
As the unlikely pair team up, you get tons of satirical humor that pokes fun at our obsession with the true crime genre, similarly to shows like Only Murders in the Building and Based on a True Story. If you liked those two shows, in fact, you might appreciate Bodkin. RogerEbert.com’s Kaiya Shunyata calls it one of “the most entertaining shows of the year.”
Stream Bodkin on Netflix.
The Tattooist of Auschwitz (2024)
Delivered in six parts, The Tattooist of Auschwitz is one of many historical dramas that are flooding Peacock’s lineup of late. It’s based on the Heather Morris novel of the same name and boasts a fabulous cast and a heartwarming, gripping story. Lale Sokolov (Jonah Hauer-King) is a Jewish prisoner in a concentration camp during World War II. His job is to tattoo ID numbers on prisoners, but one in particular catches his eye: a young woman named Gita (Anna Próchniak).
Harvey Keitel plays an older, present-day version of Sokolov, retelling his story to Morris, played by Melanie Lynskey. The Tattooist of Auschwitz is not just a love story, though. It’s also a story of persistence, determination, courage, strength, and hope as Sokolov and others go to great lengths to keep their friends alive amid harrowing, terrifying circumstances.
Stream The Tattooist of Auschwitz on Peacock.
Dark Matter (2024)
A riveting sci-fi series, Dark Matter is an on-screen adaptation of the Blake Crouch novel of the same name. Physicist Jason Dessen (Joel Edgerton) heads home from a bar where his old friend Ryan (Jimmi Simpson) has just presented him with a huge professional opportunity and a chance to change the course of his life. Before he can make it home to his wife, however, Dessen is kidnapped, taken to a dark room, and awakens in a strange, yet familiar place. He finds out that the life he is living is not his life. He’s in an alternate reality, desperate to figure out what happened to him and to get back home.
Dark Matter has predictable moments where it’s obvious the direction the story is going in, but that doesn’t make the series any less entertaining. The intensity and urgency is kicked up a notch when Dessen realizes that he’s fighting himself to get back home, and has to stop himself from hurting his family. The series asks the question “are you happy with your life?” What’s most important and what would you sacrifice to get where you want to be, or where a part of you thinks you should be?
Stream Dark Matter on Apple TV+.
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