Genre: Drama
450 Best TV-MA Movies to Watch (Page 13)
Put the kids to bed before you go through this list of great titles to stream. These are the very best movies and shows with a TV-MA ratings, intended for mature audiences only.
After years of trying to regain sobriety, it’s totally chilling to wake up the next day, with no memory of last night, only aware that you failed to stay in control, again. Feedback follows a washed-up rock star trying hard to figure out what happened last night, but not just because it was an oopsie. Instead, for Marcin Kania, it’s the night his son went missing. With angry spiraling scored by electric guitar, temptations to drink abound, and the demeaning judgment of everyone around him, it’s hard for him to convince the cops to take this case seriously, especially when he only has blurry recollections of last night. But it’s easy to root for this unreliable narrator, who’s trying hard to be his best. He just might find him, but he might also find out what happened to the son he failed to guide properly, and hopefully redemption for how much he’s failed his family.
Genre: Crime, Drama
Actor: Arkadiusz Jakubik, Dominika Bednarczyk-Krzyżanowska, Jakub Sierenberg
Director: Leszek Dawid
Genre: Action & Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi & Fantasy
Actor: Aaron Moten, Ella Purnell, Kyle MacLachlan, Moises Arias, Walton Goggins, Xelia Mendes-Jones
In the multilingual Drops of God, French author Camille and Japanese sommelier Issei battle for a wine expert's multi-billion-dollar inheritance. Camille may be the expert’s daughter, gifted with an incredible sense of smell and taste, but Issei is the so-called “spiritual son,” the protégé who filled in Camille’s shoes upon her abrupt departure from her father’s life. Whoever wins a series of wine-related tests gets to keep the expert’s estate and continue his legacy.
Based on the Japanese manga of the same, Drops of God is strangely but enjoyably competitive as it plunges you deep into the complex world of wine—through intense competitions, we get a closer look at the drink's many layers, long history, and even its cultural connotations. This nice blend of knowledge and rivalry makes it a thrilling watch, but the show also has an unexpected but welcome family element to it that softens the edge a bit and gives it a sweet aftertaste. If you were ever looking for a smart but heartfelt show about wining and dining, this is it.
Genre: Drama
Actor: Azusa Okamoto, Cécile Bois, Diego Ribon, Fleur Geffrier, Gustave Kervern, Luca Terracciano, Makiko Watanabe, Margaux Chatelier, Satoshi Nikaido, Sophie Mousel, Tomohisa Yamashita
Genre: Crime, Drama
Actor: Ashley Madekwe, Edgar Ramírez, Gustaf Hammarsten, Luke Kirby, Mandy Moore
There are plenty of divorce-related Korean dramas, but Divorce Attorney Shin is a gem among them. Based on the webtoon with the same name, the show is centered on an eccentric lawyer, whose trot-dancing ways and unconventional handling of clients doesn’t detract from his winning cases. Instead of the ruthless and collected attorneys we’ve seen previously, Shin Sung-han has a human side, a side that enables him to empathize with his clients. And like the lawyer, the show does the same, handling multiple cases, without discarding them by the end of the episode, and embracing its nuances in a well-rounded way.
Genre: Drama
Actor: Cho Seung-woo, Han Hye-jin, Jung Moon-sung, Kim Sung-kyun, Lee Eun-jae
Deadloch begins like any other self-serious police procedural. A body washes up on shore, sparking widespread fear and a twisty mystery that eventually and intriguingly reveals layers of itself. Local officer Dulcie Collins (Kate Box) takes to it like it’s the most important case in the world, and for some reason, everything we see onscreen is tinged in gray, as if the town is set under a perpetual stormcloud.
Then a joke finds its way into the dialogue, followed by another, and another. The show, it turns out, is as much of a sitcom as it is a mystery, with Dulcie acting as the straight man grounding us through the kookiness of it all. The rest of the characters are actual characters, wonderfully zany and larger-than-life as they bumble around and commit small-town gaffes. A hearse screeches to a halt when a random passerby yells, “You’re going the wrong way!”, and a millennial policewoman exclaims, “I can’t believe I’m on a stakeout! It’s so aggressively police-y.”
It’s quite the risk to be both funny and serious, to dole out this many jokes while solving multiple murders, but Deadloch pulls it off with so much charm to spare. It’s a refreshing take on the buddy-cop series, ambitious and modern and unafraid to laugh at itself every once in a while.
Genre: Comedy, Crime
Actor: Alicia Gardiner, Harvey Zielinski, Kate Box, Kris McQuade, Madeleine Sami, Nina Oyama, Pamela Rabe, Shaun Martindale, Tom Ballard
Director: Beck Cole, Ben Chessell, Gracie Otto
With the various police procedurals available online, it can feel like an oversaturated genre, at best. At worst, with the struggles the world has to do with regards to the justice system, police procedurals can glorify the institution. Criminal Record examines this, but it doesn’t give the easy answers other shows have when discussing the systemic failure of the police, especially when it comes to race, age, and sex. Peter Capaldi stands in as the old guard, though his skin-crawling presence keeps Dan Hegarty’s real intentions an enigma until the very end. However, it’s Cush Jumbo as the empathetic June Lenker that drives the show, with her persistence meeting Hegarty’s every move, and her frustrations mirroring the real rage the world feels with regards to past injustices. The way the two clash creates a novel rookie-veteran dynamic that makes Criminal Record so striking.
Genre: Crime, Drama
Actor: Cathy Tyson, Charlie Creed-Miles, Cush Jumbo, Peter Capaldi, Shaun Dooley, Stephen Campbell Moore, Zoë Wanamaker
Coming-of-age shows are practically Netflix’s bread-and-butter, but the working class side of Brisbane in the 80’s is a suburb we didn’t expect the international streamer to visit. Based on the semi-autobiographical novel with the same name, Boy Swallows Universe is centered on the precocious Eli Bell, whose age and curiosity naturally pushes him to try and figure out how he fits in the world. There are some magic realist elements, and the crimes escalate as we go further and further into the miniseries, but the show shines best when depicting the slow, day-to-day moments in Bell’s family. The show never judges them, nor does it totally excuse their actions. Instead, Boy Swallows Universe depicts a certain nostalgic compassion one could only have for their hometown, regardless of how downtrodden it is.
Genre: Crime, Drama
Actor: Felix Cameron, Lee Halley, Phoebe Tonkin, Simon Baker, Travis Fimmel
Looking at a photo of Jill Dando, you’d be forgiven for mistaking her for Princess Diana. Both beloved public figures have the same cut of blonde hair and exude the same girl-next-door warmth. Still like Diana, Jill was suddenly killed in the ‘90s and left in her wake a string of conspiracy theories surrounding her death. This docuseries from Netflix examines those speculations, along with official investigations, and invites us to ask why, despite an abundance of clues and advocates, the truth remains hidden after all these years. It’s a compelling, respectful, and well-made show that humanizes Jill and dramatizes her death in equal measure. And like any true crime series worth your time, it also reveals how slow real cases outside of film and TV actually move. It’s frustrating and heartbreaking, but also quite enlightening. You don’t have to know much about Jill to be gripped by the series, although you do wind up caring about her and the development of the case by the end of it.
Genre: Crime, Documentary
Tour de France: Unchained is an intense sports docuseries depicting the ins and outs of the prominent cycling race. While cycling is an individual activity, Tour de France is structured to be a team sport — usually comprising around 20 teams with eight riders each. The first season depicts the 2022 run from Copenhagen to Champs-Élysées, the comeback after the pandemic, with players looking to defeat two-time defending champion Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates). If you're up to date with cycling news, you'll know how this one ends. However, it's still a worthwhile watch, as the show goes behind the scenes to witness the team dynamics, the severe falls, and the steep challenges. With this in mind, Tour de France is very watchable, especially for fans of the sport.
Genre: Documentary
The Old Man has everything you'd expect from a political thriller. The dialogue is mysterious, the setting striking, and the action sequences gripping. Bullets fly and blood spouts from both sides of the border, and despite what each faction tells you, it's clear there's no such thing as a good guy. Everyone is a killer, it's just a matter of being self-aware that you are one.
The rarity The Old Man brings to the table is that its protagonist-killer is Dan Chase (Jeff Bridges), a former CIA agent in the twilight of his years. Much of the show's punch comes from Dan and his impressive dexterity. One minute he's having trouble remembering his medication, and the next, he's sharp-shooting assassins half his age from miles away. It should be silly, unrealistic even, but Bridges is convincingly well-built and sells it.
His bromance with fellow veteran John Lithgow is also worth noting. Lithgow plays Harold Harper, an FBI official who is tasked to hunt down Chase because of their close but complicated relationship. Basically, they're frenemies: former army brothers who've chosen different paths, one to rebel and the other to stay. Their repartee alone, elevated by sharp writing and magnetic onscreen presence, makes the show worth it. But it's the smooth coming-together of all these different elements—the action, the characters, and the twists—that make The Old Man a truly worthwhile watch.
Genre: Action & Adventure, Drama
Actor: Alia Shawkat, Amy Brenneman, Bill Heck, E.J. Bonilla, Gbenga Akinnagbe, Jeff Bridges, John Lithgow, Leem Lubany
Genre: Comedy
Actor: Garry Shandling, Jeffrey Tambor, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Penny Johnson Jerald, Rip Torn, Scott Thompson, Wallace Langham
Genre: Action & Adventure, Comedy, Crime
Actor: Daniel Ings, Giancarlo Esposito, Joely Richardson, Kaya Scodelario, Theo James, Vinnie Jones
The Dropout is an eight-part series about disgraced biotech entrepreneur Elizabeth Holmes, played here to eerie perfection by Amanda Seyfried. The show follows Holmes as she drops out of Stanford and pursues her dream to be rich and famous at any cost—even if it means swindling her way to the billion-dollar finish line.
With the facts of the case publicly available and a plethora of scammer shows already streaming on the internet, it's a small miracle that The Dropout is still able to stand out as a compelling series. This is thanks in large part to Seyfried: she plays Holmes as a shaky, self-conscious, and hyper-ambitious magnate with little to no remorse, and it works. Even though Holmes is pretty much a cautionary household name at this point, The Dropout is still worth watching if only to see Seyfried's thoughtful portrayal.
Genre: Crime, Drama
Actor: Amanda Seyfried, Bill Irwin, Dylan Minnette, Elizabeth Marvel, Laurie Metcalf, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Naveen Andrews, Sam Waterston, Stephen Fry, Utkarsh Ambudkar, William H. Macy