431 Best TV-MA Movies to Watch (Page 17)

From the fantasy-powered folktales to superhero-like depictions, ninjas have captivated the world, but seem to be a relic of the past, with modern day warfare and weaponry turning them obsolete. House of Ninjas imagines a world where ninjas still exist, centering a clan stuck between wanting to abandon the old ways but also having skills that seem wasted in contemporary life. Because of this, the show at first seems boring– the family is severely demotivated, with some members acting out through petty theft, and with out-of-place jazzy musical tracks that undercut the action of the first few episodes. However, House of Ninjas gets better as the Tawara clan gets its act together, revealing the hidden heart each of them has for each other, one that’s been hidden because of the grief that struck the family. The show may be less action-packed than expected, but House of Ninjas comes across as an off-kilter family drama with just enough heart to work.

Genre: Action & Adventure

Actor: Aju Makita, Kengo Kora, Kento Kaku, Tae Kimura, Yosuke Eguchi

Rating: TV-MA

Country music fans, rejoice: iconic musical duo Tammy Wynette and George Jones are given their due in George & Tammy, a six-episode musical drama that follows the eponymous couple amid their successful careers and not-so-successful love affair. 

Michael Shannon and Jessica Chastain play George and Tammy respectively, and if you watch the series for one reason, let it be for their superb performances. Chastain, ever the chameleon, slinks into her role with ease and charm, while Shannon booms in every scene, his volatility making for an exciting watch. If you aren't familiar with the power couple and their torrid affair, a quick Google search will reveal that they've led very full lives, to put it mildly, and Shannon and Chastain thankfully match that energy with their own charged turns. 

Genre: Drama

Actor: David Wilson Barnes, Jessica Chastain, Michael Shannon, Steve Zahn, Walton Goggins

Rating: TV-MA

This five-part BBC drama is a seemingly simple story of a woman who suspects her husband of infidelity. But, being crafted by a playwright, Mike Bartlett, the straightforward premise is falsely disarming and is quickly exploited into a much more complicated and dark story.

The lead character, Gemma, is played to jaw-dropping perfection by Broadcasting Press Guild and BAFTA-winning actor Suranne Jones.

Genre: Drama

Actor: Adam James, Bertie Carvel, Charlie Cunniffe, Cheryl Campbell, Cian Barry, Claire-Hope Ashitey, Clare-Hope Ashitey, Jodie Comer, Martha Howe-Douglas, Megan Roberts, Mike Bartlett, Navin Chowdhry, Neil Stuke, Prasanna Puwanarajah, Robert Pugh, Sara Stewart, Shazia Nicholls, Sian Brooke, Suranne Jones, Thusitha Jayasundera, Tom Taylor, Victoria Hamilton

Rating: TV-MA

Dead Boy Detectives is as light fun as it sounds, but breezy it is not. Its case of the episode formula has fun, at times absurd premises that leads to satisfying conclusions, which makes it feel like a vibrant teen cartoon series. But so much of an episode is banter in the form of bloated dialogue that can go in one ear and quickly out the other. It's colorful, cute, and quirky at times, and it's easy to root for its energetic bits and seamless tying of threads; but all in all, watching one episode after another, it can feel unnecessarily dragged out for the kind of light mystery show that it is.

Genre: Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi & Fantasy

Actor: Briana Cuoco, George Rexstrew, Jayden Revri, Jenn Lyon, Kassius Nelson, Lukas Gage, Ruth Connell, Yuyu Kitamura

Rating: TV-MA

If you're a fan of dialogue-driven, single-setting shows, this series is perfect for you. It revolves entirely around suspect interrogations and dynamics between detectives, which lead to 3 "storylines" per episode: (1) whether the suspect is guilty or not, (2) the characterization of the suspects, and, (3) the characterization of the detectives. The third storyline might be necessary to push the series up an extra notch, but it's easily the least interesting part of the series. The show creates tension layer by layer, and it has a way of keeping its premise fresh each time; I'm not sure that this is a format you want to binge. But it's also 3-4 episodes a season, so you might as well?

Genre: Crime, Drama

Actor: Clare-Hope Ashitey, David Tennant, Hayley Atwell, Isabella Laughland, Katherine Kelly, Lee Ingleby, Mark Stanley, Nicholas Pinnock, Rochenda Sandall, Shubham Saraf, Youssef Kerkour

Rating: TV-MA

Releasing a documentary and a mini-series on the same case on the same day, Netflix understands how compelling Rosa Peral’s story is. Burning Body dramatizes the case’s events, but it does so in a way that questions the police as an institution. With the case, it’s clear that the ones assigned to protect citizens from crimes are trained enough to hide their own. However, the series also underscores the blatant sexism in their ranks, from higher ups taking advantage of new recruits, to spreading revenge porn on their fellow colleagues. With Money Heist’s Úrsula Corberó on the helm, Burning Body paints a double sided look of a multifaceted woman.

Genre: Drama

Actor: Eva Llorach, Isak Férriz, Jose Manuel Poga, Quim Gutierrez, Úrsula Corberó

Director: Jorge Torregrossa, Laura Mañá

Rating: TV-MA

When it comes to true crime series, it's rare to hear of teenage girls participating in murder. But it does happen, on occasion, and one instance is now portrayed in Under the Bridge, based on Rebecca Godfrey’s non-fiction account of the murder of Reena Virk. As Virk goes missing, the show alternates between different perspectives, with Archie Panjabi and Ezra Farouke as Virk’s concerned parents, Chloe Guidry as foster child queen bee Josephine Bell (name replacing that of one of the real perpetrators), and deviating from the real case, Lily Gladstone leading the case as fictional cop Cam Bentland, and Riley Keough as Godfrey herself. With the number of shifts, it does occasionally feel like it loses focus, but the deviations make the introduction feel compelling, especially with the performances of the whole ensemble.

Genre: Crime, Drama

Actor: Aiyana Goodfellow, Anoop Desai, Archie Panjabi, Chloe Guidry, Ella Dixon, Ezra Faroque Khan, Izzy G., Javon Walton, Lily Gladstone, Riley Keough, Vritika Gupta

Director: Geeta Patel

Rating: TV-MA

Child kidnapping is any parent’s nightmare, and it’s the nightmare that drives the events of Spanish crime thriller The Snow Girl. Based on the 2020 novel of the same name, the limited series takes a unique double-pronged approach to the case at hand. The show goes through the regular police investigations we’ve seen previously, but it also comes mainly from the perspective of journalist Miren Rojo, whose previous trauma understandably limits her trust with the authorities. As the show moves the story from New York to Malaga, and switches between perspectives, and timelines, The Snow Girl adeptly maintains the novel’s original suspense, without over sensationalizing the crime at hand.

Genre: Crime, Mystery

Actor: Aixa Villagrán, José Coronado, Loreto Mauleón, Milena Smit, Tristán Ulloa

Rating: TV-MA