What to Stream and Watch While in Quarantine

FilmTelevision

Apr 3

Stuck Inside Because of Coronavirus? Here’s What to Watch...

As we practice social distancing and quarantine during this new age of COVID-19, there’s only so much to do when stuck at home. Luckily, for all the cinephiles and TV buffs out there protecting themselves from coronavirus, we have our streaming services to keep us company. Today, at Strange Harbors, I’ll be recommending some of my personal favorites across all platforms that you can stream while self-isolating. There are already plenty of lists out there recommending the new season of Westworld, or timely picks such as Outbreak and Contagion, so this will be a list of film and television that just might have flown under your radar. Without further ado, here’s the official Strange Harbors quarantine streaming guide…

TELEVISION

The Plot Against America (HBO) While everyone is obsessing over the new season of Westworld, I’m going to be completely absorbed by David Simon and Ed Burns’ The Plot Against America. In this gripping alternate history yarn, aviator and known Nazi sympathizer Charles Lindbergh (Ben Cole) unseats Franklin Delano Roosevelt in the 1940 election, forever changing the course of American history. Centered around a Jewish-American family as they grapple with the growing tide of antisemitism in a new fascist-leaning United States, The Plot Against America is a frightening parallel to real life and a powerfully important miniseries that shouldn’t be missed. Streaming on HBO GO

Devs (Hulu) If you’re looking for a fix of heady sci-fi that will completely recontextualize your place in the universe, look no further than Alex Garland’s Devs, part of FX Networks’ new platform on Hulu. Garland, a writer and director known for mixing macro science fiction with intimate explorations of the human condition, brings his talent for groundbreaking and twisty narratives to serialized television. As a followup to 2014’s Ex Machina and 2018’s Annihilation, Devs continues the filmmaker’s win streak, telling the story of Lily Chan (Sonoya Mizuno), a Bay Area programmer roped into a web of murder, conspiracy, and reality-shattering quantum mechanics when her boyfriend goes missing. With great performances from a stacked cast (Nick Offerman, Allison Pill, and Zach Grenier), a palpably sinister atmosphere, and impeccable production design, Devs is a sci-fi puzzle box worth the time to decipher. Read my review of the show here. Streaming on Hulu

The Leftovers (HBO) While arguably the greatest television series of the last decade, The Leftovers’ low profile often took a backseat to other prestige television of its time, namely the likes of shows such as Breaking Bad and Game of Thrones. A fascinating examination of a world where 2% of the Earth’s population vanishes without rhyme or reason, The Leftovers seeks to explore the nature of grief and the struggle to find purpose after tragedy. Sprawling, often baffling, and supremely confident, The Leftovers is one of the weirdest shows you'll ever see, and also one of the best - from its transcendently grim first season to its sublime finale, it fires on all cylinders of narrative perfection. Damon Lindelof’s second try at a television show teaches us to discard the what, where, how, and why, and instead delve into the who. In the now-famous words of Iris DeMent: just let the mystery be. Streaming on HBO GO

Banshee (Amazon Prime) Cinemax has long been the butt of “Skinemax” jokes poking fun at its penchant for gratuitous violence and late night erotica, but lately, the HBO-owned brand has re-cultivated its image by churning out incredibly entertaining action pulp. With bingeworthy series such Warrior, Jett, and Strikeback, Cinemax has made a name for itself in the arena of edgy and disposable fun. The best of this bunch is undoubtedly Banshee, a 2013 series created by TV veterans Jonathan Tropper and David Schickler. After a lethal mishap at a bar, an unnamed master thief (Antony Starr) steals the identity of a local sheriff and moves into the small Amish town of Banshee, Pennsylvania. There, he tangles with neo-Nazis, an ex-Amish crime lord, and the local Native American gang, all the while maintaining his cover as the town’s law enforcement. Banshee’s central conceit might not be a high-concept mind-blower, but it quickly cements itself as one of the best TV actioners of all time. Brutal, clever, and astonishingly well-produced and choreographed, Banshee is unforgettable fun. Streaming on Amazon Prime

Marianne (Netflix) While The Haunting of Hill House was parading around with all of its accolades as Netflix’s first horror hit, another terrifying series flew under the radar, operating as the streaming platform’s genre dark horse. A French import, Samuel Bodin’s Marianne just might be the scariest thing on Netflix. Centered around a famed horror novelist (Victoria Du Bois) who discovers that the evil entity she writes about in her stories may have roots in the real world, Marianne is dark, unsettling, and chock full of nightmare-inducing imagery. And while the series doesn’t shy away from its darkness, it also has plenty of heart - underneath its jump scares is tender exploration of friendship, adulthood, and why you can never go home again. Streaming on Netflix

The Good Wife (Amazon Prime) The Good Wife is a show that I ignored for years, and one that I mostly dismissed as a fluffy network procedural. And while it does share some DNA with its soapy primetime cohorts, Robert and Michelle King’s legal drama is something much, much more than the sum of its parts. The series follows Alicia Florrick (Julianna Margulies), the beleaguered wife of Cook County State’s Attorney Peter Florrick (Chris Noth), who returns to her law career when a sex and corruption scandal disgraces her husband. On its surface, The Good Wife has all the ingredients of a courtroom drama with a side of sleaze, but in reality, its sharp legal mind puts it in the company of the all time greats. With its whip-smart writing, complex characters, and utter refusal to take obvious paths, The Good Wife goes above and beyond its calling to deliver one of the best serialized dramas of the last decade. Streaming on Amazon Prime

FILM

Shin Godzilla (Internet Archive) If you’re looking to wash the bland taste of 2019’s Godzilla: King of the Monsters out of your mouth, then look no further than Toho Pictures’ 2016 revival, Shin Godzilla. In addition to getting your kaiju kicks in, Shin Godzilla is a refreshingly low-fi take on the classic monster, disguising a timely and relevant examination of bureaucracy during crisis. More dialogue-heavy than you would think, Shin Godzilla is a frantic mashup of boardroom oneupmanship and giant monster action, and an awesome collision of politics and large-scale destruction. Streaming on Archive.org

Daniel Isn’t Real (Shudder) Like a hidden gem buried in a pile at your local video rental store, Daniel Isn’t Real is low-budget fun wrapped up in a stylish, indie package. A clever mix of horror and psychological thriller, director Adam Egypt Mortimer’s sophomore feature-length film follows Luke (Miles Robbins), a college freshman who unwittingly unleashes his childhood imaginary friend (Patrick Schwarzenegger) to cope with a violent family trauma. And while the film’s unfocused nature occasionally gets lost somewhere between Fight Club and Hellraiser, its taut pacing and great character work elevate the narrative above standard horror fare. Streaming on Shudder

Spring (Shudder) Directors Aaron Moorhead and Justin Benson are probably best known for the mind-bending sci-fi diptych of Resolution and The Endless, but their under-the-radar film from 2014, Spring, is also well worth checking out. If you like your love stories with a dash of body horror and Lovecraf, then Spring should be right up your alley. The film follows Evan (Lou Taylor Pucci), a young American who travels to Italy and falls in love with a mysterious woman named Louise (Nadia Hilker) - but little does he know, Louise is harboring a dangerous and primordial secret. A curious paradox, Spring is simultaneously sweet, moving, and terrifying: a monster-tinged romance that defies genre and expectation. Streaming on Shudder

Coherence (Amazon Prime) Welcome to the dinner party from hell. An otherwise ordinary get-together of a group of old friends takes a sinister turn when a passing comet and its strange properties throw everything into chaos. Coherence, the feature debut of director James Ward Byrkit, is a film best experienced without any foreknowledge. A sci-fi funhouse mirror full of unpredictable twists and turns, the film coasts by on the charms of its fantastic cast, along with its mostly-improvised dialogue. With its shoestring budget, Coherence is a perplexingly grounded mystery worth untangling, and undeniable proof that a lot can be done with a little.