A House of Dynamite (Netflix/theatre) – I’ve heard some criticisms about the structure of Kathryn Bigelow’s real-time nuclear-missile-attack docudrama, namely that it’s too repetitive (it covers the same 18-or-so minutes from three different overlapping POVs), its conclusion is lacking, and there’s not enough Rebecca Ferguson and Idris Elba. While I grant the latter point, for, it is true, you cannever have too much Rebecca Ferguson (I can think of no more captivating screen presence than hers), I disagree on the former two, as I was riveted from beginning to end and thought the finale was perfect.

Materialists (VOD) – Marketed (to the chagrin of many) as a traditional rom-com, writer/director Celine Song ‘s smart, well-written film about a jaded/clinically practical matchmaker (the always compelling Dakota Johnson) who’s sort of trying to decide between two very different love interests (an uber-wealthy businessman, played by Pedro Pascal, and a barely-scraping-by actor, played by Chris Evans, with whom she was previously involved) somehow both subverts and upholds all the standard rom-com conventions.

English Teacher (FX/Disney+) – Amazingly, the second season of this terrific comedy series seemed to up its already super high joke-to-non-joke ratio. We’re talking an almost ZAZ-level number of laughs and gags delivered per minute. Pretty much every line and beat involves someone doing something genuinely funny, which, to me, is quite a feat.

The Invisible Life of Addie Larue – V. E. Schwab’s wonderful fantasy novel is about an 18th-century girl in rural France who decides she doesn’t want to be married off so she makes a deal for her soul with a malevolent spirit to live forever. The catch being, nobody will ever remember her.