We Were the Lucky Ones
Disney+
Kicking off during the beginning of the German invasion of Poland at start of World War II, We Were the Lucky Ones - based on a novel of the same name by Georgia Hunter based on her own family's experiences - tracks the Jewish Kurc family, as its members are spread across the continent.
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Everyone is speaking English with a slight vaguely-Polish accent, but the performances are strong, especially by leads Joey King (The Kissing Booth) and Logan Lerman (Fury) - although their chemistry seems more romantic than familial in the happy opening, before war comes knocking at the door.
There's a strong vein of trying to maintain dignity and pride as outside influences are working to strip their community of these values, and it's heartbreaking.
Hamilton director Thomas Kail executive produces and directs some episodes.
Alice and Jack
Binge
Going off the first episode, British series Alice and Jack seems to be a sort of mix between One Day and Past Lives, but not as good as either.
The romantic drama introduces us to the titular central pairing as they meet for a mate after linking up on an app. Jack (Irish actor Domhnall Gleeson) is a nervous, sensitive medical researcher, while Alice (Oscar nominee Andrea Riseborough), in finance, is forward and brash.
For the viewer, things don't get off to a great start as Alice seems far from a real person, more someone's idea of the Manic Pixie Dream Girl with a tougher exterior - less whimsy, more attitude.
She comes at Jack with an interrogation into his motivations for working to literally cure disease, which rather than giving off a quirky, endearing vibe make her rather immediately unlikeable.
That said, as the first episode progresses it becomes clear that there are some issues in Alice's past that have led to her crafting this persona.
The series will chart the duo's lives over more than a decade, and already a couple of years are covered in the first episode.
While it's not yet obvious what draws these two humans together, and the writing at this stage is less than ideal, the strong performances from the leads - Gleeson in particular, who has never failed to delight on screen and should really be better known - and the general intrigue over where they'll end up should at least encourage viewers to tackle another couple of episodes.
Such Brave Girls
Stan
If you like Big Mood and Totally Completely Fine, you might enjoy Stan's new offbeat comedy with mental illness at its core.
However, Such Brave Girls is far more crude and its characters colder than in either of those other offerings. The six-episode series follows single mum Deb (Louise Brealey, A Discovery of Witches) and her children - who are seemingly late teens or early 20s - Josie (Kat Sadler, also the creator of the show) and Billie (Lizzie Davidson, Sadler's real-life sister).
Josie is clinically depressed, but also seems willfully so, Billie is entirely absorbed in gaining the affection of her ex at any cost, and Deb is just trying to lock down her man Dev (a perpetually shocked-looking Paul Bazely) because she's keen on his big house.
All three of them seem barely in tune with world, enjoying their misfortune and steering well clear of sentimentality.
It's not going to be a comedy for everyone, but the target demographic who enjoy these kind of laughs will find it hilarious.
