What to look forward to on Netflix if you wish to relax at home during this holiday season.
There is an endless streaming of films on crime, food, historical fiction and of course, thriller series on Netflix but we need to pick the best. So our vote definitely goes to Wes Anderson and Mike Flanagan.
Wes Anderson was September, but what the heck. The season of autumn is our month of festivities. So those who follow Anderson will know that this is one hell of an eccentric story teller and when he teams up with Roald Dahl, who first wrote about a number of dysfunctional families, you will get something that is offbeat and enjoyable at the same time.
The shorts by Anderson are ‘The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar’ longish at 39 minutes; ‘The Swan’, ‘The Rat Catcher’, and ‘Poison’ all of which are 17 minutes long,. with an ensemble cast of Ralph Fiennes ( The Grand Budapest Hotel fame); Rupert Friend (Aster- oid City); Benedict Cumber- batch , Dev Patel and Ben Kingsley join the Anderson
gang.
From the quirky, we move on to the dark and gothic.
Mike Flanagan, a favourite with Stephen King and Q. Tarantino, managed to scare the wits out of the couch potatoes with his series on Shirley Jackson’s psychological thriller ‘The Haunting of Hill House’, in 2018 and followed it up in 2020 with ‘The Haunting of Bly Manor’ based on ‘The Turn of the Screw’ by Henry James, though many failed to see the connection between the book and the film.
Flanagan’s next keenly awaited six-part series ‘The Fall of the House of Usher’, is to be premiered on Friday, October 12/13. Edgar Allan Poe has always been a great story teller so there is a great buzz around this one. And closer home, Vishal Bhard- waj’s Khufiya – the espi- onage thriller starring Tabu and Fazal Ali will also be available for those who haven’t seen it yet.
So as we Kolkatans say “jome kheer” this OTT platform promises a delectable rich pudding.