5 (really, really good) Things I've Watched Already this Year

Plus 2 brilliant books to read, in my shoegal era and getting glasses.

If January isn’t for getting square eyes, when is I ask you. With awards season in full swing, there’s no end of great new shows and movies landing and unless you’re a psychopath, very few other plans in the diary. Watching copious amounts of TV and movies is just one of many reasons I actually like January (it’s also my birthday month which probs helps) so without further ado, these are some favourites this month so far (very excited for True Detective, The Expats and the final season of Curb Your Enthusiasm). I will concede that you might require some light viewing after some of this lot… not necessarily all the sunniest of watches! Oh and goes without saying, I am also knee-deep in The Traitors.

First up, Molly Manning Walker’s directorial debut How to Have Sex has been on my watchlist ever since I saw the trailer for it last Autumn. I’m a sucker for a gritty coming-of age drama and the grittiness of this one kind of sneaks up on you. It follows three British teenage girls on that rite-of-passage Euro summer trip that revolves around drinking, clubbing, hook-ups and not much else. However this isn’t a remake of The Inbetweeners movie, instead it’s a sobering look at consent and peer pressure. I feel like anyone who has ever been a teenager will be able to relate to that sinking fear that bubbles up when conversation turns to virginity and sexual experience or the intense discomfort of finding yourself in situations you don’t want to be in but feel like you have to be ‘cool with it’. Honestly, this really tugged at my heart. Mia McKenna-Bruce who plays the main character Tara is a total superstar, she’s one of those actors who says so much in her silences and I feel like we’re going to see lots more of her in the future.

Where to start with La Sociedad de la Nieve (The Society of Snow)… It’s the first Spanish-speaking feature-length film based on the infamous survival story of a team of Uruguyan rugby players after a devastating plane crash in the Andes in 1972. The true story became even more infamous when it came to light that survivors of the crash (who lasted 72 days in the freezing temperatures with barely any food or water) had eaten deceased fellow passengers in order to survive. While the thought and act is of course gruesome, the movie handles it incredibly sensitively and reveals how there’s so much more than cannibalism to this barely comprehensible story of brotherhood, determination and the human instinct to live. That’s not to say it’s not truly harrowing because it is, unforgettably so; the crash alone is visceral yet alone what came after. The fact so many of the real-life survivors have come out and said the movie actually really shows what it had been like and how hellish it was says so much I think.

I LOVED Mr Bates vs The Post Office on ITV. The title is decidedly unsexy, which perhaps goes some way in explaining why this true story of one of the biggest miscarriages of justice in the U.K has largely gone unnoticed for two decades, but it’s a total knockout. You will be so, so angry watching this tale of systemic cover-ups, corruption and corporate arrogance which results in hundreds of sub-post masters (people running post office branches around the U.K) having their lives devastated as a result. Highly recommend watching the hour-long doucmentary on ITV afterwards, narrated by the drama’s lead Toby Jones, for even more insight into the real-life heroes of this story. Tragic and fury-inducing yes, but also a testament to the human spirit of determination and patience as demonstrated by the dry, stoic Alan Bates, who’s never waivered in his calm, pragmatic fight for justice. Be more Alan should be all of our mantras!