What to stream this week: Five TV shows and a movie to add to your list

This week’s streaming picks include a bare-knuckle and bloody update of the Victorian saga from the creator of Peaky Blinders, a ramshackle romantic-action-horror hybrid starring Anya Taylor-Joy, and a dependable Swedish crime thriller.

A Thousand Blows (Disney+) ★★★½

Stephen Graham stars in A Thousand Blows, which is about illegal boxing in 1880s Victorian London.

A bare-knuckled adventure – in story and tone – through the very mean streets of late 19th century London’s East End, A Thousand Blows is a swaggering, bloody update of the Victorian saga. There are hopeful newcomers, audacious heists, ominous threats and low blows of all kinds. Given that they share a creator in Steven Knight, the show will draw comparisons to his resurgent hit Peaky Blinders, but beneath the grime there’s more of a traditional hopeful streak here, whether it applies to getting ahead or finding redemption.

Fresh off the boat from colonial Jamaica, best friends Hezekiah Moscow (Malachi Kirby) and Alec Munroe (Francis Lovehall) soon figure out the bustling then-capital of the world: “If you don’t have it, you take it,” the former declares. They can’t find a place to stay until a Chinese lodging house manager, Lao (Jason Tobin), sneaks them into his cellar, but bare-knuckle boxing gets them a foot in the door, plus sundry bites and headbutts; the rule book is slim.

Erin Doherty plays Mary Carr, who commands her own gang of thieves, in A Thousand Blows.

It also attracts the attention of both Henry “Sugar” Goodson (Stephen Graham), the East End’s reigning but ageing bare-knuckle champ, and Mary Carr (Erin Doherty), a survivor of the slum’s workhouses who now commands a gang of female thieves, the 40 Elephants. He’s a traditionalist, averse to donning gloves for the toffs in the West End, but she has ambitions, including a robbery with life-changing stakes that requires Hezekiah. It’s a love triangle, powered by Sugar’s unrequited and soon vengeful love for Mary.

With the difference in production budgets between Disney and, say, the BBC readily apparent, the expansive backdrops encourage the leads to give pungent, full-throated performances.

Graham gets his Raging Bull on, while Doherty, a long way from Princess Anne in The Crown, is a ruthless advocate for (criminal) equality, and Kirby reveals how the city leaches innocence away.

Yes, a drunken suitor gets pancaked by a carriage (it doesn’t stop), but A Thousand Blows leans more towards training montages than existential contemplation.

Hezekiah Moscow (Malachi Kirby) and Alec Munroe (Francis Lovehall) soon figure out bustling London in A Thousand Blows. Credit: Robert Viglasky

Knight salts the plotting with all kinds of historical detail, from bootleg booze recipes to the 19th-century version of ram-raiding a fancy department story – there’s even a tailor with revolutionary beliefs straight out of Joseph Conrad’s The Secret Agent. He thankfully takes the six episodes of the first season – the second was shot simultaneously – beyond the point you expect, adding unexpected ramifications. The show works best as stories intertwining and gaining momentum. It doesn’t resonate, but it lands plenty of punches.

The Gorge (Apple TV+) ★★

Miles Teller and Anya Taylor-Joy in the sci-fi romantic thriller The Gorge.

Rear Window, Sleepless in Seattle, Pan’s Labyrinth and Aliens are all exceptional movies. So what would happen if you tried to segment them and mash them together? The answer is The Gorge, a ramshackle romantic-horror-action hybrid where the most gruesome creation on offer may be the screenplay struggling to hide the lack of chemistry between stars Anya Taylor-Joy (The Queen’s Gambit) and Miles Teller (Top Gun: Maverick).

The two play elite snipers Drasa and Levi – she’s Lithuanian, melancholic, Goth-adjacent; he’s American, supposedly traumatised – who meet across a mysterious valley they are assigned to watch over from opposite sides. Something is hiding below, trying to get out, and I’m not referring to Teller’s emotions. Spending a year alone, armed to the teeth, they break the rules about not communicating.

Their meet-cute has gunplay and Hollywood star 101 moves: a leather-clad Taylor-Joy dances, Teller and his abs take a shower.

Sigourney Weaver pops up in The Gorge.

The Gorge was directed by Scott Derrickson (Doctor Strange, The Black Phone), who does a better job with the otherworldly but derivative action scenes than the love-at-the-end-of-the-world attraction.

Lines such as, “You bury enough secrets the graveyard runs out of room,” land with an embarrassing thud, while convenient explanations and unintentionally funny twists propel the movie along. It’s brisk and banal – too much making too little.

The Are Murders (Netflix)

Kardo Razzazi (left) and Carla Sehn in Swedish crime thriller The Are Murders. 

While it doesn’t reach the heights of another recent Swedish crime series from Netflix, the mournful, more complex The Breakthrough, this latest release does add to Netflix’s roster of dependable Scandi noir thrillers. Adapted from Viveca Sten’s crime novel, it stars Carla Sehn as Hanna, a Stockholm police detective whose holiday in the ski resort of Are is diverted by the disappearance of a local girl, putting her in a temporary partnership with Kardo Razzazi’s local investigator, Daniel. It’s a blood and snow procedural, squeezed into five episodes.

Jeff Hiers of the US Marine Corps in Vietnam: The War That Changed America.

Vietnam: The War that Changed America (Apple TV+)

Narrated by Ethan Hawke, this series does its best to distinguish itself from the many previous documentaries that have covered the bitter upheaval and destruction wrought by the lengthy conflict in Vietnam. There are nods to the North Vietnamese combatants, while the focus on America’s participation is focused on deeply told individual stories both then and now.

Vietnam was referred to as the first “television war”, so it’s not surprising the selection of archival material is immersive. However, the use of era-specific music is beyond predictable. They’re a cliche the six-part series could do without.

Clean Slate (Amazon Prime Video)

Laverne Cox as Desiree in the comedy Clean Slate.

This half-hour comedy has a genuine love for its character, their failings, and the small Alabama town they inhabit. It’s determined to be cosy and reassuring in telling the story of Desiree (Lavern Cox, Orange is the New Black), a black trans woman who returns home after 23 years to reunite with a widowed father, Harry (George Wallace), who is expecting his son to arrive. The culture clash that ensues is caring instead of confrontational – both generations want to be together. The local church, however, allows for a little more spiciness.

Never Too Small: Convict Cottage (Shelter)

The tiny house featured in the documentary Convict Cottage.

Anyone with an interest in compressed homes and design solutions will appreciate this pocket-sized documentary about the makeover of this 19th-century cottage in inner-city Sydney.

Built in 1849 by the convicts from Darlinghurst Jail to house their warden, the space – all of 59 square metres – has been rejuvenated by owner and designer Sam Eggleton, who has maximised storage and amenities at every turn while retaining a welcoming open flow. It’s a great lesson in balance and cohesion: both downstairs and in the upstairs bedroom there’s a seamless continuity.

Find out the next TV, streaming series and movies to add to your must-sees. Get The Watchlist delivered every Thursday.