Two-time Oscar winner Mahershala Ali stars in Apple’s Black Mirror-like allegory Swan Song. Netflix’s buzzy The Witcher returns for a second season. Turner Classic Movies presents several of the cinema masterpieces recently chosen for induction into the National Film Registry. Will Ferrell confronts Paul Rudd in the finale of The Shrink Next Door, and basketball drama Swagger wraps its first season.
Swan Song
With echoes of Black Mirror and The Twilight Zone in its DNA, this compelling speculative sci-fi drama stars two-time Oscar winner Mahershala Ali as Cameron, who’s facing a terminal illness, and as his letter-perfect clone Jack, designed to make a “clean swap” to ensure life goes on without a hitch for Cameron’s loving family. Glenn Close co-stars as the determined doctor engineering this emotionally fraught charade, which troubles Cameron the closer he comes to his own mortality.
NETFLIX
The Witcher
Henry Cavill returns for a second season as monster-hunter-for-hire Geralt of Rivia in this buzzworthy fantasy series. Taking Princess Cirilla (Freya Allen) under his mighty wing as duty insists, they embark on a journey to his childhood home of Kaer Morhen, where more adventures await.
EVERETT
Sounder
Earlier this week, the Library of Congress announced 25 more enduring cinema classics to be inducted into the Library’s National Film Registry. As is its annual tradition, TCM spotlights several of the movies in a prime-time marathon, with host Jacqueline Stewart joined by Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden to introduce the first three films: 1972’s Sounder, starring Cicely Tyson and Paul Winfield as Black sharecroppers; 1979’s Chicana (10/9c), a 22-minute collage of images, documentary footage and testimonies that shed light on women’s underappreciated role in Mexican and Mexican-American history; and Alfred Hitchcock’s 1951 suspense thriller Strangers on a Train (10:30/9:30c), starring Robert Walker and Farley Granger as the title characters caught in a twisted murder pact. The overnight highlight: 1962’s Hollywood Gothic masterpiece What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (2:15 am/1:15c), with Bette Davis at her peak as she torments Joan Crawford.
Apple TV+
The Shrink Next Door
All it took was a dead koi for Marty (Will Ferrell) to begin to recognize the extent of damage the manipulative Dr. Ike (Paul Rudd) has wreaked on his life. In the satisfying finale to the offbeat fact-based dramedy, Marty begins the painful process of making amends to the family he abandoned for Ike, including his resentful but soon-to-be-sympathetic sister Phyllis (Kathryn Hahn). As for Ike, who considers Marty his greatest success, the comeuppance is just beginning.
More streaming highlights:
- Swagger (streaming on Apple TV+): In the Season 1 finale of the youth basketball drama, star player Jace (Isaiah Hill) considers ignoring his injury and doctor’s orders, risking his health to play for the team.
- With Love (streaming on Prime Video): A five-episode romantic comedy created by One Day at a Time’s Gloria Calderon Kellett stars Emeraude Toubia and Ugly Betty’s Mark Indelicato as siblings Lily and Jorge Diaz. The series tracks their romantic ups and downs with each episode set during a different holiday over the course of a year.
- Mother/Android (streaming on Hulu): Chloë Grace Moretz stars in a propulsive sci-fi thriller set during a war between humans and Artificial Intelligence. She’s Georgia, a very expectant mom-to-be desperately seeking a safe haven to give birth, even if it means she and boyfriend Sam (Algee Smith) must cross a No Man’s Land held by the rebellious androids.
- Spook (streaming on Tubi): Meshaun Labrone stars and directs in this filmed version of his disturbing one-man play about Daryl “Spook” Spokane, a police officer on death row for killing five fellow cops. His final testimony is an indictment of institutional racism and a reflection of the psychological strain on Black officers policing Black civilians.
Inside Friday TV:
- Mistletoe in Montana (8/7c, Lifetime): In a world far removed from Yellowstone, Melissa Joan Hart stars as the owner of Paradise Ranch, where a single dad (Duane Henry) brings his two kids for a Christmas-week stay—and some potential romance.
- Rolling Like Thunder (8/7c, Showtime): The latest film in Showtime’s ongoing celebration of hip-hop charts the fascinating history of train and graffiti culture through its most competitive, romantic and mythic legends.
- The Greatest #AtHome Videos (8/7c, CBS): CBS revives the uplifting video series with back-to-back episodes, as host Cedric the Entertainer welcomes guests Daniela Ruah (NCIS: Los Angeles) and black-ish star Anthony Anderson, with appearances by Paula Abdul on TikTok and Shaquille O’Neal on Zoom.
- 20/20 (9/8c, ABC): Correspondent Bob Woodruff reports on the deadly 2019 crashes of the Boeing 737 MAX-8 airplane that led to the aircraft being temporarily grounded. Woodruff interviews celebrated pilot “Sully” Sullenberger, family members of victims on the flights and investigates what Boeing knew about the plane’s flawed flight control systems and when.
- Dateline NBC (10/9c, NBC): Dateline is on more familiar true-crime ground with Josh Mankiewicz’ report on the case of two young women shot on a Texas beach. When one survives, her determination to find the shooter may have led to a wrongful conviction.
- Chillin’ Island (10:30/9:30c, HBO): A bizarre reality series drops rap Internet radio stars Alec “Despot” Reinstein, Ashok “Dap” Kondabolu and Aleksey “Lakutis” Weintraub into exotic locations including swamps and deserts, where they commune with nature and ponder life’s mysteries with famous friends including (in the opener) Young Thug.