Conversations with Friends
Frances (Alison Oliver, right) and Bobbi (Sasha Lane, left) have been friends forever.
(Photo: ZDF and Enda Bowe)
What’s the matter: Frances is having an affair with Nick, who is married to Melissa, who in turn is into Bobbi, who is Frances’ best friend and ex-partner. Everyone does art projects and texts a lot.
Secret Star: Dublin. The university, the pubs, the coast, filmed in the most beautiful light.
Not suitable for: moralizer. And everyone who likes it loud and action-packed. Elisa Britzelmeier
In the ZDF Mediathekalong with the other Sally Rooney film Normal People.
The Lost Flower of Alice Hart
Alice (Alycia Debnam-Carey) leaves her grandmother’s farm as an adult.
(Photo: Hugh Stewart)
What’s the matter: The girl Alice loses her parents and from then on lives with her strict grandmother June on a flower farm. As an adult, Alice has to emancipate herself from her problematic family on the one hand and go her own way, and on the other hand deal with that problematic family history. Melodramatic, grueling, but good.
Secret Star: Thornfield Flower Farm, spectacularly situated near the coast of New South Wales, Australia.
Not suitable for: People unable to see domestic violence depictions. Christiane Lutz
Seven episodes, on Prime.
Zoe Lister-Jones in the Paramount+ series Slip.
(Photo: IGN/PARAMOUNT/SKY)
What’s the matter: Depressed thirty-something Mae (Zoe Lister-Jones) discovers she can travel through parallel universes by orgasm. The good news: From now on she has a lot of fun with sex. The bad: She remains unhappy in all realities. To the climax, of course.
Secret Star: The 18-year-old who slows down Mae gone mad on her sexual ego trip.
Not suitable for: Anyone who wants to watch a series with their parents. Or with the kids. Aurelie von Blazekovic
Eight episodes, on Paramount Plus.
Dream team: Ayo Edebiri as Sydney Adam and Jeremy Allen White as Carmy Berzatto.
(Photo: Chuck Hodes/Disney+)
What’s the matter: Star chef Carmy Berzatto wants to turn his late brother’s sandwich shop into a top-notch restaurant in Chicago. There are abysses. On the construction site, in the team, in the family. Everything staged with high pressure, and even better than the first season from last summer.
Secret Star: Jamie Lee Curtis in her guest role as the psychotic matriarch of the Berzatto family.
Not suitable for: Anyone who wants to relax while watching TV. Andrian Kreye
Ten episodes, on Disney+.
pain killer
Scene from “Painkiller”.
(Photo: Netflix)
What’s the matter: a chapter of pure capitalism. An effective pain reliever, Oxicontin, which is being brought to more and more sufferers through a rigorous advertising and distribution structure, Purdue Pharma, bringing billions in profits to the Sackler family. It’s just stupid that the drug is addictive, there are hundreds of thousands of deaths, a drug crisis that the country has created itself. Everything is highly immoral, but perfectly legal. Investigating authorities must find a crime that will bring the Sacklers to justice.
Secret Star: The Purdue Barbies, long-legged and gullible girls who are drilled to get the country’s doctors to prescribe as much oxicontin as possible and who are rewarded with parties and Porsches in return.
Not suitable for: Anyone pondering the origins of addiction and dependency. Fritz Goettler
Six episodes, on Netflix.
Third Season “Only Murders in the Building”
Martin Short looking for a criminal (Steve Martin in the background).
(Photo: Craig Blankenhorn/HULU/HULU)
What’s the matter: The most original podcast trio far and wide plays detective again: Selena Gomez and the two criminally neglected mid-70s Steve Martin and Martin Short have another body falling at their feet. And the game begins again with feints, alibis and motives, because of course, pretty much anyone could be guilty – including Meryl Streep, funny as Loretta, the diva with the chance of a very late career.
Secret Star: Ashley Park could be in Emily in Paris read every wish from the look of the eyes. Here it has all the more to camouflage and deceive.
Not suitable for: Spectators who are annoyed by the theatrical. Milan Pavlovic
Ten episodes, on Disney+.
37 seconds
Clara (Emily Cox) and Leonie (Paula Kober) are inseparable – at least until Clara finds out that Leonie is having an affair with her father Carsten – and accuses him of raping him.
(Photo: Barbara Bauriedl/ARD Degeto/Odeon Fiction)
What’s the matter: The famous singer-songwriter Carsten (Jens Albinus) owes the creativity boost for his comeback album to the secret affair with the talented musician Leonie (Paula Kober), the best friend of his daughter Clara (Emily Cox). The affair is over, but at Carsten’s birthday party he and Leonie have sex, although Leonie says she doesn’t want to. It takes a while before she says the word rape, but Carsten denies it. Then the events explode with painfully slow force family, career and a lot of life lies.
Secret Star: Martin Feifel as Carsten’s manager – who breathlessly searches for cigarettes after jogging, has his small children in tow and unintentionally triggers an escalation.
Not suitable for: People who expect beautiful events from beautiful pictures. This series initially looks like light TV entertainment, a great mistake. Claudia Tieschky
Six episodes, ARD media library.
Star Wars: Ahsoka
Sabine Wren (Natasha Liu Bordizzo) likes to speed down the desert highway on her planet Lothal and is accordingly one of the many “difficult women” in “Star Wars: Ahsoka”.
(Photo: Lucasfilm Ltd.)
What’s the matter: Actually, what “Star Wars” is all about: The evil empire must be defeated. It supposedly is this time, but a couple of diehards want to bring it back to life by rescuing a powerful general from exile. To do this, they need a mysterious star map that Jedi warrior Ahsoka Tano has to wrest from them. To do this, she teams up with her former (because disobedient) Jedi student. The special feature: In this latest series decoupling from the “Star Wars” universe, almost all the main characters are female and there is a strong focus on the magical aspects of the galaxy.
Secret Star: Ex-Jedi student Sabine Wren has a pet alien desert cat that, while not as cute as Baby Yoda, purrs delightfully and warns her owner of attacking droids.
Not suitable for: Anyone who thinks Jedi Knights are arrogant esoterics and would rather watch a down-to-earth roughneck like Han Solo. Kathleen Hildebrand
Eight episodes, Disney+.
You can find more series recommendations here.