Five things to watch this weekend
Moving narratives, a psychological thriller and tributes to novelist Amy Tan and legend Elvis Presley — what to stream this weekend
The Underground Railroad — Amazon Prime Video
Barry Jenkins’ 10-hour series is not so much an adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize winning novel as a reinvigoration that expands on its source material to offer a not always easy to watch but necessary and nuanced portrait of life under slavery in the US. Filled with breathtaking beauty and brutal, gut-wrenching moments of violence and savagery, it’s all held together by a compelling performance from SA actress Thuso Mbedu, who plays runaway slave Cora, whose journey on a literally underground railroad opens her eyes to the real US beyond the borders of the plantation she was born on. Ambitious, provocative and urgent, it’s perhaps the most complex and sophisticated portrait of all the complexities of life under slavery yet realised on screen...
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