Recommendations: Week of 3/17/25
What's on Hulu these days?
Say you’re like me and you’ve decided that Hulu live TV is the best option for you to watch live sports and the BravoVerse. Say, like me, you are a fan of FX's high-quality television. Say, even, that you hold out hope for some sort of mighty streaming alliance that may one day use Hulu as its cornerstone. Should you choose to forsake all other streaming services, could you be content with Hulu alone? Here is what I have been loving over there.
The new pick: Anora
If you watched The Oscars, you know that Anora had its Roman Holiday fantasy moment. In 1954, Audrey Hepburn won her first Best Actress Oscar and the film itself took home most of the top prizes. Mikey Madison, star of Anora, looks a good deal like Audrey and dressed the part at this year’s ceremony. The films are rather different in content, but the register of both is that of the fairy tale. Mikey Madison plays Anora, a young sex worker who falls for and impulsively marries a young client (who is the son of a Russian billionaire, thus, trouble). For a full analysis of the film, I would direct you to Broey Deschanel’s excellent YouTube essay: Why Anora is the Disney Princess We Need. The film is streaming on Hulu today, March 17.
The reality TV pick: Love Island
I’ve written many essays on Love Island because I continue to think it is the best version of the reality dating show concept. Many imitators continue to pop up (looking at you awful American Temptation Island), but nothing can touch the British, Australian, or American versions for drama, pathos, and brain-soothing silliness. Although some seasons of this show stream on other networks, Hulu is where I first encountered the show (during the pandemic it was the perfect watch).
The International Pick: A Thousand Blows
From the man behind Peaky Blinders comes another cracking show set in the grime of a 19th-century English city. A Thousand Blows follows a gang of lady thieves and their leader, Mary Carr. She intersects with several strange and fascinating characters on her quest to not only survive but thrive in Victorian London including two boxers who recently arrived from Jamaica (who have come to London to become… lion tamers). The series is a riotous good time; you feel at all times like you are in the hands of a professional.
The thing you might have missed: Cardinal
Cardinal is a Canadian crime drama based on the crime novels of Giles Blunt. The series follows detectives John Cardinal and Lise Delorme as they investigate unsettling crimes in the fictional town of Algonquin Bay, Northern Ontario. John is, predictably, carrying a lot of trauma and grief around with him as a detective, and the kinds of cases he focuses on allow him to work through and understand his feelings. Lise is his match in every way and their personal tension provides a familiar but still welcome counterpoint to their professional partnership. This is a setup you are all well familiar with; we have seen many countries give us many versions of the brooding crime noir staffed by will-they-won’t they detectives. But this is a serious show that takes crime seriously, unpacks it slowly, and cares deeply about its resolution. It is one of the finest examples of a fine genre.