Every month, all the major streaming services add a host of newly acquired (or just plain new) shows, movies, and documentaries into their ever-rotating libraries. So what's a dedicated reader to watch? Well, whatever you want, of course, but the name of this website is Literary Hub, so we sort of have an angle. To that end, here's a selection of the best (and most enjoyably bad) literary film and TV coming to streaming services this month. Have fun.
NEW:
Ripley
Netflix, April 4
Literary bona fides: based on Patricia Highsmith's Tom Ripley novels
Usually, once there's a perfect adaptation of a novel, there's really no reason to retread. But you can never have enough Tom Ripley. Netflix's new series stars Andrew Scott as Tom Ripley, Johnny Flynn as Dickie Greenleaf, and Dakota Fanning as Marge Sherwood, and was written and directed by Oscar winner Steven Zaillian. Will the monochrome pay off? Will Andrew Scott continue to take over my brain? Only time will tell.
The Zone of Interest (streaming premiere)
Max, April 5
Literary bona fides: based on The Zone of Interest by Martin Amis (2014)
A24's latest Oscar-winning film (for Best International Feature and Best Sound) is a terrifying, difficult film about an Auschwitz commandant, Rudolf Höss, and his wife, who live with their family just on the other side of the wall from the concentration camp. Steven Spielberg called it the best Holocaust movie since Schindler's List. It is a film about people accepting the banality of evil, which makes it topical in addition to being historical, and its director Jonathan Glazer used his Oscar acceptance speech to highlight just that—another reason to watch.
Franklin
Apple TV+, April 12
Literary bona fides: based on A Great Improvisation: Franklin, France, and the Birth of America by Stacy Schiff (2005)
Michael Douglas's Michael Douglas vehicle Franklin stars Michael Douglas as an apparently irreverent Ben Franklin—who heads across the ocean on a secret mission to try to convince the French to lend their guns and men to the cause of nascent America. Threats, negotiations, and wigs abound.
The Sympathizer
Max, April 14
Literary bona fides: based on Viet Thanh Nguyen's The Sympathizer (2016)
I have sky-high hopes for this series adaptation of Nguyen's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, created by Park Chan-wook (Oldboy, The Handmaiden) and Don McKellar (The Red Violin, Blindness). Hoa Xuande stars as the Captain, along with Robert Downey Jr., as the "many faces of Western imperialism." Add Sandra Oh, and I'm beyond sold.
Under the Bridge
Hulu, April 17
Literary bona fides: based on Rebecca Godfrey's Under the Bridge (2005)
Brand new Lily Gladstone superfans take heart: the Oscar-nominated actress stars in this adaptation of the late Godfrey's true crime account of the murder of 14-year-old Reena Virk in her hometown of Victoria, British Columbia. Gladstone plays a police officer investigating the murder, while Riley Keough costars as Godfrey herself in what is sure to be a terrifying portrayal of violence and young girlhood.
The Grimm Variations
Netflix, April 17
Literary bona fides: based on the classic tales published by the Brothers Grimm
The latest fairy tale remix is an anime take on six classic stories ("Cinderella," "Little Red Riding Hood," "Hansel and Gretel," "The Elves and the Shoemaker," "The Town Musicians of Bremen," and "Pied Paper of Hamelin")—as imagined by the Brothers Grimm's little sister, Charlotte, who "sees the stories quite differently from her brothers." Read: they were already darker than the sanitized Disney versions, but they're about to get darker. With character concepts by CLAMP, a screenplay by Michiko Yokote, music by Akira Miyagawa, and animation by WIT Studio.
THROWBACK:
Rosemary's Baby (1968)
Prime Video, April 1
Literary bona fides: based on Rosemary's Baby by Ira Levin (1967)
A classic horror film based on an equally classic horror novel (the best-selling horror novel of the 1960s), both of them verging on perfect.
You've Got Mail (1998)
Netflix, April 1
Literary bona fides: Nora Ephron's romantic comedy about bookstore owners and AOL
You've Got Mail may or may not be a terrible film, and this may or may not depend on when you first come to it. But either way, those looking for 90s escapism will not be disappointed.
The Social Network (2010)
Max, April 1
Literary bona fides: based on The Accidental Billionaires by Ben Mezrich (2009)
From You've Got Mail to The Social Network...and who knew it was only yet another brief stop on the track that has lead us here (wherever here is)? Pretty good movie, though.
The Meg (2018)
Hulu, April 23
Literary bona fides: based on Meg: A Novel of Deep Terror by Steve Alten (1997)
That's right, The Meg is a literary movie. Technically. I will now proceed to enjoy the craggy dramatic stylings (and hot bald head) of Jason Statham while feeling superior about it...though to be fair, I don't really need any particular excuse to do to this.
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