mid-day's OTT recommendations: Five movies and shows that you can binge-watch

Content creators are getting bold, edgy, and telling tales that take me by surprise. At this rate, I don’t see myself returning to theatres to watch average outings unless it makes me sit up and take notice. Without building much suspense, here’s mid-day’s latest OTT recommendations

I have cried buckets, nervously bitten all my nails, and had some great revelations over this month’s OTT content. Content creators are getting bold, edgy, and telling tales that take me by surprise. There could be some that you’ve previously watched, but these were all new on my list. At this rate, I don’t see myself returning to theatres to watch average outings unless it makes me sit up and take notice. Without building much suspense, here’s mid-day’s latest OTT recommendations.

Control Z – Netflix

If you believe that you are the only one with secrets, then think again. No matter how one appears, everyone has something to hide, and if those secrets are exposed, facing the world again can be scary and nerve-wracking. On the periphery, this Mexican teen drama featuring Sofia (Ana Valeria Becerril) seems like an interesting whodunit, but the show is so much more than an average thriller. Everyone thinks Sofia is a ‘freak’, who had a mental breakdown after her father’s suicide, but little do they know that she is watching their every move. Somewhere between 'Sherlock' and '13 Reasons Why', 'Control Z' stands on its own, inviting you to stream it at one go.

Paava Kadhaigal – Netflix

Love knows no religion, gender, or caste. Over the years, we’ve come to believe it, but the progress is quite slow, especially when you hear stories of honour killing in rural areas and some masked as accidents in the city. This Tamil anthology comprising four intense, blood-chilling, and gripping stories will instil in you that sometimes even your own family behaves likes a catalyst toward imperative doom. Although it shouldn’t have any place in the 21st century, love-jihad is a prime example that it still exists in the present day. Featuring Prakash Raj, Kalki Koechlin, Kalidas Jayaram, Shanthnu Bhagyaraj, Gautham Vasudev Menon, Sai Pallavi, Anjali, Simran, and Adithya Bhaskar, this series will keep you reaching out for tissues, make you squirm, and at times pity the patriarchal society.

Untold Caitlyn Jenner – Netflix

The first I heard of Bruce Jenner now Caitlyn Marie Jenner—as she reintroduced herself to the world—was through the popular reality drama series 'Keeping Up with the Kardashians'. For ages, many have wondered what Bruce’s real contribution to the reality TV stars’ lives was, besides playing the father figure. This one-hour documentary narrated by Caitlyn gives you a brief peek into her struggles as an Olympian decathlete in 1976 and the gender dysphoria that plagues her all her life. While there is so much of her life that she skipped on, the film reflects on the internal conflicts of a celebrity fighting her inner demons to accept herself in a society that scrutinises her every move. Heartfelt, emotional, and reflective, 'Untold Caitlyn Jenner' is a documentary that throws light on the internal struggle of Caitlyn when she was Bruce and how she finally emerged into her true self at the age of 66.

Extraordinary You – Netflix

Imagine this, you have lived almost 17 years of your life believing that the world is yours, the choices you make are your decisions and so are the outcomes, and then one day you are told that you are merely a puppet in a comic book. Now, that’s a reality quite difficult to fathom. This 2019 Korean drama is a love story of a girl who realises that she is a side character in the life of two protagonists in a comic book and the purpose of her existence is purely to bring together the lead couple. Out to change her fate and be the star of her own story, Eun Dan-oh (Kim Hye-yoon) tries every possible route to change the storyline. Will she succeed, and if she does, how will it change the story of the protagonists? The concept had me intrigued and glued to the screen. Despite the 53-minute long 16 episodes may seem a tad too much, but it makes for a fun, breezy watch, all the while poking fun at the classic tropes in a typical romantic film.

Netrikann – Disney+ Hotstar

This Nayanthara offering is the remake of the South Korean film 'Blind'. It revolves around an ex-CBI officer, who loses her eyesight but still manages to help capture a rapist. While the film has some obvious loopholes and Ajmal Ameer’s portrayal of a psychotic, BDSM loving gynaecologist doesn’t seem credible enough, the film has plenty of nail-biting twists. Nayanthara shoulders the movie with aplomb and delivers a brilliant performance, but a tighter script would have given it more merit. Having said that, it is still in my recommendations because it is worth a one-time watch for its intense storytelling and Nayanthara, K. Manikandan, and Sharan Shakthi’s performance. Of course, the list is meaningless without mentioning the four-legged Scooby, who sacrifices his life for the protagonist.

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