What to Watch on Netflix This Weekend

Trying to decide what to watch when you’re enjoying some downtime can be a difficult task, so Newsweek is here to help make it that little bit easier.

Netflix has an impressive variety of TV shows, movies and documentaries that can help keep you entertained for hours. Sometimes, though, it’s about knowing what to pick.

Here we have compiled some of the best things to watch on the streaming service so you don’t have to think about it.

The Top Show of the Week: ‘Baby Reindeer’

This hit U.K. show has been a runaway success and, so far, has been in Netflix’s top 10 for two weeks.

Writer and performer Richard Gadd stars in the seven-part series based on his real-life experiences of being a victim of stalking, sexual assault and abuse.

Baby Reindeer follows struggling comic Donny Dunn (played by Gadd) as he is persistently tormented and hounded by his stalker, Martha Scott (Jessica Gunning). The show details the emotional toll it takes on Dunn, who has been entangled with Scott for four and a half years. Another core part of the series is that Dunn is manipulated and raped by an older man working in the entertainment industry, played by Tom Goodman-Hill.

Gadd experienced similar things in real life, with the limited series based on Gadd’s hit 2019 Edinburgh Fringe one-man stage-play Baby Reindeer.

At the time of writing, the series had been viewed 13,300,000 times, with 52,800,000 hours viewed.

Catch It Before It Goes: ‘Erin Brockovich’

If you’ve never watched the 2000 film Erin Brockovich—which stars Julia Roberts as the titular character—this is your final chance, as the movie will be leaving Netflix on April 30.

The movie follows Brockovich, a legal assistant in Hinkley, California, who discovers that Pacific Gas and Electric Company has been contaminating groundwater, negatively affecting the health of the town’s residents. With the help of her employer, she initiates a legal case against the company. The film is a dramatization of real-life events, with the real-life Brockovich being an American paralegal, consumer advocate and environmental activist.

Erin Brockovich received five nominations at the 73rd Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Supporting Actor for Albert Finney. Roberts won the award for Best Actress for her role.

What Everyone Will Be Talking About Monday: ‘Unlocked: A Jail Experiment: Season 1’

This unscripted series follows events that transpired at Pulaski County Regional Detention Facility in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Sheriff Eric Higgins let incarcerated men walk about freely in their unit, which is a bold social experiment he put forth in an attempt to give prisoners more agency.

With few deputies keeping an eye on them, the 46 men—many of whom are serving prison sentences for capital chargers—had their cell doors open for weeks at a time. Higgins hopes that by taking this action, the institution will be safer and the men will be able to govern themselves while also feeling empowered.

If You Just Want to Laugh: ‘Girls5Eva’

Saved from Peacock after two seasons, season 3 of this hit comedy is now on Netflix.

It follows the girl group Girls5Eva getting back together—Dawn (Sara Bareilles), Gloria (Paula Pell), Summer (Busy Philipps) and Wickie (Renée Elise Goldsberry)—20 years after they initially split up.

After a song featuring them goes viral, the four women try to turn their careers around and gain respect in the industry. However, this time, they’re also juggling the responsibilities of adulthood.

New to Netflix: ‘King Richard’

This 2021 American biographical sports drama film follows Richard Williams—father of tennis stars Venus Williams and Serena Williams, who both served as executive producers—as he helps them rise to the top.

The film was a great success and earned six nominations at the 94th Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and won Best Actor for Will Smith, who played Richard Williams.

While it was released on November 19, 2021, it will be hitting the streaming service on April 24. At the time of its initial release, King Richard was overshadowed by Smith slapping comedian Chris Rock at the Oscars for joking about his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith.