1. Frances Ha
Written by and starring Greta Gerwig, Frances Ha tells a story of a young dancer living in Brooklyn. Although the premise seems cliché and overdone, Frances Ha is an authentic refreshing film about friendship, love and live in your 20’s.
2. Happy Valley
Happy Valley is a fantastic British crime drama that follows Police Sergeant Catherine Cawood, 8 years after her daughter’s suicide. Catherine is left to take care of her grandson, in addition to dealing with the rise in drug trafficking and violent crime in her district.
3. Ted Bundy Tapes
This is a 4-part series that takes an in-depth look into one of America’s most notorious serial killers. It is a solemn and graphic series that does not dramatize or romanticise his crimes, and provides an interesting insight into the difficult process of catching a killer in the 1970’s.
4. Workin’ Moms
Workin Moms is a comedy series that features the lives of multiple mothers who all attend the same “mommy and me” class. Each character faces their own unique set of problems while trying to maintain their professional and personal lives. It also happens to be a Canadian made show that features many Toronto landmarks.
5. Ali Wong Baby Cobra (2016) & Ali Wong Hard Knock Wife
In both specials, Comedian Ali Wong does an amazing job of combining raunchy and relatable jokes that touch upon topics such as marriage, stereotypes, pregnancy, and sex. In fact, Ali is 7 ½ months pregnant during her Baby Cobra special, and hilariously discusses the difference between male and female comics when they have children.
6. Wynonna Earp
Another great show to come out of Canada is Wynonna Earp; a supernatural Western horror series that follows 27-year old Wynonna, who is a gun slinging, whiskey drinking woman on a mission to kill demons. She is helped along the way by a secret government agent, an ageless sharp shooter from the 1800’s, and her younger sister who is an expert in ancient history. The show also features two LGBT storylines and have managed to keep them all alive in the series so far, thus combatting the “Bury Your Gays” problem that many other shows have.
7. Call the Midwife
This British Drama series has 7 seasons on Netflix so far and is about a group of young nurses who act as midwives for pregnant woman in the East End of London. Set in the late 50’s and early 60’s, the show touches upon interesting topics such as the introduction of gas and air for pain relief, birth control, and the devastating birth defects that resulted from the use of thalidomide.
8. Sicario
Sicario is an action-packed flick starring Emily Blunt as an FBI agent who joins an operation to arrest a high-ranking member of the Sonora Cartel. The movie dives into the dangerously complex world of drug cartels, and the repercussions that result from the FBI’s investigations. It scored a 93% on Rotten Tomatoes and was nominated for 3 academy awards for best cinematography, best original score, and best sound editing. The sequel to this movie hit the theatres in June of 2018, and was considered to be just as mind-blowing as the first, although it is not yet on Netflix.