Stream team: Check out Deepanjana Pal’s mid-year watchlist

There've been some big disappointments in 2025 already, but let’s focus on the good news. This top five features anime, a new ER, vampires, cops and petty crime

What do Panchayat, The Bear, Squid Game and The Last of Us have in common? All released new seasons this year that have left fans disappointed. While this isn’t good news for the entertainment business, there has been great news elsewhere, with some excellent additions to streaming platforms too. As we hit the mid-year mark, here are my top five picks.

The Apothecary Diaries wears its progressive, feminist heart on its sleeve.

* Best film: Sinners (released in April)

Michael B Jordan is extraordinary as the twin brothers Smoke and Stack.

It is unlikely that anything released this year will hold a candle to director Ryan Coogler’s incandescent take on the vampire flick. Michael B Jordan is extraordinary as the twin brothers Smoke and Stack, who unwittingly attract the attention of the vampire Remmick (Jack O’Connell). A lot has been said about the one-take scene in the juke joint, but equally spectacular is the scene that plays out to the character Pearline (played by singer Jayme Lawson) singing Pale, Pale Moon. The way Coogler uses the sound of feet thumping in both song and violence is mesmerising. The film is now available on-demand, on Amazon Prime and Apple TV.

* Hamm on Top: Your Friends & Neighbors (released in April)

Jon Hamm is on song as Coop, ably supported by a talented cast that includes Olivia Munn and Hoon Lee. (Apple TV)

Part comedy, part social satire and part murder mystery, this is a show about a hedge-fund manager who turns to crime to maintain his lifestyle after losing his job. His targets? His super-rich friends and neighbours. Jon Hamm is on song as Coop, ably supported by a talented cast that includes Olivia Munn and Hoon Lee. Your Friends & Neighbors shifts gears awkwardly halfway in and the finale leaves us with many questions, but the good news is that the Apple TV show has been renewed for a second season, in which James Marsden will join the cast.

* TV done right: The Pitt (released in January)

Noah Wyle is all high-strung tension as the show traces a 15-hour shift in the emergency department of a fictional Pittsburgh hospital.

Nostalgia for the ’90s has been having a moment, and one of the best things it’s given us is this medical drama, which reunites some key talent from the hit show ER (1994-2009). Starring Noah Wyle and a stellar cast packed with nepo babies, The Pitt, streaming on JioHotstar, follows a single 15-hour day in the emergency department of a fictional Pittsburgh hospital. The show updates the medical drama by adding complexity, gore and grit to the mix. My recommendation: Don’t binge; savour it. There is a lot to take in.

* Feminism, but make it fluffy: The Apothecary Diaries (2023; now on Netflix)

Adapted from a manga series of the same name, this animated show follows Maomao, a servant at the imperial palace, who is also an apothecary’s daughter and therefore knows a fair bit about medicines and poisons. As a result of this, Jinshi, an influential eunuch, enlists her to help him track and intervene in various incidents of palace intrigue. Soon enough, Maomao seems to be the one calling the shots, despite her officially low status. This is escapist entertainment at its best and the anime wears its progressive, feminist heart on its sleeve.

* A masterclass in build-up: Paatal Lok (S2 released in January)

The taut storytelling delivers another great set of characters, while giving us more of the wonder that is Jaideep Ahlawat.

Debacles such as The Royals notwithstanding, Indian streaming delivered some excellent shows this year. These include the murder mockumentary Black, White & Gray, and Black Warrant (set in Tihar Jail in the 1980s and based on the memoirs of a long-standing jailor). What gave the Amazon Original Paatal Lok an edge was how thoroughly bingeworthy it was. The taut storytelling delivered another great set of characters, while also giving us more of the wonder that is Jaideep Ahlawat as Inspector Hathi Ram. Paatal Lok reflected issues specific to Nagaland, where the story is set, without losing sight of what it takes to craft a gripping context for crime and crimefighting. All in all, a second season so good, one can even overlook the weak finale.