What to watch this week

The experience of watching these stories unfold is by turns excruciating and gripping

THE CHARACTERS in our recommendations this week make a lot of awful decisions. An older boss has an affair with a young intern; a woman tries to tame a wild animal; a therapist abandons ethical guidelines; and an isolated mother makes terrible parenting choices. The experience of watching these stories unfold is by turns excruciating and gripping. A new political documentary is disappointingly dull, however. Avoiding it is the best decision you could make.

“Babygirl” (on streaming platforms) On screen and in real life, age gaps in relationships are getting smaller.

“Babygirl” (on streaming platforms) On screen and in real life, age gaps in relationships are getting smaller. Romantic partners in films and on TV are typically around six years apart, down from nearly 20 in the 1940s-50s. When films do show dramatic age gaps, they are often subverting tradition by instead showing an older woman with a younger man. In “Babygirl” a married boss of a robotics firm (Nicole Kidman, at her daring best) has an affair with a manipulative young intern (Harris Dickinson). It could be the premise of a glossy erotic thriller, but “Babygirl” is an edgier proposition, which pays more attention to raw emotion than naked flesh.

“Drops of God” (on AppleTV+)The second season of this multilingual romp through the world of wine has just been released. But if you missed the first season, that is the better “vintage” to enjoy. After Alexandre Léger, a leading wine authority and collector, dies, his daughter Camille must battle Léger’s protégé, Issei, to win the estate. The second season invents a new premise to continue the wine quest, but it feels too familiar. Instead watch season one, perhaps with a good glass of Burgundy in hand.

“H is for Hawk” (in cinemas in America, Britain and Canada)Helen Macdonald (Claire Foy, pictured above) falls into a depression after her father’s sudden death. As a distraction from grief, she buys and trains a Eurasian goshawk, carrying it on her arm around Cambridge University, where she works as a researcher. Adapted from Ms Macdonald’s bestselling memoir of 2014, “H is for Hawk” offers an elegant portrait of loss and natural connection. Ms Foy, who trained in falconry for the role, is extraordinary.

“If I Had Legs I’d Kick You” (on streaming platforms and in cinemas in Britain from February 20th)Rose Byrne (top) plays a psychotherapist whose husband travels for work for weeks at a time. She is left to look after their small daughter, who refuses to eat. And, if that weren’t exhausting enough, they have to move into a motel when their apartment floods. The relentless succession of bad luck and worse decisions is almost unbearable, but it’s impossible to look away, thanks to Ms Byrne’s Golden Globe-winning and Oscar-nominated performance.

“Shrinking” (on AppleTV+)This comedy-drama series has returned for a third season of wanton therapy-speak and upper-middle-class angst. As ever, the dialogue is snappy, the conflicts and consequences are relatively low stakes and everyone is fully committed to “working on themselves”. In this season Paul (Harrison Ford, above right) continues to grapple with his Parkinson’s diagnosis, but the best part is Jessica Williams (on the left), who perfectly balances raunch, wittiness and introspection.

And what not to watch:

“Melania” (in cinemas worldwide)Who knew life with Donald Trump could be so tedious? To judge by “Melania”, the new documentary about Melania Trump produced by herself and financed by Amazon, it mostly involves getting fitted for clothes, clomping toward idling jets and SUVs in heels like daggers, listening to your husband boast, and mouthing the occasional platitude. This seems to leave little space for introspection or even a personality—though glimpses of Mrs Trump smiling warmly to underlings and lip-syncing to the Village People hint at one. Regrettably for the Trumps, they have no one to sue for this reductive, two-dimensional portrayal except themselves.