The 10 best new films and TV shows on Amazon Prime UK, November 2018
TV: Homecoming (from November 2)
Creator:Sam Esmail Cast: Julia Roberts, Stephen James, Bobby Cannavale, Shea Wigham Cert: TBC Year: 2018
In a nutshell: Heidi (Roberts) works at Homecoming, a facility helping soldiers transition back into civilian life. However, years later she has a very different life being questioned by Department of Defense as to why she left her job and the programme. Based on the hit podcast of the same name created by Eli Horowitz and Micah Bloomberg, Homecoming is a paranoid thriller that investigates the stories we are told and that we tell to ourselves.
FILM: You Were Never Really Here (from November 2)
Director: Lynn Ramsay Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Ekaterina Samsonov, John Doman, Judith Roberts Cert: 15 Year: 2017
In a nutshell: Joaquin Phoenix plays Joe, a traumatized and brutal enforcer who specializes in retrieving trafficked girls (and dispensing violent justice on their captors). However, things go awry after an initial successful retrieval of the daughter of a New York Senator.
FILM: Blow (from November 3)
Director: Ted Demme Cast: Johnny Depp, Penelope Cruz, Jordi Molla, Ray Liotta Cert: 18 Year: 2001
In a nutshell: Back in the day when Johnny Depp still played human beings, he took on this biopic of George Jung, the ex-con who supplied America with cocaine in the 1970s. He gets wealth, power, Penélope Cruz as a girlfriend, and it all comes crashing predictably down. Ted Demme's movie is such a nakedly obvious clone of GoodFellas it feels impure to the core.
TV: Outlander (from November 5)
Developer:Ronald D. Moore Cast: Caitriona Balfe, Sam Heughan, Richard Rankin, Sophie Skelton Cert: 15 Year: 2014
In a nutshell: After many, many trials and tribulations the reunited Jamie (Heughan) and Claire (Balfe) are building a new life for themselves in North Carolina in 1767. Meanwhile in 1970, their daughter Brianna (Skelton) and her boyfriend Roger (Rankin) uncover troubling history about the Frasers.
FILM: The Girl With All The Gifts (from October 5)
Director: Colm McCarthy Cast: Sennia Nanua, Gemma Arterton, Paddy Constantine, Glenn Close Cert: 15 Year: 2016
In a nutshell: In a dystopian future, most of humanity has been ravaged by a fungal infection that changes people into thoughtless, flesh-eating monsters. A young girl named Melanie (Nanua) is immune to the infection, and she and her teacher (Arterton) embark on a journey of survival.
TV: Patriot (second season) (from November 9)
Creator:Steven Conrad Cast: Michael Dorman, Kurtwood Smith, Michael Chernus, Terry O’Quinn, Debra Winger Cert: TBC Year: 2017
In a nutshell: Intelligence officer John Tavner (Dorman) attempts to salvage a deeply botched covert mission in order to rescue his brother Michael (Chernus), all the while navigating his family, allies and adversaries while maintaining his sanity and keeping collateral damage to a minimum.
FILM: Storks (from November 20)
Director:Nicholas Stoller, Doug Sweetland Cast: Andy Samberg, Katie Crown, Kelsey Grammer, Jennifer Aniston, Ty Burrell Cert: U Year: 2016
In a nutshell: Warner Animation Group's first film since 2014's The Lego Movie is spectacularly daft but manages to be both moving and very fun. Here the storks of the title have moved on from delivering babies to big business and now transport products for an Amazon-style website. But then the old baby-making machine, gathering dust in the corner, is accidentally reactivated and suddenly they have a baby to get home.
FILM: The Revenant (from November 23)
Director:Alejandro G. I?árritu Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy, Domhnall Gleeson, Will Poulter Cert: 15 Year: 2015
In a nutshell: This preposterously enjoyable revenge western finally won Leonardo DiCaprio an Oscar. It follows the embellished true story of a 19th-century fur trapper who endures a savage bear attack at the hands of a fellow frontiersman – then claws his way across miles of frozen rock in order to settle the score.
FILM: Before Sunrise (from November 25)
Director:Richard Linklater Cast: Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy Cert: 15 Year: 1995
In a nutshell: Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke meet on a trans-European train journey and spend a night wandering around Vienna together before he has to catch a plane to America. For 14 hours, they lay bare their feelings in Richard Linklater's semi-improvised crash course in boy-girl relationships, a thinking person's romcom with a lovely tourist's eye view of the capital.
TV: Vikings (fifth season, part two) (from November 29)
Creator:Michael Hirst Cast: Katheryn Winnick, Clive Standen, Gustaf Skarsgard, Alexander Ludwig, Alex H?gh Andersen, Marco Ilso, Jordan Patrick Smith, Jonathan Rhys Meyers Cert: 18 Year: 2013
In a nutshell: Life is brutal in Kattegat under Ivar’s reign (Anderson), leading to shifting alliances and hard choices being made. Hvitserk (Ilso), Bjorn (Ludwig), Lagertha (Winnick) and Ubbe (Smith) reluctantly band together with an old foe, as the English offer them sanctuary - but for the price of them fighting against their Norse countrymen.