It’s teenage girl power weekend with raunchy comedy Plan B and YA drama Panic
Here’s what’s happening in the world of television for Friday, May 28, and Saturday, May 29. All times are Eastern.
Top picks
Plan B (Hulu, Friday, 12:01 a.m.): “Directed by Natalie Morales, Plan B centers on high school besties Sunny (Kuhoo Verma) and Lupe (Victoria Moroles) and their hunt for the morning-after pill. What should be a simple trip to the pharmacy gets more complicated when they’re turned away under South Dakota’s ‘conscience clause’—a real-life law that allows pharmacists to refuse to dispense emergency-contraception drugs if they are morally or religiously opposed to them. The regressive policy sends straitlaced Sunny and slacker Lupe on a madcap journey to Planned Parenthood. And since the nearest clinic is over three hours away, that leaves plenty of time for some raucous, R-rated pit stops en route.” Read Caroline Siede’s review of this film here. The cast also includes Michael Provost, Myha’la Herrold, Jolly Abraham, Mason Cook, Edi Patterson, Moses Storm, Rachel Dratch.
Panic (Amazon Prime Video, Friday, 12:01 a.m.): Created and written by Lauren Oliver based on her 2014 novel, this young adult drama centers on recently graduated high school seniors who take part in a Hunger Games-esque competition that will help them escape their small town. Keep an eye out for Gwen Ihnat’s review of the series on the site later today.
Regular coverage
Star Wars: The Bad Batch (Disney+, Friday, 12:01 a.m.)
Lucifer (Netflix, Friday, 3:01 a.m.): LaToya Ferguson will recap the final eight episodes of Lucifer season 5B and help prepare you for the show’s upcoming sixth and final season.
Wild cards
Cruella (Disney+, Friday, 3:01 a.m.): “The film’s five-person screenwriting team—which includes both the co-creator of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and an Oscar-winning writer of The Favourite—goes about rehabilitating Cruella de Vil’s image, first through the most ludicrous self-mythologizing since we found out how Han Solo got his last name. It’s arguably a spoiler, so we’ll avoid details, but trust that the Cruella of the prequel has a reason for disliking Dalmatians that’s sure to produce a hearty snort from all but the most credulous viewers. Mostly, however, Cruella ignores the bad in favor of the brilliant, a more agreeable form of revisionism.” Read the rest of Katie Rife’s review here. Cruella, starring Emma Stone and Emma Thompson, will release in theaters and on Disney+ with Premier Access for a one time additional fee.
The Kominsky Method (Netflix, Friday, 3:01 a.m.): Chuck Lorre’s half-hour sitcom will return for a third and final season but minus series regular Alan Arkin. The show stars Michael Douglas as Sandy Kominsky, a former actor-turned-acting coach. The cast includes Kathleen Turner, Sarah Baker, and Paul Reiser, and guest stars Lisa Edelstein, Emily Osment, Graham Rogers, and Haley Joel Osment will reprise their roles.
Launchpad (Disney+, Friday, 12:01 a.m.): Six writers and directors from underrepresented backgrounds come together in a series of live-action shorts, including American Eid, Dinner Is Served, Growing Fangs, The Last Of The Chupacabras, Let’s Be Tigers, and The Little Prince(ss).
Oslo (HBO, Saturday, 8 p.m.): “It’s difficult to watch the film version of Oslo, the Tony Award-winning play by J.T. Rogers, without a sense of grim irony. No piece of art is objective; no work of fiction has the responsibility of sticking to every real-life fact. But the historical developments Oslo skips over in its discussion of what inspired the secret discussions between Israelis and Palestinians; the fear-mongering news footage it uses to pad out its runtime; and the side with which it aligns our perspective tip its hand toward a certain version of history that feels jarringly out of step with our current reality.” Catch up with Roxana Hadadi’s review of this film starring Andrew Scott and Ruth Wilson.