While Vancouver and Toronto host matches and World Cup fever takes hold, there is plenty of non-soccer-related TV – from rock ’n’ roll vampires and vengeful prisoners to nostalgic summer romance and high-society drama – to keep you entertained the whole summer.
Cape Fear
Javier Bardem steps into the skin (and tattoos) of vengeful psychopath Max Cady in this serialized remake produced by Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorsese.
The intense thriller takes a slightly different approach to previous iterations of the 1957 potboiler novel, The Executioners, by John D. MacDonald: the 1962 film, where Cady was portrayed by Robert Mitchum and, famously, starring Robert De Niro in 1991). Without becoming sympathetic, this version fleshes out the brutish but charismatic criminal’s backstory and motivation. Social media tactics are added to a modern-day Cady’s intimidation and threats of violence toward his lawyer (Amy Adams) and her family – and the terror is complete with the menacing refrain of Bernard Herrmann’s score and a touch of Afro-Caribbean Santeria.
Where to Watch: Streaming on AppleTV+ starting June 5 (10 episodes)
The Vampire Lestat
Technically, this isn’t new but – in keeping with Anne Rice’s 1985 novel, in format and tone – it is a total revamp of the hit show Interview with the Vampire. Sam Reid – along with his lustrous locks and his character’s appetite for sex and blood – is back as Lestat de Lioncourt, in a rock ’n’ roll -centric series that takes the shape of a behind-the-music documentary. Not-so-subtly drawing on the Doors frontman Jim Morrison’s swagger, this explicitly queer story is simultaneously a retroactive prequel – exploring Lestat’s life before turning – and a continuation that sees him as an immortal rock god. Expect plenty of velvet, candlelight and stage presence.
Where to Watch: Streaming on AMC+ starting June 7 (7 episodes)
Dear England
Ahead of the World Cup kickoff, English writer James Graham guides his Olivier Award-winning play from stage to screen in this thought-provoking limited BBC series. It’s a showcase for Joseph Fiennes (Shakespeare in Love; The Handmaid’s Tale), who reprises his acclaimed National Theatre run as the real-life soft-spoken former England football player-turned-coach, Sir Gareth Southgate. The fictionalized account of his team’s run through the 2018 World Cup considers Southgate’s new, empathetic ideas of masculinity – à la Ted Lasso. It’s about the reality of life inside the beautiful game, national identity and the weight of expectations as they compete in the shadow of 1966’s World Cup mythology – the one and only year England was victorious. Jodie Whittaker (Doctor Who) is Pippa Grange, the psychologist charged with mitigating the mental toll on a team of elite athletes navigating the hopes of a nation.
Where to Watch: Streaming on Crave starting June 8 (4 episodes)
Alice & Steve
This character-driven dramedy – by Sex Education’s Sophie Goodhart – begins enjoyably enough: a debauched night of middle-aged revelry to observe a friend’s untimely death. In that first episode, we get the lived-in chemistry and prickly ease of Nicola Walker (Unforgotten) and Jemaine Clement (What We Do in the Shadows) as longtime best friends, now in their 50s, who find themselves in a messy feud. The “wrong-com” catalyst – we won’t spoil the surprise – can feel forced and may give viewers the ick. But the probe of a long and nuanced friendship at the heart of the show is rewarding. It’s thought-provoking fun and, even before streaming, won accolades at Canneseries. “It seems like a great crime, but it’s a show about love,” Clement says.
Where to Watch: Streaming on Disney+ starting June 8 (6 episodes)
I Will Find You
In the latest Harlan Coben thriller adaptation, Sam Worthington (Avatar) is David, a father wrongfully convicted of murdering his young son, Matthew. Cue the trope: David breaks out of maximum-security prison to prove his innocence – while convinced his son is still alive. His former sister-in-law (Severance’s Britt Lower) and her ex (Gilrmore Girl’s Milo Ventimiglia) pitch in, as an FBI fugitive tracker (Boston Public’s Chi McBride) is on David’s trail. Filmed around Southern Ontario, watch for familiar Canadian performers like Tara Rosling and Peter Outerbridge – and scenery-chewing Madeleine Stowe as a mysterious heiress.
Where to Watch: Streaming on Netflix starting June 18 (8 episodes)
A Woman of Substance
From Mike Leigh to melodrama, the venerable Vera thesp Brenda Blethyn (and her lacquered bouffant) steps into the glamorous world of Barbara Taylor Bradford’s global 1979 bestseller. Love, betrayal and corporate machinations are on the agenda in this rags-to-riches – and revenge – period drama about an ambitious servant in 1911 Yorkshire who spends decades rising to the top. With Outlander’s Jessica Reynolds as her younger self, Blethyn is our heroine Emma Harte, a self-made tycoon and one of the richest women in the world. While it’s not sexy enough of a romp to rival Rivals, it’s definitely a throwback to the scheming, stylish and preposterous 1980s fare like Falcon Crest, Dynasty and Flamingo Road. In other words, a satisfying escapist summer froth, with a powerhouse actress at its core.
Where to Watch: Streaming on BritBox starting June 24 (8 episodes)
Wild Cherry
Ultra-wealthy mothers and their relationships with each other and their daughters are the backbone of this multi-generational intrigue. The thriller (a hit when it aired in the U.K. last year) follows self-made businesswoman Lorna (Carmen Ejogo, True Detective) and and her privileged best friend Juliet (Eve Best, The King’s Speech) as they attempt to insulate their spoiled daughters Grace and Allegra (who are also best friends) from the scandalous consequences of being extremely online. It’s unabashedly trashy: a breezy eat-the-rich hors d’oeuvre, ideal for summer.
Where to Watch: Streaming on Paramount+ starting June 24 (6 episodes)
Worth the Wait
Along with these new shows fighting for your TV watching time, there is no shortage of returning favourites to stream this month, including a third season of HBO drama House of the Dragon (Crave, June 21) and Michael Fassbender is back as a covert operative in The Agency (June 21, Paramount+). High-tech British mystery The Capture delivers a third season of conspiracy and surveillance (June 18, Peacock), while on a more traditional note, there’s a second spoonful of Colin Farrell’s L.A. cinephile gumshoe Sugar (June 19, AppleTV+). And the kitchen heats up in season five of The Bear (June 25, Disney+) just as period procedural Grantchester investigates its 11th and final chapter (PBS Masterpiece, June 14).
