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The Last of Us
(Sky Atlantic/Now) TV’s best ever video game adaptation screamed back to life with the year’s most traumatic killing off of a beloved character. Losing one half of the show’s central duo was no easy thing to move past, but The Last of Us morphed into a touching meditation on grief, loss and the pain of love left unspoken – with added mushroom monsters.
What we said: “A gutsy and thoughtful rendering of humans on the edge.” Read more
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All Her Fault
View image in fullscreen No one is more watchable … Sarah Snook and Dakota Fanning in All Her Fault. Photograph: Peacock/AP
(Sky Atlantic/Now) Is anyone as watchable as Sarah Snook? Her performance as Marissa, whose son Milo was kidnapped when she thought he was on a play date, was an absolute powerhouse as we’ve come to expect from the Succession star. It started with the most profound fear a parent can face, before it turned out to be even worse: orchestrated from within her own inner circle. But the plight of Dakota Fanning as her friend Jenny, trying to navigate the incessant hell and guilt of being a working mother, was relatable and affecting too. Together, they deepened this thriller into something far more intriguing.
What we said: “All Her Fault is fantastically well done. All the carefully planted seeds come to fruition. All the narrative cogs turn and interlock fast and seamlessly. You come for the terrifying premise and stay for the absolute pleasure.” Read more
48
The Last Musician of Auschwitz
(BBC Two/iPlayer) This exceptional film told the extraordinary story of the now 100-year-old cellist Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, the only surviving member of the women’s orchestra at Auschwitz. First-hand testimonies – including from the stoic, straight-talking subject herself – plus archive footage and musical performances merged to show the emotional turmoil of prisoners playing beautiful music in a hellscape, as well as tiny glimmers of resistance.
What we said: “This incredibly impressive programme does not let us forget about Auschwitz’s corpse mountains or stench of burning bodies for a second, all the while posing questions about art and humanity that should ring in your ears for years to come.” Read more
47
Apple Cider Vinegar
View image in fullscreen A tissue of lies … Kaitlyn Dever as Belle Gibson in Apple Cider Vinegar. Photograph: Ben King/AP
(Netflix) A remarkable true story, superbly told; this series dramatised the rise and fall of Belle Gibson, an Australian woman who established herself as a “well
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