If I knew how to spell out the dramatic “wooooâ€s of The White Lotus, I would’ve led with that, but instead you must bear with this shoutout I wanted to include in honor of the season finale: Arrivederci, Tanya McQuoid and company! You all were quite fun — yes, even you, Portia — but mostly Aubrey Plaza’s Harper. You ruled. On Sunday, we’ll finally see how it all shakes out in good ol’ Sicily, but there are other options to help curb your anticipation till then (like Guillermo del Toro’s precious new film!). Here are our suggestions for what to watch this week:
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio
Fresh off his new Netflix series, Cabinet of Curiosities, del Toro’s latest film arrives in time for the holidays! And after a year of poor Pinocchio remakes, this one is much needed. No one seems better suited to tackle the dark fairy tale than del Toro. With his direction and whimsy — paired with beautifully done stop-motion animation and an all-star cast featuring Ewan McGregor, David Bradley, Tilda Swinton, and Gregory Mann as the little boy himself — Pinocchio is a knockout choice for the family this weekend.
The Whale
There’s been talk about Brendan Fraser’s splashy return to the spotlight — even if he has technically always been around — and it’s because Fraser is The Whale’s saving grace. Director Darren Aronofsky takes Samuel D. Hunter’s screenplay (adapted from his own play of the same name) and puts on the silver screen the story of a 600-pound man named Charlie with congestive heart failure, forcing him to contend with his life and those around him. It’s a small, claustrophobic film, and it hasn’t been free of criticism — Hollywood has never been kind or nuanced toward fat people. The Whale itself doesn’t really explicitly speak to that issue, but Fraser does his absolute best in making Charlie a real, fleshed-out person. Watching him toggle between the duality of Charlie’s own heartbreak and grief and his unsullied optimism toward others is quite mesmerizing.
Something From Tiffany’s
Holiday season is here, which means so are the cheesy Christmas rom-coms! It’s truly magical. And while Netflix and Hallmark dominate the field, Prime Video is premiering a Christmas rom-com of its own, Something From Tiffany’s. Zoey Deutch and Kendrick Sampson star as two strangers who meet each other after their gifts accidentally get mixed up. Classic. Give me all the cheese!
South Side season three
A Vulture favorite, our critic Roxana Hadadi wrote that South Side has entered its “golden age†in its third season. The Chicago comedy by Diallo Riddle and Bashir Salahuddin focuses on members of the city’s working-class community, primarily Simon and K, two furniture repos who dream of bigger things — Simon as a white-collar worker, K as a scientist. While those two lead the show, South Side’s close circle of side characters are what help make it pop. Time to catch up.
The White Lotus season two
It’s hard to write an eloquent thought about The White Lotus without my brain just blasting the opening music’s operatic trills and Europop dance beat very loudly. Sorry if it’s stuck in your head now, but with the salacious, drama-filled season coming to a close, this is a good time to binge if you’re behind — because you just know the internet will be ablaze afterward.
Also! Read our streaming recommendations from the weekend of December 1. Vulture’s next list of weekend streaming picks goes online Friday, December 16.