What do you want to watch tonight?
Each title says who it's good for, and who it isn't. Tap what you want tonight, or say no to one and why.
Closest to Watchmen first
Watchmen 2009
Film
In a gritty and alternate 1985, the glory days of costumed vigilantes have been brought to a close by a government crackdown. But after one of the masked veterans is brutally murdered, an investigation into the killer is initiated. The reunited heroes set out to prevent their own destruction, but in doing so they uncover a sinister plot that puts all of humanity in grave danger.
The sides of Watchmen
- Retired heroes in an alternate 1985
- A masked detective investigating a murder
- A blue man who sees all time at once
Good for you if
- you like comic panels brought to life frame by frame.
- you like a dark take on what heroes really are.
- you like an ending that asks a moral question.
Bad for you if
- graphic violence ruins it for you.
- nearly three hours is too much for one evening.
- sex scenes and nudity aren't for you.
About: power · morality · history
The Boys 2019
Series
A group of vigilantes known informally as “The Boys” set out to take down corrupt superheroes with no more than blue-collar grit and a willingness to fight dirty.
The sides of The Boys
- Superheroes who are celebrities and monsters
- Ordinary people fighting back
- A corporation behind it all
Good for you if
- you like satire of superheroes, fame and brands.
- you like heroes who are the worst people on screen.
- you like a hero who could kill anyone, any time.
Bad for you if
- extreme gore is too much for you.
- very crude sex scenes aren't for you.
About: power · celebrity · corruption
The Batman 2022
Film
In his second year of fighting crime, Batman uncovers corruption in Gotham City that connects to his own family while facing a serial killer known as the Riddler.
The sides of The Batman
- A young Batman as a detective
- A killer leaving riddles
- Gotham drowning in rain
Good for you if
- you like Batman solving a case like a noir detective.
- you like red light, rain and darkness.
- you like a moody, patient investigation.
Bad for you if
- three hours is too much for one evening.
- you want a light superhero film.
About: corruption · revenge · hope
Gotham 2014
Series
Everyone knows the name Commissioner Gordon. He is one of the crime world's greatest foes, a man whose reputation is synonymous with law and order. But what is known of Gordon's story and his rise from rookie detective to Police Commissioner? What did it take to navigate the multiple layers of corruption that secretly ruled Gotham City, the spawning ground of the world's most iconic villains? And what circumstances created them – the larger-than-life personas who would become Catwoman, The Penguin, The Riddler, Two-Face and The Joker?
The sides of Gotham
- A young Jim Gordon in a corrupt police force
- Bruce Wayne as a boy after his parents' murder
- The Penguin climbing the underworld
Good for you if
- you like a city run by mob bosses and dirty cops.
- you like watching Oswald Cobblepot scheme his way from errand boy to kingpin.
- you like a young Gordon hunting the killer of Bruce Wayne's parents through a corrupt city.
Bad for you if
- you can't stand a show full of shootings, torture and bodies.
- five seasons is too much for you.
About: corruption · origins · justice
Person of Interest 2011
Series
John Reese, former CIA paramilitary operative, is presumed dead and teams up with reclusive billionaire Finch to prevent violent crimes in New York City by initiating their own type of justice. With the special training that Reese has had in Covert Operations and Finch's genius software inventing mind, the two are a perfect match for the job that they have to complete. With the help of surveillance equipment, they work "outside the law" and get the right criminal behind bars.
The sides of Person of Interest
- A former CIA agent presumed dead
- A reclusive billionaire who built a surveillance machine
- A new number each week, victim or killer
Good for you if
- you like Reese stepping in before a crime happens, fists first.
- you like a show about who gets to watch everyone, and who controls the Machine.
- you like guessing whether the number belongs to the victim or the killer.
Bad for you if
- you can't take shootouts and beatings in nearly every episode.
- five seasons is too much for you.
About: surveillance · redemption · artificial intelligence
Prisoners 2013
Film
When his young daughter and her friend disappear on Thanksgiving, a father takes the law into his own hands while a detective works the case.
The sides of Prisoners
- A detective who won't let go
- How far a father will go
- A case built like a maze
- Rain, cold, and grey light
Good for you if
- you like being tense for two and a half hours straight.
- you like collecting clues and trying to get ahead of the detective.
- you like watching an actor go somewhere raw. Hugh Jackman does.
Bad for you if
- a child in danger is too much for you.
- two and a half hours is too long for your evening.
About: faith · revenge · guilt · fatherhood
The Dark Knight 2008
Film
Batman raises the stakes in his war on crime. With the help of Lt. Jim Gordon and District Attorney Harvey Dent, Batman sets out to dismantle the remaining criminal organizations that plague the streets. The partnership proves to be effective, but they soon find themselves prey to a reign of chaos unleashed by a rising criminal mastermind known to the terrified citizens of Gotham as the Joker.
The sides of The Dark Knight
- A villain who only wants chaos
- A city forced to choose
- A hero paying the price
Good for you if
- you like a villain you can't take your eyes off.
- you like scenes where every choice could cost a life.
- you like tension that comes from people talking, like the interrogation room.
Bad for you if
- you need things to end on a high. This one leaves a weight.
- two and a half hours is too long for your evening.
About: chaos · order · sacrifice · corruption
The Dark Knight Rises 2012
Film
Following the death of District Attorney Harvey Dent, Batman assumes responsibility for Dent's crimes to protect the late attorney's reputation and is subsequently hunted by the Gotham City Police Department. Eight years later, Batman encounters the mysterious Selina Kyle and the villainous Bane, a new terrorist leader who overwhelms Gotham's finest. The Dark Knight resurfaces to protect a city that has branded him an enemy.
The sides of The Dark Knight Rises
- A hero coming out of retirement
- A city taken hostage
- A villain behind a mask
Good for you if
- you like set pieces on a huge scale, like a plane torn apart mid-air.
- you like a hero who gets back up, with a big sincere finish.
- you like brutal, close-up fights.
Bad for you if
- nearly three hours is too much for one evening.
- you lose track easily. Bane, Selina Kyle, a young cop named Blake and a fight over Wayne's company all run side by side.
About: pain · rising again · legacy
X-Men: First Class 2011
Film
Before Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr took the names Professor X and Magneto, they were two young men discovering their powers for the first time. Before they were arch-enemies, they were closest of friends, working together with other mutants (some familiar, some new), to stop the greatest threat the world has ever known.
The sides of X-Men: First Class
- Charles and Erik before they were enemies
- Young mutants recruited by the CIA
- The Cuban missile crisis
Good for you if
- you like two friends you know will become enemies.
- you like young mutants, Raven first, learning not to hide what they are.
- you like history rewritten with mutants.
Bad for you if
- you can't face an opening in a concentration camp, where Erik's mother is shot.
- a dozen new mutants to keep track of loses you.
About: friendship · identity · prejudice
Severance 2022
Series
Mark leads a team of office workers whose memories have been surgically divided between their work and personal lives. When a mysterious colleague appears outside of work, it begins a journey to discover the truth about their jobs.
The sides of Severance
- Office workers with their memories split in two
- The endless white corridors of Lumon Industries
- A team sorting numbers they don't understand
Good for you if
- you like piecing together what Lumon really does.
- you like goats in an office basement and a waffle party as a reward.
- you like Mark slowly realising what his other self lives through.
Bad for you if
- you need things to move fast from the first episode.
- you want answers at the end of every season.
About: work · identity · grief · control

Marvel's Luke Cage 2016
Series
Given superstrength and durability by a sabotaged experiment, a wrongly accused man escapes prison to become a superhero for hire.
The sides of Marvel's Luke Cage
- A bulletproof man in Harlem
- A barbershop as the neighborhood's heart
- A nightclub run by a gangster
Good for you if
- you like live soul and hip-hop on the stage of a Harlem club.
- you like Harlem gangsters and crooked politicians fighting over the neighborhood.
- you like a hero who walks through bullets with his hoodie on.
Bad for you if
- you need momentum, and Luke takes his time before throwing a punch.
- you can't sit through gunfights and beatings.
About: community · race · justice
BlacKkKlansman 2018
Film
Colorado Springs, late 1970s. Ron Stallworth, an African American police officer, and Flip Zimmerman, his Jewish colleague, run an undercover operation to infiltrate the Ku Klux Klan.
The sides of BlacKkKlansman
- A Black cop infiltrating the KKK
- A Jewish partner playing his body
- Phone calls with the Grand Wizard
Good for you if
- you like absurd true stories told with humour.
- you like stories that really happened.
- you like undercover scenes that could go wrong.
Bad for you if
- real racist violence shown at the end is too much tonight.
- you'd rather keep politics out of your evening. It ends on Charlottesville in 2017.
About: racism · identity · resistance
Westworld 2016
Series
A dark odyssey about the dawn of artificial consciousness and the evolution of sin. Set at the intersection of the near future and the reimagined past, it explores a world in which every human appetite, no matter how noble or depraved, can be indulged.
The sides of Westworld
- A Wild West theme park run by robots
- Hosts who start to remember
- Guests who pay to do anything
Good for you if
- you like a plot you have to piece together across timelines.
- you like a story that keeps changing what you think you know about the park.
- you like a show where the first season hides clues for the second viewing.
Bad for you if
- you can't stand graphic shootouts and violence against the hosts.
- you'd rather skip the nudity and sex scenes, or you watch with others.
About: consciousness · free will · memory · control
Blindspot 2015
Series
A vast international plot explodes when a beautiful Jane Doe is discovered naked in Times Square, completely covered in mysterious, intricate tattoos with no memory of who she is or how she got there. But there's one tattoo that is impossible to miss: the name of FBI agent Kurt Weller, emblazoned across her back. "Jane," Agent Weller and the rest of the FBI quickly realize that each mark on her body is a crime to solve, leading them closer to the truth about her identity and the mysteries to be revealed.
The sides of Blindspot
- A woman found in Times Square with no memory
- Tattoos covering her whole body
- An FBI agent's name on her back
Good for you if
- you like a tattoo decoded each week that leads to a crime.
- you want to know who Jane really is.
- you want FBI raids and fights in every episode.
Bad for you if
- you need a conspiracy that could really happen.
- five seasons is too much for you.
About: identity · memory · trust
Marvel's The Defenders 2017
Series
Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Iron Fist join forces to take on common enemies as a sinister conspiracy threatens New York City.
The sides of Marvel's The Defenders
- Four street-level heroes teaming up
- A secret organisation called the Hand
- New York under threat
Good for you if
- you like hallway fights with fists, kicks and a glowing fist.
- you like Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Iron Fist sharing a room.
Bad for you if
- you can't stand bloody hand-to-hand fights.
- you want the scale of a Marvel film, not fights in New York back streets.
About: teamwork · duty · New York
Ghost in the Shell 1995
Anime
In the year 2029, the barriers of our world have been broken down by the net and by cybernetics, but this brings new vulnerability to humans in the form of brain-hacking. When a highly-wanted hacker known as 'The Puppetmaster' begins involving them in politics, Section 9, a group of cybernetically enhanced cops, are called in to investigate and stop the Puppetmaster.
The sides of Ghost in the Shell
- A cyborg agent in a special police unit
- A hacker who can rewrite people's memories
- Long silent shots of a city in the rain
Good for you if
- you like asking what's left of you when your body is a machine.
- you like a dense, rainy city drawn in every detail.
- you like long quiet moments between short bursts of action.
Bad for you if
- you don't watch anime.
- you want a plot that's easy to follow. Hacked memories and rival police sections tangle fast.
About: identity · technology · the soul
Attack on Titan 2013
Anime
100 years ago, the last remnants of humanity were forced to retreat behind the towering walls of a fortified city to escape the massive, man-eating Titans that roamed the land outside their fortress. Only the members of the Scouting Legion dared to stray beyond the safety of the walls – but even those brave warriors seldom returned alive. Those within the city clung to the illusion of a peaceful existence until the day that dream was shattered, and their slim chance at survival was reduced to one horrifying choice: kill – or be devoured!
The sides of Attack on Titan
- Survival against impossible odds
- Twists that flip who the enemy is
- War, freedom and what it costs
Good for you if
- you like humanity trapped behind walls with giants outside.
- you like a story that turns everything upside down halfway.
- you can take a dark, brutal war story.
Bad for you if
- giants eating people ruin it for you.
- you don't watch anime.
About: freedom · war · revenge
Marvel's Daredevil 2015
Series
Lawyer-by-day Matt Murdock uses his heightened senses from being blinded as a young boy to fight crime at night on the streets of Hell’s Kitchen as Daredevil.
The sides of Marvel's Daredevil
- A blind lawyer by day
- A masked fighter at night in Hell's Kitchen
- Wilson Fisk buying the city
Good for you if
- you like hand-to-hand fights filmed in one long hallway.
- you like a street-level crime story more than a world to save.
- you like Vincent D'Onofrio's Fisk, quiet until he explodes.
Bad for you if
- you can't stand bones breaking and bloody beatings.
- you need momentum, and the plots take whole seasons to close.
About: faith · justice · corruption · guilt
13th 2016
Documentary
An in-depth look at the prison system in the United States and how it reveals the nation's history of racial inequality.
The sides of 13th
- The loophole in the amendment that ended slavery
- From chain gangs to mass incarceration
- Historians, activists and politicians on camera
Good for you if
- you like an argument built from archives, laws and numbers.
- you want to see how a law from 1865 still shapes prisons today.
- you want to know who profits from locking people up.
Bad for you if
- you can't watch real footage of Black people killed by police.
- you want to come out lighter. This one leaves you angry.
About: racism · justice · freedom
X-Men 2000
Film
Two mutants, Rogue and Wolverine, come to a private academy for their kind whose resident superhero team, the X-Men, must oppose a terrorist organization with similar powers.
The sides of X-Men
- A school for gifted mutants
- A loner with claws
- Two old friends on opposite sides
Good for you if
- you like Hugh Jackman's Wolverine, all claws and bad temper.
- you like outsiders finding a family.
Bad for you if
- you need the science to hold up. A machine on the Statue of Liberty turns humans into mutants.
- you'd rather your superheroes skip politics. A senator wants every mutant registered.
About: prejudice · belonging · fear