Screening Guide: Religious horror, soul music and Jennifer Aniston

Jennifer Aniston returns for the second season of The Morning Show, streaming on Apple TV+.

The Morning Show
(Apple TV+)

Jennifer Aniston returns for a second season of early wake-ups, sharp jokes and topical commentary in this Emmy Award-winning dramedy. The show was hyped as one of the jewels in the Apple TV+ crown when it launched a couple of years back and it certainly lived up to those expectations, attracting awards, nominations, critical acclaim and big-name actors like Steve Carell, Julianna Margulies and Mark Duplass to its cast.
Here, Aniston stars as the long-serving host of a Breakfast-style TV show who is fiercely guarding her position at the top, most notably from the challenge presented by Reese Witherspoon's ambitious reporter.
After season one the news team is in flux with more than a hint of chaos as new faces join the series both on-camera and behind the scenes. One critic gushed that it "succeeds at striking the balance between advancing its own personality-driven narrative and tackling topical issues in one entertaining drama".
Streaming now, with new episodes weekly.

Midnight Mass
(Netflix)

You may want to say your prayers before tuning into this new supernatural horror series by Mike Flanagan, the creator of the bone-chilling The Haunting of Hill House.

Hamish Linklater stars as Father Paul in Netflix's supernatural horror series Midnight Mass.

Set in a small isolated community it follows the arrival of a charismatic priest whose appearance coincides with a series of unexplainable good events that lead half the town to declare them miracles and be gripped with a newfound religious fervour. But as the town divides between believers and sceptics things take a blood-soaked turn.
An ambitious, unsettling and spooky watch, one reviewer called it "a masterpiece", while another said its "slow boil is a triumph of terror that will leave viewers shaking – and thinking – long after the credits roll".
Streaming from tomorrow.

Summer of Soul
(Disney+)

This long-awaited documentary from Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson finally gets its groove on to Disney+.

Scene from Summer of Soul showing Sly Stone performing at the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival.

The doco's about the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival which ran for six weeks and featured legendary artists like Stevie Wonder, Nina Simone, Gladys Knight & the Pips and Sly and the Family Stone. Despite the heavyweight line-up, the festival was relegated to a footnote in pop history, until now.
Having sifted through over 50 hours of unseen concert footage that'd been sitting in a basement before having it lovingly restored, Questlove then set off to interview the key players involved to find out why such a big event was not as celebrated as other festivals from the era.
Having won both the Grand Jury prize and Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year you'll want to lock this musical celebration in as a must-see.
Streaming from Wednesday.

Vigil
(TVNZ 1 & TVNZ OnDemand)

You'll most definitely want to get on board with this new police procedural thriller from the BBC that's set on a nuclear-powered submarine.

Suranne Jones stars in acclaimed UK police thriller Vigil, on TVNZ 1 and TVNZ OnDemand.

It stars Suranne Jones as a detective assigned to investigate a mysterious death on the submarine. However, as part of the UK's defences, the sub cannot be docked and instead must stay out patrolling Britain's waters. This leads her to joining the crew and conducting her investigation at sea. Originally ruled as an "accidental overdose", she suspects foul play. However, what happens at sea, stays at sea and she faces a choppy reception from the crew.
It's a taut and murky mystery that's won over fans in the UK, with one reviewer describing it as "brutal and indubitably chilling".
Screening Sunday TVNZ 1 and from Monday on OnDemand.