What to watch on Netflix: Week of 12/24

Matthew Ellmore/Staff Writer

Netflix offers a wide array of content for its viewers to watch, and it can be daunting to skim through its large collection to try and find something that interests you. However, there are some documentaries, series, and movies that are available on Netflix and that stand out from the rest. Some of them may be well-known, others may not. Hopefully, you can find something that interests you.

“Roma” (2018)

“Roma” is set in Mexico City during the early 1970s and follows the life of a live-in housekeeper and the middle-class family that she works for. The film is a sequence of episodes, big or small in its impact on the family, each affecting characters in different ways. There’s hardships, love, anger and tragedy contained in these small sequences, which makes them feel so much larger. At times, it almost feels like the film is taking its audience through a family photo album as it moves from story to story, event to event. The stories aren’t always exciting or gratifying, but the small moments encapsulated in them feel extremely intimate. Although the film’s runtime is only two hours, it manages to bring about an intense emotional connection that few films can match. “Roma” is a film packed with so many tones and emotions. There are many moments that are awkward and quirky, but they work to tell us more about the characters instead of just being shoehorned in. “Roma” feels like a natural and realistic look at life from the past.

“Travelers” (2016-2018)

Time travel is a very popular topic in film and television, so the idea of another show dealing with traveling through dimensions could be a bit of a turn off. But “Travelers” shines a unique and compelling light on the genre. The show is set hundreds of years in the future where the last surviving humans discover a way of sending consciousness back through time, working in teams to perform missions and prevent a disastrous future. Because of its small budget, the show relies on its realness to present a compelling story rather then fill every episode with CGI and special effects. Rather than make its viewers see concepts in a certain way, the lack of special effects allows the viewer’s imagination to interpret time travel. Each episode expands and twists the basic premise of time travel in a new way and each episode tells stories that are deep with emotion and filled with realistic characters. “Travelers” takes the time travel concept and adds new aspects to it, making it a refreshing entry into the science fiction television genre.

“The American Meme” (2018)

Social media has become a multi-faceted concept, expanding to all different types of uses and platforms. “The American Meme” acknowledges this but decides to discuss the dangers of social media, something that people rarely ever discuss. The film follows social media celebrities like Paris Hilton, Brittany Furlan, The Fat Jewish and many others as they attempt to navigate social media in their own ways. It chronicles how they became popular, the struggles that they endure to uphold that popularity and how they themselves see social media. The film avoids making attempts to preach to its audience. Instead, it provides examples of how social media has shaped some of the people that use it. Because of this, its reach expands beyond just younger audiences. “The American Meme” works for the generation that currently uses social media as well as older generations that may not know much about it.

Featured photo by Thibault Penin on Unsplash.