While Enola certainly has the most starpower on Netflix this week — the movie also features Superman himself, Henry Cavill — it’s not the only buzzy new offering on the streaming service. On Friday, September 25, the eighth “collection” (or, season) of television favourite The Great British Baking Show will premiere on Netflix. Hopefully, the comfort TV series will bring some semblance of peace to a taxing time. Friday also premieres a new Black-led sitcom with Sneakerheads, and a joyously bizarre Korean fantasy series, The School Nurse Files. Netflix also has a must-see short-form documentary and much more in store for you this week.
These are all the new Netflix offerings broken down by plot, genre, and whether you should watch something immediately or skip for now. Keep reading for the lowdown on all of these Netflix treats, including their trailers.
The Great British Baking Show (Collection 8)
Netflix premiere date: Friday, September 25
What is it?: Something this writer personally needs very much.
What is it about?: Revealing what GBBS (called The Great British Bake-Off, or GBBO in its native Britain) looks like during the COVID-19 pandemic. The baking competition should be a nightmare during an international health emergency: It often traps over a dozen individuals in an enclosed space directly after they’ve traveled across England, surrounded by hundreds of other people.
But Baking Show collection 8 removes all of those red flags. This year, bakers filmed the entire season in a continuous “bubble” from an empty hotel in Essex, British publication Express reports. During production — which started in July — competitors had two days on of baking, and two days off to themselves, until the season was over or they were eliminated. Baking Show collection 8 unveils what these new procedures mean for bakers and bakes alike — along with new host Matt Lucas, who is taking over for Sandi Toksvig. Toksvig announced her Baking exit earlier this year.
See or skip?: See! Great British Baking Show has been one of the greatest TV balms available during the high stress of 2020.
Enola Holmes
What is it?: The Millie Bobby Brown Sherlock movie. A surprisingly long film (it’s two full hours!).
What is it about?: Giving traditional stuffy Victorian detective stories a teenage point of view. Brown stars as Enola Holmes, the 16-year-old little sister of Sherlock Holmes, here played with knowingly hunky bemusement by The Witcher’s Henry Cavill.
Enola Holmes follows its titular heroine as she attempts to flee the restrictive path her brothers have planned for her — Love Wedding Repeat’s Sam Claflin plays Enola’s other, more dreadful sibling — find her missing mother (Helena Bonham Carter), and help a young viscount on the run. Of course the viscount (Louis Partridge) looks like a British knockoff Timothée Chalamet.
See or skip?: See when you have some time to spare, since everyone is likely curious to learn what Brown can do outside of Stranger Things (or, say, how Cavill can fill out Victorian dress). Just don’t expect to catch much of her Eleven here. While Enola is an adventure-prone outsider like Brown’s most famous character, that’s just about where their similarities end.
Sneakerheads (Season 1)
Netflix premiere date: Friday, September 25
What is it?: Proof of a very good September for The Babysitter: Killer Queen star Andrew Bachelor.
What is it about?: A sneaker buy gone terribly wrong. Protagonist Devin (Black-ish’s Allen Maldonado) is a formerly fly sneakerhead who started dressing like “some dude that works at Banana Republic” after becoming a husband and father. Following a chance encounter with an old friend named Bobby (Bachelor), Devin is dragged back into the game of high-priced sneakers.
See or skip?: Skip, unless you’re deeply into sneaker culture (it’s unlikely anyone outside of it will get the fast-flying gargon). Despite fresh performances from its majority Black and brown cast, it’s extremely odd that Sneakerheads — about a Black man’s desire to maintain his identity while growing into a proper family man — is created and directed by two white men: Jay Longino and Dave Meyers. Actor Inny Clemons is the only Black EP in Sneakerheads’ 10-person producing crew.
A Love Song for Latasha
What is it?: A powerful, visually daring 19-minute documentary from first-time director Sophia Nahli Allison.
What is it about?: The life of Latasha Harlins, a 15-year-old girl who was killed in South Central L.A. less than two weeks after Rodney King in March 1991. While Harlins’ name is not nearly as tragically well-known as King’s, her death was also a catalyst for the civil unrest that rightfully overtook Los Angeles the following year.
While Love Song could easily be about death — so many of our most famous Black-led stories are about trauma rather than joy — the doc works hard to uncover the untold, hopeful history of Harlins. Love Song also maps out what Harlins’ future could have been, had she not been shot to death over a $1.79 carton of orange juice.
See or skip?: Love Song is less than 20 minutes long. See this important, heartbreaking story — especially since it is so rarely covered in the news or classrooms.
The Playbook (Season 1)
What is it?: 35 minutes of life advice from our greatest living sports coaches.
What is it about?: Getting tips on being the best from people who have been given many, many awards for being the best. Playbook is smart enough to offer the perspective of two women coaches: Dawn Staley and Jill Ellis. Both of those episodes inform viewers of how to succeed in industries that aren’t usually welcoming to women. NCAA basketball coach Staley’s episode is a particular stand-out since she shares her experiences as Black woman in a sport famous for uplifting white men.
See or skip?: See, if you loved The Last Dance documentary or listen to The Ringer podcasts often. Also watch this docuseries if you need life advice. The stars of The Playbook ensure multimillion dollar athletes live their best lives — why can’t they help you?
The School Nurse Files (Season 1)
Netflix premiere date: Friday, September 25
What is it?: An unapologetically odd Korean-language series.
What is it about?: Ahn Eun-young (Yu-mi Jung), a school nurse with a plastic light-up sword that can defeat monsters only she can see. We told you School Nurse FIles — based on Chung Serang’s 2015 novel School Nurse Ahn Eun-young — was gleefully strange.
School Nurse Files finds Eun-young placed at a new high school, which is overrun by mysterious happenings. One of these incidents includes a giant monster and a flying teddy bear head.
See or skip?: See. School Nurse is exactly the kind of wacky and inventive fantasy content Netflix should be churning out by the week.
Jack Whitehall: Travels With My Father (Season 4)
What is it?: Michael Whitehall being unhappy in Australia. Or as he describes it, “The country that has given us Mel Gibson, boxed wine, and the didgeri-fucking-doo.”
What is it about?: Comedian Jack Whitehall allowing his natty father Michael to join him for the Aussie leg of his standup tour. Michael — Netflix’s living embodiment of painfully posh Britishism — is unsurprisingly unimpressed by the land of Oz over two episodes of drag performances, cricket games, and camel rides.
See or skip?: See right this moment if you want to witness Michael Whitehall in glittery drag as Queen Elizabeth II. If these words hold no excitement for you, skip.
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