Netflix

A few blocks away are hipster-dense streets with street art and coffee shops. But around Lee Avenue in Williamsburg, it’s as if time has stood still. Men in white knee socks, high hats and coats from another century rush by. Women wearing wigs or shawls on their heads. Here are kosher grocery stores, synagogues and a mikvah – a ritual Jewish bath. It is an enclave few outsiders get real insight into. In the middle of the New York City, the Hasidic community – fundamentalist ultra-Orthodox Jews – practice strict gender segregation, distancing themselves from Western modern society without television, cinema and pop music. This is the environment in which 19-year-old Esty grows up in Netflix’s new series Unorthodox.

The perfect mini series is an elusive beast. In the pre-Sky and Netflix era, you’d get the DVD and it would last you a few weeks (back then, reading books was still a thing), lend it to friends, and fawn over it at dinner parties for the next few months. Yet back then we were watching less, didn’t have much choice, and consequently, weren’t so picky. The rise of on-demand TV was like moving from small town to the big city: our standards jumped, except this time, the dumped girlfriend was ITV, and the new belle was Sky Atlantic. When there’s so much new TV to choose from, it’s rather difficult to pick.

At the moment, what everyone needs is a good laugh. This doesn’t necessarily mean that the funniest comedies have to exist in their own bubble; many of the best examples of the genre have held a mirror up to society, in all its complexity and absurdity. But then many also manage to divert and entertain on their own terms, too. Whether you’re into jet-black political satire, deceptively clever romantic comedies or broad farce, there’s something here for everyone. Even if humour remains the most personal of inclinations, these half-dozen masterpieces are endlessly, hilariously rewatchable. The Death of Stalin https://www.youtube.com/watch?

Gomorrah (Sky) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4QORgagblU Life in the Naples Mafia (the Camorra) is nasty, brutish, short – and nothing like Goodfellas. Even when you’ve made your millions from the drugs trade, there’s nothing to spend it on save your fleet of armoured 4 x 4s and your gilded cage in some bleak, rundown suburb which it’s never safe to leave because you’ll only end up arrested or shot. Spoiler alert: almost everyone dies over the four seasons of this mesmerisingly bleak, moodily soundtracked, fabulously compulsive drama.

With over 160 million subscribers – which ranks somewhere between the population of Bangladesh and Nigeria – Netflix’s biggest shows command staggering audiences worldwide. But the streaming platform has also snapped up the rights to hundreds of lesser known series, some of which are just as good. Here’s our pick of the undiscovered gems: Rectify https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rd0_nNkdi0c When it comes to sheer critical acclaim, few shows can match Rectify. From the moment this slow-burn crime drama debuted in the US in 2013, it was praised to the hills by television aficionados. Yet even after four successful seasons, and an excellent finale, the show remains relatively unknown compared to the likes of Breaking Bad and The Wire.

As this year’s Oscar-winning films continue their box office reign, it’s salutary to remember that some excellent films have been honoured over the years. Even as many have faded from memory (Crash, anyone?), some of the award-winners that can be found on Netflix represent the very best in contemporary cinema. Here are some of our favourites. The Silence Of The Lambs (1991) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6Mm8Sbe__o Jonathan Demme’s psychological thriller was the last (to date) film to win the ‘big five’ at the Oscars – Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Adapted Screenplay.