what we’re watching in December

The so-called silliest time of the year is here. But for many it can also be a stressful time. Whether you’re frantically planning for Christmas and/or New Year celebrations – or steeling yourself ahead of some longer-than-ideal interactions with the relatives – you’re going to want to let off some steam.

We can help on that front. This month’s pickings include an unashamedly gory horror flick, a captivating limited series starring Cate Blanchett, and a colourful new season of Drag Race exploring drag culture down under. Sit back and enjoy!

The Diplomat, season two

Netflix

The Diplomat is clearly a show for those of us who like political drama untroubled by reality. Its basic premise – that a scrappy career officer can be plucked out of the field, named US ambassador to London, and arrive there within 24 hours – sets the scene for a thriller that James Bond himself could have concocted.

Not only is Kate (Keri Russell) an odd choice as the ambassador, she comes with a husband (Rufus Sewell) who is himself a former ambassador and determined to advance them both. As Kate wants both a divorce and hot sex with her husband, this provides a subplot that wouldn’t be out of place in Bridgerton.

The story revolves around an attack on a British ship in the Persian Gulf, and over the two seasons a growing list of suspects are revealed – each one pared back to reveal yet more improbable events. But it allows the wonderful Alison Janney (from West Wing) to appear as Vice President, with apparently the sort of clout Dick Cheney exercised for George W Bush.

Even Australia gets a cameo role, with references to the submarine deal and the delight of the Anglosphere leaders in pissing off the French. And in Trump’s America, Kate is probably overqualified for her role.

- Dennis Altman

What We Do In The Shadows, season 6

Binge

Celebrated mockumentary What We Do in the Shadows has always had a degree of circularity. Across five seasons, the Staten Island vampires – Nadja, Laszlo, Nandor the Relentless and energy vampire Colin Robinson – have bounced in and out of different hobbies and odd fascinations. Meanwhile, put-upon, low-status “familiar” Guillermo unsuccessfully explored various ways to advance his life. In season five he briefly fulfils his dreams of becoming a vampire proper: a disappointing experience.

In the sixth and final season, all are looking for purpose. Guillermo has quit and is looking to break his codependent relationship with Nandor, and the vampires are reevaluating their choices after realising how little they’ve achieved, given their failure to conquer anything beyond their street and half of Ashley Street.

This dissatisfaction prompts Laszlo to revisit his ambitions as a mad scientist, while pushing the remaining characters out into the workforce. Guillermo moves up the ladder quickly at a consultancy, perhaps finding a new master–familiar relationship with his obnoxious finance bro boss, both helped and hindered by the others. It’s an inspired and funny conceit that refreshes and expands the show’s world, while challenging the characters, their relationships and their worst excesses in unexpected ways.

This season also foregrounds the absurd, disruptive presence of the mockumentary camera crew to great and hilarious effect. After a strong run, the show successfully bows out on its own terms – a rare feat.

– Erin Harrington

Disclaimer

Apple TV

Disclaimer is television at its very best. Based on Renée Knight’s 2015 novel, and directed by five-time Academy Award winning Mexican director Alfonso Cuarón, it stars Cate Blanchett, Kevin Kline, Sacha Baron Cohen and Kodi Smit-McPhee.

A famous journalist, Catherine Ravenscroft (Blanchett), discovers she is the character of a novel anonymously sent to her. It reveals her darkest secret and has devastating and life-changing consequences when it emerges.

Billed as a thriller, this seven-part limited series is structured with voiceover, adding depth, character conflict and motivation. Cuarón has used this technique distinctively and evocatively before in other productions such as his acclaimed film Y Tu Mamá También (2001).

Apple TV released episodes weekly so the show couldn’t be binged – which suits its complex production. The first episode unwinds slowly to reveal the background from different viewpoints. There is an ominous atmosphere of flashbacks – even in the highly explicit sex scenes between Jonathan (Louis Partridge) and the young Catherine (played by Leila George).

It’s a high-quality production photographed in an evocative filmic style by Cuarón’s frequent collaborator, three-time Academy Award-winning cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki.

– Lisa French

RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under, season four

Stan

RuPaul’s Drag Race is a global phenomenon. There have been 16 seasons of the US series, several all-star spin-offs and numerous international versions.

Now, Drag Race Down Under has returned for a fourth season and there are some refreshing changes to the format. RuPaul hasn’t returned as host, with Michelle Visage instead taking the lead. Her rapport with the queens feels genuine and her status as the primary judge is a milestone for cisgender women in drag culture.

Rhys Nicholson has returned as a judge and it’s fantastic to have an Australian comedian who captures the “down under” sense of humour. Other fantastic additions to the rotating judging panel this year are former Drag Race Down Under winners Isis Avis Loren, Spankie Jackzon and Kita Mean – which means local drag knowledge is always featured on the judging panel.

In fact, the cast of this season is perhaps the strongest Down Under has seen. Lazy Susan, Vybe, Mandy Moobs, Max Drag Queen and Brenda Bressed have all demonstrated a strong presence on the show and their performances are consistently impressive.

Lazy Susan’s runways have been particularly strong. In one runway, her use of an electric headdress that projected futurist faces saw her go viral. It’s wonderful to see Australian drag humour being celebrated by the Drag Race juggernaut.

– Stuart Richards

Read more: Michelle Visage is now hosting Drag Race Down Under. It's a milestone for cis women in drag

Ready or Not

Netflix

(Spoiler alert)

The 2019 American horror film Ready or Not, recently released on Netflix, is an occasionally amusing satire about the predatory super-rich, and all the metaphorical and literal backstabbing that goes on behind manor doors.

Girl-power protagonist Grace (Samara Weaving) looks and sounds like a privileged, blonde supermodel. But we’re led to believe she is a former foster child from the wrong side of the tracks, about to marry into the sinister Le Domas family dynasty and fortune.

The early scenes offer the slow-build, viewing pleasures of a lavish poolside wedding, followed by a deliciously dysfunctional family dinner with sneaky, old-money eccentrics. Finally, Grace realises it is she who is about to be served up and sacrificed for the amusement of her new family.

It’s downhill from there, however. The plot collapses into a predictable hunt-and-slash horror (think Scream with more upmarket interiors). The film tries too hard to be clever and progressive in a way that comes across as campy and derivative.

An ending in which the demonic in-laws implode as the Sun rises (expect buckets of blood) is so ridiculous it tips over into horror comedy. And the final scene of a dishevelled Grace smoking on the steps while the terrible place burns up behind her reminded me a lot of Heathers (1988) – another, better satire.

– Susan Hopkins