Netflix: Best new shows and movies this June

The best box sets of 2016

Video-streaming service Netflix has hundreds of television shows and box-sets available to watch. Here are our top picks for 2016:

The Get Down[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"content_original","fid":"89288","attributes":{"class":"media-image"}}]]

The Get Down, which traces the birth of hip hop in the 1970s, is West Side Story with rappers, says the New York Times.

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The musical is "an authentic evocation of late-'70s New York, that caldron of burning buildings, bankruptcy, cocaine and revolutionary forms of popular music," adds the paper. It also comes with stunning cinematography.

It looks beautiful, the AV Club agrees, "but the style and atmosphere are in service of a story with almost no sense of momentum or purpose".

Yes, The Get Down is far from perfect, says IndieWire, but what may seem like "messy madness" to some is in fact "a masterpiece".

The debut episode is long, at 92 minutes, and all subsequent episodes are lengthy too, averaging around 60 minutes (compared with House of Cards' 48 minutes per episode). But the series justifies its length.

Having made the transition from cinema, director Baz Luhrman's approach to television is to "put it together like a film: one big arc made up of stunning, stand-out moments in between", says IndieWire.

Better Call Saul[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"content_original","fid":"102688","attributes":{"class":"media-image"}}]]

Fans of Breaking Bad will have an idea of what to expect from this Vince Gilligan spin-off. But even if the adventures of Walter White passed you by, there are lots of reasons to tune into this prequel about the show's Saul Goodman, aka James Morgan "Jimmy" McGill.

"Better Call Saul traces in loving, if corrosive, detail how Jimmy McGill, a debt-ridden, ambulance-chasing loser, changed his name to Saul Goodman and became a drug-lord consigliere," says the New York Times. It is "better than good", says the newspaper: "It's delightful - in a brutal, darkly comic way, of course."

It takes just a few episodes to become clear that Saul Goodman is a "compelling enough slimeball to carry his own backstory", says the Rolling Stone, which adds that the tone is "nowhere near as bleak as Breaking Bad".

With a third season in the making, it's the perfect time to catch up on seasons one and two.

The Crown[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"content_original","fid":"89289","attributes":{"class":"media-image"}}]]

With online streaming services beginning to shift successfully from content providers to content makers, it's no surprise their projects are getting bigger and more ambitious. The Crown is Netflix's latest effort and is the company's most expensive drama to date.

The show traces the life of Queen Elizabeth II from her wedding in 1947 to the present day. Aiming to fill the British period-drama void left by Downton Abbey, it tells "the inside story of two of the most famous addresses in the world – Buckingham Palace and 10 Downing Street – and the intrigues, love lives and machinations behind the great events that shaped the second half of the 20th century", says the Daily Telegraph.

The opening episodes follow the young monarch in her early years on the throne, with Claire Foy of Wolf Hall fame slipping on the crown and former Doctor Who Matt Smith starring alongside her as the Duke of Edinburgh.

The behind-the-scenes team is just as important and Netflix has recruited well, bringing in the crew responsible for the 2006 Oscar-winning film The Queen.

Easy[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"content_original","fid":"100081","attributes":{"class":"media-image"}}]]

Described as a "Mumblecore master and Greta Gerwig-enabler" by Vulture, director Joe Swanberg has arrived on Netflix with a new series called Easy.

The sitcom explores a number of diverse Chicago characters as they fumble through the modern maze of love, sex, technology and culture - topics that Swanberg "often tackles in his micro-budgeted drama features which employ extensive improvisation", says Deadline.

The comedy-drama consists of eight stand-alone episodes showcasing the diversity of the city itself, focusing on characters from different neighbourhoods and economic backgrounds.

The interlocking theme of each episode is about "sexual evolution" and there are a huge number of actors involved: Orlando Bloom, Malin Akerman, Michael Chernus, Marc Maron, Kiersey Clemons, Elizabeth Reaser, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Jake Johnson, Aya Cash, Dave Franco, Jane Adams, Hannibal Buress and Emily Ratajkowski, among others.

Love[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"content_original","fid":"102681","attributes":{"class":"media-image"}}]]

This ten-episode romantic-comedy was produced and written by Judd Apatow, the director of The 40-year-old Virgin and Knocked Up. It stars Gillian Jacobs as Mickey Dobbs and Paul Rust as Gus Cruikshank, who crash out of bad relationships and slowly work up to going on a first date together. Mickey is a destructive drink and drugs enthusiast, while Gus is a "goofball beta male", says The Guardian. Both are "smart and hilarious", as is the show, although there is a lot of "to-ing and fro-ing and not getting on with it", says the newspaper.

The New Yorker says Love is "darkly funny" and "pleasantly shambling" with "uproarious" scenes. One of the show's best aspects is how much time the central pair spend apart, it adds.

"Love is perhaps the wrong title for the series. It is less a story about a budding relationship than an argument that the more interesting, and certainly the more amusing, parts of a person's life take place outside of the courtship ritual – among friends, oddball strangers and inside the confines of a person's own head."

BoJack Horseman [[{"type":"media","view_mode":"content_original","fid":"105108","attributes":{"class":"media-image"}}]]

Netflix's only misanthropic animated horse won critical acclaim last year and a third season came out in July. BoJack Horseman, an ageing 90s TV star, is unable to marry his successful past with his unsuccessful present.

Despite featuring a talking horse and a host of other animals, this is no light-hearted caper. Alan Sepinwall at HitFix called it "an unblinking, incredibly empathetic portrait of middle-aged melancholy", while Todd VanDerWerff at Vox went further, praising the second series for its hard-hitting take on the modern obsession with celebrity culture.

"Netflix's BoJack Horseman found its footing beautifully in season two, earning the title of not just the streaming service's best show, but of one of television's best shows," he said.

Ian Crouch in the New Yorker called it a "brilliant comedy of despair", adding: "there has never before been a television comedy in which the main character was so unhappy and so self-aware at the same time."

With Will Arnett from Arrested Development voicing the lead and a whole host of A-list co-stars, including Alison Brie from Mad Men and Breaking Bad's Aaron Paul, BoJack Horseman looks set to be one of Netflix's big calling cards this year.

Gilmore Girls

[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"content_original","fid":"105515","attributes":{"class":"media-image"}}]]

To the unparalleled joy of Gilmore Girls fans across the globe, the iconically quirky comedy made a comeback in November this year, following an eight-year absence from our screens.

It stars Lauren Graham as single mother Lorelai Gilmore and Alexis Bledel as her daughter, known as Rory, in the fictional town of Stars Hollow, Connecticut.

With four 90-minute episodes full to the brim with the fast-talking mother and daughter duo's wit and puns, "the show takes us right back to the Stars Hollow we know and love, and all the characters that make this show so special," says the Huffington Post.

The show's new official title is Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life, with each episode named after, and set during, a season of the year. With plenty of unsettled story arcs left over after the show's cancellation in 2007, the new series has plenty of material to work with, while throwing in a few new twists here and there.

Coming in the closing stages of 2016, the new series is "the escape you need", says the Huffington Post: "There’s no mention of politics, poverty, discrimination, guns, war, or any of the darkness that has consumed us this year."

Happy Valley[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"content_original","fid":"100189","attributes":{"class":"media-image"}}]]

Written by Sally Wainwright and starring Sarah Lancashire, Happy Valley is a fresh take on the gritty crime dramas that the UK produces so well.

Police Sergeant Catherine Cawood (Lancashire) follows the trail of a dangerous criminal who tore her family apart, ultimately uncovering a chilling new case. There's a race against time to protect a young woman from the fate that destroyed her own daughter's life.

The Bafta-winning series first aired in April 2014, and series two gripped viewers in February and March this year.

While Wainwright's writing is superb, the show hinges on the incredible performance of Lancashire, says TV.com's Tim Surette.

"The Last Tango in Halifax actress absolutely absorbs the role of Catherine, bringing this complicated character to life by bouncing back and forth between her professionalism as a hard-nosed cop and emotional foundation as a caring family woman still affected by her daughter's tragic suicide," he writes.

With the third series on the horizon, now is the perfect time to immerse yourself in the world of Happy Valley.

House of Cards[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"content_original","fid":"90991","attributes":{"class":"media-image"}}]]

Ready to get another dose of Kevin Spacey's scheming politico Frank Underwood? Actually, that's scheming President Frank Underwood after Garrett Walker's resignation in the season two finale saw him take charge.

However, as season four gets underway, Frank faces the prospect of losing it all – it's election season and his long-suffering wife, Claire, has walked out. Not a good look for a presidential candidate.

On top of that, it looks as if his misdemeanours may finally be about to catch up with him. But Frank is hardly one to let a few inconveniences get in his way – after all, this is the man who once pushed a nosy journalist under a speeding train. So what does President Underwood have up his sleeve this year?

Arrested Development[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"content_original","fid":"101789","attributes":{"class":"media-image"}}]]

A fifth season of Arrested Development is "definitely coming in 2016", says Cinema Blend, and "it seems like all the stars will be back for more Bluth-enasia".

The show follows the fictional Bluth family, who have experienced the inverse American dream, going from riches to rags. Throughout the course of four seasons, the clan are "utterly corrupt, barely tolerating each other and trying to stay out of jail", reports the Daily Telegraph.

Despite being showered in awards, including several Emmys, Arrested Development was cancelled after its third series received less-than-positive reviews.

It was picked up by Netflix in 2013 and given a new lease of life. Critics raved over the fourth season, as the "out-of-order narrative structure started to bear fruit and the callbacks and sight gags began to hit home", The Guardian says.

Luke Cage[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"content_original","fid":"100909","attributes":{"class":"media-image"}}]]

Luke Cage is the third in the Netflix-Marvel collaboration, following on from the success of Daredevil and Jessica Jones. Iron Fist is also due and then all four superheroes will team up for The Defenders.

Mike Colter plays Luke, a former convict with superhuman strength and unbreakable skin. He describes the character as "darker, grittier, more tangible" than Marvel stars such as Iron Man and Thor. "He likes to keep things close to his chest, operate on the hush-hush. He has these abilities but he's not sure how and when to use them. He's a very nuanced character," says Colter

The series has a "beautifully plotted arc", says the Daily Telegraph: Cage is drawn into conflict with local crime lords "in a steadily escalating spiral" and "we believe his struggles because of the show's unfailing sense of place". Harlem is "far more vivid and developed" than the Hell's Kitchen of Daredevil and Jessica Jones, says the newspaper, which adds: "This could be Netflix's best Marvel series yet."

Orange is the New Black[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"content_original","fid":"95823","attributes":{"class":"media-image"}}]]

The inmates of Litchfield penitentiary are back in the hotly anticipated new season of OITNB. A group of new guards and prisoners are threatening the survival of our favourite inmates. "I've been in Litchfield for a while now and I'm starting to feel unsafe," says Piper Chapman, played by actress Taylor Schilling.

The show has been praised by critics for expertly blending the dark drama of prison life with the humour that many inmates use to survive their incarceration, but there isn't a lot to laugh about this year, says The Guardian. "Pain has always been a part of this show, but it seems like the writers have made a choice to let us see just how all of these women are going to suffer."

The previous season confirmed the show's status as one of the most diverse and inclusive series running today, says IndieWire. "Race, age, appearance, sexuality - doesn't matter. What does matter is the same sort of existential crisis that undercuts all of the great television we've seen recently: A search for meaning in unforgiving circumstances."

Stranger Things[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"content_original","fid":"96198","attributes":{"class":"media-image"}}]]

The buzz surrounding this creepy new eight-part series skyrocketed as soon as the first trailer was released. Set in the 1980s, Stranger Things stars Winona Ryder as the single mother of a 12-year-old boy who disappears in the woods of a small town in Indiana.

"We have so much nostalgia and love for this era," Matt Duffer, who created, wrote and directed the series with his brother Ross, told The Independent. "We really wanted to see something on television that was in the vein of the classic films we loved growing up: the Spielbergs, the John Carpenters, as well as the novels of Stephen King."

The trailer features a number of 80s sci-fi and horror favourites: a young girl with supernatural powers; a government conspiracy and a mystical entity.

Grace and Frankie [[{"type":"media","view_mode":"content_original","fid":"102853","attributes":{"class":"media-image"}}]]

Created by Howard J Morris and Marta Kauffman (of Friends fame), the series sees Grace (Jane Fonda) and Frankie (Lily Tomlin) blindsided by the revelation that their respective husbands are gay and divorcing them to be with each other. During the whirlwind break-ups, Grace and Frankie, two opposites, find solace in each other's company and attempt to help each other through the experience.

The series stars Sam Waterston, Martin Sheen, Brooklyn Decker, Ethan Embry, June Diane Raphael and Baron Vaughn alongside the two shining leads.

"The chemistry between the former 9 to 5 co-stars and real-life friends Fonda and Tomlin is absolutely incredible," says Brian Moylan at The Guardian, better yet, the show is "uniquely original in that it focuses on two women of a certain age".

Describing it as a "gift from the comedy gods", the Daily Telegraph's Sarah Carson says: "It's lighthearted in celebrating the continued vigour of people in the later years of their lives, addressing their concerns without reducing its characters to fumbling old biddies with a lost sense of purpose."

With season three premiering in early 2017, catch up on the first two seasons of Grace and Frankie now.

Narcos[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"content_original","fid":"96948","attributes":{"class":"media-image"}}]]

Narcos, made by Netflix itself, dramatises the life of Pablo Escobar, the Colombian drug lord who died in 1993 after reportedly becoming one of the ten richest men in the world, with his own private army. The first series was "superb", says the Daily Telegraph. "With more plot strands than a Dickens novel, this is drama that commands your utmost attention."

Brazilian actor Wagner Moura piled on 40 pounds to play the role of Escobar and his performance has been praised as "glowering" by the Telegraph. "He vacillates between taciturn menace and warmth towards his family, all the while throwing his weight around literally and symbolically," says the newspaper. The show was nominated for two Golden Globes this year, including best drama television series and best performance by an actor for Moura. The second series came out at the start of September.

Orphan Black[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"content_original","fid":"101305","attributes":{"class":"media-image"}}]]

Tatiana Maslany finally won an acting Emmy this year for Orphan Black, in which she plays more than 40 different characters. Fans of the sci-fi thriller, which explores the ethical implications of human cloning, have been praising her skills since the series premiered in 2013.

The action focuses on Sarah Manning, a woman who discovers she has genetically identical sisters, including soccer mom Alison, PhD student Cosima and the dangerously disturbed Helena. Maslany shows "exceptional talent" in portraying their different personality traits, quirks and accents, says Hollywood Reporter.

The sisters have to battle a religious cult hell-bent on destroying them, as well as the mysterious Dyad Institute and even some of their own genetic copies, such as Rachel Duncan, who was raised as a corporate cutthroat aware of her origins. Sarah is also fiercely protective of her daughter Kira and foster brother Felix.

A fifth and final season is due to be released next year but, until then, Netflix has all four seasons available for you to enjoy.

Black Mirror [[{"type":"media","view_mode":"content_original","fid":"103637","attributes":{"class":"media-image"}}]]

Charlie Brooker's audacious satire was commissioned by Channel 4 for the first two seasons, but has moved to Netflix for the third this autumn. Each episode has a different cast, a different setting and even a different reality, says Brooker, "but they're all about the way we live now – and the way we might be living in ten minutes' time if we're clumsy".

The show, which has been compared with The Twilight Zone, has even come strangely close to reality at time. After David Cameron was forced to laugh off allegations that he had, as a student, had intimate dealings with a pig, Black Mirror fans were quick to recall the first episode of the first series, which involves a fictional UK prime minister having sex live on national television with a pig to save a kidnapped princess.

Rupert Everett, Kelly Macdonald, Jodie Whittaker and Bryce Dallas Howard are among the stars to have taken part in the dark sci-fi. The latest season has "never been bleaker", says Willa Paskin at Slate, "but it's still so imaginative that you can't look away".

Watership Down

Netflix and the BBC are "teaming up to ensure that no generation of children goes without the character-building experience of waking up screaming at the thought of being messily devoured by rabbits, or drowned in pastoral fields of blood", says AV Club.

Yes, Richard Adams's Watership Down is being remade, this time as a four-part mini-series starring James McAvoy as Hazel, Ben Kingsley as General Woundwort, John Boyega as Bigwig and Gemma Arterton as Clover, the rabbits forced to find a new home after their warren is destroyed.

With a rumoured budget of £20m, the animation is the BBC's biggest joint venture with the video-on-demand service.

Executive producer Rory Aitken has sought to reassure viewers who are still haunted by Martin Rosen's 1978 film adaption.

"While we won't shy away from the darkness in the book, visually it won't be as brutal and scarring," he says. "The idea is to bring it to a wider family audience. While Watership Down is never going to be for young children, it will be for the whole family to watch together."