New series to binge-watch this Raya long weekend, feature, movie, raya, streaming, tv series, theHive.Asia

With the long Hari Raya weekend coming up and your celebration plans probably dampened by the pandemic, surely it is advisable to use this time wisely to prepare for an awesome binge session in the comfort of your own homes.

Thus, Cinema Online have scoured most of the currently available streaming services high and low to bring you some newly released series that are worth your watch!

So get your kuih Raya ready, and check out the list below!

“Defending Jacob” (Apple TV+)

What would you do if your teenage son is suspected of murdering his classmate? Let’s ask Chris Evans, shall we? In “Defending Jacob”, Evans plays a lawyer who has to desperately find ways to prove his son’s innocence. Michelle Dockery, J.K. Simmons, and the kid from I.T., Jaeden Martell, also star in this series where there are many guaranteed twists and turns that will keep you wanting to watch the next episode immediately! Despite releasing its first two episodes on 24 April, following episodes were only released every Friday, and with the release of the very last episode on Friday, 29 May, you will have all 8 episodes ready to binge!

“Castle Rock” (Netflix)

This series was originally released back in 2018 on the Hulu platform, but since the service isn’t available regionally, no one really heard of the show until Netflix finally bought the international rights and made all of its two seasons available for our side of the world. Castle Rock is a sinister town in Maine where its characters, places, stories and themes encompass the popular works of author Stephen King. It is a much-watch for all horror and/or King fans who would recognise familiar settings and characters from “Shawshank Prison”, “The Shining”, “Salem’s Lot”, “Misery” and more. Expect to see actors from previous Stephen King adaptations like Bill Skarsgård (“IT”), Tim Robbins (“Shawshank Prison”) and Sissy Spacek (“Carrie”) also star in the series!

“Into The Night” (Netflix)

If subtitles turn you off, then you’re going to regret not watching this much raved about Belgian thriller. Based on the novel, “The Old Axolotl” by Polish author Jacek Dukaj, sci-fi meets suspense as the six-episode series explores the dire state of a passenger plane full of people who have to keep flying around the globe to outrun the sun that’s suddenly killing everyone! What’s worse is that the plane is also held hostage by a gunman, amp-ing the stressful situation up to a 100%.

“I Know This Much Is True” (HBO GO)

Everyone is suddenly talking about Mark Ruffalo and what could finally be his moment to shine and win all the awards come awards season. In this drama, Ruffalo plays a dual role as twin brothers, one of whom suffers from paranoid schizophrenia and the other who constantly finds his life thrown out of balance by his brother’s delusional antics. This show might be too serious and dark for most to watch, but if you are in for good storytelling and more than great acting, binging on the first three episodes might just prove worthy of your time, and then just like us, you can patiently await the remaining three episodes that’ll be released every Monday

“Dispatches From Elsewhere” (Amazon Prime)

But if you want something a little more light-hearted, then this might be more your cup of tea. Jason Segal from “How You Met Your Mother” has created and stars in this new anthology series about four ordinary people who are brought together by chance after they respond to a flyer. They soon discover mind-boggling mysteries that are hidden in everyday life and have to work together to find out what it all means in this quirky TV adventure.