What to watch this weekend: A moving transgender drama and terrifying new Netflix series

It’s a gloomy, wet October day which calls for only one thing: great TV. A brilliant Shirley Jackson adaptation has just landed on Netflix (perfect for the run-up to Halloween), the great Anna Friel stars in transgender drama Butterfly and, should you want to venture out to the cinema, Roddy Doyle’s latest big-screen offering is a must-see. 

ON NETFLIX

Some of us aren’t one for scary films or programmes (of ANY nature) but, every so often, something comes along that is so good, you’ll willingly take a bit of terror. This thing isn’t even a thing – it’s a woman: Shirley Jackson. The US author does horror more frighteningly than almost anyone else. Her forte is bringing the sinister into normal, everyday life – it’s scarier if we can it imagine it actually happening to us, no? She’s best known for her short story The Lottery and her novel The Haunting of Hill House, considered to be the very best of haunted-house tales and Netflix have finally adapted the latter into what is a modern re-imagining. It centres around a house where five siblings grew up. Now, as adults, there are just four of them after the youngest sister tragically died. They reunite at their childhood home to remember their sister, but it’s not all just memories… or is it? The trailer alone looks horrifying.

The Haunting of Hill House is available to stream on Netflix now

ON TV

Actress Anna Friel remains vastly underrated (she shines in every project she touches) so we were thrilled to see that she’s starring in a new drama, already called a “game-changer” in the way it handles the extremely complex and emotionally-wrought subject of transgenderism by campaigners. Butterfly – in which she plays mother Vicky Duffy – tells the story of a family coming to terms with the needs of their 11-year-old transgender child Max, who becomes Maxine. Friel said she was drawn to the script because she was taken by its emotional depth and because, as a mother to her own 13-year-old daughter, she very much related to Vicky. “I thought Maxine’s courage and bravery was a beautiful part of the story to tell.” It looks like it’s going to be very special.

Butterfly airs this Sunday, October 14th on UTV at 9pm

ON THE BIG SCREEN 

Beloved writer Roddy Doyle’s first screenplay in a decade for Rosie is, as ever, timely and relevant to the modern Irish landscape. It tells the story of a mother trying to protect her family after their landlord sells their rented home and they become homeless. Over 36 hours, Rosie and her partner John Paul strive to find somewhere to stay while shielding their young family from the reality of the situation around them. With almost 10,000 people across the country homeless at the moment, it’s a subject that is happening right on our doorsteps – making the film all the more important to watch. Read more about the movie HERE.

Rosie is in cinemas across the country now