Don’t miss Netflix’s latest true-crime serial killer series,the return of Alan Partridge,the entertainingCocaine Quarterback,Matthew McConaughey’sThe Lost Bus and the Australian time-loop comedyOne Last Shot.

Monster:The Ed Gein Story★ (Netflix)

Dreadful in enough ways to be repellent rather than mere trash,the third season ofNetflix’s American true-crime anthology chose the wrong monster. A rural odd-job man raised by a religious zealot mother,Ed Gein found infamy in 1957 when the discovery of a decapitated murder victim also revealed the nightmarish trophies he procured from female corpse snatching:severed genitalia,skulls as eating bowls,and face masks made from human skin.

In terms of monstrousness and media attention,the legally insane Gein was the first serial killer of the 20th century. But he had little personality,zero purpose,and provided no real illumination on his crimes. Whether through arrogance or misjudgement,no one involved inMonster has taken heed of that. The result is a garish,wildly unfocused,and fundamentally dishonest attempt to make eight episodes of prestige horror. The season’s writer and co-creator,Ian Brennan,has done fine work onMonster previously,but he should be excommunicated for this.

The mistakes are manifold. Start with Charlie Hunnam (Sons of Anarchy) as Gein. An actor whose best trait is his charisma delivers a one-note performance as a mewling weirdo with a high-pitched voice. Opening in 1945,as the horrors of the Holocaust are becoming public,the sexual deviancy is instantaneous,with the dramatised murders following quickly.

“Women are sin,” howls his mother,Augusta (Laurie Metcalf). While the period detail is alternately grim and glossy,neither feels authentic.

It soon becomes apparentThe Ed Gein Story can’t stay focused on Ed Gein. We get Alfred Hitchcock (Tom Hollander),depicted as a peeper like Gein,using him as inspiration for the 1960 filmPsycho.

Ilse Koch (Vicky Krieps),the murderous wife of a Nazi concentration commander,who Gein obsesses over,is brought to life,providing azone of disinterest. The thesis is that Gein changed popular culture and America,but there’s little thought beyond re-creating scenes fromThe Texas Chainsaw Massacre andTheSilence of the Lambs.

Monster:The Jeffrey Dahmer Story notably examined how its subject exploited law enforcement prejudice to openly prey on minorities;here,there’s just ludicrous additions. A local woman who knew Gein andcontested the media’s reporting of their romance,Adeline Watkins (Suzanna Son),is depicted as a love interest and bloodthirsty supporter. The creative gambits are as satisfying as embalming fluid.

Pointless hallucinations proliferate and the need to shock is obvious:Gein dances to a record and flirts with a corpse. “Leading me on,are you?” he coos before the necrophilia begins.

It’s topped by a late,heinous effort to fictitiously rehabilitate the now-medicated schizophrenic,who,in a sequence duplicating Netflix’sMindhunter,offers law enforcement help in catching 1970s serial killer Ted Bundy. It’s the last of too many egregious errors.

How Are You? It’s Alan (Partridge)★★★★ (HBO Max)

A disastrously inept,lickspittle English broadcaster,Steve Coogan’sAlan Partridge is one of the great comic creations in the history of television. For 30 years he’s come unstuck in the most absurd and excruciating ways,whether hosting fictional shows or upending his private life. Partridge has just enough professional plausibility that the novice viewer will be aghast as he inadvertently weaponises his own deficiencies,while the veteran watcher can savour lines that invariably backfire on the hapless host.

How Are You’s mockumentary format is not my favourite Partridge outlet;that would be the spoofs of the shows he hosts,which tend to spiral out of control with clockwork precision. But a Partridge documentary – he presents,directs,and handles wardrobe – misreading Britain’s mental health crisis does allow Coogan and his collaborators,sibling screenwriters Neil and Rob Gibbons,to jump from one sketch to another,emphasising how appalling Partridge can be in any situation.

Whether Partridge is proudly talking to an expert,which is better than “a confident person with a podcast”,or hashing out his differences with former sidekick and friend Simon Denton (Tim Key),this six-part series is a timely media satire,a critique of English insecurity and cringeworthy self-therapy. The gags come fast and some are sublime,such as Partridge claiming Rupert Bear as his favourite storybook bear because Winnie the Pooh doesn’t wear pants and Paddington is an “illegal immigrant”.

Cocaine Quarterback★★★½ (Amazon Prime Video)

This three-part documentary about former back-up college football quarterbackOwen Hanson,who is serving 21 years in a US federal prison,has an exuberant energy and playful aesthetic,despite its subject. How Hanson went from the University of Southern California to working for Mexico’s Sinaloa drug cartel is an admittedly wild ride – he blithely credits his “hustle mindset” – but it’s only when the narrative reaches his calamitous time in Australia that reason and culpability kick in. Local police and a reporter from this masthead,Kate McClymont,provide the balance that this true-crime romp from Jody McVeigh-Schultz needs.

The Lost Bus★★½ (Apple TV+)

As a disaster film,this real-life tale of a bus driver,Kevin McKay (Matthew McConaughey),and a teacher,Mary Ludwig (America Ferrera),trying to safeguard primary school students during a hugely destructive Californian bushfire in 2018 is terrifyingly effective:the ground itself erupts and horrors surround the embattled vehicle.

You’d expect nothing less from director Paul Greengrass (The Bourne Supremacy),but the immersive visuals are undercut by shallow storytelling – the first act is McKay having his many failings articulated – and a refusal to acknowledge the climate changes making bushfires ever more savage.

One More Shot★★★(Stan*)

Partying like it’s 1999 goes enjoyably haywire in this Australian time-loop comedy,where irreverent anaesthetist Minnie (Emily Browning) gets one chance after another to win over her on-off ex,Joe (Sean Keenan),at a New Year’s Eve party he’s attending with his girlfriend,Jenny (Aisha Dee). Drinking from a bottle of tequila puts Minnie back at the party’s front door,letting her try one misjudged plan after another,and thisGroundhog Day-inspired movie enjoys both her scheming and the comeuppance the universe keeps besting her with. It’s a modest success,never tempting overindulgence.

Project Runway (season 21)★★★ (Disney+)

This veteran fashion design reality show is in comeback mode. It has a new streaming home and the latest season brought back longtime hostHeidi Klum,who had jumped ship in 2017 to Amazon Prime’s rivalMaking the Cut. Unfortunately,Klum’s long-time collaborator Tim Gunn,the design academic who memorably scrutinised the aspiring fashion designers,didn’t get recalled. It’s a compact season,as if the waters are being tested,but the concept and casting remain solid and celebrity stylist Law Roach is a welcome addition to the judging ranks with his unimpressed critiques.

*Stan is owned by Nine,the publisher of this masthead.

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