Full Circle started streaming on Max on July 13, and if we thought the trailer for Max's new thriller from Steven Soderbergh was a twisted web of lies, then the series itself is a whole other thing entirely.
The show, from acclaimed director Steven Soderbergh and writer Ed Solomon, stars Timothy Olyphant (Justified), Claire Danes (Homeland) and Zazie Beetz (Atlanta) in a tale of a botched kidnapping and its aftermath in New York City.
The first two episodes are streaming now on one of the best streaming services, with two more coming next Thursday on July 20 and the final two dropping on July 27. Early reviews are already saying that the cast and the cinematography are incredible.
Six episodes over three weeks means a fast binge, though – so what's there to watch when Full Circle has come, er, full circle? These are our favorite prestige thrillers streaming on Max right now.
1. Chernobyl
You'd think there isn't much mystery to the tale of the deadly reactor meltdown in Pripyat, but this truly extraordinary series takes you inside the catastrophe to unravel what turns out to be an extremely twisty story of multiple competing agendas. There's much more to this than a simple accident or even incompetence. It's beautifully acted, breathtaking and quietly heartbreaking too.
2. The Night Of
Based on the BBC series Criminal Justice, this eight-parter features John Turturro and Riz Ahmed in the story of an ordinary student's evening out that goes horribly wrong after he meets a mysterious young woman. It's been around for a few years now – it debuted in 2016 – but if you haven't seen it you're in for a treat. It's exceptionally well crafted, beautifully acted and more twisty than a corkscrew sliding down a helter-skelter.
3. The Tourist
It turns out that Jamie Dornan can do more than get his ass out in Fifty Shades of Grey. In this mystery thriller, he plays a character who wakes up in the Australian Outback with no memory of who he is. It sounds like Memento, we know, but this is a very different, wide-ranging and more action-focused show that's currently sitting with a very respectable 97% on Rotten Tomatoes. It's genuinely exciting and often rather odd.
4. The Flight Attendant
Amnesia's a recurring theme in many mystery shows, and here it's affecting the titular flight attendant (Kaley Cuoco), who wakes up in a hotel room with a blank memory and a dead man. Cuoco is brilliant as a hot mess in hot water, and the whole thing is two seasons of stylish, glorious pulp. Scotland's The Herald says "there's a touch of Hitchcock about [it]... but the fast paced editing, the frequent breaking of the fourth wall, and the poptastic soundtrack, place the show firmly in the feminist 2020s".
5. ¡García!
How can anybody resist a show described as "a cryogenically frozen super spy from the '60s is thrust into modern-day Madrid"? Based on the graphic novel of the same name, Francisco Ortiz is the titular spy in this gleeful mystery-solving romp that has more than a touch of the Indiana Jones to it. While there's a fun sense of humor here – we're not talking about a Spanish Austin Powers, it's more like Kingsman with some great on-screen charisma between Ortiz and his partner in fighting crime played by Veki Velilla – it has some interesting things to say about modern politics.
