Today, we review two new drops on the streaming services. Encounter skillfully blends psychological drama with a SciFi alien invasion premise. While Murderville is an improv comedy/crime series that lacks any sustained comedy, and the only criminal act is inflicting us with the show.

Encounter (Amazon Prime) - This is directed by Michael Pearce, who gave us the stunning Beast in 2017, which starred Jessie Buckley. Here, he works with Riz Ahmed as an Army vet who’s obviously suffering from PTSD, but propelled by fear of an alien invasion and wanting to do right for his family, basically kidnaps his two sons from their Mom and the husband she now lives with. In typical Pearce fashion, and working with his tried and tested cinematographer, the prologue to this film is a visually stunning depiction of the said alien invasion and how it’s affected our microscopic insect world, and how it’s creating havoc as they burrow and bite into humans in parasite form. The film then shifts to Riz’ character, who’s paranoid as hell, and more than slightly unhinged.

The film is also marked by terrific performances from two child actors portraying the sons of Riz’ character. They’re born naturals, and they know how to give off a veneer of vulnerability, coupled with courage and bravado when required. Octavia Spencer is along for the ride as one of those who are on the side of the veteran despite the odd behavior he’s been exhibiting. If there is a fault to the film, it would be how much of the second half of the film is dominated by the hostage porn/crisis scenario, to the detriment of the SciFi premise which made the film’s premise offer something more than the usual. Resolving these two narrative strands become the internal struggle of this film, making me question just how good a fit it is. Again, Riz is terrific here.

Murderville (Netflix USA) - This 6-episode Comedy series is one of those that when viewed on paper held a lot of promise. Inspired by the British series Murder in Successville, which ran from 2015-2017, it’s a curious blend of improv comedy couched in a detective/crime show. Now led by Will Arnett as the somewhat disgraced detective Terry Seattle, the premise involves having a guest celebrity come in each episode as a trainee detective, not be given a script, and having to ‘survive’ while there’s chaos and solving the crime running rampant around the guest. There are even regulars in the cast - the police force, the medical examiner, and so on. It becomes up to the guest to strike fire, and improv himself to comedic success.

The likes of Conan O’Brien, Sharon Stone, Kumail Nanjiani, Ken Jeong, Annie Murphy, and NFL running back Marshawn Lynch come in as the guests in this first season. Right away, you can sense the inherent problems there and how the show will be like riding a roller coaster. Lynch seems to be lost, just coasting along, looking bewildered. You’ll like how Sharon tries to take charge; but of course, it’s those with stand-up experience who’ll best understand the improv element needed. The problem even then though is that while there are sparks that fly within the episodes, so much of it is also cringe-worthy, or just yawn-inducing. In England, the series worked because it was so unpredictable and strange-funny. Here, it’s trying too hard to still be a sit-com, and lacks any punch.