Instant Picks of the Week 4/13/18
Gone are the days of scrolling mindlessly through your queue! No longer will you have to sift through the vastness of what’s coming to the instant viewing wastelands this month! Whether you’re looking for a stellar film or an exciting new show to binge, Instant Picks of the Week brings you the hottest releases in film and television on instant viewing platforms that we know you’ll love, or at the very least not despise.
NEUROTICA (IFC)
The Internet has brought us a niche web series with a slightly NSFW title once again. NEUROTICA tells the story of Ivy, a Dominatrix in a small town in New York who also lives with OCD. If only by virtue of the premise, where a person with OCD has to get up close and personal with a lot of people, the show is hilarious, but the writing and acting make it even more enjoyable to watch. Created by CollegeHumor alum Jenny Jaffe, the show follows Ivy as her small BDSM business competes with a newer, bigger dungeon that recently opened up in her town. Regardless of what you like to watch—on television, or in the bedroom—the show is incredibly funny, and its 20-minute-or-so runtime spread across six episodes makes it a very quick and enjoyable watch. [Derek Daniels]
NEUROTICA can be streamed in its entirety on IFC
RELEASE THE HOUNDS (Netflix)
Reality television as a genre learned to embrace its stupidity early on—and if you thought KEEPING UP WITH THE KARDASHIANS was peak stupid, boy, do you have a new show to watch. RELEASE THE HOUNDS is a British reality competition show, but this ain’t your GREAT BRITISH BAKE-OFF. Three contestants who have no idea what they’ve signed up for find themselves dropped off unceremoniously in the middle of the woods. They learn that there are large sums of money hidden in a “haunted” estate, and if they can complete the challenges and escape with the cash, it’s theirs. Only one catch: they will be pursued by a pack of hounds. Not pomeranians, not corgis, these are full-blown police dogs. This show walks the perfect line between batshit insanity and straight-up great television. The horror challenges fall somewhere between FEAR FACTOR and a campy horror escape room, requiring the contestants to solve puzzles while being sprayed with blood and guts, chased by chainsaw clowns, or thrown into pitch darkness. Then they’re unceremoniously marched to the “dog run,” where they have to make a literal run for their lives with a backpack full of cash. Maybe this is a sign that we’re finally on our way to the actual Hunger Games, but as the saying goes, it’s so crazy it just might work. [Kate Brogden]
Three seasons of RELEASE THE HOUNDS are available to stream on Netflix.
