When Apple TV+ launched back in 2019, one of the most common complaints was its lack of a back catalog. And to some extent, the criticism made sense, especially given that some expected Apple to (at least partially) bundle in its vast iTunes movie library.
Now, more than five years later, Apple has quietly built up a surprisingly solid library of original films and series. If you’re a relatively new subscriber, there’s a good chance you missed out on a few of these great early releases:
Based on William Landay’s 2012 best-selling novel of the same name, this limited crime drama series stars Michelle Dockery (Downton Abbey, The Gentlemen) and Chris Evans (The Avengers, Knives Out), as well as Jaeden Martell (Knives Out, It) in the titular role of Jacob.
Evans’ character is tasked with the defense of his own son in a murder trial, and the story explores the tectonic shifts caused by such an event in the life of a family. If you’ve watched Netflix’s recent Adolescence limited series, you know to expect this won’t be a light, dinner time, binge-worthy show, but it is definitely worth a watch.
Watch Defending Jacob on Apple TV+
Being a Velvet Underground fan, I am partial to this one. But this excellently produced documentary explores how one of the most influential bands in history came together, and turned the rock scene upside down.
As one IMDB reviewer put it, the documentary is “pieced together almost as strangely as the band itself”, which is possibly the highest praise director and writer Todd Haines (I’m Not There, Carol) could possibly expect. Even if you are not a Velvet Underground fan, this documentary might surprise you.
Watch The Velvet Underground on Apple TV+
For the standards of a three-time Academy Award winner, this remake of 2014’s La Famille Bélier flies surprisingly under the radar. CODA stars Marlee Matlin (The West Wing), Troy Kotsur (The Number 23), and Emilia Jones (Brimstone) as members of a deaf family whose hearing daughter, played by Jones, serves as their connection to the hearing world. Until her musical ambitions begin to pull her in a different direction.
CODA became the first movie produced by a streaming service to win Best Picture, and it also scored Apple the Academy Awards for Best Adapted, and Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role thanks to Kotsur’s portrayal of character Frank Rossi.
Alongside the Theranos case, the WeWork saga is possibly one of the craziest, most interesting and unbelievable stories that only reality could provide.
The show features Jared Leto (Requiem For a Dream, Suicide Squad) as Adam Neumann, and Anne Hathaway (Interstellar, Les Misérables) as Rebekah Neumann. It explores the couple’s trajectory as they, well, manifested WeWork’s $47 billion valuation.
Based on a homonymous podcast, this eight-part series is a must-watch for any tech enthusiast. Just by writing about it, I feel like watching it again.
This is yet another inspired-by-true-events limited series that made a bit of a splash when it came out, but was soon unfairly forgotten. Taron Egerton (Tetris, Rocketman) plays a playboy turned convict who accepts a plea deal involving a fellow convict, played by the fantastic Paul Walter Hauser (BlacKkKlansman, Richard Jewel).
Black Bird also marks Ray Lotta’s final performance, and earned Apple quite a few awards due to Hauser’s terrifyingly good portrayal of… well, you’ll see.
I had never been a big Billie Eilish fan. I did know one or two of her songs, but that was it. Still, I gave Billie Eilish: The World’s A Little Blurry a try, and I’m glad I did. The documentary takes you along (in sometimes uncomfortable ways) on the ride all the way up to the top, and the loneliness that might come with it.
The documentary highlights Eilish’s creative partnership with her brother Finneas O’Connell and her fiercely protective mother, who is set on not letting her daughter become another cautionary tale for early stardom.
Watch Billie Eilish: The World’s A Little Blurry on Apple TV+
Do you have a favorite forgotten Apple TV+ gem? Any recent favorites you can’t recommend enough? Let us know in the comments.
Apple TV+ is available for $9.99 per month and features hit TV shows and movies like Ted Lasso, Severance, The Studio, The Morning Show, Shrinking and Silo.
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