Wasteman + 3 shows to watch on MUBI
Plus, a 1-month free trial for those who want to pop in and check it out.
Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma, The Substance, Passages, Die My Love, Queer…MUBI has distributed some of the most interesting and queer-centric arthouse cinema in recent years. You might not realize they actually acquire and stream television, too—some really fascinating selections in a catalogue that I hope continues to grow with niche indie and international programming.
MUBI’s evolution as a streamer hasn’t been without speed bumps—inspiring its new Ethical Funding and Investment Policy and their Artist at Risk fund. It speaks to how they are listening and shifting as an organization, which, to be honest, is more than you can say for most streamers and entertainment companies in this landscape.
With that being said, I’ve collaborated with MUBI to highlight Wasteman, a gritty, dynamic film starring David Jonsson, which begins streaming today, and three promising shows you might as well check out while you’re there. The folks at MUBI have been kind enough to offer a voucher for a 1-month free trial if you’d like to dip in and watch a few things. I’ve been told you don’t need to be a first-time subscriber for it to work. You can activate that here! I’ve just added Lurker, Revenge, Rotting in the Sun, Decision to Leave, and The Kingdom (a Lars von Trier TV show) to my watchlist. Let me know if you have any other suggestions.
My MUBI era! Let’s get into some recommendations.
Wasteman
If you’re anything like me, you’ve been following David Jonsson’s career very closely ever since he played Gus on Industry. I will basically watch anything he’s in—from Alien: Romulus to The Long Walk, and most exciting to us telephiles, his upcoming series Hype that he is creating alongside Baby Reindeer producers. While we wait for that, catch him in Wasteman, which is finally being released on MUBI as of today after having premiered at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival.
Jonsson stars as Taylor, an introverted inmate in the UK who was sentenced to prison after dealing drugs to teens who overdosed on them. 13 years later, he’s about to get released early when a new chaotic bunkmate moves into his cell, Dee (Tom Blyth). At first, he brings a bit of levity—my favorite scene in the film is a cell rave to a Jamie xx track. As you might imagine, tensions rise between them—to the point where it might actually threaten his release. (For those wondering, nothing gay happens, although I could swear there was a hint of homoeroticism between the two.)
Directed dynamically by Cal McMau and running at a tight 90 minutes, this is one of the more engaging prison dramas I’ve watched—which I have to say, isn’t usually my favourite genre (well, not since Orange Is the New Black, and I did like Frank & Louis out of Sundance).
There’s an interesting mix of cell phone footage edited into Wasteman which keeps things fresh visually, but it’s really the performances that sell it. I can’t overstate how good Jonsson is here, once again, as he gets more and more panicked about his chaotic new roommate. If you’re anything like me, you’ll want to have witnessed this performance before Jonsson becomes the massive star he’s destined to be (in my world, anyway).
The New Years
Claimed as “the most romantic show of the year” by Vogue back in December, The New Years will hit the spot if you enjoyed One Day’s structure. Over ten episodes, we check in with Ana (Iria del Río) and Óscar (Francesco Carril) every New Year’s Eve from 2014 to 2024, as they move through their 30s. The first is, of course, their chance meeting: Ana is a dissatisfied bartender and Óscar is struggling to get over his ex-girlfriend. They sleep together and connect, fall in love, even, but naturally, the relationship escalator hits a few bumps on the way up as they realize they may not be totally in sync.
I’m only part way through the season and I’m going to rapturously watch the rest. I already know a handful of friends who I need to recommend this to immediately; it hits all the romance drama notes but is grounded with a kind of realism that makes it feel, like Taylor Antrim astutely mentions in her Vogue review, novelistic. That arthouse pull to depict life as it is feels not only very aligned with MUBI’s brand of programming, but ends up drawing me into a show in ways One Day didn’t by being so glossy (in classic Netflix fashion). There’s something about those quiet moments in-between dialogue where the show lets you breathe and start projecting your own experience onto it. Not everything needs to be said out loud! Delightful, I can’t wait to finish the season.
Mussolini: Son of a Century
What fascinated me so much about My Brilliant Friend is how post-war Italian politics shaped both the characters and the narrative of the series; the collective frustration of the working class and the push against fascism by the Italian communist movement.
Mussolini: Son of a Century, set a few decades earlier, got on my radar for the same reason. The Italian-language series directed by Joe Wright (Pride & Prejudice) landed at the top of TV critic Daniel Fienberg’s top 10 shows of last year, in which he calls it “unsubtle art” and that it borrows “aesthetic devices from opera, German Expressionism and the primordial ooze of early cinema, and fusing it all into a cacophonous piece of horror propaganda.”
I’m playing catch up, but based on the first of eight episodes, I totally agree. This biopic of Benito Mussolini’s founding of the Fasci Italiani in 1919 is doing a lot but in the best possible way. This is no slow period drama. The performances are grand and so is the production design, editing, score, and costume design. Like Roxana Hadadi points out for Vulture, this is a “deliriously experimental series about a monstrous figure, jamming as many moving parts, camera tricks, and maximalist flourishes he can fit into the frame to demonstrate how the Italian dictator was such a magnetic, destructive force.”
Hal & Harper (US Only; on CBC Gem in Canada)
I watched Hal & Harper last year and I still think about it all the time. Up-and-coming writer-director Cooper Raiff is at the helm here, and he stars alongside Lili Reinhart as the titular sibling duo. Their father (Mark Ruffalo) is having a baby with his new girlfriend (Betty Gilpin), after years struggling to embrace a new relationship since the passing of his ex-wife.
The show is steeped in a soft melancholy: The siblings have developed a trauma bond codependence on each other and are navigating dead-end jobs and existentialism in their 20s. We also flash back to their elementary school days, around when their mom passed away—where Raiff and Reinhart play the child versions of their characters (welcome back Pen15!).
Hal & Harper was nominated for two 2025 TV Scholar Awards, including in the Queer Representation Award category. The season opens with Reinhart cheating on her girlfriend, and I found the queer exploration here to be sincere and thoughtful. A negative review pointed out that the amount of plot here should amount to a film rather than a series, but there is something about the languid, dreamlike pace of the series that I found meditative, before it all snaps into focus in the finale—that wouldn’t have been possible as a film.
Head over to MUBI for a free month to check some of these out. I’ve curated a few suggestions on this splash page, too.
I’ve been meaning to watch Hal & Harper!!