Think of it as a late Christmas present. Some of the best streaming options out there are free to watch, which means you can binge a show you’ve been meaning to watch, or sample several different shows you’ve heard good things about.
Apple TV is free for everybody this weekend. This is a first for the streaming service. Beginning today and running through Sunday, you can watch all of Apple TV’s streaming options without subscribing. Since Apple has so many great shows and movies to choose from, I thought I’d highlight some of my favorites.
Severance
If I could only give you one suggestion to watch on Apple TV this weekend it would be, hands down, Severance. This is one of the best TV shows I’ve ever seen, and one of the most thought-provoking, tense, creative and original series you’re likely to ever see. The story follows Mark Scout (Adam Scott) a recent widower who decides to take on a “severed” job at the mysterious company, Lumon. The controversial procedure severs your work consciousness from your home consciousness, effectively splitting someone into two separate people with no shared memories.
When Mark starts to question what’s really happening on the “severed” floor of Lumon, he follows a trail of breadcrumbs down a dark and wild rabbit hole. Meanwhile, his work self begins to question Lumon from the inside. Patricia Arquette, John Turturro, Christopher Walken and a really wonderful cast of characters also star. Season 1 came out three years ago and I’ve watched it three times in anticipation of Season 2, which premieres on Friday, January 17th. I’m pretty sure this is the reason Apple is giving everyone a free weekend.
Shrinking
The best dramedy on TV right now, Shrinking is also about a recent widower, though there is no mysterious dystopian corporation involved. Jimmy (Jason Segel) lost his wife in a terrible car accident and has turned to booze, drugs and women to numb his pain and grief, leading to a rift between him and his teenage daughter, Alice. In an effort to piece his life back together, he begins using unorthodox methods to treat his therapy clients—with mixed results. Harrison Ford plays Paul, Jimmy’s boss and mentor. The show is at once hilarious and incredibly poignant, delving into the relationships between Jimmy and his friends, colleagues and family in the wake of unspeakable tragedy. The second season just ended and a third is on the way. This was at the very top of my Best TV Shows Of 2024 list.
Slow Horses
If you enjoy spy thrillers, you can’t really beat Slow Horses. Gary Oldman leads a tremendous cast in this series about MI5 outcasts confined to Slough House. While these may not be the cream of the crop, the “Slow Horses” are always bumbling their way one step ahead of both MI5’s operatives and the various terrorists and criminals that attempt to thwart them. Oldman’s Jackson Lamb is one of the most ridiculously grotesque and lovable characters on TV. All four seasons of this show have been amazing, with incredibly tight pacing, brilliant acting and exciting stories that never let up. You could easily binge an entire season in one sitting. (Here’s my review of the Season 4 premiere).
Killers Of The Flower Moon
A brilliant, heartbreaking true story, Killers of the Flower Moon tells the story of the Osage people and the greedy men who try to rob them of their wealth after oil is discovered on their tribal lands. Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro and Lily Gladstone all put in Oscar-worthy performances. I just recently watched this and believe it deserved the Best Picture win over Oppenheimer. It’s long—3.5 hours—and pretty bleak, but it’s an important piece of our collective history, and one that will leave you haunted by its troubling implications about human nature and greed.
Bad Monkey
Bad Monkey was one of my favorite comedies of 2024 and even though I’m normally not a huge fan of Vince Vaughn’s humor, he really nailed it with this one. The story follows Andrew Yancey, a police detective in Miami with a big mouth and a keen eye for solving crimes. He’s out of a job, however, and working as a food inspector in the Florida Keys, when a mysterious severed arm is found by a fishing boat. This leads him on a wild goose chase as he pieces together a sordid tale of murder and betrayal that leads him to the Bahamas on the hunt for the truth. It’s all very clever and quirky and highly entertaining with a great supporting cast.
Ted Lasso
The first season of Ted Lasso is so unique and feel-good I think anyone dealing with any kind of stress or hardship should watch it just to get a dose of hope. I’m less enthusiastic about the seasons that follow, but it’s still a singular show that trades so much of our modern day cynicism for belief in the fundamental goodness of our fellow humans. The story follows Ted Lasso (Jason Sudeikis) an American football coach who is brought over to the UK to coach a major soccer team. Nobody thinks he’ll be able to pull it off—even he doubts his abilities to coach a sport he knows nothing about—but his pluck and affability win the day, and win over just about everyone who he comes into contact with.
Silo
Another great sci-fi offering from Apple, Silo is a dystopian story about a massive underground silo that houses thousands of residents of a post-nuclear world. Filled with mystery and conspiracy, the show follows Juliette Nichols (Rebecca Ferguson) an engineer who finds herself appointed sheriff, investigating not only murder but the very nature of the silo itself and the mysterious cabal who rules over it, not to mention the truth of what happened to drive humankind underground in the first place.
These are just a few of the many offerings available for free this weekend on Apple TV. There are many more, some of which I’ve seen, many of which are on my enormous and ever-growing backlog. See below for some other suggestions.
Other TV shows you might want to check out:
- For All Mankind
- Masters Of Air
- Bad Sisters
- Presumed Innocent
- Foundation
- Dark Matter
Other movies you might want to check out:
- The Tragedy Of Macbeth
- Fly Me To The Moon
- Fancy Dance
- Wolfwalkers
- Napoleon
- Finch
Check out my Best TV Shows Of 2024 List here and my Worst TV Shows Of 2024 List here. I also have my weekend streaming guide out for other movie and TV show ideas this weekend on Netflix, Prime Video, Hulu and more.
What are your favorite TV shows and movies these days? Let me know on Twitter, Instagram, Bluesky or Facebook. Also be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel and follow me here on this blog. Sign up for my newsletter for more reviews and commentary on entertainment and culture.
