This week’s picks include the funny and warm local drama Dalliance, season two of Joel Edgerton’s sci-fi puzzler Dark Matter, an audacious comedy special, a supernatural Brit thriller and the misguided movie Rosebush Pruning (that’s probably more of a don’t watch).Dalliance ★★★★ (Paramount+)Dalliance’s title is a slight misdirect for this warm, funny and understated miniseries from father-and-son duo John and Dan Edwards (Bump; The F-Ward). Focusing on a messy, loveable group of 60-something friends in Sydney and featuring some of Australia’s finest actors (including Hugo Weaving, Heather Mitchell, David Wenham and Georgie Parker), it’s not really about an affair or tryst.Instead, consider Dalliance as a spiritual sequel to Edwards snr’s beloved shows The Secret Life of Us and Love My Way. It’s an enrapturing ensemble drama about friends growing apart and together, filled with small, distinctly Australian moments (bonding over Aldi wine; selling off Zampatti dresses to make ends meet; a wild arvo at the Clovelly bowlo) that ground the show’s heightened events.Georgie Parker as Rose, Hugo Weaving as Billy, and Heather Mitchell as Dani in Dalliance.Propinquity would be a much more accurate (and significantly less marketable) name for Dalliance. It’s a word that former restaurateur Dani (Mitchell) and ex globe-trotting cameraman Billy (Weaving) playfully bicker over after they meet by chance on a Sydney ferry, when Billy hides from his washed-up rock star of a brother (Wenham) in the ferry’s kitchen, run by Dani. Meaning nearness of person or place, it’s a type of intimacy that could be kismet – or, if you’re feeling cynical, simply the path of least resistance, a love made by ease and convenience.Maybe, in Billy and Dani’s case, it’s the former? There’s an undeniable chemistry between the duo, and when Dani suggests to Billy’s wife, Rose (Georgie Parker), that she “rent” Billy as arm-candy to a professional event she’s been dreading, it seems as though Dalliance’s affairs are in order. Kirk Torrance as Rex and Catherine McClements as Sarah in Dalliance. Not so, for reasons Paramount+ requested I not spoil, despite occurring early into the pilot. What follows is a far more intriguing story, where the aftershock surfaces long-ignored fault lines and desires within Rose and Billy’s friendship circle.Wayne Blair (The Sapphires) plays a man walking out on a 34-year marriage that should have ended decades ago, entering an icy-cool dating pool; a free spirit (Catherine McClements; Water Rats) questions whether her nomadic van-life is really what she wants, and Russell Dykstra (Rake) plays a gay man whose significantly younger boyfriend (Ryan Panizza) wants him to grow up.Now in their third acts, they all look back at their relationships, questioning what form of propinquity – fate or resignation – shaped their lives.What’s most admirable about Dalliance is that not all of its storylines neatly wrap by the end of its six episodes (though it’s hard, for various reasons, to imagine a second season). It would be untruthful if these characters suddenly solved all their issues; thankfully, Dalliance isn’t that naive.Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Claudia in Possession.Possession ★★★ (Binge)The horrors of colonialism and slavery sit at the centre of supernatural thriller Possession, a moving five-episode British miniseries. Gugu Mbatha-Raw (Belle; Black Mirror’s “San Junipero”) stars as Claudia, a biracial British lawyer whose firm sends her to her dead mother’s homeland of Jamaica to investigate an inheritance claim.When a dead client’s will leaves the entirety of his £50 million estate not to his son Oliver (Jonny Lee Miller, Trainspotting) but a mystery man named Cudjoe East (Sheldon Shepherd), Claudia is deemed the most “appropriate” person to handle it. “You think a black lawyer might be more politically expedient?” she says. “Sounds like a job for a partner, really.”Freshly promoted, Claudia ignores ominous signs and strange nightmares as she arrives at the client’s plantation home. Eager to find something that discredits East’s claim to the fortune, she soon unleashes a malevolent force sealed under the floorboards that is capable of possession.From there, the series jumps between the present and the 1700s, establishing how the barbarity and sufferings of the past shape the present day. Wrapping its nuanced exploration of race, trauma and co-opted identity into digestible horror tropes, Possession loses steam when it centres on Charlotte (Bel Powley), Oliver’s cruel ancestor. But it’s a powerful watch, with an ending that, understandably, satisfies and angers.Stamptown. Stamptown ★★★★★ (Netflix)If you watch one comedy special in 2026, make it Stamptown – an overwhelming, ingenious post-modern variety show led by Gaulier-trained clown Zach Zucker, featuring acrobats, a rollerskating camera-crew and Neil Patrick Harris. Five stars aside, you might hate it. It’s unlike any other Netflix special, unflinchingly weird and overstimulating, full of nudity and absurd punchlines that will alienate many. Perfect for fans of Tim & Eric and alt-comedy, Stamptown is an ode to oddness at a time of algorithmic sameness. A sincere, stripped-back finale from trans comic Jordan Gray drives that last point home.Rosebush Pruning stars (from left) Elle Fanning, Jamie Bell, Riley Keough, Callum Turner, Tracy Letts and Lukas Gage.Rosebush Pruning ★ (Mubi)In an epidemic of ugly, washed-out blockbusters, a film as vacuously gorgeous as Rosebush Pruning is even more offensive, a complete waste of its cast and crew. An eat-the-rich satire following a wealthy, amoral family (Callum Turner, Riley Keough, Elle Fanning, Jamie Bell, Lukas Gage, Tracy Letts and Pamela Anderson), neither its stunning cinematography nor juvenile transgressions (incest! murder!) can hide that it has nothing to say.That’s the point; it’s as empty as its characters. But Rosebush Pruning doesn’t leave its audience hollowed out. Instead, you’re left wading through post-Saltburn slop.Simon Pegg (centre) as the head of a British intelligence service in The Undeclared War.The Undeclared War ★★ (Stan)Cyber-warfare may be capable of bringing entire countries and economies to their knees, but watching suits prevent catastrophe with some frantic keyboard strokes in a nondescript office isn’t particularly cinematic. That’s the fundamental issue with The Undeclared War, a Channel 4 drama centred on Britain’s intelligence agency GCHQ, which has returned four years after its first snoozefest season. Refocused as a thriller, season two opens with a one-take scene as GCHQ boss Danny (Simon Pegg) joins Zoom calls, walks between rooms and asks others to send off emails. Dead on arrival.Joel Edgerton in the multiverse sci-fi thriller Dark Matter.Dark Matter ★★★ (Apple TV)Australian actor Joel Edgerton leads this moody sci-fi as Jason, a family man kidnapped by an alternative reality version of himself (Jason #2, as characters helpfully call him) and forced to swap lives. In season two of Dark Matter, Jason #1 and wife Daniela (Jennifer Connelly) attempt to find a universe where they’ll be safe from Jason #2 and any others who want Jason #1’s life. A little unwieldy? Sure. But it’s consistently gripping, with a budget to build out this multiverse properly with a remarkable performance(s) from Edgerton at its centre.Want more TV? We’ve got you.Newsletter: Find out the next TV, streaming series and movies to add to your must-sees. Get The Watchlist delivered every Thursday.September streaming guide: All the exciting new shows to watch this month.Movie guide: 200 handpicked hits from all the major streamers.Australian Story: The ABC flagship is turning 30. Leigh Sales and Claudia Karvan reflect on the experience of making the show.Kitchen Cabinet: Has Annabel Crabb’s political interview show reached its use-by date?Watch: Deputy TV editor Meg Watson on what’s worth adding to your list right now.