15 new Netflix originals to keep you busy this May

When They See Us – May 31

This is an intense, racially charged, controversial true story about the Central Park Five – five black teenagers who were wrongly profiled and subsequently convicted for the brutal rape of a woman in New York City’s Central Park. Ava DuVernay is the multi-talented and trailblazing director, writer, and producer behind the four-episode series which stars Michael K. Williams (The Wire), Vera Farmiga (Bates Motel), and John Leguizamo (Bloodline) and is executive produced by Oprah. So it’s kind of a big deal. DuVernay has set a lot of firsts for black women in the entertainment industry and often produces important works related to social justice and racial issues.

While she recently directed the live-action adaptation of A Wrinkle in Time, she also became the first black female director to have a film nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture with Selma (2014). While the convictions of the five teens in the case were later vacated in 2002, it does nothing to excuse the first class witchhunt which prompted their arrest and conviction in the first place. The series is bound to be full of drama and important social commentary, which is not less relevant today than when the events took place in 1989. This is important, required viewing.