John Powers

In 2003, Japanese animator Satoshi Kon presented an upbeat fable about three social outcasts who find an abandoned baby. Recently restored, Toyko Godfathers never sinks into moralizing or treacle.

Actual crimes are scary and disturbing, but critic John Powers finds crime stories comforting. He recommends two shows he's been binge-watching during the pandemic.

The Russian poet Joseph Brodsky once said that prison is a lack of space counterbalanced by a surplus of time. Our current lockdown can't be compared to being locked up, but with so much surplus time on our hands, many of us are eager for stories that will help us escape endless thoughts of COVID-19. Here are three that did that for me: Unorthodox, Baghdad Central, and Abigail.