As far as mournful, human-scale apocalyptic stories go, “Perfect Sense” (2012) doesn’t have the profile of, say, “Children of Men.” But it’s a memorable tale, never mind its inexplicably fleeting theatrical release. The film stars Ewan McGregor as a chef and Eva Green (“Dark Shadows”) as an epidemiologist who fall in love just as Britain and the world are being gripped by an outbreak that’s causing everyone to lose sensory perception. Director David Mackenzie (“Young Adam”) employs poetic voice-overs and world-cinema imagery to help set it up: First, people fall into uncontrollable despair, then they lose their sense of smell. And then comes panic and animal hunger, followed by immediate loss of taste. And so things play out, one sense at a time, coloring McGregor and Green’s evolving emotional connection and graphic intimacy. The story deftly handles the baggage they lug into their complicated circumstance: She’s heartsick over lingering personal struggles, while he’s got commitment hang-ups. Satisfyingly, Mackenzie and Danish writer Kim Fupz Aakeson devote just as much attention to imagining and developing their dystopian setting. One voice-over laments how vanished scents mean the end of certain memories they would have triggered, while McGregor copes with deadened palates by making his cooking all about texture. Clear-headed musings in a mad world. Extras: featurette. (IFC Films, $24.98; Blu-ray, $29.98; available now)
DRAMA/THRILLER
WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT
KEVIN (2011)
Tilda Swinton and Ezra Miller (“Californication”) are paired as a maternally challenged woman and the twisted son whose malevolence reduces her to a tragic husk. The performances are harrowing and mesmerizing, even from the kids who play Miller’s Kevin in younger years, and director/co-writer Lynne Ramsay packs the film with off-kilter imagery heightening the unease and dread. Extras: You will want to catch a half-hour featurette to get a sense of Miller behind the scenes. John C. Reilly also explains his Pollyanna-father character: He’s the dad seen through Swinton’s eyes. Source novelist Lionel Shriver is interviewed in another segment. (Oscilloscope Laboratories, $29.99; Blu-ray, $34.99)
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TELEVISION
MAVERICK: THE
COMPLETE FIRST SEASON (1957-58)
James Garner’s wisecracking card sharp is the memory that endures from this vintage TV western, of course. But looking back at this 27-episode set, you will see a series that was still figuring out the angles, loosening up its tone after a while and introducing costar and alternate lead Jack Kelly as Bart Maverick, brother of Garner’s Bret. (Still later, Garner would be replaced by Roger Moore as cousin Beau.) Genre fans take note: The no-frills set does not highlight this, but the first three episodes are directed by John Ford protégé Budd Boetticher, a favorite of Eastwood and Scorsese. (Warner, $39.98)
ACTION
LETHAL WEAPON
COLLECTION (1987-98)
Ah, the memory of those simpler, more innocent days when Mel Gibson’s wild-eyed, wild-haired Martin Riggs was the weapon, and not Gibson’s mouth or temper or screwy worldview. All four installments of Gibson and Danny Glover’s cop series are bundled on Blu-ray in a reissue timed to Father’s Day. (Sure, why not?) The set includes a bonus disc with nearly two hours of recent retrospectives giving a sense of the leads’ buddy-buddy partnership with personable, veteran director Richard Donner (“Superman”), plus the go-go ’80s production landscape. (Warner, $79.98; available now)