THE WITCHER Stream on Netflix. Audiences don’t even need to wait for a title card to see the first beast being slain in the opening scene of “The Witcher.” The show — a fantasy series and a clear response by Netflix to “Game of Thrones” — stars Henry Cavill as Geralt of Rivia, an imposing monster hunter with a conscience. Based on books by the Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski (which have also inspired a popular video game series), the show follows Geralt during business hours (he’s essentially an exterminator of mythical brutes) and outside of them, as his story intersects with the lives of a sorceress (played Anya Chalotra) and a young princess (Freya Allan). Cavill “brings a convincing physical presence and some wry humanity and emotional depth to ‘The Witcher,’” Mike Hale wrote in his review for The Times. “He’s operating above the level of the material (and most of the rest of the cast), and if you’re susceptible to the fantasy genre even when it’s executed in routine fashion, he could tip the scale in favor of watching.”