Genre: Drama, Mystery
Actor: Ane Dahl Torp, Ardalan Esmaili, Henrik Norlen, Jhullian Carlsson, Mahmut Suvakci, Yusra Warsama
One of the cinema’s most noble roles is to challenge pre-conceived perceptions and tackle difficult questions about humanity and the world. Here are some of the most important and topically challenging movies to stream right now.
Genre: Drama, Mystery
Actor: Ane Dahl Torp, Ardalan Esmaili, Henrik Norlen, Jhullian Carlsson, Mahmut Suvakci, Yusra Warsama
In a world when women are sexualized and objectified, but also judged and excluded under the guise of religious righteousness, Adire seeks a middle ground. It dares to explore how women’s beauty can be a force for good, rather than a source of shame, even within the religion that traditionally excludes women from its leadership. That being said, Adire focuses on this to the detriment of all other ideas loosely stitched to the narrative, such as the cultural heritage in using the adire fabric for modern lingerie, sex and desire as an impetus for art, and the need for intimacy, not just sex, in relationships. Adire has the ideas, but not the execution, especially when it loses its way in the second half of the film.
Genre: Drama
Actor: Femi Branch, Funlola Aofiyebi, Ibrahim Chatta, Kehinde Bankole, Kelechi Udegbe, Mike Afolarin, Yvonne Jegede
Director: Adeoluwa Owu
Genre: Drama, Romance, Thriller
Actor: Anne Suzuki, Artemis Snow, Honami Sato, Kiko Mizuhara, Sara Minami, Setsuko Karasuma, Shinya Niiro, Shunsuke Tanaka, Tetsushi Tanaka, Yôko Maki, Yui Uemura
Director: Ryuichi Hiroki
There’s something frightening about being consistently spurned due to circumstances out of your control. This is the main concern of Pulimada’s Vincent, since he’s not marriage material due to his family’s history of mental illness. The twisty plot is reminiscent of old gothic mysteries, complete with a tiger metaphor, but the execution is off, especially since it takes more than two thirds of the film before there’s anything to fear. It’s clear that Pulimada has an engaging, though dated concept, and Joju George’s transformation for Vincent could have definitely gotten there. But entering this tiger’s den feels like a letdown when there’s no risk, no style, no intrigue in the film’s approach.
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Actor: Abu Salim, Aishwarya Rajesh, Balachandra Menon, Chemban Vinod Jose, Dileesh Nair, Jaffer Idukki, Jeo Baby, Johny Antony, Joju George, Krishna Prabha, Lijomol Jose
Director: A K Sajan
Genre: Drama
Actor: Bimbo Ademoye, Gabriel Afolayan, Kunle Remi, Sola Sobowale, Taiwo Hassan
Nutrition is a complex topic that’s affected by so many factors, so it can be hard to navigate this on a personal level. You Are What You Eat depicts one Stanford study examining only one of these factors– whether a vegan versus an omnivore diet would be considered healthier. The mini-series does have an interesting approach, as the show introduces four sets of twins out of the 22 sets in the experiment. These four pairs are funny and full of personality, especially when they react to their new diets and the results they receive, so it’s annoying when the show suddenly drops various scientific findings in between, and takes most of the runtime away from these relatable individuals. And when these findings are presented by scientists and politicians known to promote vegan diets, You Are What You Eat feels more like vegan propaganda masking itself as scientific, rather than the interesting journey real people took in the experiment.
Genre: Documentary
First shown in 2021 Madrid International Film Festival, Support Group Olympus made its US debut early 2023 through Prime Video. Given the wacky premise, it was easy to assume that the film would be humorous, and there are moments when its dry humor shines. However, the film takes a more contemplative approach, as the unchanging gods refuse to change, though they crave the status and power they used to have. This slow-paced approach feels appropriate, and had the film’s internal logic worked, the film could have contemplated the changes that happened not just to the gods, but to human livelihood as well. It’s definitely a unique story that needed more work on its execution.
Genre: Comedy, Drama
When France is portrayed on the silver screen, we’re more used to seeing the nation’s capital, Paris. Netflix instead takes us to the coastline of Marseilles in crime thriller series Blood Coast. As the Marseilles police team, led by police officer Lyès Benamar, hunts down the people behind the drugs, Interpol agent Alice Vadal gets transferred from Paris to the coastal case, possibly for revenge for her father. It’s a familiar plot, and the crime thriller goes through the motions in a slow, but predictable fashion, alternating between the police team and the organized syndicate behind the foreign drugs flooding the coast. The resulting show feels a tad boring, though it’s thankfully limited to only six episodes.
Genre: Action & Adventure, Crime
Actor: Idir Azougli, Jeanne Goursaud, Nicolas Duvauchelle, Olivier Barthélémy, Tewfik Jallab
Director: Ivan Fegyveres, Olivier Marchal
Known for his comedy skits on Facebook, the comedian Kountry Wayne finally gets his own Netflix special to middling results. The character that he plays on the stand-up stage is meant to be highly irreverent, showing a callous disregard to everybody except himself. But while a more seasoned comic (which Wayne could become in good time) might find a way to build these predictable jokes into something truly novel or subversive, Wayne settles for shock value—often relying on exaggerated physical comedy to sell a flatly written punchline. But even this trick he relies on too often, which makes his already impressive stage presence seem cheaper than it should.
Genre: Comedy
Actor: Kountry Wayne
Director: Jeff Tomsic
From Turkish comedian Cem Yilmaz, Do Not Disturb feels like it was meant to be a wholesome slice-of-life comedy-drama where a hotel manager has meaningful interactions with his fellow co-workers and his guests at night. It’s not quite like the Grand Budapest Hotel, though the film shares its fondness of bright, vivid colors and old-style aesthetics. As the film deals with a character hoping for a new start post-pandemic, there is something here about loneliness and coping mechanisms, as Ayzek relies on an Instagram influencer for all his life wisdom. However, the film makes it hard to make it care about its characters, as everyone but the main character seem one dimensional. When the film makes a surprising shift two-thirds of the way through, it feels like it came by too late.
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Actor: Ahsen Eroğlu, Bülent Şakrak, Can Yılmaz, Celal Kadri Kınoğlu, Cem Yılmaz, Diren Polatoğulları, Mustafa Kirantepe, Nilperi Şahinkaya, Özge Özberk, Seda Akman, Tilbe Saran, Zafer Algöz
Director: Cem Yılmaz
For some people, grief isn’t easy when a parent dies, especially if that parent is someone you wish you would never become. Grief can stir up a mix of uncomfortable emotions, like shame, anger, and guilt, and it can be very confusing to explain what’s happening to people who aren’t experiencing the same. There’s plenty of that here in South African drama Prime, with Marius losing his racist father, but the way the film depicts this grief is quite hard to follow because of the way it handles its other genres. The human horror of becoming someone you’ve hated is muddled with the randomly arranged sequences, sluggish pace, and mumbled dialogue, which is a shame, because the ideas and images could have made a better movie.
Genre: Drama, Horror, Thriller
Actor: Gérard Rudolf, Jasmine Hazi, Michael Lawrence Potter, Nomsa Twala, Richard Gau, Sharon Spiegel Wagner, Sizo Mahlangu
Director: Thabiso Christopher
From the Ashes is based on the real life fire tragedy, but upon searching, Netflix hasn’t mentioned which exact fire it was talking about. It’s possibly inspired by the 2002 Mecca girls' school fire, with the strict all-girl’s school, the closed gates and unattended cigarette, but the film starts off with a disclaimer saying that the characters and certain aspects of the story are fictional. One would think, with the freedom the film granted itself through fiction, the film would dare to critique certain controversial aspects of the tragedy that needs to be talked about – like the implications of emergency services being hindered due to modesty, or whether the media speculation was fair, or even the lack of safety regulations that the school administration failed to implement. Instead, most of the film plays out like an investigation, seemingly placing blame on fictional students, you know, the victims, for being the reason one fictional student wasn’t able to escape. Sure, it’s all fiction, but this is just not right.
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Actor: Adwaa Fahad, Aisha Al Rifaie, Alshaima'a Tayeb, Darin Al Bayed, Khairia Abu Laban
Director: Khalid Fahad
Genre: Drama, Fantasy, Romance
Actor: Alperen Duymaz, Canan Atalay, Funda Eryiğit, Gökçe Eyüboğlu, Mehmet Günsür, Nur Sürer, Seda Türkmen, Selin Vardarlı, Yıldıray Şahinler
Director: Erdem Tepegöz