169 Best Movies & Shows Released in 2024 (Page 7)

Interview with the Vampire is a remarkable remake that takes place in 1910s New Orleans. It centers on Louis (Jacob Anderson), a wealthy Black man who is turned into a vampire by his lover Lestat (Sam Reid). The series is a sprawling gothic tale that explores the relationship between Louis and Lestat, as well as the politics of race and the ethics of being undead. In other words, it's a lofty love story with some bite to it. Watch if you're a fan of the lore, action, and melodrama that comes with addictively ambitious vampire stories such as this.

Genre: Drama

Actor: Assad Zaman, Bailey Bass, Delainey Hayles, Eric Bogosian, Jacob Anderson, Sam Reid

Rating: TV-MA

This show is chock-full of out of pocket lines and all kinds of surprising scenarios. The awkwardness literally never lets up, as it approaches romance with such over the top aggression and discomfort, which makes it difficult for you to just relax your core during the sweet moments. Despite the title, the ensemble comedy is the dominant flavor that brings uneasy confrontations, passive aggressiveness, and dramatic reveals from the couple’s loud and colorful support system. It’s really a well-written show, with family drama to the highest extent, and all the puzzle pieces fitting together nicely to create a lively show with staying power.

Genre: Comedy

Actor: Bohang Moeko, Dumisani Mbebe, John Morapama, Noxolo Dlamini, Sandile Mahlangu, Sivenathi Mabuya, Thabo Malema, Thando Thabethe, Tina Jaxa

Rating: TV-14

True crime documentaries have a way of stretching out a thin story for views. For instance, what could have been an hour-long film is tediously and often unnecessarily extended into five or so episodes. Thankfully, that’s not the case in Hollywood Con Queen. Three hours is a reasonable length to cover Harvey Tahilramani’s wild crimes and even wilder stories. His biggest offense thus far is pretending to be bigshot Hollywood executives (among them famed producer Amy Pascal and Universal chairman Donna Langley), then luring freelancers into flying all the way to Indonesia to deposit sums of money to his account. If he’s not manipulating them, he’s demanding them to commit sexual acts, effectively abusing them. Despite that, Tahilramani is convinced that he is somehow the victim of all this scheming, and it’s his first-hand account, along with the victims’ harrowing testimonies, reporter Scott Johnson’s excellent reporting, and private detective Nicoletta Kotsianas's staunch investigation that make Hollywood Con Queen a compelling true-crime watch.

Genre: Documentary

Rating: TV-MA

Countless documentaries have been made about The Third Reich's rise to power, so Berlinger’s Hitler and The Nazis doesn’t particularly tread new ground. It starts with Hitler’s childhood and political beginnings, which anyone with a cursory knowledge of world history should know, but it picks up by the second episode, when it finally settles into a rhythm of stunning archival footage, realistic reenactments, expert commentary, and Shirer’s AI-recreated voice. The latter is chilling, not just because it recounts horrific events but also because it sounds strangely, unfittingly mechanical--to say nothing of the unnecessary use of AI when hiring a voice actor would’ve done the trick. Other than that, however, Hitler and the Nazis is a meaty historical account of a past that shouldn’t be forgotten, one that the newest generation will do well to watch.

Genre: Documentary

Actor: Balázs Kató, Imre Csok, István Dankó, Károly Kozma, Soma Zámbori, William L. Shirer

Rating: TV-MA

It's refreshing being able to satisfy an appetite for mystery without grisly crime stories being the focus all the time (on Netflix no less).  The series does a fine job humanizing and fleshing out these stories, spending ample time on interviewees who speak with conviction and betrayal in their eyes, those who struggle with the toll that skeptical media has had on them. At the same time, when the "logical" perspectives are brought in, it adds intrigue and layers to each episode, leaving viewers to play a social deduction game by themselves with all the information given. With a tone as friendly as eerie stories will allow, and to varying degrees of success, the show delivers on its promise of intrigue.

Genre: Crime, Documentary, Mystery

Actor: Tijuana Ricks

Rating: TV-14

For the unfamiliar, isekai is the fantasy subgenre where a character is transported into a different world. Usually, this is just one transfer, with an everyday character being transferred to a more fantastical world. Doctor Elise isn’t just a reverse isekai– with a surgeon transported to medieval royalty– it also happens to be a double isekai– the titular doctor was initially royalty in the same country before her stint as a medical doctor. While we don’t get to see Elise’s growth as a surgeon, it’s refreshing to see an isekai anime celebrate the simple privileges of ordinary modern life, namely the medical knowledge that we take for granted, and the lack of absolute power that corrupts most characters. The ridiculously successful surgeries might be the ludicrous fantasy that drives Doctor Elise, but it’s lovely to see knowledge and power used for the common good, rather than the superiority complex common in isekaied protagonists.

Genre: Animation, Sci-Fi & Fantasy

Actor: Daisuke Ono, Hiro Shimono, Megumi Han, Satoshi Hino, Soma Saito, Yohei Azakami, Yoshimasa Hosoya, Yui Ishikawa

Rating: TV-14

Detective Forst isn’t a mindbending, totally original crime thriller that would revolutionize the detective genre, but sometimes we just want something familiar. The thriller adaptation of Remigiusz Mróz’s book series mostly sticks to the classic tropes, with eerily strung up bodies being investigated by the gruff, hardened detective, portrayed well by Borys Szyc. It’s not immediately clear what brought Forst to the mountains– whatever it was, it’s enough to gain the mistrust of his new station, and it’s possibly the reason behind his splitting migraines– but that’s part of the fun, as an additional mystery alongside who is behind the murders. That being said, the show plans to depict a whole series, so the ending of its first season might exasperate viewers who just want a complete story. Still, with the striking scenery of the Tatra Mountains, Detective Forst is at least stunning enough to watch, even with all the moody murder mystery tropes onboard.

Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery

Actor: Aleksandra Grabowska, Borys Szyc, Kamilla Baar, Szymon Wróblewski, Zuzanna Saporznikow

Director: Daniel Jaroszek

Rating: TV-MA

The true crime genre tends to sensationalize cult leaders like these, but Daughters of the Cult takes a more journalistic approach towards Ervil LeBaron, the leader of a splinter Mormon cult group. Primarily showing interviews, archived media, and blurry, out of angle re-enactments, the docuseries doesn’t exaggerate, knowing how horrifying the story already was, but it’s no less emotional as it comes from the perspective of the family this cult leader has tormented. Daughters of the Cult isn’t easy to watch, but it’s definitely a sobering, grounded perspective in a sea of colored cult crime depictions.

Genre: Documentary

Director: Sara Mast

A lot goes on in Constellation, Apple TV+’s latest addition to its growing collection of sci-fi shows. It begins as a survival space thriller, then it evolves into a conspiracy mystery with hints of supernatural horror, all while being a family drama centered on the elusive mother-daughter bond. For all that hoopla, however, Constellation moves at a very languid place. It can also get very confusing very fast as it attempts to be all the abovementioned things and juggle multiple possibilities (relating to quantum physics, mind you) at the same time. To quote series creator Peter Harness’ other credited show, Doctor Who, it’s all very wibbly wobbly timey wimey. If you’re one to dive into a sci-fi story’s heady and complex world, however, then Constellation comes highly recommended.

Genre: Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi & Fantasy

Actor: Barbara Sukowa, James D'Arcy, Jonathan Banks, Julian Looman, Noomi Rapace, William Catlett

Rating: TV-MA