Genre: Crime, Drama
Actor: Ana Torrent, Chino Darín, Cosimo Fusco, Daniel Grao, Eduard Fernandez, Enric Auquer, Giannina Fruttero, Jaime Lorente, Melina Matthews, Natalia de Molina, Raúl Briones, Roberto Mateos, Salva Reina, Sergi Lopez
Genre: Crime, Drama
Actor: Ana Torrent, Chino Darín, Cosimo Fusco, Daniel Grao, Eduard Fernandez, Enric Auquer, Giannina Fruttero, Jaime Lorente, Melina Matthews, Natalia de Molina, Raúl Briones, Roberto Mateos, Salva Reina, Sergi Lopez
In Love and Deep Water is torn between multiple concepts. There’s a murder, sure, and a butler trying to figure out who’s the killer, but there also happens to be a romance plot where the same butler falls in love with the passenger that informs him of their partners’ infidelity. The film also tries to squeeze in comedy with the way the killers try to hide the dead body, the ridiculousness of some passengers, and cheeky but contextless commentary. While the romance is lovely, In Love and Deep Water isn’t the fun and chaotic murder mystery promised, as it drowns itself with interesting ideas that never really fully pans out.
Genre: Comedy, Mystery, Romance, Thriller
Actor: Airi Matsui, Aju Makita, Amane Okayama, Aoi Miyazaki, Hatsunori Hasegawa, Hidekazu Mashima, Ken Mitsuishi, Ken Yasuda, Kento Nagayama, Michiko Tomura, Miyu Hayashida, Nahana, Rinko Kikuchi, Ryo Yoshizawa, Saki Takaoka, Takashi Okabe, Tomu Miyazaki, Yasuomi Sano, Yoh Yoshida, Yoshimasa Kondô, Yuki Izumisawa
Director: Yusuke Taki
In the style of a handbook, How to Be A Cult Leader chronicles the manipulative tactics of infamous cult leaders, from their upbringing and early interests to the failures that honed their charismatic pull. Each episode profiles a leader (Charles Manson and Jim Jones for the first two episodes) with ex-followers and specialists that break down how the cults were sustained and eventually toppled tremendously. The overall tone is unsettling at first, and as the lies and crimes of these leaders are exposed, the lessons of the handbook mostly manage to be warnings. News (and stock) footage, meme-esque inserts, and animated renditions of events round out Peter Dinklage's narration and keep this unorthodox docuseries dynamic — but to what end?
Genre: Documentary
Actor: Peter Dinklage
There’s little to like in Hidden Strike, a shoddy action thriller riddled with dodgy CGI, melodramatic performances, and ultra-predictable plotlines. You could even play a drinking game spotting all the action cliches present in the film (take a shot every time the patriotic hero dedicates a killing to his countrymen). Mostly, it’s laughable and complex for all the wrong reasons, but there are rare moments when Chan and Cena’s partnership works. They’re pockets of humor that feel like actual breathers, a respite in a film that’s ultimately tiresome to watch.
Genre: Action, Action & Adventure, Adventure, Comedy, Thriller
Actor: Amadeus Serafini, Diego Dati, Gong Jun, Hani Adel, Jackie Chan, Jiang Wenli, John Cena, Kefas Brand, Laila Ezz El Arab, Lee Huang, Li Ma, Ma Chunrui, Max Huang, Michael Koltes, Neo Hou, Pilou Asbæk, Rachael Holoway, Rima Zeidan, Tazito Garcia, Temur Mamisashvili, Tim Man, Xu Jia
Director: Scott Waugh
Genre: Documentary, Drama
Actor: Adolf Hitler, Aidan McArdle, Albert Einstein, Andrew Havill, Gethin Alderman, Helena Westerman, James Musgrave, Jonathan Rhodes, Leo Ashizawa, Rachel Barry, Simon Markey, Toby Longworth
Director: Anthony Philipson
While the film attempts to depict teenage sexuality, Dear David misses the mark due to certain plot points. At the heart of the film, Dear David is all about expression – that teenagers actively seek for ways to explore their sexuality like fanfiction, photos, and clothing. In taking on this premise, the hope for these kids would be to be able to to express these feelings through safe and constructive spaces. But because the film only presents Laras’ work as porn without plot, her relationship with David doesn’t feel like it stems from genuine affection. David isn’t characterized as popular enough for everyone to have a good concept of him, to have a positive canon narrative about him, and so, as Laras’ work spreads, it’s only his objectified self people have in mind. Her creative work comes across as some form of sexual harassment, rather than innocent expression.
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Actor: Agnes Naomi, Caitlin North Lewis, Chanceline Ebel, Claudy Putri, Emir Mahira, Frans Nicholas, Izabel Jahja, Jenny Zhang, Lutesha, Natalius Chendana, Palestina Irtiza, Restu Sinaga, Ricky Saldan, Shenina Cinnamon
Director: Lucky Kuswandi
With political intrigue, deceit, and romance, Captivating the King has all the elements we’re familiar with in Korean sageuk romances. It’s easy to appreciate the impeccable production design and every time Jo Jung-suk pulls at the heartstrings through the Grand Prince Jinhan’s tears, but the series starts incredibly slowly. Apparently, before Hee-soo can captivate said king, the first few episodes must delve into every single detail that made the prince into a king. This does help set up the political landscape Yi In has to operate in, but it keeps its viewers waiting too long for the undercover love story implied by the premise.
Genre: Drama, War & Politics
Actor: Cho Jung-seok, Cho Seong-ha, Lee Sin-young, Park Ye-yeong, Shin Se-kyung
Director: Cho Nam-guk
The most obvious cultural reference point for Barracuda Queens is The Bling Ring: both tell the based-on-real-life stories of a group of (mostly) wealthy young women who rob rich people’s houses. But where Sofia Coppola’s movie was rooted in a very specific era and explored the fascinating generational and psychological quirks that drove its disaffected teen burglars to do what they did, this Swedish Netflix series, at least in the first four episodes viewed for this review, makes only a half-hearted effort to evoke its ‘90s setting and takes a much soapier, less forensic approach to its story.
Here, the young women’s gateway into crime is the sky-high bill they rack up after a debauched weekend away. In need of cash to pay it off quickly, they convince themselves that they’re only robbing their wealthy neighbors to solve that problem, but other motivations soon arise. The women — who are mostly university-age, but seem closer to the protagonists of a teen drama — eventually begin to target people they have petty grievances with (like a love interest who spurns the ringleader after a one-night stand) as well as those who have wronged them more seriously (including a rapist, who gets off bizarrely lightly). The adrenaline rush of it all proves addictive for the gang, too. What’s more, for Mia (Tea Stjärne), the only member of the group not from a wealthy background, there’s also a Robin Hood-ish appeal to the burglaries, although this aspect regrettably takes something of a backseat to the girls’ escapades in the show.
Between the gang’s crime spree and their unbelievably dysfunctional home lives, there’s enough broad drama here to keep Netflix’s autoplay function in good use. Even if it doesn’t provide keen insight, sharp nuance, or a remotely realistic plot, the show does go beyond a surface-level approach by exploring something of the girls’ inner lives, the class dynamics of their friendship group, and the shallowness of their parents’ milieu. At three hours total — and with an opening scene that teases a dramatic rise-and-fall story ahead — it all makes for a very bingeable, if ultimately forgettable, watch.
Genre: Crime, Drama
Actor: Alva Bratt, Carsten Bjornlund, Izabella Scorupco, Johannes Bah Kuhnke, Max Ulveson, Sandra Strandberg Zubovic, Sarah Gustafsson, Tea Stjärne, Tindra Monsen
Genre: Action & Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi & Fantasy
Actor: Dallas Liu, Daniel Dae Kim, Gordon Cormier, Ian Ousley, Kiawentiio
Air Mata di Ujung Sajadah tugs at the heartstrings because it recognizes the pain of losing one’s child, whether that be to elopement, death, or to their biological parent. This, with a stirring score, and the tears of Titi Kamal and Citra Kirana, makes Aqilla and Yumna easy to root for, as they try to settle who would best be Baskara’s mother. It’s not an easy decision, and the film thankfully refrains from turning either woman to be an antagonist. However, all the sorrow, pain, and suffering hinges on Halimah’s decision, that, in the first place, shouldn’t have been possible. As the film plays out into its inevitable conclusion, the journey there is heartwarming, maybe even tearjerking, but it doesn’t feel as satisfying as it could have been if Halimah dealt with the consequences of her actions.
Genre: Drama
Actor: Citra Kirana, Dendy Subangil, Fedi Nuril, Jenny Rachman, Krisjiana Baharudin, Mbok Tun, Muhammad Faqih Alaydrus, Titi Kamal, Tutie Kirana
Director: Key Mangunsong
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, Kehinde Bankole, Mike Afolarin, Yvonne Jegede
Director: Adeoluwa Owu
Genre: Comedy, Romance
Actor: Joey King, Kathy Bates, Liza Koshy, Nicole Kidman, Sherry Cola, Zac Efron
Director: Richard LaGravenese
Buddy comedies, especially those that pair up total opposites, are almost guaranteed to be fun at the beginning, just from the surprise factor of having these personalities clash. But a show needs more than that to sustain interest, and The Brothers Sun just doesn't fill out its characters enough beyond their respective archetypes within the first two episodes watched for this review. So far, this is a series that seems to be built around moments—in particular, the impressively choreographed fight scenes that communicate both peril and comedy—but without more substantial themes to prop itself up. It's definitely slickly made and has production values to show off, but it can't help but feel like it's just ticking boxes.
Genre: Action & Adventure, Comedy, Crime, Drama
Actor: Highdee Kuan, Joon Lee, Justin Chien, Michelle Yeoh, Sam Li
Despite its ambition to be a more serious piece of drama, Nganù is unfortunately held back either by a general lack of technical polish (sometimes leading to unintentional comedy within its dead-serious subject matter), or the misjudged attempt to feel grander than it should. When the film sticks to painful, ugly, intimate human drama, it actually starts to command attention. There's a striking lack of romantic sentiment to this story of a horrible person trying to redeem himself, as the film's many handheld camera shots capture its best performers at their nastiest (or most defiant)—showing us that the road to healing isn't actually as easy as it seems in Hollywood movies. Nganù sticks to its strict sense of morality, which is the best thing it could have done.
Genre: Drama
Actor: Alenne Menget, Azah Melvine, Hakeem Kae-Kazim, Kang Quintus, Muriel Blanche
Director: Kang Quintus
In terms of the quality of the material delivered in Son I Never Had, this special is really just okay at best. Heather McMahan has charisma and personality, but she has a tendency to run directly into the set-ups for her jokes, without the kind of build-up between segments that would make the whole hour flow better. And the comedy here is pretty standard, lightly raunchy fare that's often amusing but never really cuts deep into the various topics McMahan brings up. Where she's really successful, instead, is in the way she uses humor to contrast the lingering but gentle grief she feels over her father's passing. Son I Never Had, in its own roundabout way, becomes a sort of extended eulogy, emphasizing how our loved ones remain with us in our every memory.
Genre: Comedy
Actor: Heather McMahan
Director: Jen Zaborowski