47 Ronin director Carl Erik Rinsch has been found guilty of defrauding Netflix out of $11 million for a show that never materialized, while he used the money for lavish purchases, including a Ferrari, several Rolls-Royces and luxury bedding, the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan said.
He was also found guilty of five counts of engaging in monetary transactions in property derived from specified unlawful activity, each of which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.
The director began filming White Horse around 2017, which follows a scientist who creates a human-like species that turns against its creators, according to the indictment.
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Prosecutors said Netflix had initially paid Rinsch about $44 million between 2018 and 2019 for an unfinished sci-fi series, and then sent another $11 million around March 6, 2020, after he said he needed additional funding to wrap up the production.
Instead of putting the money toward the show, Rinsch transferred the cash into a “number of different bank accounts before consolidating them in a personal brokerage account,” according to prosecutors.
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Rinsch then used those funds to make a number of personal and speculative purchases. He made a series of failed investments, losing around half of the $11 million in a couple of months, prosecutors said.
Netflix to buy Warner Bros. film & streaming business for US$72B
He then put the remaining funds into the cryptocurrency market and “on personal expenses and luxury items, including at least $1.7 million on credit card bills; at least $3.3 million on furniture, antiques, and mattresses; at least $387,000 on a Swiss watch; and at least $2.4 million on five Rolls Royces and a red Ferrari,” according to prosecutors.
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“Carl Erik Rinsch took $11 million meant for a TV show and gambled it on speculative stock options and crypto transactions,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. “Today’s conviction shows that when someone steals from investors, we will follow the money and hold them accountable.”
“I fear that this could set a dangerous precedent for artists who become embroiled in contractual and creative disputes with their benefactors, in this case, one of the largest media companies in the world, finding themselves indicted by the federal government for fraud,” Zeman said.
Netflix said they had no comment when contacted by Global News about Rinsch’s conviction.
Rinsch was charged in March “for engaging in a scheme to defraud a subscription video on-demand streaming service” after failing to complete the production of White Horse.
“Carl Erik Rinsch orchestrated a scheme to steal millions by soliciting a large investment from a video streaming service, claiming that money would be used to finance a television show that he was creating. But that was fiction. Rinsch instead allegedly used the funds on personal expenses and investments, including highly speculative options and cryptocurrency trading,” acting U.S. Attorney Matthew Podolsky said in March.
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“Rinsch’s arrest is a reminder that this Office and our partners at the FBI remain vigilant in the fight against fraud and will bring those who cheat and steal to justice,” Podolsky added.
A sentencing hearing for Rinsch has been set for April 17, 2026.
Finn was forced to intervene when the Comic-Con moderator repeatedly made inappropriate remarks, while his costars Joe Keery and David Harbour subtly jumped to his defense.
Last week, Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) announced plans to sell Warner Bros. Pictures, DC Studios and streaming service HBO Max to Netflix, following a bidding war that also ended with a hostile takeover bid by Paramount. The planned sale would create a mammoth streaming and production giant with intellectual property rights to beloved franchises including Batman and Harry Potter. It’s also sure to draw scrutiny from antitrust enforcers at the Department of Justice (DOJ).
Is this a step toward more viewer-friendly competition, or toward entertainment monopolization? What about Paramount’s bid? Even President Trump is concerned about the situation. But the answers aren’t obvious.
The merging parties argue that Netflix subscribers could benefit from an expanded content library and bundled services with HBO Max at lower prices. They also expect “at least $2-3 billion of cost savings per year by the third year” and combined resources that could foster more content and allow for bigger creative risks.
Importantly, the deal could create a stronger competitor against other diversified media giants including Amazon and AppleTV, which are subsidized by their respective e-commerce and mobile/computing platforms. Recent antitrust verdicts recognize the importance of such scale for competitiveness in digital markets. A 2023 U.S. District Court decision approved Microsoft’s merger with gaming studio Activision Blizzard, as it allowed games to reach a wider audience while creating a stronger competitor against market leader Sony.
Disney+ recently announced a foray into AI tools allowing users to generate and share their own content using proprietary characters and worlds. Combining Netflix’s user-targeting algorithms with WBD’s intellectual properties could create a comparable alternative. The new company may develop AI models and tools without risking the types of copyright infringement claims that have already ended in expensive settlements and licensing deals.
Yet there are potential concerns. Netflix is known for exclusive content and disfavoring theatrical releases outside of narrow, award-show-timed windows. WBD is America’s third-largest theatrical content supplier and shares content with other streaming services. Netflix could presumably restrict content for both rival streaming services and theaters and possibly raise prices without losing customers.
All of this is speculatory. The merger violates antitrust law if it’s likely to lead to less quality and innovation or higher prices, and if these harms to consumers won’t be offset by benefits — subject, of course, to the interpretation of enforcers and judges.
The DOJ would find it easier to block the merger if it can persuade a court that Netflix-WBD would corner 30% of its market, making the deal presumptively anticompetitive and forcing the companies to rebut this claim.
Expect enforcers to define a market of “video-on-demand” subscription streaming services, including Amazon, Hulu, HBO Max, Netflix, Paramount+, Disney+, Apple TV, Peacock and others. Based on recent decisions, market share will likely be measured by viewing hours. This puts Netflix (20%) and HBO Max (15%) at an estimated 35%.
Netflix and WBD may suggest a broader entertainment market where subscription streaming, ad-supported video (like YouTube), social media and video games compete for user dollars and eyeballs, netting a much lower market share.
Based on the recent FTC v. Meta decision, the court could opt for something in between. Meta successfully argued that consumers readily switch and substitute between apps like Facebook, Instagram, Youtube and Tiktok for video content. But some services are more likely than others to be seen as substitutes for Netflix and HBO Max content.
Regardless, courts must still consider the merger’s effect on competition. Netflix-WBD could try settling with the DOJ by making contractual assurances, such as committing to theatrically release future WBD content. These agreements can be costly to monitor and can lead to future disputes over firms keeping their commitments, as the 2010 Ticketmaster-Live Nation merger demonstrates. But they can also preserve competitive benefits, mitigate potential harms and save the DOJ the trouble and costs of uncertain litigation.
Alternatively, WBD’s shareholders may yet consider Paramount’s offer for their entire business at a higher share price. Backed by the president’s son-in-law, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, it would raise some political controversy. But this combined entity’s lower market share (26%) and Paramount’s historical support for theatrical releases may smooth some antitrust hurdles.
In the end, consumers will win if courts and enforcers act based on evidence. If consumer behavior and other economic and real-world data show that a merger will limit vigorous competition and result in higher prices and less quality or innovation, the government is entitled to act. If not, enforcers should acknowledge that in rapidly evolving digital media markets, scale means being able to stay competitive and make bold investments that herald the next generation of entertainment innovation.
In more ways than one, we’ll be watching.
The opinions expressed in Fortune.com commentary pieces are solely the views of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of Fortune.
NEW YORK (AP) — Paramount on Monday launched a hostile takeover offer for Warner Bros. Discovery, initiating a potentially bruising battle with rival bidder Netflix to buy the company behind HBO, CNN and a famed movie studio along with the power to reshape much of the nation’s entertainment landscape.
Emerging just days after top Warner managers agreed to Netflix’s $72 billion purchase, the Paramount bid seeks to go over the heads of those leaders by appealing directly to Warner shareholders with more money — $77.9 billion — and a plan to buy all of Warner’s business, including the cable business that Netflix does not want.
Paramount said its decision to go hostile came after it made several earlier offers that Warner management “never engaged meaningfully” with following the company’s October announcement that it was open to selling itself.
In its appeal to shareholders, Paramount noted its offer also contains more cash than Netflix’s bid — $18 billion more — and argued that it’s more likely to pass scrutiny from President Donald Trump’s administration, a big concern given his habit of injecting himself in American business decisions.
AP AUDIO: Paramount goes hostile in bid for Warner Bros., challenging a $72 billion offer by Netflix
AP’s Lisa Dwyer reports on a hostile bid for Warner Bros. Discovery.
Over the weekend, Trump said the Netflix-Warner combo “could be a problem” because of the size of the combined market share and that he planned to review the deal personally.
For its part, Netflix says it is confident Warner will reject the Paramount bid and that regulators, and Trump, will back its deal, citing multiple conversations that co-CEO Ted Sarandos has had with him about the streaming company’s expansion and hiring.
“I think the president’s interest in this is the same as ours, which is to create and protect jobs,” Sarandos said Monday at an investor conference.
Battle draws political attention in Washington
The fight for Warner drew strong reaction in Washington, with politicians from both major parties weighing in on the likely impact on streaming prices, movie theater employment and the diversity of entertainment choices and political views.
Paramount, run by David Ellison, whose family is closely allied with Trump, said it had submitted six proposals to Warner over a 12-week period before the latest offer.
“We believe our offer will create a stronger Hollywood. It is in the best interests of the creative community, consumers and the movie theater industry,” the Paramount CEO said in a statement. Ellison added that his deal would lead to more competition in the industry, not less, and more movies in theaters.
A regulatory document released Monday suggested another possible Paramount advantage to win over Trump: An investment firm run by Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner would be investing in the deal, too.
Also participating would be funds controlled by the governments of three unnamed Persian Gulf countries, widely reported as Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi and Qatar. Trump’s family company has struck deals this year for buildings and resorts that bear his name in Saudi Arabia and Qatar, partnering in the former with a company closely tied to the government and in the latter with the government fund itself.
Also possibly in Paramount’s favor are recent changes at CBS News since its October purchase of the news and commentary website The Free Press. The site’s founder, Bari Weiss, who has a reputation for fighting “woke” culture, was then installed as editor-in-chief in a signal Ellison intended to shake up the storied network of Walter Cronkite, Dan Rather and “60 Minutes,” long viewed by many conservatives as the personification of a liberal media establishment.
Trump is a wild card
Still, Trump is a wild card given his tendency to make decisions based on gut and his personal mood.
On Monday, he lashed out at Paramount for allowing “60 Minutes” to interview his ally-turned-enemy Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, writing on social media that “THEY ARE NO BETTER THAN THE OLD OWNERSHIP.”
The drama surrounding control of Warner began Friday when Netflix made the surprise announcement that it had struck a deal with its management to buy the Hollywood giant behind “Harry Potter,” HBO Max and DC Studios.
The cash and stock proposal was valued at $27.75 per Warner share, giving it a total enterprise value of $82.7 billion, including debt that will be assumed in the deal. By contrast, the Paramount offer is for $30 per Warner share, and worth $108 billion, included assumed debt. Paramount’s offer is set to expire on Jan. 8 unless it’s extended.
But comparing the two deals is complicated because they are not buying the same thing. The Netflix offer, if it goes through, will only close after Warner completes its previously announced separation of its cable operations. Not included in the deal, which is unlikely to close for at least a year, are networks such as CNN and Discovery.
The federal government has the authority to kill any big media deals if it has antitrust concerns, but such matters are usually left to experts at the Department of Justice. In his decision to get involved personally, Trump has decided, as he has with other government norms, to make a sharp break with precedent.
That worries Usha Haley, a Wichita State University specialist in international business strategy, who noted that Ellison is the son of longtime Trump supporter Larry Ellison, the world’s second-richest person.
“He said he’s going to be involved in the decision. We should take him at face value,” Haley said of Trump. “For him, it’s just greater control over the media.”
But others are uncertain how big a role Trump will play.
John Mayo, an antitrust expert at Georgetown University, said the scrutiny will be serious whichever offer is approved by shareholders and goes before the DOJ, and that he thinks experts there will keep partisanship out of their decisions despite the politically charged atmosphere.
“That may affect at least the rhetoric that occurs in the press,” he said, “though I doubt it will affect the analysis that occurs at the Department of Justice.”
Shares of Paramount surged 9% on Monday while Netflix fell 3.4%, and Warner Bros. closed up 4.4%.
___
Associated Press writers Matt Sedensky, David Bauder and Charles Sheehan in New York and Michael Liedtke in San Francisco contributed to this report.
new video loaded: The Battle for Warner Bros. Discovery
Nicole Sperling, a Times reporter who covers Hollywood and the streaming revolution, breaks down the competing bids from Netflix and Paramount to buy Warner Bros. Discovery.
By Nicole Sperling, Edward Vega, Laura Salaberry, Jon Hazell and Chris Orr
December 9, 2025
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Nicole Sperling, Edward Vega, Laura Salaberry, Jon Hazell and Chris Orr
Paramount Skydance’s hostile takeover bid of Warner Bros. Discovery places CNN and its sister cable networks squarely back into what is likely to be an extended period of management limbo.
There was some relief at CNN with last Friday’s announcement that Netflix was buying Warner’s studio and streaming businesses, since the cable network would not be a part of that deal. But that quickly changed on Monday with Paramount’s announced bid, which includes the cable assets that Netflix doesn’t want and, if successful, opens the possibility of a combined CNN and CBS News.
The management uncertainty adds to what is already a challenging time at CNN, where there was no doubt who was in charge before swashbuckling founder Ted Turner sold his company in 1996. “That era might as well be the roaring ‘20s for how long ago it feels,” said Ross Benes, senior analyst at emarketer.com.
The dueling bids between Paramount and Netflix now “lead to more uncertainty and greater anxiety among the current CNN staff and among those of us who served for many years as leaders of CNN under Ted,” said Tom Johnson, former CNN president in the 1990s.
Paramount’s bid, which must be approved by shareholders and regulators, could be seen favorably by President Donald Trump, who is closely allied with Paramount Skydance chairman and CEO David Ellison as well as his father, Oracle founder Larry Ellison. But Trump has already expressed anger at the company on social media for Sunday’s “60 Minutes” report on former U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.
Prior to Friday’s announcement, Warner Bros. Discovery had said it planned to spin off its cable television networks including CNN, Discovery, HGTV, the Food Network and TLC, into a separate company. The growth of streaming has made cable networks an unattractive business.
CNN’s television ratings have tumbled to the extent that it is firmly the third-rated cable news network behind Fox News Channel and MS NOW, formerly MSNBC. Its CEO, Mark Thompson, has aggressively moved into digital with a new subscription service and said that management of Discovery Global, the spinoff company, has already approved a 2026 budget investing in the plan.
“I know this strategic review has been a period of inevitable uncertainty across CNN and indeed the whole of WBD,” Thompson told staff in a memo Friday. “Of course, I can’t promise you that the media attention and noise around the sale of our parent will die down overnight. But I do think the path to the successful transformation of this great news enterprise remains open.”
Thompson had no additional comment on Monday, a spokeswoman said.
Since Paramount’s takeover of CBS News this past summer, the network has taken steps to appeal to more conservative viewers with the installation of Free Press founder Bari Weiss as editor-in-chief. Weiss is moderating a prime-time discussion this weekend with Erika Kirk, widow of slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
During an appearance on CNBC Monday, Ellison answered, “yeah,” when asked if he would combine CNN’s newsgathering operation with CBS News. What exactly that means is unclear.
“We want to build a scaled news service that is basically, fundamentally, in the trust business, that is in the truth business, and that speaks to the 70% of Americans that are in the middle,” Ellison said.
Trump has spoken highly of both Ellison and his billionaire father. But he was clearly angry about Lesley Stahl’s “60 Minutes” interview with former MAGA supporter Greene, who broke with him and recently resigned from Congress. Trump said on Truth Social that his real problem with the show is that the new corporate ownership allowed it to air.
“THEY ARE NO BETTER THAN THE OLD OWNERSHIP,” Trump said, adding he believed that “60 Minutes” had gotten worse from his perspective since the changeover.
CNN is not likely to find out soon who its new owners would be. Even before the Paramount bid, experts had predicted the Netflix deal would face more than a year of regulatory hurdles.
“There is such a need for independent, unbiased news services,” Johnson said. “I so hope that the new CNN owners will see that as their fundamental mission.”
If Netflix eventually wins, emarketer.com’s Benes predicted it would be likely that the spinoff company, Discovery Global, would be shopped around to other buyers.
“CNN will be in limbo for a while no matter which bidder purchases CNN,” he said.
Fans of the Assassin’s Creed franchise may finally get to visit Ancient Rome, but it could instead be through a Netflix adaptation of Ubisoft’s best-selling video game IP. Nexus Point Newsreported that the live-action adaptation will be set in Ancient Rome and feature historical figures like Nero, the fifth emperor of Rome.
With the potential featuring of Nero, the news outlet predicts that the TV series could be set between 54 to 68 AD during the infamous emperor’s rule. Details are still sparse about Netflix’s latest video game adaptation, but the streaming giant and Ubisoft announced its first series regular of Toby Wallace, earlier this month. In the blog post, the plot was described as a “high-octane thriller centered on the secret war between two shadowy factions.”
Before the first casting reveal, Netflix greenlit the Assassin’s Creed TV show in July of this year, five years after the announcement that a series was being produced. While the original plan to introduce multiple different series in the franchise’s universe may have changed over the five-year gap, fans are still hoping for an anthology-like structure similar to the video games.
You’ve asked for months, and now Netflix is giving it to you: an art book for KPop Demon Huntersis here!…and also coming soon.
On Friday, the streamer released a 142-page digital book containing the film’s artwork, segmented in different chapters covering the movie from start to finish. (The website also plays tunes from the movie, including “Golden” and “What It Sounds Like.”) Some of the pieces featured may look familiar—artists Ami Thompson and Celine Dahyeu Kim have posted several of their contributions since the film came out—and others are brand new, with pages containing insight from staff like visual development artist Won Sul Hyun and character designer Euni Cho.
With its digital art book, KPop Demon Hunters follows suit from Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchiomovie, which also got one as part of the film’s awards run. We know Netflix would like for KPop take home an Oscar or two, and supplemental material like this helps get the attention of Oscar voters. (Not that it really needs it, since the singers for Huntr/x just performed at Macy’s parade during Thanksgiving.) The book’s also the latest extension of the film’s ongoing presence, eventually followed by Mattel dolls and a Secret Lair drop in Magic: The Gathering. And of course, the sequel hitting Netflix in 2029…hopefully.
You can go here for the KPop Demon Hunters art book, with a physical version coming sometime in 2026.
The wait is finally over, and Stranger Things is back on our screens this holiday weekend.
The epic final season of the Duffer Brothers’ smash supernatural retro series rips open the Upside Down to see how the threat arrived in Hawkins. Between Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower) taking more kids and the government seeking out Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), Stranger Things‘ gang of heroes must gather the troops and be ready for anything.
Nancy (Natalia Dyer) leads the charge alongside Hopper (David Harbour) and Joyce (Winona Ryder) in planning to kill Vecna—while also skirting government surveillance to find out what the military is doing in the Upside Down since the ground ripped open in their town.
Eleven hones her powers for a final showdown against Vecna, who is recruiting Hawkins youth while disguised as Henry and calling himself Mr. Whatsit; his targets include Holly Wheeler (Nell Fisher). With both Vecna and the government causing chaos, Steve (Joe Keery), Jonathan (Charlie Heaton), Mike (Finn Wolfhard), Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin), Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo), Robin (Maya Hawke), and Erica (Priah Ferguson) all step up to be Hawkins’ saviors.
But it’s Will (Noah Schnapp) and Max (Sadie Sink), whose connections to the Upside Down may come in handy to back up Eleven, that really have us so hyped for the rest of the season.
Here are the things we liked about season five, volume one—and some of the things we didn’t like as much.
Will getting the “goosies” is how he taps into the hive mind, and that makes him this season’s secret weapon. His ability to access the shared consciousness that powers Vecna finally comes in handy, giving Hawkins’ heroes a man on the inside who can spot incoming threats.
Liked: The radio station
Robin works as Hawkins’ radio DJ and is the voice of the station she, Steve, and Nancy run. It’s a way to send covert messages to their team, including Murray (Brett Gelman) and Hopper, about the government’s moves—if you pay attention to her yapping in between the choice music played. Loved the Diana Ross “Upside Down” needle drop. The home base change is welcome and adds a new layer of nostalgia for the days before music streaming and the heyday of radio personalities.
Plus, it feels very Star Wars to jack into the radio signals to track the bad guys and figure out how to smuggle weapons and goods in and out of Hawkins. Steve gives us Han Solo vibes to the max when he drives the mobile station, intercepting radio signals of the Upside Down while Hopper is in there doing more spy business. Dustin, as his co-pilot and tech genius, wins our hearts.
Didn’t like: Jonathan’s obsession with Steve
Ever since his return from California, Jonathan has been focusing on Steve being better than him to a weird degree. Their competition for Nancy’s attention is tiring, and even Steve is sick of it. He rightfully calls out Jonathan for focusing more on him than Nancy because he just sucks as a boyfriend. Steve has demonstrated he has been in the trenches with the kids protecting them and has matured since his high school jerk days. It’s emotional growth Jonathan lacks and won’t be fixed by proposing to Nancy, which gave us the ick when we saw the ring Murray smuggled for him. I dread the moment he’ll pop the question.
Didn’t Like: Not enough Henry Creel origin explanation
Fans lucky enough to attend the Stranger Things: The First Shadow play (or, barring an actual theater visit, who scoured TikTok for recaps of it) will be more in the know about Henry Creel’s past than folks who just watch the series. We get a little glimpse of his younger years in the show, but not enough to really understand what his going to school with Joyce, Hopper, Bob Newby, and a random Harrington means. In the play, as he’s learning about his powers with Brenner, he’s fighting the mind flayer’s control with the help of Patty Newby, Bob’s sister.
Liked: Vecna as Mr. Whatsit
In the awesome Frank Darabont-directed third episode, we see Henry return to an idyllic version of his home, frozen in time within the period he was last there. His new plan is so creepy because while he is actually Freddy Krueger-like and stalks kids, he’s luring them as a friendly man in his Henry form who wants to save them from the monsters. It’s so eerie, and the Americana version of his mansion’s wonderland, where he acts like Mister Rogers around Holly Wheeler and others, is chillingly perfect.
Nancy becoming the de facto leader is giving Sarah Connor vibes—in a season where Linda Hamilton shows up to boot. Vecna taking Holly after attacking the Wheeler parents really changes her and makes her more interested in destroying Vecna than boys (thank god). She’s the brains behind the operation, guiding every player on the table to use their skills to defeat Vecna. Under her leadership, they figure out that Vecna is targeting kids and hatch a plan to protect them.
Didn’t Like: Not enough Dr. Kay
Linda Hamilton as Dr. Kay is such an iconic choice, and her introduction was one we were anticipating as soon as we learned about her casting. Season five is juggling a lot of characters, so maybe it’s to be expected that we haven’t gotten much Kay so far. But knowing that she’s basically the new Brenner-esque big bad in the lab working for the government gives us the heebie jeebies. We want to know more about why she wants Eleven and whether or not she really intends to find a way to control Vecna.
Liked: Robin and Will’s connection
Will coming into his own with Robin’s help is such a sweet subplot. Will and Robin recognize one another in ways the others can’t, and it rings so true. Robin being a mentor to Will to help him embrace who he is, melding with his acceptance of his connection to the Upside Down, really builds to the best payoff in volume one.
Eleven’s training montage was sick, and seeing her really lean into her powers finally in the Upside Down was so cool. She’s grown up, and Hopper did good with his ward in helping her be empowered by those she loves. Whether or not she’s the one to deal the final blow (we presume) to Vecna, we can’t wait to see it.
Steve and Dustin still have our whole hearts; this show better not touch one hair or curl on their heads. (We know it will.) And that’s what’s so great about the show: every friendship dynamic, not just theirs, and even the new ones like Will and Robin, really feel relatable and that much more critical when they’re in danger. Plus, all the new kids, including Holly, get great moments to shine in their kidnapping plot, which feels very Amblin-meets-Wes Craven-by-way-of-Goonies. So many funny moments within the breakneck action!
Liked: Max lives (sort of)!
Max is alive, in a way; she’s living in Henry’s head and can see his memories as well as his plans. Seeing Sadie Sink’s return as a hero in the “dreamworld” realm of the Upside Down is freaking epic as she guides Holly away from Henry’s deceptions. She’s also a way in to seek out Vecna’s weaknesses and has survived long enough to outsmart him in his own mind by hiding in a cave.
Didn’t Like: The mysterious cave
Okay, so I found the introduction of the cave annoying because I know it’s where Henry first encountered the entity that powers the Upside Down, which is explained in the Stranger Things play. I know it’s still just volume one, but doling out incremental information doesn’t help viewers really understand why this setting matters and why Vecna gets super scared of the cave.
Eight is back! Turns out she’s who Kay has been using to seek out Vecna in the Upside Down base, much like how Brenner was trying to use Eleven to do the same in earlier seasons. Seeing her return is exciting and finally connects her missing thread to the action. It gives Eleven her sister back, which we love.
Will and Vecna meet face-to-face in the middle of the action, where the Demogorgons are snatching kids left and right. It’s terrifying and pulled off in a way where you think Hawkins’ heroes are taking another L, especially when Vecna says he picked Will because he was weak, just like the others he needs to take back with him. And just as you think the Demogorgons are about to kill Mike, Joyce, Lucas, and Robin—Will taps into the hive to take control of the Demogorgons, then destroys them with newfound psychic powers in the same way Vecna killed Chrissy. He successfully turns the tables on Vecna, and it’s such a great payoff to see him reclaim his agency against his kidnapper.
More Stranger Things season five episodes arrive December 25, with the grand finale dropping December 31 on Netflix.
The group pulls a classic Home Alone on a Demogorgon, with mixed results. Photo: COURTESY OF NETFLIX
We’re three episodes in, and already, I am concerned about people’s sleep (or lack thereof). Admittedly, I’m always worried about whether people are getting enough sleep across all aspects of life because sleep is so important, especially for these teens! The initial crawl that went to shit was the night before, and there are no signs anyone is sneaking a nap anytime soon. The sleep deprivation, however, might explain why our group’s plans are getting more ludicrous by the hour. “The Turnbow Trap” and the plan it refers to really stretch the suspension of disbelief, but it is exciting to watch, so stretch it we will.
The other reason the crew’s plans are getting wilder and riskier is, as Will points out, because they don’t have time to play it safe. Now that Will knows he is tapping into the hive mind and getting glimpses of what Vecna can see, he and Robin have figured out that Vecna plans on kidnapping more children and his next victim is Dipshit Derek Turnbow. Don’t come at me for being mean about a little kid — everyone calls him that. And he is, in fact, a real dipshit. Not even Holly can stand Derek, and Holly seems pretty chill, aside from being so easily tricked by an evil wizard monster and blindly trusting a man no one else can see. Except for Hopper and Eleven, the whole team meets back at the Squawk to figure out what’s next.
It’s very sweet to see Will leading the discussions. He and Joyce do eventually have a heart-to-heart about their current dynamic, and Joyce apologizes for being overbearing but admits she is still carrying a lot of guilt and fear from the time he was taken. “What kind of mother doesn’t check on her 11-year-old?” she says. Winona forever, you know? She can let Will spread his wings to a point, but she is always going to be watching and looking out for him. I swear to God if Joyce sacrifices herself for Will at the end of this thing, I will be crying for days.
But now that Will knows about his connection to Vecna, and they know about Dipshit Derek, they need to figure out a way to protect him. Of course, it would be nice if they could figure out a way to protect Derek that would somehow help them in their search for Holly. And Mike might just have a way. Sure, it involves kidnapping an entire family, but it’s kidnapping to save lives, so Joyce, the only real adult in the room, is fine with it.
So, yes, Robin (with her new buddy Will) knows exactly where to find a whole bunch of benzos from the hospital, thanks to all the time she’s been spending there with Vickie. Then, they’re going to bake those benzos into a pie. Lucas and Mike have enlisted Erica — you knew she’d pop up at some point — who is best friends with Derek’s sister Tina, to be their inside woman. There is one small hiccup: Twelve days ago, they turned from best friends to archenemies because of some incident in gym and also because it’s middle school and that’s their prerogative. Still, Erica is on board once Mike explains that this isn’t really about Derek, it’s about saving Holly, and also, what they’re asking her to do will surely make it so Tina never wants anything to do with her again. A real win-win-win. That third win is for us because Lucas informs us that every member of the Turnbows is a menace, and he is not wrong. Knock ’em all out, I say. (Safely, of course.)
Erica’s the perfect person to send in to the Turnbows. She fakes a very sincere-sounding apology and offers Tina’s favorite pie as an olive branch. She’s also able to problem-solve quickly when Tina refuses to eat the pie, and though Tina’s parents and Derek have all passed out as planned, she needs a quick shot to put her to sleep. Erica has no problem administering this. (Is Erica a psychopath?)
Aside from the Tina debacle, surprisingly, almost everything else goes according to plan. Joyce, Robin, and Will take the now-fast-asleep Turnbows to a farm across town. The team shoves pillowcases on all of the Turnbows’ heads to make sure that even if they wake, Vecna can’t figure out where they’re hiding. Meanwhile, the rest of the team sets up a trap for the Demogorgon they’re sure Vecna will send for Derek once he’s believed to be fast-asleep. The goal is to get the Demogorgon in their trap long enough for Nancy to shoot a tracker into it, and then they’ll be able to follow the tracker on Dustin’s device, which will hopefully lead to Vecna and thus to Holly. The plan includes a mannequin in Derek’s bed, water balloons full of acetone to make the Demo highly flammable, some wood beams to injure the thing, and, yes, a giant square cut out of the living room floor so the monster falls down into the barbed-wire pit below, where Nancy can shoot it with the telemetry-tag tracker before Jonathan lights that baby on fire.
It all goes according to plan, more or less. It’s once the Demo takes off that there’s a problem. Our tracking team consists of Steve, Dustin, Nancy, and Jonathan in Steve’s now-souped-up BMW (do not even get me started on that), and the Demo is moving fast in the Upside Down. Steve has to blow through some fences and people’s backyards to keep up with it. Suddenly, Dustin sees on his equipment that the Demo has changed course — it has doubled back the way they came and is heading southeast quickly.
It’s Will who figures out what went wrong. Derek is awake and has managed to get the pillowcase off his head. It’s too late, he tells the group: Vecna knows where they are, and the Demogorgon is on its way. Dipshit Derek is really living up to his name.
Obviously, time is of the essence here, but it would be swell if the team up top could figure out a way to reestablish communication with Hopper and Eleven in the Upside Down. Those two are acting on theories they’ve hatched without updated intel, and it could prove dangerous.
We find the two of them still at the wall, but whatever that thing is made out of or whatever it’s hiding, they can’t figure out a way through; El’s powers aren’t strong enough to crack it open. They run out of time exploring it anyway. The military shows up, and they have a fancy new toy they refer to as “the hedgehog” — it emits some type of sonic blast that turns out to be El’s kryptonite (Hop’s word, not mine). As soon as it reaches her, she doubles over in pain. She can barely move, she can’t think, and she certainly can’t use her powers against it. This is a game changer.
Hopper hides them behind a collapsed billboard and tries to keep El as quiet as possible, but she is hurting. The incident almost ends without them getting noticed, but one of the military guys, Sullivan’s right-hand man, Akers, stops to take a piss on the wall and discovers a knife Hopper accidentally left behind. They turn up the power on the hedgehog, and El screams out in pain. The soldiers realize who’s there, and a shoot-out commences. I guess Hopper has been training with Eleven because he’s basically Rambo now. His grenades kill most of the soldiers, and he’s able to shoot at the hedgehog and disable it — a powered-up Eleven knocks out Akers, the last soldier standing.
Instead of just running for it, Hopper and Eleven take Akers prisoner. Hopper wants to interrogate him for info on when the next supply run is coming through so that he and Eleven can get unflipped, as it were. Eleven hates this idea — she wants to interrogate him about the wall. If he peed on it, he probably has some idea of what it is, and she is desperate to get through it. The father and daughter decide to compromise. Halfway happy, remember?
Hopper gets the face-to-face with Akers, but while he’s asking the guy for info that he really does not want to give up, Eleven is rummaging around in his brain. The soldier is terrified, begging her to get out of his head, but El’s very good at this now. She winds up in a memory of his in which he and Sullivan talk to Dr. Kay in her lab. She’s able to follow Dr. Kay down a secured hallway with a big, metal door at the end. It’s locked tight, like a vault, and Hopper presses, but Akers is adamant he doesn’t know what’s behind the door. It doesn’t matter. Once El bounces out of his head, she tells Hopper she could feel the kryptonite coming from behind the door, stronger than the machine the soldiers were driving around with. She thinks it has to be coming from someone with powers like hers — it has to be Vecna. She is convinced the military has him and is using him as a weapon. It certainly seems impossible, since we know Vecna has been freely moving around in his victims’ minds. So who or what is behind that door?
So far, we’ve done a lot of chatting about Vecna and his plans, but do we see him in action at all in this episode? Sure do. Well, at least, we see him in his Henry Creel skin, being the most thoughtful host to Holly. He’s brought her to some vision or memory or other dimension-type place where the Creel house is shiny and new and contains everything Holly could want (aside from her parents, who Henry swears he’ll bring over once they’re healed). There’s a gorgeous breakfast with her favorite foods and all the dresses she could want, and he even gives her a tape player and a Tiffany cassette. He has to leave for the day — other children to kidnap, one assumes! — and gives Holly free rein, only warning her to never go out into the woods. (Let’s forget, I guess, that if this is Vecna’s world, couldn’t he, like, fix it so she can’t go into the woods? I’m just asking questions here!!)
Holly seems content to have some me time. But it doesn’t take too long for someone to start ringing that doorbell. When Holly opens the door, no one is there, but there’s a letter inside the mailbox. The note seems to be Henry asking for her help, but he needs her to meet him out by the rocks, which are, of course, through the woods. He even drew a handy map. Holly honestly seems like a smart kid, but she’s being real dumb at the moment. None of this adds up if you think about it for more than ten seconds, but still, Holly goes on her journey through the woods. (She is dressed like a hybrid Dorothy/Little Red, after all.)
She reaches the rocks, but instead of finding Henry, she thinks she sees a monster in the cave, and so makes a run for it. It is not a monster who runs after her, though; it’s someone in boots and jeans. And when Holly looks up, she finds Max Mayfield staring back down at her. Max lives — I mean, in this vision-memory-mind trap Vecna has built. But still: Max lives.
• Listen, I know Dustin is acting out because of his grief, but he’s so mean! There’s only so many times you can accept “he’s misplacing his anger over the loss of one brother figure and putting it on to his other brother figure,” okay? When he just drills into Steve’s car to install the telemetry system? What an asshole. These two better make up — it’s already become insufferable.
• Steve does clock Dustin lying to his friends about how he got so bloodied and bruised, so maybe he’ll be instigating an emotional chat sooner rather than later.
• Speaking of insufferable, Jonathan is really brooding over this Nancy thing. As suspected, Murray snuck an engagement ring in that Coltrane cassette and is confused when he discovers Jonathan hasn’t popped the question yet. That proposal is going to be a disaster, isn’t it?
• During the interrogation, Hopper screams at Akers that he would kill a thousand soldiers “to protect the one person that [he] loves.” It might make you tear up for a second until you realize that’s a potent piece of information to just hand over to the enemy, Hop.
• Ah! Another mention of wormholes! Mr. Clarke is teaching his class — which includes star student Erica Sinclair — about wormholes and the Einstein–Rosen bridge. In short: They’re very unstable!
• Robin and Will have another moment together at the hospital when Will asks how she knew Vickie was interested in her. She talks to him about little signs snowballing into an avalanche. They also make some jokes about Will’s bowl cut, which is nice for us.
Stranger Things is a show about ordinary people doing extraordinary things. Aside from Eleven, the heroes of the show are a ragtag troop of tweens, teens and parents from the Midwest fighting off supernatural monsters. Amongst them are the mums, who, in my humble opinion, really deserve a special shout-out. Because not only are they taking on 9-foot-tall demogorgons, they’re also fighting battles on other fronts, too: they’re juggling hormonal teens, useless husbands (or ex-husbands) and a heavy dose of good old-fashioned 1980s small town America misogyny.
Courtesy of Netflix
Joyce Byers (Winona Ryder) is the most obvious example of a badass mum. Mother to Will and Jonathan, her life is already hard enough before the Upside Down starts leaking into Hawkins. She’s a single mum working long hours at a local store to provide for her sons. The boys’ father is decidedly useless – especially when Will goes missing and his only interest is the potential payout. Joyce becomes convinced that Will is speaking to her through the lights in their home and begins raging around her quaint little town demanding answers and help. She is, of course, dismissed as the slightly nutty single mum who failed. It’s a stereotype that the people of Hawkins are all too ready and willing to embrace.
Courtesy of Netflix
Watching Joyce fight not only the supernatural forces threatening her family, but also the ignorance and judgement of her humdrum neighbours makes you want to throw a fist in the air and cheer her on. In season 1, she doggedly sets up Christmas lights and finds her son. Throughout the rest of the show, she’s continued to bring this steadfast, bulldog energy. She’s tiny, clumsy, and looks wholly unprepared for any battle. But, of course, as a mum, she throws herself in front of her boys without a second thought.
Karen Wheeler (Cara Buono) is, in many ways, Joyce’s foil. The mother of Nancy, Mike and Holly, Karen is, in many ways, a stereotypical suburban housewife, complete with lazy, clued out husband, a million plates to juggle and a bit of an afternoon wine problem. She spends her blissful free time, of which there is not that much, soaking in a bubble bath with a dirty book or ogling the hot teen lifeguard at the local pool.
Netflix has crashed for what seemed to be thousands of viewers after the first four episodes of Stranger Things season 5 went live for streaming. Downdetector started getting an unusual number of outage reports at around 10 minutes before 8PM Eastern time, when the episodes were scheduled to hit the service. The numbers climbed up to almost 14,000 before they went down over the next few minutes.
According to Entertainment Weekly, affected viewers were getting an NSEZ-403 error, which means their accounts couldn’t connect to Netflix. They were seeing “Something went wrong” and “Sorry, we’re having trouble with your request” messages on their screens. For the NSEZ-403 error, in particular, Netflix advises switching to a different device. It’s worth nothing that the show’s creator previously said that Netflix increased its bandwidth by 30 percent to avoid a crash for the season premier. The company has told Engadget that some members briefly experienced an issue streaming on TVs, but that service has been restored for all accounts within 5 minutes.
In season 5 of Stranger Things, the Hawkins gang is set to face Vecna one last time. After these first four episodes, Netflix is dropping three more on December 25 and then the finale itself on December 31.
Update, Nov. 26, 2025, 10:56PM ET: This story and its headline have been updated to include the information Netflix shared with Engadget.
The conclusion to Netflix and the Duffer Brothers’ pop culture phenomenon Stranger Things begins with an epic first volume that’s now streaming for your binging pleasure.
Action and horror propel the return to Hawkins in volume one as our heroes race to find Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower), hoping to vanquish him once and for all. In the time since the Upside Down ripped open in season four, Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) has been training with Hopper (David Harbour) to strengthen her powers. Seeing Eleven’s growth into a strong as hell young woman from her early days throwing bullies off her friends is such a joy. Clearly, that’s thanks to Eggo waffles.
Meanwhile, the non-superpowered, led by Nancy (Natalia Dyer) and Joyce (Winona Ryder), unite in pursuit of Vecna. This time around their HQ moves out of the Wheeler basement and into the town radio station operated by Robin (Maya Hawke) and Steve (Joe Keery), who use their show, “The Squawk,” to relay secret messages through the station’s needle drops and otherwise government-sanctioned yapping.
It’s a delight to see Hawkins’ heroes use the resources available to them to not just prepare for battle against the Upside Down but also to evade the martial law stronghold on their town. Everyone in the cast shines with their skills we’ve seen develop over the past few seasons, and everyone gets a standout moment as the anti-Vecna campaign builds.
Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) uses radio signals to hack into the lines being used by the government base in the Upside Down, guiding Hopper’s clandestine search for Vecna with the help of Steve’s van, which has been transformed into a mobile radio station. Mike (Finn Wolfhard), Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin), Erica (Priah Ferguson), and Will (Noah Schapp) also support using the web of tools from the station; it’s almost as if the town has become a real D&D table to play on, which is a really clever payoff to how it all began with the kids in the basement. All of this moves the action at a breakneck pace and is matched by the horrors of the Upside Down that are intent on preying on Hawkins.
The Demogorgons are back, and Vecna’s foot soldiers begin to collect children for his mysterious new plan by ripping through anything and anyone that stands in their way. The threat gets too real when Holly Wheeler (now played by Nell Fisher) is lured by Vecna, appearing with his normal Henry face to warn her the monsters are coming, and it’s so creepy to see Bower play up his charms, which are very Mister Rogers meets Freddy Krueger. It’s an awesome concept that really digs into that Amblin kid adventure feel but also dips into an ’80s horror tone, harkening back to early Wes Craven and John Carpenter.
The frights feel real, and the situations are horrific with no holds barred. When the Demogorgons come to collect Holly at the Wheeler house, it’s a bloodbath and a declaration of war against Nancy and the gang’s efforts to catch Vecna.
And that’s just the Upside Down threat; the government is also there to make things difficult for everyone. It’s still after Eleven, who’s being painted as the fall guy for the horrors. She can’t show her face in Hawkins; officials are combing the town for her to take her to the base now run by Dr. Kay (Linda Hamilton). The iconic ’80s action heroine is a stone-cold baddie, and frankly we’d be okay with her taking us captive any day.
Kidding—sort of—but her presence here is very welcome. The Duffer Brothers enlisting Hamilton as their final season antagonist is so inspired, and while she’s not in volume one as much as we’d hoped, Dr. Kay really gets established as the main obstacle to finding Vecna first. The government seems to be picking up where Dr. Brenner left off, and the motivations behind the search for Eleven suddenly become clearer. It’s such a powerful message that really speaks to the overarching themes of how we only have our communities to count on for our protection, because, well, those in power might just be seeking more dangerous ways to try and further their control.
The Duffers and producer Shawn Levy have enlisted some great filmmakers for this season to really capture the cinematic scope of Stranger Things for its final outing. Frank Darabont’s work on the show this season is primed to be some all-time great television, and the Duffers’ feature-length closer to the first drop of episodes really raises the stakes.
But it’s really the relationships that solidify Stranger Things as a true pop culture beast. The younger cast has grown up before our eyes, and the power of their love for one another has helped make the show one of the most compelling sagas of this generation. We want to see everyone Eleven cares about be okay, but we also know things can’t be wrapped up neatly if Vecna has his way. Imagining the horrors that could potentially befall Steve’s pretty head (not to mention his co-pilot, Dustin) feels just as stressful as ever. But the core friendship between Will, Mike, Lucas, and Dustin is what really ties Stranger Things together, and we can’t wait to see how their campaign against the Upside Down ends.
Stranger Things 5 Volume One is now streaming on Netflix. The remaining episodes arrive December 25 and 31.
The beloved British actresses were in central London Tuesday for a screening and informal discussion about their upcoming Netflix film Goodbye June. Winslet’s directorial debut — anchored by a gut-wrenching script from her 21-year-old son, Joe Anders — is a Christmas film with just as much joy as it has heartache.
Helen Mirren stars as the titular character who, upon receiving a terminal cancer diagnosis, has her swarm of four children (played by Winslet, Riseborough, Toni Collette and Johnny Flynn) and their families descend on her hospital room ahead of Christmas Day. Winslet’s Julia and Riseborough’s Molly are forced to confront their long-running feud while everyone tussles with their bubbling grief. Timothy Spall, Stephen Merchant and Fisayo Akinade also star in the movie, in theaters Dec. 12 and hitting Netflix Dec. 24.
And over a cup of tea and a macaron at a Netflix-hosted event, the Titanic star further detailed bringing a brilliant batch of actors together. “They are great people. I had to cast people who not only were going to be the only people who could play those parts, but who were going to be lovely,” Winslet says. “I knew they all were — even if I didn’t know them personally, I knew their reputations, because word gets around if someone’s tricky.”
The original plan had been to take the film out to financiers and get another director on board, but Winslet didn’t want to let Goodbye June go. The magic she and Anders were able to conjure on set was more than enough validation. “He really found it fascinating,” she says about Anders seeing his project come to life through his mother.
“We shot it in 35 days, and I had Helen Mirren for 16 days,” she continues. “So I had to be really ready. All those adult actors, all those children, the whole group, loads of different locations, I had to be really, really ready. So for [Anders], there were moments when he turned to me and [would] go, ‘What’s happening? How have we done all this?’ I’m like, ‘I don’t know! Let’s keep going!’ We just had to hold hands and run at it.”
Some stellar performances from the film’s child actors strengthen an already solid cast. “The trick with children is you just mother them,” Winslet explains about working with the kids. “I used all of my own experience as a mother in empowering children, showing them how to have fun by saying to them, ‘Don’t learn any lines and make lots of mistakes. OK?’”
What you don’t want is a child memorizing an abstract bit of dialogue, Winslet says. “We didn’t want that, because children bring the joy. And when you’re in a situation where there’s tragedy happening … they just get on with what they’re doing with the coloring or playing or hiding in the bed.”
“It was so funny,” she recalls, “because I would carry the little ones on to set. They always felt like, ‘Oh, where’s Kate taking us?’ I said to them: ‘Do you know, that in that bed, I’ve actually hidden something…’ So then they’re looking for the hidden thing under the sheets [with] no idea that we were filming an entire scene around them and quite complicated emotions.”
Those in attendance at the Netflix event were desperate to get the chance to talk with a prolific actress who has masterfully executed her long-awaited turn in the director’s chair. But Winslet is also just a mother gushing with pride. “He has brilliant ideas. He’s very, very smart,” she says about Anders. “For as long as I can remember, he’s always written… He’s very humble and very shy.”
“I just wanted him to learn,” she continues. “And I wanted him to be around all these incredible actors.”
It’s been a long, long wait, but the fifth and final season of Stranger Things is almost here. Stranger Things season five debuts on Wednesday evening with four episodes making up the first of three parts of the show’s big finale. And, if you’re like us, you’ve been preparing for months. We’ve been recapping all four seasons of Stranger Things,going back to July. But, if you haven’t been quite as on top of things, the Duffer Brothers are here to help.
The Duffers are the creators of Stranger Things, and in a new interview with the Hollywood Reporter, they have given the four key episodes they think fans should rewatch before season five. If, of course, you can’t just watch everything. “If you’re going to rewatch anything, I would definitely rewatch those early seasons because it really is about tying [everything] back to seasons one and two,” Ross Duffer said. “[Those] are the seasons we referenced the most, because we really wanted this to be circular and to come full circle. There are a lot of mysteries we set up and then intentionally did not answer in those early seasons.”
But if you can’t watch even the first two seasons in the next 48 hours or so, here are the four episodes the Duffers recommend:
“Will the Wise” from Stranger Things 2, episode four
“The Spy,” also from Stranger Things 2, episode six
“The Massacre at Hawkins Lab” from Stranger Things 4, episode seven
“The Piggyback” from Stranger Things 4, episode nine
That last one, being the most recent episode, is the only one that we can understand without even asking. As for the others?
“Season two is when we really started to build out the mythology and started to dive into everything, and how this was going to be an ongoing [series],” Matt Duffer said. “That’s where we started to really plant the seeds for the mythology, and I think probably that’s why that is as relevant as it is. Season four is also highly relevant—’Massacre at Hawkins Lab’ is a good one.”
“That [episode] starts unveiling some of the Upside Down mythology and starts giving some answers, and, of course, all the stuff with Henry (Jamie Campbell Bower) and Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) continues to resonate throughout season five,” Ross Duffer added. “Those are some good ones to revisit.”
The Beatles Anthology — The landmark 1995 ABC docuseries gets a modern-day restoration and expansion, with a new chapter that shows … the creation of the original docuseries. How meta! Yes, these guys really want you to remember they’re the ones who wrote “Glass Onion.” (Disney+)
Jingle Bell Heist — An American woman and a British guy fall for each other while plotting the Christmas Eve robbery of a swank London department store. But it’s OK, you see, because they’re only trying to get money to take care of their kids. You know, just like everybody at Dancers Royale is majoring in poli sci at UCF. (Netflix)
Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age — Season 3 profiles creatures like the woolly mammoth, the sabertooth tiger and the snow sloth, which exerted a fragile control over the frigid terrain of Earth’s first and greatest climate catastrophe. Each episode ends with commentary by Bill Gates, who has thought it all over and decided it’s bullshit. (Apple TV)
Stranger Things 5, Volume 1 — Arriving just in time for the Hellfire Club to receive their AARP cards, the show’s eagerly awaited conclusion finds our heroes determined to eliminate Vecna once and for all. Supposedly, we’ll also discover the true nature of the Upside Down. You mean we aren’t living in it? (Netflix)
WondLa — In the third and final season of this animated fantasy, human heroine Eva fights to save her world by recapturing the purloined Heart of the Forest. But is all that trouble really worth it for something that couldn’t make it off James Cameron’s drawing board? (Apple TV)
Premiering Friday:
The Stringer: The Man Who Took the Photo — Remember that famous pic of a Vietnamese girl getting blasted by napalm? The shot that was credited to AP photographer Nick Ut? Well, modern investigators suspect it may have actually been the work of a Vietnamese stringer. I don’t know, man. They’re going to have to work hard to sell me on the idea that a local came out on the short end of that war. (Netflix)
Premiering Monday:
All the Empty Rooms — A documentary crew hits on a novel way to underline the epidemic of gun violence: photographing the bedrooms of children lost to school shootings. You know what would be even more persuasive? If they TOLD THE PARENTS THEY WERE SHOWING UP FIRST. (Netflix)
Love Is Blind Italy — The latest international edition of the hit dating franchise is hosted by sportscaster Fabio Caressa and his wife, news presenter and culinary expert Benedetta Parodi. Expect to see her dishing all kinds of dirt about the contestants on her Twitter, because she can just explain it’s a Parodi account. (Netflix)
My Next Guest Needs No Introduction With David Letterman — Dave welcomes the legendary Adam Sandler. And if that prospect doesn’t thrill you, just remind yourself that the last guy he platformed was Warren Zevon. (Netflix)
Troll 2 — This sequel to the 2021 schlock-horror hit raises the stakes by depicting the coming of a fresh and fearsome menace, the Megatroll. It’s like a newer and more virulent version of Nick Fuentes assembled from the bodies of several lesser Nick Fuenti. (Netflix)
Premiering Tuesday:
Matt Rife: Unwrapped: A Christmas Crowd Work Special — Last year’s favorite stand-up comic celebrates the holiday in his trademark fashion: by letting the paying customers do his work for him. Stay tuned for New Year’s Eve, when he’ll be going for the really big laughs by making a withdrawal from a food bank. (Netflix)
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If you thought Netflix was done teasing the beginning of the end for Stranger Things now that we’ve finally hit the week that the first part of season 5 is coming out, think again.
This morning the streamer dropped one more glimpse of what to expect in the first four episodes of Stranger Things‘ fifth and final season when they drop this Wednesday, and while past looks at the season have teased the horrors descending on Hawkins, here, they’re well and truly in full swing. It’s demogorgons a-go-go!
Aside from giving us lots and lots (and lots, seriously, they’re everywhere) of demogorgon action as the Upside Down begins to bleed more and more into reality, this new look does give us a better look at the kids slowly but surely starting to hatch their plans to take out Vecna once and for all.
Just what those plans are, we’re going to have to wait and see when the new episodes drop, but instead of teasing the reaction to the horrors to come, this trailer is definitely about everyone going on the offensive—whether it’s the boys committing to getting Vecna’s heart on a platter, Eleven and Hopper storming bases, or, well… Steve seemingly driving a car straight into a closing Upside Down tear? Everyone’s ready to do or die now that we’re in the endgame, it seems… now it’s just going to be a case of waiting to see who makes it out in one piece.
Stranger Things‘ fifth and final season finally begins this Wednesday, November 26, with the first four episodes hitting the streamer at 5pm PT.
Hunters, demons, and angels alike, make sure you squeeze in one last binge (or two) of the CW’s Supernatural before it departs Netflix on December 18. It truly is a sad day for an iconic series, which has certainly remained one of my most-rewatched shows on Netflix throughout the years.
Supernatural has been a cornerstone for Netflix since, well, forever. Added to the streaming service in 2012, it remained a steady presence. Once all 15 seasons were added in 2020, it quickly rose to the top and stayed there. Unfortunately, due to licensing changes it looks like this fan-favorite will have to find a new home.
The second and pretty rad season of Castlevania: Nocturnedropped at the start of the year. As fans await word on the show’s future, Netflix and Powerhouse are putting out an art book chock filled with material from the first two seasons.
Due out in March, the 208-page book features “hundreds of pieces of never-before-seen concept artwork, production design, and stunning storyboards” covering the characters, locations, and monsters from the series and commentary from Powerhouse staff. Peep some pages below to see Richter Belmont, Eduoard (in his monster form), and storyboards from season one episodes.
Art books are popular, and fortunately, Netflix really likes to putting them out for its animated hits: the original Castlevania series has its own book for its entire four-season run, and Arcane and several movies have gotten the same treatment. It helps that its most high-profile stuff looks really damn good and get attention because of it. Like its predecessor, Castlevania: Nocturne has been praised for its visuals and animation, so at least Netflix knows to capitalize on that.
For fans of the show—or really, anyone just into behind-the-scenes material who wants to know how things are made—the art book will definitely be worth grabbing when it hits shelves on March 3, 2026 for $55.
The Oscar-winning political thriller Zero Dark Thirty is set to arrive on Netflix soon. The 2012 film, directed by Kathryn Bigelow, will be available on the streaming service in December. Led by Jessica Chastain, the movie remains one of the most acclaimed contemporary political thrillers.
Zero Dark Thirty gets Netflix streaming release date
The 2012 Oscar-winning political thriller Zero Dark Thirty will arrive on Netflix on December 1, 2025, according to What’s on Netflix.
The film is directed by Kathryn Bigelow and stars Jessica Chastain as Maya, a CIA analyst who plays a key role in the decade-long hunt for Osama bin Laden. Other cast members include Jason Clarke, Jennifer Ehle, Mark Strong, and Kyle Chandler, among many other stars.
The film follows Maya in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, as she is assigned to Pakistan to gather intelligence on Osama bin Laden. Over the course of several years, she becomes increasingly determined to uncover his location. The film follows her search up to May 2011, a Navy SEAL team launches a nighttime raid on the house in Abbottabad, Pakistan, which ends with bin Laden being killed.
Zero Dark Thirty remains well-regarded by critics, holding a 91 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes from 304 reviews.
Writing for Movie Freak, Sara Michelle Fetters described it as a “ pulse-pounding thriller of the finest pedigree.” She wrote, “It is one of the great cinematic procedurals ever made. More, it is unquestionably 2012’s best picture and guaranteed to be a movie we are going to be discussing, studying, and debating for generations to come.” Fetters also praised Chastain’s performance, calling her “remarkable.”
The film was also commercially successful during its theatrical run. It earned more than $95 million at the domestic box office, adding to a $132 million worldwide cume. (via Box Office Mojo)
