Greetings, Polygon readers! Each week, we round up the most notable new releases to streaming and VOD, highlighting the biggest and best new movies for you to watch at home.
This week, Doug Liman’s Road House reboot starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Conor McGregor finally premieres on Prime Video. Not looking for a suave drifter turned bouncer slapping the mess out of surly bar patrons? That’s all right, there’s plenty new releases to watch on streaming this weekend. Anatomy of a Fall finally comes to Hulu after winning Best Original Screenplay at this year’s Oscars. Shirley, the new historical biopic starring Regina King, arrives on Netflix along with several other new releases on Criterion Channel and Starz. That’s not even mentioning the new movies on VOD this week, like the irreverent DIY comedy Dad & Step-Dad or the satirical historical film The Monk and the Gun.
Here’s everything new that’s available to watch this weekend!
New on Netflix
Shirley
Where to watch: Available to stream on Netflix
Photo: Glen Wilson/Netflix
Genre: Biographical drama Run time: 1h 56m Director: John Ridley Cast: Regina King, Lance Reddick, Lucas Hedges
Regina King (If Beale Street Could Talk) stars in this biopic following the life of Shirley Chisholm, the American politician who became the first Black candidate for a major party nomination and the first woman to run for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination. Notably, Shirley features one of Lance Reddick’s final performances as Wesley “Mac” Holder, Chisholm’s campaign manager and chief aide.
Not to be confused with the 2010 boxing drama starring Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale, the latest movie from Pathaan director Siddharth Anand is like the Hindi equivalent of Top Gun: Maverick. Modern heartthrob Hrithik Roshan stars as the pilot of an elite Indian Air Force response team tasked with responding to a series of terror attacks.
This Palme d’Or- and Oscar-winning French courtroom drama follows the story of a writer trying to prove her innocence following the mysterious death of her husband outside of their home. Was it murder or was it suicide? Beyond a simple interrogation of guilt, the film is a psychological thriller that delves deep into the complicated circumstances behind the couple’s relationship.
New on Prime Video
Road House
Where to watch: Available to stream on Prime Video
Photo: Laura Radford/Prime Video
Genre: Action Run time: 1h 54m Director: Doug Liman Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Daniela Melchior, Billy Magnussen
This reboot of the classic 1989 action film sees Jake Gyllenhaal step into the role of Dalton, a former UFC middleweight fighter who becomes a drifter after his career unceremoniously ends. Finding work at a roadhouse in the Florida Keys as a bouncer, Dalton must contend with a vicious landowner and his enforcer Knox (Conor McGregor) when they attempt to seize the property the roadhouse is built on.
New on Criterion Channel
Anselm
Where to watch: Available to stream on Criterion Channel
Image: Janus Films
Genre: Documentary Run time: 1h 33m Director: Wim Wenders
This documentary follows the life and career of painter-sculptor Anselm Kiefer. Shot in 6K resolution in a 3D format, the film attempts to blur the boundary between Anselm’s work and the movie itself.
New on Starz
Expend4bles
Where to watch: Available to stream on Starz
Photo: Yana Blajeva/Lionsgate
Genre: Action comedy Run time: 1h 43m Director: Scott Waugh Cast: Jason Statham, Sylvester Stallone, Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson
The fourth entry in the brash franchise has its best action scenes yet, hands the reins over to Jason Statham, and brings in Tony Jaa and Iko Uwais for some extra martial arts bona fides.
Expend4bles stretches the franchise to its limits, and those limits frankly don’t reach very far. There’s a level of self-awareness to Expendables films that can make their paper-thin plotting and characterization excusable — in the end, they’re just a reason to see certain action legends interact with each other. But in a decade-plus of homage, the series hasn’t developed any stylistic flourishes of its own. Mission: Impossible movies have their signature stunts, Fast and Furious movies have their improbable applications of cars, but the Expendables lacks a comparable calling card. There’s nothing for fans to look forward to beyond Jason Statham’s resilient charm and Sylvester Stallone’s braggadocio. And frankly, there are plenty of other places for people who want those things to get them.
New to rent
The Monk and the Gun
Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu
Image: Roadside Attractions
Genre: Comedy drama Run time: 1h 47m Director: Pawo Choyning Dorji Cast: Tandin Wangchuk, Deki Lhamo, Pema Zangmo Sherpa
Set in Bhutan during the mid-2000s in the wake of the king’s abdication, this satirical comedy follows the story of a young monk and an American gun collector who vie for possession of a rare antique rifle. Meanwhile, the people of Bhutan hold mock elections in their hesitant transition from living in a monarchy to a democracy.
Bob Marley: One Love
Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu
Image: Paramount Pictures
Genre: Biographical musical Run time: 1h 47m Director: Reinaldo Marcus Green Cast: Kingsley Ben-Adir, Lashana Lynch, James Norton
This biopic follows the story of Bob Marley, portrayed by Kingsley Ben-Adir (High Fidelity), the acclaimed reggae singer and songwriter. The film follows Marley from his rise to fame in the ’70s up until his death in 1981.
Dad & Step-Dad
Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu
Image: NoBudge
Genre: Comedy Run time: 1h 18m Director: Tynan DeLong Cast: Colin Burgess, Anthony Oberbeck, Clare O’Kane
This slow-burn character comedy follows a dad (Colin Burgess), a stepdad (Anthony Oberbeck), and a mom (Clare O’Kane) who agree to spend time with one another over a long weekend trip in the woods for the sake of their son Branson (Brian Fiddyment). Sounds awkward? You have no idea.
Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell
Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu
Image: Kino Lorber
Genre: Drama Run time: 2h 58m Director: Pham Thien An Cast: Le Phong Vu, Nguyen Thi Truc Quynh, Nguyen Thinh
After his sister-in-law dies in a motorcycle accident, a man takes on the responsibility of shepherding both her remains and his 5-year-old nephew to the rural village where he grew up. A three-hour meditation on the fragility of life, the pain of grief, and the importance of being present, every frame of Pham Thien An’s Caméra d’Or-winning film is as gorgeous as it is melancholic.
Land of Bad
Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu
Image: R.U. Robot Studios/Highland Film Group
Genre: Action thriller Run time: 1h 50m Director: William Eubank Cast: Liam Hemsworth, Russell Crowe, Luke Hemsworth
Liam Hemsworth and Russell Crowe star in this military thriller about a rookie Delta Force officer who is lost in enemy territory when his team is ambushed. Refusing to leave without his comrades and with time running out, he’ll have to rely on a seasoned Air Force drone pilot to be his eyes in the sky in their desperate mission to escape alive.
On Thursday, March 21, Peck took to Instagram to share a post with fans. The picture featured a black background with text.
In the post, Peck explained that he finished watching ‘Quiet On Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV.’ Additionally, he explained that he reached out to Drake Bell — his former Nickelodeon ‘Drake & Josh’ co-star — after Bell revealed he was sexually assaulted as a child actor at Nick during the docuseries.
Peck seemingly explained that he reached out to Bell privately. However, he wanted to share a statement publicly to give his support “for the survivors who were brave enough to share their stories of emotional and physical abuse on Nickelodeon sets.”
“Children should be protected,” he added. “Reliving this publicly is incredibly difficult, but I hope it can bring healing for the victims and their families…”
Before concluding his thoughts, Peck shared that he hopes the series brings “necessary change to our industry.”
Read his full message below.
Drake Bell Recently Defended His Former ‘Drake & Josh’ Co-Star
As The Shade Room previously reported, Bell explained that the sexual assault occurred when he was 15. Additionally, he shared that it took place at the hands of a Nickelodeon dialogue coach named Brian Peck.
“I was sleeping on the couch where I usually sleep and… I woke up to him… I opened my eyes and I woke up and he was… he was sexually assaulting me,” Bell explained during the docuseries. “And I froze, and was in complete shock and had no idea what to do or how to react. And I had no idea how to get out of the situation.”
Ultimately, Bell explained that the abuse he experienced at the hands of Peck “got pretty brutal.”
After Bell’s revelation went public, social media users took to various platforms, seemingly waiting for Peck to share his reaction, per The Shade Room. However, Peck received backlash after seemingly ignoring the docuseries and Bell’s revelation.
Instead, Peck posted a TikTok, which left many users outraged at his silence on the matter.
At the time, one TikTok user @thebluemermaidmama 🍉 wrote, “Your silence speaks volumes bro. It’s really sad. 😢”
While another @Kinsey hibler added, “The timing with this is .. odd”
As previously reported by The Shade Room, Peck’s social media comments were flooded with similar reactions. So much so that Bell took to TikTok himself to ask fans to “take it a little easy on him.”
Drake Bell is speaking out after social media users flooded the comments of Josh Peck‘s social media accounts. This came after he remained silent after Bell’s recent sexual assault revelation.
Here’s What’s Going Down With Drake Bell & Josh Peck
According to TMZ, social media users spent the week running Peck’s comments up after ‘Quiet On Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV’ aired earlier this week. As The Shade Room previously reported, the four-part docuseries explored the “toxic” culture of popular children’s shows between the 1990s and early 2000s.
Additionally, the docuseries shined a spotlight on the previous work culture at Nickelodeon. Furthermore, it was alleged the channel’s producer, Dan Schneider, “sexualized” the child actors. In addition, he was accused of incorporating “racist” jokes into skits and promoting an “uncomfortable work environment.
Furthermore, some actors reportedly felt like they experienced an “abusive” relationship while working with Schneider, per The Shade Room.
Drake Bell even revealed that he was sexually assaulted by Brian Peck, a Nickelodeon dialogue coach, at the age of 15, per The Shade Room.
“I was sleeping on the couch where I usually sleep and… I woke up to him… I opened my eyes, and I woke up, and he was… he was sexually assaulting me,” Bell explained during the docuseries. “….Anytime I had an audition, or anytime I needed to work on dialogue or anything, I somehow ended up back at Brian’s house. And it just got worse, and worse, and worse, and worse, and I was just trapped. I had no way out. The abuse was extensive, and it got pretty brutal.”
Here’s What Prompted Social Media Users To Enter Josh Peck’s Comments
On March 17 — the day the first portion of the documentary aired — Bell’s former ‘Drake & Josh’ co-star took to TikTok to share a video. According to IMDb, the pair starred together on the show between 2004-2007. This followed them also working side by side on ‘The Amanda Show’ between 1999-2002, per IMDb.
TikTok users appeared to believe that Peck’s clip would address the allegations shared in the docuseries. Or the former child actor would speak on Bell’s sexual assault revelation.
However, Peck stayed clear of the series and Bell’s revelation completely. Instead, the TikTok video showed him doing a voiceover.
“If I haven’t talked to you since 2023, take that as a f*****g sign that you don’t exist to me anymore. D**n, you f*****g bug. You got sprayed with the Raid. Bye! See you never,” Peck lipsynchs in the video.
Here’s What Social Media Users Said
Peck’s TikTok immediately prompted comments as it garnered over 7 million views.
TikTok user @Mother Bucker wrote, “It’s giving ✨Dan Schneider Core✨”
While TikTok user @thebluemermaidmama 🍉 added, “Your silence speaks volumes bro. It’s really sad. 😢”
TikTok user @Kinsey hibler wrote, “The timing with this is .. odd”
While TikTok user @Monique🧸, added, “*sigh* Josh you disappointed us..”
TikTok user @MissJoebob wrote, “In the end we will not remember the words of our enemies but the silence of our friends.”
While TikTok user the Junque Love added, “WE ALL WATCHED IT JOSH.”
Over on Peck’s latest post on Instagram, the comments continued. However, many accused the actor of deleting their thoughts.
Instagram user @samialexis._ wrote, “You could delete the comment all you want doesn’t matter. Gonna have to block me or turn off them comments bookie”
While Instagram user @lamarie002 added, “You taking the time to delete comment instead of taking the time to actually reflect is mind baffling”
Drake Bell Defends Josh Peck
Amid the backlash toward Peck, Bell took to TikTok to share his own video. The actor explained that he noticed the comments toward Peck and wanted to let fans know that right now is a “really emotional time.”
Bell explained that “not everything is put out to the public.” However, he wants fans to know that Peck reached out to him.
“He has reached out to me and it’s been very sensitive but he has reached out to talk with me and help me work through this and has been really great,” Bell said. “And I just wanted to let you guys know that and take it a little easy on him.”
Police are trying to pinpoint the last place Missouri college student Riley Strain was last seen by using his phone and Apple watch.Video above: Vigil held to honor 22-year-old college student who went missingStrain, a University of Missouri student, was visiting Nashville with members of his fraternity for a group outing when he disappeared on March 8 after being asked to leave Luke Bryan’s bar on Broadway.Police have released four videos that show Strain stumbling through the streets of Nashville.Strain told friends he was heading back to their hotel when he was asked to leave the bar Friday night. However, videos show him walking up Third Avenue North, turn onto Church Street and then continuing on Gay Street before disappearing after a ping near James Robertson Parkway.”The last contact with his friends was after he left Luke Bryan’s,” Metro Nashville Police Cold Case Sgt. Bob Nielsen said. “I believe one of them tried to reach out to him. I don’t remember if it was by phone or by test. I think he said he heard, it sounded like he was outside. He could hear a lot of loud noise outside but couldn’t get any more information because he wasn’t able to actually speak to him.”Video below: Surveillance video shows missing college student crossing street by himself in downtown NashvillePolice have spent days scouring the downtown area for clues. Nielsen said they’re digging through Strain’s call logs, text messages and any location pings that could’ve gotten lost.”Some of the data we are still waiting on,” Nielsen said. “There’s a legal process when you’re getting some of this information, so sometimes it’s multiple steps and a lot of it depends on the company that you’re trying to get that information, whether social media or cell phone company.”Police are also looking for information on the Apple Watch Strain was wearing.A phone location specialist told WSMV that in some of these cases, the company that created the phones or watches can track down more precise locations of the devices before they turned off.”Right now, we have requested some of that information. We have done emergency pings and are just trying to get that information from them,” Nielsen said.Nielsen said they’re hoping to get new information from Strain’s phone or watch as soon as possible.Police said the last known location of Strain was somewhere between the Woodland Street Bridge and the James Robertson Parkway Bridge.
Police are trying to pinpoint the last place Missouri college student Riley Strain was last seen by using his phone and Apple watch.
Video above: Vigil held to honor 22-year-old college student who went missing
Strain, a University of Missouri student, was visiting Nashville with members of his fraternity for a group outing when he disappeared on March 8 after being asked to leave Luke Bryan’s bar on Broadway.
Police have released four videos that show Strain stumbling through the streets of Nashville.
Strain told friends he was heading back to their hotel when he was asked to leave the bar Friday night. However, videos show him walking up Third Avenue North, turn onto Church Street and then continuing on Gay Street before disappearing after a ping near James Robertson Parkway.
“The last contact with his friends was after he left Luke Bryan’s,” Metro Nashville Police Cold Case Sgt. Bob Nielsen said. “I believe one of them tried to reach out to him. I don’t remember if it was by phone or by test. I think he said he heard, it sounded like he was outside. He could hear a lot of loud noise outside but couldn’t get any more information because he wasn’t able to actually speak to him.”
Video below: Surveillance video shows missing college student crossing street by himself in downtown Nashville
Police have spent days scouring the downtown area for clues. Nielsen said they’re digging through Strain’s call logs, text messages and any location pings that could’ve gotten lost.
“Some of the data we are still waiting on,” Nielsen said. “There’s a legal process when you’re getting some of this information, so sometimes it’s multiple steps and a lot of it depends on the company that you’re trying to get that information, whether social media or cell phone company.”
Police are also looking for information on the Apple Watch Strain was wearing.
A phone location specialist told WSMV that in some of these cases, the company that created the phones or watches can track down more precise locations of the devices before they turned off.
“Right now, we have requested some of that information. We have done emergency pings and are just trying to get that information from them,” Nielsen said.
Nielsen said they’re hoping to get new information from Strain’s phone or watch as soon as possible.
Police said the last known location of Strain was somewhere between the Woodland Street Bridge and the James Robertson Parkway Bridge.
There’s plenty of great thriller films to watch on Netflix. But if you prefer your stories to be more procedural, there’s just as many fantastic TV series to choose from on the service.
We’ve put together our conspiracy corkboards, crunched the numbers, and followed the money to bring you our list of the top suspects for the best thriller TV series to watch on Netflix. From modern classics like David Fincher’s Mindhunter and You to pulse-pounding murder mysteries like Erased and more, Netflix has a selection of thriller TV just waiting to become your next obsession.
Here are the best thriller series you can watch right now on Netflix. Our latest update added The Diplomat as our editor’s pick.
A throwback to the kind of plot-heavy political thriller that used to run television (and the screwball comedies of days gone by), The Diplomat is a delightful star vehicle for Keri Russell. She is Kate Wyler, a whip-smart career diplomat whose plans are thrown into disarray when her upcoming assignment in Afghanistan is changed to what seems to be a cushy post as the new U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom. For Kate, who loves her work and is very good at it, this is a clear downgrade, but the more power-focused people in her life (including her conniving husband Hal, played by Rufus Sewell) are delighted by the new role. What follows is a whirlwind of intrigue and mystery, with snappy dialogue, strong chemistry between the leads, and plenty of twists and turns.
After courting many viewers for its first season, The Diplomat will return for a second. We can’t wait, especially after the first season’s cliffhanger ending. —Pete Volk
Babylon Berlin
Image: X Filme Creative Pool
Bad things are coming to 1929 Berlin. We know this, of course — with the vantage point of history, the Weimar Republic era was marked by economic insecurity and the beginning of the Nazi Party. But the ’20s in the world of Babylon Berlin exist just before that horror, when the degeneracy from all that economic downturn could give way to roaring ’20s clubs just as easily as unending darkness.
That tension is captured in Babylon Berlin by two protagonists: Gereon Rath (a soft and strong Volker Bruch), a vice inspector on a secret mission to take down an extortion ring, and Charlotte Ritter (Liv Lisa Fries, all vinegar and chutzpah), the new police clerk who moonlights as a sex worker. Together they provide two very distinct vantage points on the Weimar Republic’s waning days, exposing the rot of what’s to come at the same time they find hope in what could’ve been.
Babylon Berlin’s trick is by not getting ahead of itself. The show is perhaps one of the slower boils on this list; the thrills of the mystery, such as they are, come from meticulous pacing. Answers don’t come easy, and a whole country’s politics don’t change overnight. Babylon Berlin is a web of history and conspiracy, and by taking those elements equally seriously and methodically, you get a twisty, hardboiled detective story for the ages. —Zosha Millman
Bodies
Image: Netflix
Solving a murder is hard enough, but how do you go about apprehending a culprit whose crime literally transcends space and time?
Bodies is a terrific cerebral whodunit with an excellent ensemble cast whose stories weave into one another effortlessly as the series builds and the mystery deepens. Created by Paul Tomalin (Torchwood) and based on Si Spencer’s 2014 comic, this sci-fi crime thriller follows four detectives living in different time periods of London who find themselves investigating a strange murder. What’s so strange about it? Well, the victim’s body appears — and reappears — in each time period in the exact same location. What’s even stranger is that the victim was last seen alive in 2053, despite being seen dead both in that year and as early as 1890.
A engrossing drama that feels like a mashup between Class of ’09, Dark, and Alex Garland’s Devs, Bodies is one of Netflix’s most compelling releases this year and wholly deserves to be added to your watchlist. —Toussaint Egan
Erased
Image: A-1 Pictures/Aniplex of America
This sci-fi mystery thriller miniseries from 2016 centers on Satoru Fujinuma, a 29-year-old delivery man who is inexplicably sent back in time and reawakens in his 11-year-old body. Determined to save the lives of his mother and his elementary school classmate, who died and disappeared, respectively, under mysterious circumstances, Satoru must combine his knowledge of the future with his ability to change the past in order to apprehend the culprit and bring them to justice.
Erased is a compulsively watchable thriller anime, filled with enough twists and turns to keep audiences guessing right up to the series’ exhilarating conclusion. —TE
Ganglands
Image: Netflix
French action cinema is having a bit of a renaissance, and one of the leading figures is director Julien Leclercq. He made the very good Olga Kurylenko thriller Sentinelle, the Jean-Claude Van Damme-led The Bouncer, and my favorite movie of his, the tense crime thriller Braqueurs (also known as The Crew).
Six years later, Leclercq took his talents to television with the Netflix series Ganglands (also known as Braqueurs). It shares the same name, lead (the excellent Sami Bouajila), and general vibe, but is not technically a sequel or a remake. In Ganglands, a crew of expert armed robbers are drawn into a gang war: They’re so dang good at crimes, everyone wants to hire them, even the people they rob.
Leclercq and writer Hamid Hlioua have created a muscular little thriller anchored by strong leading performances and the director’s tension-filled style of building action and conflict. The second season was recently released on Netflix, and both seasons are very much worth your time. —Pete Volk
Lupin
Image: Netflix
The thrill of the heist — there’s just nothing like it. Ask Assane Diop (Omar Sy). He’s been working as a con artist and thief for years, drawing his inspiration (and moniker) from an obsession with the literary gentleman thief Arsène Lupin. His thrills are hard-won, but they’re also smoothly meticulous. For Assane, the art of the heist — even with a priceless diamond necklace worn by Marie Antoinette — is a given.
What comes less naturally is revenge. Lupin’s first season follows his quest to seek vengeance on the rich family that wronged his father, and the show is full of twists and turns as his mission starts to bleed from his gentleman thief persona back into his real life.
The French series was a breakout hit when it premiered on Netflix, thanks in large part to Sy’s performance. He is magnetic as he makes con artistry look easy, with the sort of natural charm that makes you believe he can fake his way into any vault or safe in France (and that’s all before we get into his thieving skills and connections). With a heist, the end is, typically, self-assured. Sy’s performance ensures Lupin has the same confidence, and makes every step of the ride along the way its own thrill. —ZM
Mindhunter
Image: Netflix
David Fincher’s exacting vision is applied to the television format in one of the best shows Netflix has ever produced. Over two seasons, odd-couple FBI agents Holden Ford (Jonathan Groff) and Bill Tench (the terrific Holt McCallany) interview serial killers in the burgeoning field of criminal psychology.
In a nice twist on conventional character tropes, it is the young agent who is often cold and emotionally removed, and the older one who worries about the consequences of their actions. Their chemistry, as well as Mindhunter’s deep study of our culture around serial killers and the approach to stopping them, makes the show excellent, and it never veers into the exploitation of its peers in the genre.
How exacting is Fincher’s vision? Take a look at this mind-blowing VFX reel from the show, which literally changed how I watch modern cinema. —PV
Monster
Image: Madhouse/Viz Media
If you’re a fan of the 1960s crime drama series The Fugitive, you’ll likely love the 2004 anime adaptation of Naoki Urasawa’s psychological thriller manga. After all, the series was inspired by it! Set in Germany before and after the fall of the Berlin Wall, Monster centers on the story of Kenzo Tenma, a Japanese brain surgeon living in Düsseldorf. After being implicated in the murders of his superiors, Kenzo must go on the run to clear his name by tracking down the real culprit: a young man he once treated.
Spanning 74 episodes, Monster is a labyrinthine drama filled with a rich cast of characters and enough harrowing twists and revelations to fill a Matryoshka doll. —TE
The Night Agent
Photo: Dan Power/Netflix
Sometimes, you want a “light brain” thriller — something not too deep that might be perfect for a bucket of popcorn or for background viewing while you fold some laundry. The Night Agent is Netflix’s quintessential plot-heavy popcorn thriller, elevated to solid fare thanks to the surprising chemistry between its two leads.
Adapted by The Shield creator Shawn Ryan from the novel, The Night Agent stars Gabriel Basso as an FBI agent who has been relegated to watching a phone that never rings in the basement in the White House. When that phone does ring one night, he and the person on the other end (Luciane Buchanan) are brought into a vast conspiracy that threatens to unravel everything he knows. —PV
You
Image: Netflix
No one is doing it like Joe Goldberg (Penn Badgley). The man is in a league of his own when it comes to stalking women and obsessing over them. This is the double-edged sword of watching You and following Joe in his unethical exploits: He is outright the villain of his own story.
Luckily, You is very aware of this, taking the initial premise of the first season — boy meets girl, boy stalks girl, boy manipulates her whole life to a dangerous degree — and continues flipping it over, putting Joe through his paces, letting him scramble to cover his ass as he gets in deeper and deeper. Each You season is a flavor unto itself, switching locales and ladies and letting Joe make the worst kind of case for himself.
You is not a show for the faint of heart, but it’s also not a thriller that rests easily on its underlying darkness. Joe may be an absolute piece of shit (even Badgley thinks so, and would really like it if you did too), but the show knows how to keep him engaging as it turns the screws on him. Each of the four seasons challenges him in new ways, and it makes for a snaky and startlingly good time. With You there’s only one thing you can always expect: for Joe to go to extreme and violent lengths to prove he’s not the bad guy. Also a plexiglass vault. —ZM
According to Fox 4 News Dallas-Fort Worth, Joslyn Sanders took her son, Josiah, to the Children’s Medical Center Dallas due to a rash he developed. Sanders reportedly believed the rash was caused by her son’s skin reacting to a new laundry detergent.
“I realized his foot was swelling and took him to the hospital at the advice of a pediatrician,” she explained to the outlet.
However, Sanders disagreed with the medication doctors prescribed her son.
“I was not ok with clindamycin since that antibiotic is reserved for more severe infections,” she added.
Sanders left the hospital. Then, CPS officers visited her apartment the next day, accompanied by officers from the Corinth Police Department.
“They did not observe anything that would indicate the child was in imminent danger,” Garner explained.
However, CPS officers reportedly explained that they visited Sander’s residence on reports from the hospital that Josiah was malnourished.
“They observed the child would eat, and drink. They saw a rash, but they did not see an emergency,” Garner continued. “They did not see anything obvious to indicate the child was malnourished.”
Upon their visit, Sanders reportedly informed CPS that she would take her child to another medical professional. However, the CPS officials then informed her that it would not be needed and that they would be removing her son from her care.
“The child had a skin infection and a nutritional deficiency. Mother Joslyn Sanders provided no explanation about the child being malnourished. The doctor said the child is at severe risk of becoming septic due to serious infection,” a court affidavit filed by CPS reportedly reads, per Fox 4 News Dallas-Fort Worth.
A spokesperson for CPS has reportedly confirmed with the outlet that a judge ordered the child to be in the organization’s care.
The Texas Mother Speaks Out As Social Media Weighs In
According to the outlet, Sanders alleges that CPS’s affidavit failed to acknowledge that Josiah has been receiving treatment for “feeding difficulties.” The outlet reports that the child is being treated by his nutrition therapist and primary care provider.
Now, after spending at least sixty days away from her son, Sanders is speaking out.
“I’ve never been away from my son for more than a few hours; it’s now been 60 days,” she reportedly explained. “I think about him every moment.”
Here’s What Is Expected To Happen To The Child
According to Fox 4 News Dallas-Fort Worth, Josiah was placed into a foster home on Tuesday, February 19. Furthermore, a hearing for his mother to present her side of events has been scheduled for Wednesday, February 28.
Nintendo will broadcast a new Nintendo Direct presentation on Wednesday, Feb. 21, a showcase focused Switch games coming in the first half of 2024, the company announced Monday. The new Nintendo Direct starts at 9 a.m. EST/6 a.m. PST, and will run about 25 minutes, Nintendo says.
Wednesday’s Direct will be viewable on Nintendo’s YouTube and Twitch channels. The presentation be on-demand, meaning the entire showcase will go live at once.
Nintendo notes that its newest Nintendo Direct presentation is a Partner Showcase, meaning that third-party publishers and developers will be the focus during the video showcase. In other words, don’t expect a big blowout on Nintendo’s first-party slate.
Nintendo’s currently announced first-party lineup includes Switch games Princess Peach Showtime!, Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD, and Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. Of course, Nintendo may have a few surprises in store as well. The company still has Metroid Prime 4 on its release schedule, and is rumored to be sitting on a handful of remakes and remasters.
Less likely to appear during February’s Nintendo Direct is the company’s next console. “Switch 2” is reportedly coming sometime in 2025.
Greetings, Polygon readers! Each week, we round up the most notable new releases to streaming and VOD, highlighting the biggest and best new movies for you to watch at home.
This week, American Fiction, the Oscar-nominated comedy drama starring Westworld’s Jeffrey Wright, is available to purchase on VOD. That’s not all, as Jeymes Samuel’s The Book of Clarence starring LaKeith Stanfield and the ecological drama The End We Start From starring Jodie Comer (The Last Duel) also arrive on VOD this week, along with a few other exciting releases. There’s plenty of streaming premieres as well, with Nia DaCosta’s The Marvels finally arriving on Disney Plus following its VOD release last month. Down Low, a new comedy starring Zachary Quinto and Lukas Gage, is now streaming on Netflix, while the supernatural “Dracula on a boat” horror thriller The Last Voyage of the Demeter finally docks on Paramount Plus.
In this dark comedy, Zachary Quinto (Star Trek) stars as Gary, a recently divorced and deeply closeted father who forms an unlikely friendship with young masseur (Lukas Gage). Determined to help him come out of his shell and embrace his sexuality openly, the masseur sets Gary up with a date on a hookup app, but things quickly take a turn when the two must work together to avoid going to jail for murder.
New on Disney Plus
The Marvels
Where to watch: Available to stream on Disney Plus
Photo: Laura Radford/Marvel Studios
Genre: Superhero action Run time: 1h 45m Director: Nia DaCosta Cast: Brie Larson, Teyonah Parris, Iman Vellani
The 33rd film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe sees the return of Carol Danvers (Brie Larson), also known as Captain Marvel. This time around, she’s teaming up with the superpowered Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani) and Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris) to save the universe from the threat of a vengeful Kree leader bent on restoring her home world.
In its best moments, The Marvels just throws wonderful ideas at the screen. There’s a planet of people who only sing, a space station full of cats that blithely devour furniture and humans alike, an animated depiction of Kamala’s internal monologue — the movie can feel like a mood board assembled by an overcaffeinated Star Trek fan, with a sense of imagination suitable for reminding the audience that comic books can be cool in the moment that you’re reading them, as opposed to for what they promise in the future.
Genre: Psychological thriller Run time: 1h 58m Director: Susanna Fogel Cast: Emilia Jones, Nicholas Braun, Geraldine Viswanathan
Based on Kristen Roupenian’s viral 2017 short story for The New Yorker, Cat Person follows the story of Margot, a college sophomore who enters into a brief relationship with an older man named Robert (Nicholas Braun). Things seem okay at first, until Margot begins to question whether or not Robert is telling the whole truth about his life.
Cat Person gets it wrong so consistently, makes its points so inelegantly, and pads out the short story in such an ill-conceived way that it ends up invalidating the same concerns on which it’s built. When a cop tells the protagonist that she should stop watching murder shows, it’s not institutional indifference toward violence against women. It’s a voice of reason, as the protagonist’s own actions later prove. This is a film that includes both a therapist who appears to state the subtext as text, then vanishes, and a one-dimensional best friend of color who exists solely to drop feminist buzzwords from five years ago (Geraldine Viswanathan, who deserves better). It’s confident in its cluelessness, and not in a way that underlines that same quality in its 20-year-old heroine.
Genre: Coming-of-age drama Run time: 1h 49m Director: Laura Chinn Cast: Laura Linney, Nico Parker, Woody Harrelson
This semi-autobiographical drama follows Doris (Nico Parker), a self-conscious teenager who strikes up an unlikely friendship with an older activist (Woody Harrelson) while caring for her dying brother and navigating the pitfalls of high school.
New on Prime Video
Upgraded
Where to watch: Available to stream on Prime Video
Genre: Romantic comedy Run time: 1h 44m Director: Carlson Young Cast: Camila Mendes, Archie Renaux, Lena Olin
I know what you’re thinking and no, this is not the sequel to Leigh Whannell’s cyberpunk action thriller starring Logan Marshall-Green. This is a romantic comedy starring Camila Mendes (Riverdale) and Archie Renaux (Shadow and Bone) as Ana and Will; two strangers who meet during a first class flight to London who strike up a romance after Will mistakes Ana for his new boss. I think these wacky kids are gonna make it!
Genre: Period horror Run time: 1h 58m Director: André Øvredal Cast: Corey Hawkins, Aisling Franciosi, David Dastmalchian
Dracula’s on a boat, and guess what? He’s PISSED. This supernatural horror thriller adapts a chapter from Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel and centers on the unfortunate crew of a transatlantic merchant ship who discover an unearthly threat among their cargo. As time dwindles away, and with it their chances of survival, the crew must make a last-ditch effort to kill the creature before they reach England.
The Last Voyage of the Demeter makes very little of most of its potential assets. It’s a film with no vision, a puzzling adaptation that’s so straightforward, viewers might believe every beat comes from Stoker’s novel and not a screenplay imagining what happened between the pages. Maybe the two decades the film spent in development, being rewritten and recast, are to blame; every colorful choice seems to have been wrung out of the script. At every moment, there’s potential for Demeter to become something distinct and interesting, but the screenplay and Øvredal’s direction choose otherwise, embracing straightforward competence over any style or flair. It’s dry historical fiction, Horatio Hornblower’s Dracula.
New to rent
American Fiction
Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu
Image: MGM/Amazon Studios
Genre: Comedy-drama Run time: 1h 57m Director: Cord Jefferson Cast: Jeffrey Wright, Tracee Ellis Ross, Sterling K. Brown
The Oscar-nominated debut from Cord Jefferson stars Jeffrey Wright (The Batman) as Thelonious “Monk” Ellison, a frustrated novelist living in Los Angeles who writes a scathing satire of stereotypical “Black” books, only for it to be sky-rocketed to the prestigious heights of literary acclaim. Feels like a shoe-in for fans of such movies as Putney Swope and Bamboozled.
The Book of Clarence
Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu
Image: Legendary Entertainment/Moris Puccio
Genre: Historical comedy Run time: 2h 9m Director: Jeymes Samuel Cast: LaKeith Stanfield, Omar Sy, RJ Cyler, Anna Diop
Jeymes Samuel (The Harder They Fall) returns with a new film, this time a biblical comedy drama starring LaKeith Stanfield. The Book of Clarence follows the story of a down-on-his-luck man living in A.D. 33 Jerusalem who aspires to free himself from debt. His plan? Take a page out of the book of a local preacher claiming to be the son of God and proclaim himself as the Messiah, performing “miracles” in a bid for fame and glory. When Clarence’s schemes run afoul of the Romans, he’ll be faced with not only the consequences of his deception, but a choice that will shape his life and the course of history.
The End We Start From
Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu
Image: Sunny/March Hera Pictures
Genre: Post-apocalyptic thriller Run time: 1h 42m Director: Mahalia Belo Cast: Ramanique Ahluwalia, Elena Bielova, Shiona Brown
Jodie Comer (The Last Duel) stars in this new thriller as a woman attempting to protect her infant child after London is submerged by flood waters. With nowhere else to turn, she will have to embark on a search for a way to raise her child and build a new home.
Cobweb
Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu
Image: Anthology Studios/Samuel Goldwyn Films
Genre: Black comedy drama Run time: 2h 15m Director: Kim Jee-woon Cast: Song Kang-ho, Im Soo-jung, Oh Jung-se
Song Kang-ho (Parasite) stars in this period black comedy as Kim Ki-yeol, an obsessive director in the 1970s on the verge of completing his latest film, Cobweb. There’s just one problem: Kim’s suddenly has a change of heart and wants to completely reshoot the ending of his film in two days. He’ll have to get his confused and uncooperative cast and crew to cooperate, as well as escape the ire of Seoul’s censorship authorities.
I.S.S.
Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu
Image: LD Entertainment
Genre: Sci-fi thriller Run time: 1h 35m Director: Gabriela Cowperthwaite Cast: Ariana DeBose, Chris Messina, John Gallagher Jr.
Imagine if you were an astronaut aboard the International Space Station during an apocalyptic event where the world is consumed in nuclear hellfire — what would you do? That’s what the characters in this bracing sci-fi thriller have to figure out, as a crew of American and Russian astronauts must decide whether to cooperate in the face of extinction or surrender to their nationalistic anxieties and resentment.
Greetings, Polygon readers! Each week, we round up the most notable new releases to streaming and VOD, highlighting the biggest and best new movies for you to watch at home. So quiet up and listen down; no, scratch that, reverse it!
This week, Wonka, the musical fantasy starring Timothée Chalamet as the irrepressibly whimsical chocolatier, is finally available to stream on VOD. There’s other exciting new releases available to rent as well, like David Ayer’s latest action thriller The Beekeeper starring Jason Statham and Makoto Shinkai’s fantasy romance anime Suzume. There are a ton of other new movies on streaming to watch as well, like Orion and the Dark on Netflix, Freelance on Hulu, Past Lives on Paramount Plus with Showtime, and more!
Here’s everything new to watch this weekend!
New on Netflix
Orion and the Dark
Where to watch: Available to stream on Netflix
Image: DreamWorks Animation
Genre: Fantasy comedy Run time: 1h 30m Director: Sean Charmatz Cast: Jacob Tremblay, Paul Walter Hauser, Angela Bassett
Written by cerebral screenwriter-director Charlie Kaufman (Being John Malkovich) and based on the children’s book by Emma Yarlett, this animated fantasy adventure follows the story of a child with an overactive imagination and a constant fear of the future who is befriended by the anthropomorphic personification of darkness. Together, the pair embark on an adventure to conquer Orion’s fear of the unknown and embrace the many wonders the world has to offer.
By the end, Orion and the Dark has boldly transformed into a delightfully eccentric story, taking on even more metatextual layers. But it never loses its heart: It’s still a bedtime story, a parent and child working together to assemble an ending that satisfies the both of them. Their voices combine in a convincing way, with zany, kid-fueled ideas on one hand, and the careful guiding hand of an adult on the other. But child and parent both learn something from the other, and that turns Orion and the Dark from a simple fairy tale into a beautifully bizarre ride, and finally into a movie with a message that hits deeply for both adults and kids.
The Greatest Night in Pop
Image: Netflix
Genre: Music documentary Run time: 1h 36m Director: Bao Nguyen Cast: The biggest music stars of the 1980s
A behind-the-scenes doc of the making of one of the most popular singles of all-time, The Greatest Night in Pop takes you behind the scenes of the star-studded lineup that recorded “We Are the World.”
It doesn’t quite reach the heights of documentary classics, falling short of the insight into the tortured circumstances and frustrated production of Original Cast Album: Company, or the pure musical excellence of Monterey Pop. But there’s something special about seeing these stars mingle that makes this movie a fascinating document on fame and the people behind it.
Shortcomings
Where to watch: Available to stream on Netflix
Image: Sony Picture Classics
Genre: Romance comedy Run time: 1h 32m Director: Randall Park Cast: Justin H. Min, Sherry Cola, Ally Maki
Justin H. Min (The Umbrella Academy) stars in this new comedy from actor-director Randall Park (WandaVision). Shortcomings follows the misadventures of Ben, a struggling filmmaker living in Los Angeles. When his girlfriend, Miko, moves to New York for an internship, Ben is forced to assess his lifestyle choices up to this point in order to learn to grow as both a romantic partner and a person.
New on Prime Video
Fist of the Condor
Where to watch: Available to stream on Prime Video
Image: Well Go USA Entertainment
Genre: Martial arts drama Run time: 1h 20m Director: Ernesto Díaz Espinoza Cast: Marko Zaror, Eyal Meyer, Gina Aguad
One of my (Ed. note: PV) very favorite action movies of a stacked 2023, Fist of the Condor is at once a throwback to the Shaw Brothers era of old school Hong Kong martial arts filmmaking, and a new exciting step for Chilean martial arts cinema.
At the end of the day, Fist of the Condor is the Marko Zaror show. And boy, does he deliver. The movie is at its best when it is a series of jaw-dropping fights, one after another, leaning on his incredible star power. As an actor, Zaror brings life and deep pain to the star-crossed brothers, and as a fighter and acrobat, he is unmatched. He seems to be able to alternate from raw animalistic movements to robotic, hypnotic defense (he calls it an “electrical impulse” in the movie) and balletic, gravity-defying spinning kicks that are simply poetry in motion.
Genre: Action comedy Run time: 1h 48m Director: Pierre Morel Cast: John Cena, Alison Brie, Juan Pablo Raba
Taken director Pierre Morel moves to a more comedic mode in this movie about a former Special Forces officer (John Cena) and a journalist (Alison Brie) who travel to a fictional country together to interview the nation’s dictator.
Genre: Musical comedy Run time: 1h 26m Director: Larry Charles Cast: Josh Sharp, Aaron Jackson, Nathan Lane
This musical comedy follows two longtime business rivals who inadvertently discover they are identical twin brothers separated at birth. Concocting a scheme to get their divorced parents back together, they switch places in order to orchestrate a reunion. Think The Parent Trap, but with more musical numbers, dick jokes, and Megan Thee Stallion.
Dicks takes shots at different kinds of modern movies early on, starting with other A24 movies. A24’s logo is accompanied by grandiose music, and its signature elevated horror threatens to become a tongue-in-cheek thematic inspiration when Trevor and Craig wonder whether their predicament meets the qualifications for abuse and trauma. The film’s New York-set, American Psycho-esque corporate saga is clearly filmed in Los Angeles, with the seams of several sets and stages showing in the margins, while the stock footage it uses of NYC is all distinctly anachronistic.
Genre: Romantic drama Run time: 1h 46m Director: Celine Song Cast: Greta Lee, Teo Yoo, John Magaro
Greta Lee (Sisters) and Teo Yoo (Decision to Leave) star in director Celine Song’s romantic drama debut as Nora and Hae-sung, two childhood friends who are seperated when the former emigrates from South Korea to Toronto with her family.
Reunited 12 years later, the pair find themselves unmistakably drawn together. As their respective lives and obligations pull them further and farther apart, Nora and Hae-sung must confront their feelings about the life they might have shared together had their past choices been different, and what to do with those feelings now in the present.
Song spoke with Polygon about how the film is all about “the way that life reflects upon itself,” as well as her brief foray into The Sims 4 theater production.
Genre: Documentary Run time: 1h 13m Director: D. Smith Cast: Daniella Carter, Koko Da Doll, Liyah Mitchell
The first film from Grammy-nominated producer D. Smith follows the stories of four transgender sex workers living in New York and Georgia. Shot in black and white, the film offers insight into the embattled nature of not only their profession, but the cultural fault lines of gender and identity that intersect with their daily lives.
Genre: Action adventure Run time: 1h 24m Directors: Raman Hui, Yong Duk Jhun, Paul Watling Cast: Henry Golding, Brandon Soo Hoo, Lucy Liu
Based on Laurence Yep’s 2003 novel, this action fantasy movie follows the story of Tom (Brandon Soo Hoo), a Chinese American boy living in Los Angeles who inherits the responsibility of acting as the guardian of an ancient phoenix after the passing of his grandmother. Aided by a talking tiger named Mr. Hu (Henry Golding), Tom must learn to harness his new powers in order to prevent the phoenix from falling into the wrong hands.
This documentary unpacks the storied 58-plus-year career of Dario Argento, one of the most prolific directors behind Italian “giallo” horror and the acclaimed mind behind such films as Suspiria and Tenebrae. Featuring guest appearances from the likes of Guillermo del Toro, Nicolas Winding Refn, and Gaspar Noé, Panico also follows Argento as he writes the script for a new horror film.
New on Tubi
Sri Asih
Where to watch: Available to stream on Tubi
Image: Premiere Entertainment Group
Genre: Superhero action Run time: 2h 15m Director: Upi Avianto Cast: Pevita Pearce, Ario Bayu, Christine Hakim
The second entry in Indonesia’s Bumilangit Cinematic Universe, adapting comic book stories, is finally more widely available to watch in the US. The first, Gundala, was a very fun time, and director Joko Anwar returns as co-writer on this entry, which follows a young woman who learns she is the reincarnation of a goddess.
New to rent
The Beekeeper
Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu
Image: Amazon MGM Studios
Genre: Action thriller Run time: 1h 45m Director: David Ayer Cast: Jason Statham, Emmy Raver-Lampman, Bobby Naderi
Jason Statham stars in David Ayer’s latest action film as Adam Clay, a retired “Beekeeper” (see: black ops secret agent) working as an actual beekeeper in Massachusetts. When Adam’s kindly employer loses her entire life savings to a nefarious phishing operation, he embarks on a one-man mission to avenge her and bring justice to those who wronged her.
Statham is his reliable self, mixing his effortless gruff charm with his comedy chops to help sell the ridiculous lines he has to deliver. And the movie looks great — Ayer and cinematographer Gabriel Beristain cleverly infuse the visuals with a yellow/amber color palette to match the title and the vibe, often making you feel like you’re watching the movie from inside a honeycomb.
Suzume
Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu
Image: CoMix Wave Films/Crunchyroll
Genre: Coming-of-age fantasy adventure Run time: 2h 2m Director: Makoto Shinkai Cast: Nanoka Hara, Hokuto Matsumura, Eri Fukatsu
Makoto Shinkai (Your Name, Weathering with You) is back with another animated fantasy romance adventure about young people struggling with supernatural forces and the general ennui of youth. When high school student Suzume crosses paths with Souta Munakata, a mysterious wanderer on a quest to seal a series of magical doors around Japan to avert disaster, she joins him on his quest in an effort to save her home.
Also, Souta is transformed into a sentient chair by a malevolent cat. It’s complicated.
Suzume is about processing trauma and finally learning to live. Even after the movie’s turning point, Suzume is still recklessly throwing herself into danger to save others. Like Your Name and Weathering With You, Shinkai’s latest sees its young heroes racing against time to stop an impending disaster. But some key differences in Suzume make the final act cinch together in a way that soars above the previous two movies. Suzume has a personal connection to the looming catastrophe, one that snugly wraps around her entire character journey. The event itself feels vast and all-encompassing, but because the movie focuses on her instead of on the action, it gives the payoff more emotional impact. And when Suzume steps up to fight her battles, it’s less about making a dramatic choice or defying all odds. She simply reframes what she’s trying to do in a way that feels more personal than most action heroes’ journeys. She doesn’t want to give her life to save the world; she just wants to stay in it.
Wonka
Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu
Image: Warner Bros. Pictures
Genre: Musical fantasy Run time: 1h 56m Director: Paul King Cast: Timothée Chalamet, Calah Lane, Keegan-Michael Key
Timothée Chalamet (Dune: Part One) stars in this new musical prequel to Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory as everyone’s soon-to-be-favorite chocolatier, now simply an aspiring magician looking to break into the candy business. He’ll have to find a way to overcome the nefarious chocolate cartel and build a factory of his own if he’ll any hope of achieving his dream, though.
Normally, I consider it unfair to compare two movies like this, but as I said, I’m a huge fan. Yet more importantly, Wonka directly invokes the previous film in ways big and small, going so far as to have Chalamet’s version of the character speak in the same diction as Wilder’s, complete with a “Scratch that, reverse it” line. As this is a story about a young Willy Wonka, the film must leave a little room to get from here to there, so Chalamet is granted the space to make the character his own. But this is a version of Willy that’s too sanded-down, too approachable to be truly memorable.
Will, Netflix’s imported Belgian movie about the moral impossibility of life under Nazi occupation during World War II, announces itself with shocking bluntness. Within its first 10 minutes, it’s made clear that co-writer and director Tim Mielants intends to confront the grisly horrors of the Holocaust head-on. But it’s also apparent that the film is constructed more like a thriller than a somber drama, and it tightens the screws on its lead character — young policeman Wilfried Wils (Stef Aerts) — in a series of breathless setups with escalating stakes.
It’s an effective way to pull viewers into empathizing with the awful dilemmas faced by an occupied population, and into bearing fresh witness to familiar horrors. But the thriller genre sets up expectations — climax, catharsis, redemption — which risk trivializing the material, and set something of an ethical trap. Who’s going to fall into it: the filmmakers, or the audience? Mielants is too tough-minded to be caught, it turns out, but that’s bad news for the rest of us. Will nurses a glimmer of hope in the darkness, only to snuff it out completely. This is a bleak, bleak movie.
It’s 1942, and Wil (referred to in the subtitles by the Dutch spelling of his name, despite the English title Will) and Lode (Matteo Simoni) are fresh recruits to the police force in the port city of Antwerp. Before their first patrol, their commanding officer, Jean (Jan Bijvoet), hands out regulation platitudes about the police being “mediators between our people and the Germans.” Then he sheds that pretense and offers some off-the-record advice: “You stand there and you just watch.” The ambiguity of these words echoes through the whole movie. Is it cowardice to stand by and watch the Nazis at work, or heroism to refuse to cooperate with them? Are the occupied Belgians washing their hands of the Nazis’ crimes, or bearing witness to them?
Wil and Lode don’t have long to contemplate these questions. No sooner have they left the station on their first patrol than a ranting, drugged-up German soldier demands they accompany him on the arrest of some people who “refuse to work”: a Jewish family, in other words. The young men are initially paralyzed by the situation, but things spiral out of control, more through desperation than heroic resistance on the part of the two policemen. In the aftermath, Lode and Wil return to work in a state of paranoid terror.
Image: Les Films Du Fleuve/Netflix
Mielants, working with screenwriter Carl Joos from a novel by Jeroen Olyslaegers, wastes no time in using this premise to explore the paranoid quagmire of the occupied city. Can the two young men trust each other? Where do their sympathies lie? Wil’s civil-servant father leads him to seek help from local worthy Felix Verschaffel (the excellent Dirk Roofthooft), who boasts of being friends with the Germans’ commanding officer, Gregor Schnabel (Dimitrij Schaad). Suddenly, Wil is indebted to a greedy, antisemitic collaborator.
Meanwhile, Lode’s mistrustful family — especially his fiery sister Yvette (Annelore Crollet) — want to know more. Does Wil speak any German at home? What radio station does he listen to? In occupied Antwerp — a region where German and French phrases naturally mix in with the local Dutch dialect — an innocent choice of word or of leisure listening comes freighted with dangerous political significance. “There isn’t much on the radio,” Wil responds. “Can you recommend something?”
Time and again during the movie, Wil uses deflections like this to squirm out of taking a position on the occupation. But eventually, he starts working to save Jewish lives. Actions may speak louder than words, but even in the teeth of a febrile affair with Yvette, Wil continues to keep his words to himself. As Schnabel’s net closes in, Wil’s caution keeps him and his friends alive, but the cost is heavy.
It’s a bold move to center a thriller about the Holocaust on a protagonist who, on some level, refuses to pick a side. We can only empathize with Wil because Mielants so effectively loads almost every scene and line of dialogue with implicit threat. Will is a tense, dark, frightening movie, filmed claustrophobically in a boxy ratio with lenses that blur the edge of the frame. The acting is intense (sometimes to a fault), and there are frequent bursts of unpleasant, graphic violence as the pressure builds.
Photo: Les Films Du Fleuve/Netflix
But even though Schaad sometimes seems to be doing a weak impression of Christoph Waltz’s Hans Landa in Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds, Will isn’t that movie, and Mielants isn’t interested in Tarantino’s style of catharsis. At the end of the movie, the vicious, inescapable trap he set for all the characters simply snaps shut. Will shows that under the remorseless illogic of Nazi occupation, survival is collaboration, and resistance is death.
That’s a miserable payload for the movie to carry, and it’s debatable how constructive it is. Jonathan Glazer’s chilling The Zone of Interest, currently in theaters, shows that challenging new perspectives on the human mechanics of the Holocaust are as essential now as they have ever been. Thirty years ago, Schindler’s List achieved something similar, and just as necessary, through radically different means: It found a thread of hope and compassion that could lead a wide audience into the heart of the nightmare and throw it into relief.
Will is too burdened by its point of view to manage anything similar. It’s clear-sighted on the cruel compromises of occupation and collaboration, but so fatalistic about them that it winds up wallowing in its own guilt and hopelessness. That’s a dark kind of truth, and not necessarily one that anyone needs to hear.
On Monday, January 29, a video clip from Sharpe’s latest ‘Nightcap’ podcast episode with Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson was released via YouTube. The 19-minute clip opened with Sharpe explaining that many football fans will be rooting for the San Francisco 49ers at the upcoming Super Bowl LVIII.
Sharpe explained that he believes this because he feels many fans are “tired” of seeing Taylor Swift. To note, the 49ers will face off against the Kansas City Chiefs in the upcoming game. Swift has been publicly dating Chiefs’ tight end Travis Kelce since 2023, per The Shade Room.
Additionally, Sharpe shared that Taylor Swift’s presence at NFL games brings in a “different demographic” and “different set of eyeballs.” This makes her a multi-million dollar asset to the league.
As the conversation continued, Sharpe asked Johnson to share another celebrity who could match Swift’s value. Johnson replied with, “Beyoncé.”
However, Sharpe disagreed.
“Beyoncé — Not like this,” he said. “These eyes — Ocho, these eight — 15-year-old eyeballs —Ocho! I love Beyoncé [but] Beyoncé ain’t moving the needle like this chick, Ocho! No!… She’s the closest thing to moving the needle like Michael Jackson that we’ve seen, this is it!” Sharpe explained.
Watch his explanation below.
Social Media Weighs In With Mixed Reactions
Social media users quickly entered The Shade Room’s comment section to weigh in on Sharpe’s stance. Some users agreed with Sharpe.
Instagram user @chriswilliamsii wrote.
“I love Beyonce ever since I was a kid, but Taylor and Beyonce had a tour at the same time and Taylor outsold Beyoncè outsold Beyonce even though Beyoncè’s tour was sold out everywhere. The truth of the matter is a white America Woman is America’s preference even if she isn’t the most talented!”
While Instagram user @queen_drinab added.
“We hate it 😫but he isn’t wrong”
Instagram user @skyboujee wrote.
“Taylor made them over 300 million in a short time. Ngl I wouldn’t even test out any other needles”
Meanwhile, others wanted Sharpe to put some respect on Beyoncé’s name.
Instagram user @chenemonique wrote.
“Comparing Taylor swift to Beyonce should be a crime because whattttt”
While Instagram user @arben_j11 added.
“I promise u if Beyoncé was boo’d up with a player and came to all the games I promise u the camera would be all over it, if not more”
Instagram user @yourfavewho wrote.
“Beyonce mind her business and still get disrespected 😂”
Stephen A. Smith Previously Caught Heat For Comparing Beyoncé To Another Celeb
As The Shade Room previously reported, fellow broadcaster Stephen A. Smith went viral last January after comparing Beyoncé to Rihanna. At the time, Rihanna was set to headline the Super Bowl LVII halftime show.
When asked if he was excited about the singer’s performance, Smith showed love to Beyoncé while downplaying Rih.
“I don’t want to say that I’m not excited — she’s fantastic. That’s not where I’m going with this. Ladies and gentlemen, she’s a lot of things. She’s spectacular, actually — And congratulations on new momma-hood… There’s one thing she’s not! She ain’t Beyoncé,” he said at the time.
A few days later, Smith apologized to Rihanna publicly.
Earthquake is the latest comedian to respond to KattWilliams‘ viral comments shared earlier this month. As The Shade Room previously reported, Williams sat down for an interview with Shannon Sharpe which was published on January 3.
To date the appearance, has garned over 54 million views. Additionally, Williams has since made headlines for taking aim at a lot of people’s careers.
Earthquake appeared as a recent guest on ‘The Breakfast Club,’ for an interview published on Friday, January 26 via YouTube. In the clip, hosts DJ Envy and Charlamagne Tha God wasted no time asking the comedian for his thoughts on Williams’ viral sitdown.
Earthquake explained that Williams’ comments didn’t do “anything” for the comedy industry, because he didn’t tell any jokes.
“I’m in the joke-telling business, so it didn’t do anything, I think, for comedy,” he said.
Additionally, the comedian explained that he and Williams were “cool.” So he was unsure of where Williams’ negative commentary toward him came from.
“Certain things he said about me — half was true. Half was a lie. But to each his own,” he continued.
The comedian explained that he tries not to pay attention to moments like those because he prefers to have transparent conversations.
“I’m the type of person, if I have a problem with you, I’m going to call you — man to man. And we’re either going to talk it out [or] we gon duke it out but we gon handle it man to man. I don’t talk behind people back.”
Before concluding on the topic, Earthquake also denied Williams’ allegations that he cannot read.
Social Media Reacts
Social media users entered The Shade Room’s comment section to weigh in. One user remarked at Williams’ remaining at the center of attention since earlier this month.
Instagram user @jamesjeffersonj wrote, “I told Yal Katts interview owns January over ol boy jumping at the judge cuz WE STILL ON IT!!”
While another user @tonybaker weighed in Katt’s allegations against Earthquake, “Whether it’s true or not. Katt wrong for saying that Quake was illiterate. ESPECIALLY if you don’t have beef with the man and claim that you respect him.”
Instagram user @socialbuttahfly, disagreed with Earthquake saying Katt Williams didn’t share his sentiments to comedian’s faces.
“Katt didn’t talk about anyone behind their backs. He spoke to their face to the world”
Here’s What Katt Williams Initially Said
As The Shade Room previously reported, Katt Williams went viral after sharing various accusations against his fellow comedians and celebrities. Williams accused Cedric The Entertainer of stealing a joke of his and Steve Harvey for stealing the concept of a fellow comedian’s TV show.
Chet Hanks is bringing a “little summer in the winter” with his cover of a Summer Walker song!
Earlier this week, the former ‘Empire’ actor took to Instagram to flex his vocals on video. He set the mood for fans with floor-to-ceiling windows and a beautiful sunset in the background!
The 33-year-old then started playing the guitar in his hands while he sang Summer Walker’s ‘Session 32‘.
To note, this isn’t Hanks’ first time putting his singing voice out there! In December 2023, the 33-year-old went viral after posting his cover of Nirvana’s ‘Come as You Are.’
Instagram user @mrs_tahirah wrote, “He can def put out a county album. I would support 🤷🏻♀️”
While Instagram user @beautifully_put_together added, “I like the country feel of it, I love all different genres of music..a lot of y’all only listen to RNB and Hip Hop that’s why this doesn’t do nothing for ya🤷🏽♀️”
Instagram user @senrablem remarked, “Somebody said Summer Walker Texas Ranger 💀💀🤣🤣😭”
While Instagram user @heyhomegirlx added, “He sounds good for his voice type. All white men not goin sound like Robin Thicke”
Instagram user @sliimgooody joked, “If you want summer just say that 😂”
While Instagram user latoyaj_mua2 added, “Ion like it but I like that he gave summer her flowers 😂😍”
Instagram user ms_katie_baby remarked, “I’m just here for him and that guitar 🥵🥵🥵🥵”
While Instagram user @asiasomethingelse referred to when Hanks went viral for speaking Patois at the 2020 Golden Globes, “I need him to do that Jamaican accent actually.”
Here’s What Summer Walker Has Recently Been Up To
Summer Walker has yet to weigh in on Hanks’ vocals. However, her fans are definitely ready for the singer to return with her own. According to Pitchfork, Walker’s last project, ‘Clear 2: Soft Life EP,’ was released in May 2023.
Since then, fans have not held back with their pleas for another album from her.
I love anything Summer Walker on! I’m ready for an album
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