Tag: Netflix

Nobody Wants This (2024)

Where to find it: Netflix
Length: Ten 30-minute episodes
Synopsis: I certainly didn’t
Recommendation rating: 2/5

What I like about it: easygoing
What I don’t like about it: irritating, cartoonish, pointless

Review:
One of my favourite tropes in Jewish comedy is that of the overzealous convert. Someone, usually from a WASPy background and converting for love, who is annoyingly keen to demonstrate their newfound knowledge of Judaism and far too eager to joke about stereotypes. Unfortunately, this show was created by such a person and she’s not self-aware enough to make it funny.

Content notes (may contain spoilers): sex, swearing

Penelope (2024)

Where to find it: Netflix
Length: Eight 25-minute episodes
Synopsis: Privileged girl runs away to commune with nature
Recommendation rating: 3/5

What I like about it: nature scenes, casting, engrossing
What I don’t like about it: janky fucking ending, bad lessons for younger audiences

Review:
An enjoyable, low-budget series about a teenager who runs off to survive in the wilderness. Things go a bit too well for her at first, seeming unrealistic and irresponsible in how often she escapes danger unscathed. It’s fun watching her build campfires and try to fish and her happy dance when she gets it right is adorable, though things get worse as winter sets in. Lost a whole rating point in the last three minutes, deserved an ending with more finality.

Content notes (may contain spoilers): fish gutting and butchery, sex is alluded to but not shown, hardship and violence

Carol & The End Of The World (2023)

Where to find it: Netflix
Length: Ten 30-minute episodes
Synopsis: Autistic woman longs for routine amid the apocalypse
Recommendation rating: 3/5

What I like about it: representation, ambitious
What I don’t like about it: ugly and slow (albeit intentionally)

Review:
The main character of this adult animated comedy-drama, Carol Kohl, is 42 and unemployed when a planet mysteriously appears in the sky, due to collide with Earth and wipe out all life in 8 months. This causes the breakdown of society, with people choosing to follow their dreams and make the most of the time they have left. Carol is encouraged to do the same but she enjoys her routine and doesn’t desire adventure.

It was very nice to see such a person represented, enjoying a small life even if it’s limited. As expected for a series about routine, it’s very decompressed and ponderous but overall sweet and artistic.

Content notes (may contain spoilers): sex and nudity, corpse

One Piece (2023)

Where to find it: Netflix
Length: Eight 50-minute episodes
Synopsis: Eternal child Monkey D. Luffy gets himself a ship and crew and sets off to become King of the Pirates
Recommendation rating: 4/5

What I like about it: absurd silliness, incredible VFX, commitment
What I don’t like about it: $19m/episode and still it’s just One Piece, Emily Rudd

Review:
When asking themselves if some element of long-running manga/anime One Piece was too silly to depict in live action, the creators of this series always answer, no. It’s a level of commitment and love for the franchise that soon won me over even though I had no interest to begin with. Every penny of its $150,000,000 price tag shows in its amazing effects and set pieces (it wasn’t spent on big names, though its young cast mostly do a great job). It’s a very silly live-action anime and an exceedingly fun diversion – like Speed Racer but much better.

Content notes (may contain spoilers): violence, self-injury, cannibalism

Nimona (2023)

Where to find it: Netflix
Length: 100 minutes
Synopsis: A chaotic teen assists an exiled knight
Recommendation rating: 4/5

What I like about it: writing, themes, characters, animation
What I don’t like about it: some design choices, surprisingly heavy

Review:
Set in a medieval futuristic fantasy world that underscores the timelessness of its message, the film frontloads its exposition to explain that the kingdom follows rules laid down by its founder and is very attached to its queen and her royal guard, a heriditary cadre of knights who are treated as celebrities. Scandal engulfs the kingdom when the order accepts a new member, Ballister Boldheart, who is not of the exhalted bloodline. Despite the reassuring presence of his boyfriend and team captain, the even more improbably-named Ambrosius Goldenloin, Ballister proceeds to have the worst possible first day on the job but is soon assisted by Nimona, a mysterious and chaotic-neutral teen obsessed with being his sidekick.

What follows is an almost perfect metaphor for the queer point-of-view; societal and cultural punishment of divergence is the villain of this movie. Characters use it to reinforce their power, other characters have their self-image destroyed by it to the point of attempting suicide, all in a manner easily understood by older children and oblivious normies. It hit me pretty hard but the quickfire gags and montages made it a fun ride along the way.

Content notes (may contain spoilers): violence, suicide and ideation

Luther: The Fallen Sun (2023)

Where to find it: Netflix
Length: 130 minutes
Synopsis: DCI Luther returns for a sub-Bond adventure
Recommendation rating: 2/5

What I like about it: Elba, Serkis hamming it up
What I don’t like about it: disgusting, chewy dialogue, flimsy plot, risible fight scenes, obvious product placement

Review:
Idris Elba returns as gritty London cop John Loofah in a pointless big screen(ish) outing and seemingly a favour to hack writer Neil Cross. In the first half-hour, Luther is sent to prison by this week’s villain (Andy Serkis), then quickly broken out and sent on Serkis’ trail.

This show has always been an odd mix of grim and cheesy and both elements are turned up to 11 in this. It revels in human misery and violence, with the edgiest and most unrealistic villains imaginable. If you want to feel sick and like you can’t stop laughing at the same time, you might like it.

Content notes (may contain spoilers): violence including sexual, cop worship

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022)

Where to find it: Netflix
Length: 2 hours 20 minutes
Synopsis: The worst character from the first movie returns!
Recommendation rating: 4/5

What I like about it: fun, funny, good targets, acting
What I don’t like about it: doesn’t deliver on murder mystery or live up to its predecessor

Review:
I didn’t relish the thought of a Knives Out sequel, the first being a near-perfect genre movie with artistic ambitions and themes, any sequel was sure to fall short. Going into this with those low expectations, I found it to be an enjoyable outing with the same kind of big characters and visual flair. However it definitely fell short in both the genre thrills and the themes – the plot being so different as to not really be a murder mystery and the main theme, aside from a retread of the first film’s clinging-to-privilege beats, is “tech billionaires are not geniuses, they’re egotistical, greedy and stupid” which probably was a less obvious statement when this film started development a few years ago.

Content notes (may contain spoilers): violence, suicide, fire

Devil in Ohio (2022)

Where to find it: Netflix
Length: Eight 45-minute episodes
Synopsis: Dark prestige drama for evangelicals
Recommendation rating: 2/5

What I like about it: sometimes intriguing
What I don’t like about it: mostly pointless

Review:
In this cheap Netflix drama, a teenaged girl escapes from a cartoonishly evil Satanic cult. She finds refuge with a child psychiatrist (Emily Deschanel) and her family but the behaviours she has learned in the cult begin to cause problems. It can occasionally be interestingly psychological but mostly it’s pointless melodrama that seems designed to adhere to Christian morals.

Content notes (may contain spoilers): violence, scars, abuse

Clark (2022)

Where to find it: Netflix
Length: Six 1-hour episodes
Synopsis: Swedish crime biography
Recommendation rating: 3/5

What I like about it: characterful editing, acting, can be funny
What I don’t like about it: glorifying, annoying

Review:
Based on the self-aggrandising autobiography of Clark Olofsson, a Swedish career criminal, this series follows his rakish exploits with some interesting (if eventually tiring) editing techniques and a great performance from Bill Skarsgård.

Content notes (may contain spoilers): loads of sex, some violence

Uncoupled (2022)

Where to find it: Netflix
Length: Eight 25-minute episodes
Synopsis: NYC real estate agent is unexpectedly left by his long-term boyfriend
Recommendation rating: 2/5

What I like about it: cheesy, easygoing fun
What I don’t like about it: not good, outdated viewpoint

Review:
Created by Sex and the City‘s Darren Star, along with noted purveyors of quality television MTV, this is a cheesy comedy starring Neil Patrick Harris as a 50-year-old who has to start over in New York’s gay scene when his long-term boyfriend moves out. The script is terribly outdated, with catty lines pulled right out of Will & Grace.

Content notes (may contain spoilers): sex