We recommend: The best new movies and TV series
Editor’s note: An interesting week. Aaron Sorkin’s long awaited follow up to The Social Network is in theatres; there’s a new Ben Affleck directorial on Netflix, another Parineeti Chopra and Netflix collaboration drops on the streaming site, and a special Nana Patekar recommendation from us.
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New releases
The Social Reckoning (English)
Sixteen years after The Social Network, Aaron Sorkin has helmed its spiritual sequel. While the 2010 film dealt with the origin story of Facebook and the way Mark Zuckerberg came about starting it, this one (which he has also directed) looks at the aftermath of the social media platform and its ethical skirmishes. Starring Jeremy Strong, Jeremy Allen White, and Mikey Madison, the film has been widely anticipated and received mixed reviews upon release. But it is Sorkin so it is worth checking it out.
A review at Roger Ebert states:
Like Sorkin’s script for Steve Jobs, The Social Reckoning has a cleanly delineated literary structure in which different key events are juxtaposed. A timeline runs along the bottom of the screen, and when the movie jumps from, say, 2018 to 2021, it shifts to show where we are. It’s not graceful, but it’s direct, like online journalism packages that combine writing, still photography, and video. (The timeline also allows for lots of cross-cutting without confusion.)
Where to watch: Theatres
Animals (English)
Ben Affleck is one of those rare actors whose primary profession is as celebrated as his vocation as a filmmaker. In his latest directorial work, he plays a Los Angeles mayoral candidate. His political aspirations lead to grave consequences: his son gets kidnapped. The ask for ransom and what it causes makes up the plot of Animals. Starring Kerry Washington, Steven Yeun, and Gillian Anderson, the film has received mixed reviews.
“Like The Rip, though, Animals mostly plays out behind closed doors — a clever budgeting choice that also serves a taut, tart chamber piece of an action movie,” writes Financial Times.
Where to watch: Netflix
Other Mommy (English)
Rob Savage’s supernatural horror film stars Jessica Chastain. It centres around an eight-year-old living in a house filled with marital strife. In the midst of all this, an evil entity makes its presence felt—the “other mommy”—leading to mayhem.
“Other Mommy is capable of transporting people and objects to different places — across rooms and even further — but the entity only does so selectively, when narratively convenient,” according to a review in The Hollywood Reporter.
Where to watch: Theatres
Eyes (Malayalam)
The series by Manu Ashokan is a clear-eyed dissection of obsession and control that often gets branded as love. Led by Kani Kusruti, who plays a police officer called Tina Sebastian, the seven-episode series explores stalking, those who use it as a form of control, and the female resilience that combats against this. It has received praise for its portrayal of an act that has often been romanticised in cinema.
Despite prosaic staging and some contrived plotting to create the sense of a thriller, the seven-episode series ably stands up to the challenge of offering justice without resorting to short-cuts or vigilante methods. Although Eyes has many despicable men whose actions border on the horrific, the show withholds judgement, and is almost convincing in recommending therapy, rather than prison, for the perpetrators.
Where to watch: SonyLIV
Carrie (English)
Developed by Mike Flanagan, the TV series is an adaptation of Stephen King’s debut novel even as it doffs its hat, equally, to the Brian De Palma’s 1976 classic of the same name. The premise is familiar: Carrie White (a stellar Summer H. Howell) has spent her life controlled by her father Ralph (Tahmoh Penikett), and devoutly religious mother, Margaret (Samantha Sloyan). Once her father dies, the world opens up to her as she steps out and attends high school for the first time. As she navigates this newfound life and freedom, she learns about society and the stilted way social media has infiltrated it.
In the wake of De Palma’s film, subsequent adaptations of “Carrie” have paled in comparison. However, this series captures the components that made the original so timeless, while allowing the titular character to transcend her small town and connect with other young women with special abilities across the globe. Over the course of the eight-episode first season, the show also paints a portrait of contemporary America inundated with technology, religious zealotry and brutality.
Where to watch: Prime Video
Reporting Live (Hindi)
Another week, another Parineeti Chopra-Netflix collaboration. The latest is a film directed by Dhruv Tripathi and stars Chopra as a journalist out to uncover illegal sand mining nexus. Accompanying her is video journalist Vinod (Deven Bhojani). The outing is all too predictable and continues Hindi cinema’s most enduring fallacy of portraying journalists as people more attuned with Fabindia’s latest collection than the condition of the country.
A review in The Hindustan Times praises the performances. “The writing by Mihir Jadhav and Dhruv Tripathi does have its tender moments, particularly in depicting the bond between Sandhya and Vinod. The actors deserve credit for bringing warmth to their equation,” it states.
Where to watch: Netflix
Take Charge of My Heart (Korean)
This one’s a fantasy romcom series from Korea with a pretty electric twist. Baek Ho-rang (played by Kim Young-kwang), scion to a huge empire, is locked in a battle for control of the company. But there’s also something rather more serious going on. He’s got an artificial heart whose battery is slowly running out. He must keep it charged to survive. Enter Na Bo-bae (Chae Soo-bin), a screenwriter prone to spending time mostly with herself. She was struck by lightning once, and now she’s able to generate electricity on her own. A perfect match?
Where to watch: Netflix
Fresh off the big screen
Spider-Man: Brand New Day (English)
The Tom Holland-Zendaya starrer finally drops on streaming after raking in billions of dollars on its theatrical release. Four years after No Way Home (2021), Peter is adjusting to a new life. His identity is hidden but MJ (Zendaya) and his friend, Ned Leeds (Jacob Batalon), have had their memories erased, rendering Spiderman terribly lonely.
Where to watch: Prime Video
October (Hindi)
Shoojit Sircar’s meditative take on grief is as timely today as it was in 2018 when it was released. Conversely, it is also, just as timeless. Fronted by Varun Dhawan and Banita Sandhu, this is an astonishing Hindi film that finds rhythm in silence, love in caregiving, and a sense of purpose in purposelessness. Sample the premise: a young girl meets with a fatal accident but before she fell, she had casually enquired after a boy. That ask, somehow, strengthened the boy to look for her, and then, after her.
Where to watch: JioHotstar
One more chapter
Harlan Coben’s Final Twist S2 (English)
Harlan Coben, a streaming fixture thanks to the many series adapted or inspired by his mystery novels over the years, switched over to true crime with Final Twist, a documentary series where Coben, as host, dissects shocking real-life crime mysteries taking place in everyday suburbia. The new season opens with the murder case of Betsy Faria, first ruled as suicide, then deemed to be a murder by her husband, Russ. And then another twist. That’s really the raison d’etre for this series: twist upon twist upon revelation upon twist. A must-watch for true crime fans.
Where to watch: Prime Video
In memoriam
Krantiveer (Hindi)
Nana Patekar, one of Indian cinema’s most towering talents passed away on October 8, leaving behind a rich body of work and a thorny legacy, mired in accusations of sexual harassment, impossible to streamline. Having said that, his acting prowess was in a league of its own and nowhere is it more evident than in this 1994 film.
Patekar plays Pratap Narayan Tilak, grandson of a freedom fighter. He is also a cynic who keeps ridiculing the self-righteous reporter Megha Dixit (Dimple Kapadia) and her fight for justice. Till he sees merit in the good fight and decides to take the plunge. The actor delivered an astonishing turn, especially in a memorable scene where he talks about communal differences being manufactured by politicians for their benefit.
Where to watch: Zee5
souk picks