As you can probably tell from my star rating, I'm completely split on My Life with the Walter Boys season 2. I've been around the block with this type of cozy TV show before – I'm a self-proclaimed Virgin River expert, Emily in Paris is my guilty pleasure, and I've even been sucked into watching Prime Video's The Summer I Turned Pretty season 3 this year. But if I think about these type of cozy dramas in a broader capacity, My Life with the Walter Boys season 2 would be flour if it was a spice.
Let me explain. Our core concept is a very simple one: privileged New York teen Jackie Howard (Nikki Rodriguez) moves to a ranch in rural Colorado to live with her mother's best friend, Katherine Walter (Sarah Rafferty), and her large family after a family tragedy. Based on the book series of the same name, we then follow the ups and downs of Jackie's new life as she settles in, dissecting all the complicated relationships forged along the way. It should be a recipe for Netflix success, but there's something missing here.
The Rotten Tomatoes score for My Life with the Walter Boys season 1 should give you an idea about its existing division. Critics like myself have absolutely slammed it, while 'normies' (that's a compliment, I promise) largely enjoy it, even though the fan score is still lower than rival shows. Why? I think the answer is because its quality across the board isn't up to muster, and that's also the case in season 2.
My Life with the Walter Boys season 2 does the job, but that's not exactly positive
I don't wish to be a massive negative Nelly here. I completely believe TV shows like My Life with the Walter Boys season 2 serve a purpose, and their easy-going spirit and ethos is exactly what we need to tune out an increasingly difficult world. I typically use my mum as a gauge for the genre – if she watches a show without ironing at the same time, binges more than 2 episodes in one go and remembers its name, the show is a hit with its core demographic. Season 2 ticked all of these boxes, and she's already foaming at the mouth (metaphorically, sorry mum) for the green lit season 3.
In short, this means the people actively seeking out the mess that comes with trashy teen romance are getting exactly what they signed up for. But if you don't fit the bill, or you've had enough of the Netflix series hitting the same beats over and over again, season 2 doesn't do much to win you around. Jackie has inevitably arrived back in Colorado after returning to New York at the end of season 1, and her relationship issues have picked up right there they left off.
It goes without saying that romance and family remain at the core of My Life with the Walter Boys season 2, but this time, Jackie is almost acting like Belly (Lola Tung) in The Summer I Turned Pretty. Given how chaotic season 3 of the Prime Video show is going, that's a huge insult. The parallels between the two shows are now closer than ever (you can see this from the trailer above), but rest assured that Jackie isn't quite as bad... yet.
A knock-off The Summer I Turned Pretty isn't what we need this month
Jackie Howard (Nikki Rodriguez) in My Life with the Walter Boys. (Image credit: Netflix)
Now we've got my main grievances out of the way, let's dig a little deeper into the show's craft. Compared to rival shows, My Life with the Walter Boys season 2 looks slightly cheaper, which is probably a major part of why season 3 was renewed so early on. That wouldn't be an issue if the performances and execution of the storylines weren't so poorly done, at points feeling more like a high schooler's documentary film than a production on one of the best streaming services in the world.
We feel like we're going around in circles when it comes to Jackie's relationship with Alex (Ashby Gentry) and Cole (Noah LaLonde), with Danny (Connor Stanhope) and Erin's (Alisha Newton) only make our heads spin even further. We've even got a separate triangle going thanks to Zach (Carson MacCormac), Skylar (Jaylan Evans) and Nathan (Corey Fogelmanis), and that's all before we even get to George's (Marc Blucas) future plans for the ranch.
It does feel as though you need to study up before diving into season 2, and it can feel mind-boggling to keep up with all the changes, which simultaneously move incredibly slowly and like time is flashing past you at the speed of light. But by the time we get to the final few episodes, you know exactly what's going to happen. Without giving it away, My Life with the Walter Boys season 2 ends on a cataclysmic cliffhanger, but I could tell exactly what was going to happen about two episodes earlier. Still, it's a major shock to see it unfold, and will hopefully shift season 3 in a better direction. I'm sorry, Melanie Halsall, but a better direction is something that My Life with the Walter Boys sorely needs.
Caught Stealing is a nostalgic slice of '90s New York City life that comes out swinging. Set in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, Darren Aronofsky’s new movie captures the nostalgic atmosphere of the time in this cat-and-mouse crime caper chase.
Austin Butler (Elvis; Eddington) plays Henry Thompson, a former baseball player turned bartender with a drinking habit, who insists on being called Hank. Tormented by a car accident that ended his promising sports career, the San Francisco Giants fan has been lifted straight from the pages of Charlie Huston’s novels that the movie is based on.
Hank gets caught up in a case of mistaken identity when his neighbor Russ, played by Matt Smith (The Crown; Doctor Who) – who looks like a punk-rocker that just stepped out of Camden in London (mohawk, studded leather jacket, piercings – the full uniform's here) – asks him to look after his Maine Coon cat named Bud (who you might recognize from Pet Sematary), setting in motion a chaotic chase with a growing group of eclectic goons across underpasses, subways and basements through East Village.
Caught Stealing is a chaotic crime caper crashing into the summer box office (Image credit: Columbia Pictures; Protozoa Pictures)
You wouldn’t expect that cat-care could get you killed, but that’s exactly the catalyst that drives the next 107 minutes of the white-knuckle drama. The bone-splitting violence splattered throughout does not hold back, letting you hear every crunch and snap against the backdrop of a soundtrack composed by Rob Simonsen (The Whale; Deadpool & Wolverine).
What starts with Russian mafia, played by Yuri Kolokolnikov (Tenet; The White Lotus) and Nikita Kukushkin (Attraction), beating up Hank (Kukushkin's mobster has a signature headbutt move) quickly snowballs as more players become involved to look for a mysterious key that they all believe Hank is hiding.
This hunt has got the attention of not just the Russian mobsters but a Puerto Rican gangster, played by Benito Martínez Ocasio aka Bad Bunny (Bullet Train; Happy Gilmore 2), and two extremely ruthless Orthodox Jewish brothers.
These last two might be the most threatening characters of the movie, but who also happen to have the most comedic lines. That's largely down to menacing performances from Liev Schreiber (Spotlight; X-Men Origins: Wolverine) and Vincent D'Onofrio (Full Metal Jacket; Men in Black) that make for a humorous contrast when you find them slurping soup or refusing to drive during Shabbat.
Liev Schreiber and Vincent D'Onofrio provide some of the best laughs in the film (Image credit: Columbia Pictures; Protozoa Pictures)
There may not be any baseball in this film (apart from the brief opening scene) but funnily enough, it's the more violent scenes where it really comes out as we watch Hank sprinting past pedestrians like he's on a home run and swinging a baseball bat at his assailants as if he's a deadly batter.
The sport offers a bridge between the violence and Hank's soft nature. After all, Hank's not a fighter – a fact we're reminded of throughout by police detective Roman, played by Regina King (If Beale Street Could Talk; Ray), as well as by his relationships with people (and creatures) around him, from his mother to the homeless man on the street outside of his apartment that he helps out.
Zoë Kravitz’s (The Batman; Blink Twice) Yvonne, Hank’s girlfriend, is a welcome respite from all the violence, breaking up the gut punches and shootouts with a softer charm that shares the heart of the film with the weight of a drink driving accident from when Hank was younger.
Bad Bunny joins Russian mobsters played by Yuri Kolokolnikov and Nikita Kukushkin. (Image credit: Columbia Pictures; Protozoa Pictures)
The biggest highlight of the movie is the nostalgic set created by production designer Mark Friedberg (Joker; Noah) that immerses the characters in the gritty streets of East Village in 1998 during its transformation into the trendy art scene it is today. This is complemented by a soundtrack that includes '90s hits such as Bitch by Meredith Brooks and Wandering Star by Portishead.
However, unlike the secrets of Bud’s litter tray, Caught Stealing isn’t too mysterious, relying on action movie ideas you've seen many times before. From the reluctant hero to the classic revenge storyline, it goes exactly where your brain naturally expect it to go based on the familiar elements – despite it coming from an interesting an unpredictable filmmaker in Darren Aronofsky.
It also lacks the intensity that his movies are known for, and can feel disjointed at times as it transitions from scene to scene, sometimes brushing over key moments. For instance, a lingering shot of a chameleon seems like it could be a reference to Hank's resourcefulness, but this idea isn't hinted at again, making it feel like a stray musing rather than an interesting theme.
Caught Stealing is not a deep psychological character study like Aronofsky's The Whale or Black Swan, it's an action-packed adventure centered around a self-destructive protagonist that's trying to turn the corner.
Indeed, the sunny grasses of California where Hank is originally from are in real contrast to the grimy streets of the Lower East Side, where he now finds himself, is not the subtle backstory that we're used to seeing from the filmmaker. They say stealing third base is a high risk, low reward play in baseball; unfortunately, I think that phrase captures the end result of Aronofsky's push into a new genre.
Hostage is now streaming on Netflix, and if you don't binge watch its pithy five episodes over the next few days, then you're weekending wrong. In fact, I'd go stronger than that: if you don't watch it this weekend, you'd be missing out on the streamable television event of the year (just behind Adolescence).
The millisecond I heard that Suranne Jones was on board to play fictional British Prime Minister Abigail Dalton, I knew the new Netflix series could do no wrong. Fortunately, I love being proved right, and this is one of those times.
Let's set the scene; Dalton has just won the country's general election, with her husband Alex (Bashy) deployed to French Guiana with Médecins Sans Frontières (a.k.a Doctors Without Borders). Soon after, he's kidnapped by a group of unknown terrorists, who demand Dalton resigns in order to release the hostages safely. In the meantime, she's dealing with a huge crisis in the National Health Service (NHS) as medicine supplies run out, while French President Toussaint (Julie Delpy) is in the city for a scheduled visit to work out a deal to help.
Netflix obviously isn't a stranger to hit political dramas, with shows like The Diplomat, House of Cards and The Night Agentin its back pocket. But not only is Hostage offering a fresh perspective by focusing on the relationship between Britain and France, but it's giving us a political problem we've never seen before: two female leaders of Western states, in power at the same time, both being blackmailed by a system intent on setting them up for harm. For me, that's the most exciting part of the entire show, as well as the most honest.
Hostage on Netflix is an explosion of tension from start to finish
If you're not a UK native, you're probably unaware of what a national powerhouse Suranne Jones is over here. From Doctor Foster andGentleman Jack to classics like Scott & Bailey and her humble beginnings on soap opera Coronation Street, there's not a single role she's not knocked out of the park. Her craft really comes into its own when she's playing someone in a position of power, but usually this only extends to doctors and detectives.
The only way up is to play the leader of a country, and frankly it's a role she was born for. Jones takes the careful political intricacies of Hostage in her stride, deftly portraying a political leader who wants to put her country first as well as a mother trying to keep her family intact. It's not a dilemma we've seen from a world leader explored on TV because the women just haven't been represented deeply enough in this way... but here, there are two.
Julie Delpy's Toussaint is everything Dalton is not. Caring more about her upcoming re-election campaign than anything else, she comes across as cold, conniving, and uncaring to any problems that aren't immediately her own. We get to understand her personality and predicament more as the five episodes go on, but her natural acidity towards Dalton makes for some delicious back and forth sparring sessions. This only gets better when the pair realize that in order to cull this threat they must work together, beautifully blending in a level of raw vulnerability scarcely seen in the political coalface. They're a dynamic leading duo, and make for faultless casting.
If you asked me, I'd say the big baddie here was actually the patriarchy (yay, feminism!). Sure, the patriarchy isn't directly holding a gun to Alex's head, but it is the ultimate threat to both Dalton and Toussaint. It's assumed they will both crumble and give into the demands of the masked men trying to call the shots, but when neither leaders backs down, the game changes. They're both able to juggle the extreme surge of demands on their plates with tact and strategy, even when they're at breaking point behind closed doors.
The broader story is just as exceptional as the people bringing it to life
Netflix’s incredible new political drama Hostage had me so hooked, I never saw the final shocking twist coming. (Image credit: Netflix)
Performances aside, what I'm most impressed with in Hostage is its astonishing grasp on its storytelling. Most have us have sat through enough crime procedurals or bog standard thrillers to anticipate exactly what twists are coming when, but Hostage kept me on my toes the entire time. In fact, the only shock moment I saw coming was thanks to an episode blurb on the platform (here's your reminder to take each of these with a pinch of salt), and you could easily argue that episode 5 is a little too fluffy around the edges, though it worked for me. Trust me, there are more than enough moments to leave you gasping out loud and scrambling to figure out what's going to come next.
The intersection of social and political issues at play – the NHS and immigration crises, disgruntled politicians and underfunded national defense – are all things we're experiencing the effects of in real time, which only makes watching Hostage that much more visceral. Almost all of what we see could actually happen in the blink of an eye, shrewdly exposing the problems that lie underneath if push came to shove. It's quite a feat to blend fact and fiction so well that you don't quite know where the seams join up, and its a testament to the team behind it.
Do I feel better about the post-Hostage world? Absolutely not, but we probably all need a reality check of this convincing magnitude. If this could open up the same international conversations as Adolescence (and as far as TV show quality is concerned, it should do), imagine how much more proactive we could all be.
Hostage is now streaming on Netflix, and if you don't binge watch its pithy five episodes over the next few days, then you're weekending wrong. In fact, I'd go stronger than that: if you don't watch it this weekend, you'd be missing out on the streamable television event of the year (just behind Adolescence).
The millisecond I heard that Suranne Jones was on board to play fictional British Prime Minister Abigail Dalton, I knew the new Netflix series could do no wrong. Fortunately, I love being proved right, and this is one of those times.
Let's set the scene; Dalton has just won the country's general election, with her husband Alex (Bashy) deployed to French Guiana with Médecins Sans Frontières (a.k.a Doctors Without Borders). Soon after, he's kidnapped by a group of unknown terrorists, who demand Dalton resigns in order to release the hostages safely. In the meantime, she's dealing with a huge crisis in the National Health Service (NHS) as medicine supplies run out, while French President Toussaint (Julie Delpy) is in the city for a scheduled visit to work out a deal to help.
Netflix obviously isn't a stranger to hit political dramas, with shows like The Diplomat, House of Cards and The Night Agentin its back pocket. But not only is Hostage offering a fresh perspective by focusing on the relationship between Britain and France, but it's giving us a political problem we've never seen before: two female leaders of Western states, in power at the same time, both being blackmailed by a system intent on setting them up for harm. For me, that's the most exciting part of the entire show, as well as the most honest.
Hostage on Netflix is an explosion of tension from start to finish
If you're not a UK native, you're probably unaware of what a national powerhouse Suranne Jones is over here. From Doctor Foster andGentleman Jack to classics like Scott & Bailey and her humble beginnings on soap opera Coronation Street, there's not a single role she's not knocked out of the park. Her craft really comes into its own when she's playing someone in a position of power, but usually this only extends to doctors and detectives.
The only way up is to play the leader of a country, and frankly it's a role she was born for. Jones takes the careful political intricacies of Hostage in her stride, deftly portraying a political leader who wants to put her country first as well as a mother trying to keep her family intact. It's not a dilemma we've seen from a world leader explored on TV because the women just haven't been represented deeply enough in this way... but here, there are two.
Julie Delpy's Toussaint is everything Dalton is not. Caring more about her upcoming re-election campaign than anything else, she comes across as cold, conniving, and uncaring to any problems that aren't immediately her own. We get to understand her personality and predicament more as the five episodes go on, but her natural acidity towards Dalton makes for some delicious back and forth sparring sessions. This only gets better when the pair realize that in order to cull this threat they must work together, beautifully blending in a level of raw vulnerability scarcely seen in the political coalface. They're a dynamic leading duo, and make for faultless casting.
If you asked me, I'd say the big baddie here was actually the patriarchy (yay, feminism!). Sure, the patriarchy isn't directly holding a gun to Alex's head, but it is the ultimate threat to both Dalton and Toussaint. It's assumed they will both crumble and give into the demands of the masked men trying to call the shots, but when neither leaders backs down, the game changes. They're both able to juggle the extreme surge of demands on their plates with tact and strategy, even when they're at breaking point behind closed doors.
The broader story is just as exceptional as the people bringing it to life
Netflix’s incredible new political drama Hostage had me so hooked, I never saw the final shocking twist coming. (Image credit: Netflix)
Performances aside, what I'm most impressed with in Hostage is its astonishing grasp on its storytelling. Most have us have sat through enough crime procedurals or bog standard thrillers to anticipate exactly what twists are coming when, but Hostage kept me on my toes the entire time. In fact, the only shock moment I saw coming was thanks to an episode blurb on the platform (here's your reminder to take each of these with a pinch of salt), and you could easily argue that episode 5 is a little too fluffy around the edges, though it worked for me. Trust me, there are more than enough moments to leave you gasping out loud and scrambling to figure out what's going to come next.
The intersection of social and political issues at play – the NHS and immigration crises, disgruntled politicians and underfunded national defense – are all things we're experiencing the effects of in real time, which only makes watching Hostage that much more visceral. Almost all of what we see could actually happen in the blink of an eye, shrewdly exposing the problems that lie underneath if push came to shove. It's quite a feat to blend fact and fiction so well that you don't quite know where the seams join up, and its a testament to the team behind it.
Do I feel better about the post-Hostage world? Absolutely not, but we probably all need a reality check of this convincing magnitude. If this could open up the same international conversations as Adolescence (and as far as TV show quality is concerned, it should do), imagine how much more proactive we could all be.
Night Always Comes sees Kirby do a complete 180 from the new Marvel movie, but just like Sue Storm’s brush with Galactus it’s similarly far from perfect. This time, Kirby plays Lynette, a former sex worker turned bread factory staffer, desperately trying to keep her dilapidated home as a roof over her family’s heads. When her mom blows their $25,000 downpayment on a car, Lynette embarks on an unhinged mission to raise all the money in one night, before local enforcement repossesses the house.
I know what you’re thinking. Night Always Comes has the potential to be heartpounding, gut-wrenching, slick and commanding in such a dynamic storyline. But this is only half true thanks to a complicated plot that doesn’t know whether it’s coming or going.
This is particularly frustrating because the subjects being explored are such a vulnerable, authentic window into the realities of life in America when you’re living paycheck to paycheck, and the new Netflix movie effortlessly enthuses real-life inspiration points to hammer that point home.
But on the fictional end, the drama often goes too far. As we delve further into the new film, we see Kirby dust off her Mission: Impossible movie training and dropkick more nefarious men than I’ve ever seen be taken down in one small-town setting. This leads us to an ending scene that’s so bonkers, I couldn’t suspend enough belief to buy that it was something that would actually happen. It’s these jarring changes in tone and narrative speed that make a plot already hard to understand that little bit more challenging.
I still haven’t made my mind up on Night Always Comes, but I’ve fallen back in love with Julia Fox
Julia Fox as Gladys in Night Always Comes. (Image credit: Netflix)
Okay, let’s get straight to it. While Night Always Comes is no doubt Vanessa Kirby’s best performance of the year so far (more on that later), I couldn’t help but be the most charmed by Julia Fox’s Gloria. She’s an old friend of Lynette’s who owes her $3,000, willingly letting her into her apartment in the middle of the night before refusing to stay in one place because her “car is here”.
It’s the sort of flamboyant chaos we’ve naturally come to associate with Fox (remember Uncut Gems?), but she plays it with such conviction that you forget how much talent she has buried away under those killer looks. Fox herself bears so much weight in terms of her cultural capital, so I hope fans and the industry re-recognize a woman who genuinely knows what to do with the craft she’s chosen.
Then there’s Kirby. Teetering across a delicate balance of misplaced confidence and a complete mental breakdown, Lynette has us in the palm of her hand as she desperately clings to a life she doesn’t even want in the first place. Her backstory is well fleshed out, and it makes sense for her logical patterns to be as archaic as they end up being. Kirby’s emotional range is what really sells it, though, digging as deep as a woman has to when she’s acting out in pure panicked desperation.
Performances aside, the Netflix movie has built its foundations on sand
While I really appreciate the honesty of living in modern-day America and easily falling into an unsavory way of living, I have a lot of issues with Night Always Comes’ plot. I can buy one chaotic caper happening, such as Lynette beating a bunch of men to a pulp when she takes a stolen safe to be broken into, but four or five in a row? That’s just getting absurd. This also contradicts the safety of Lynette’s older brother Kenny (Zack Gottsagen) who has Down’s Syndrome, and is the bulk of the reason why Lynette is fighting so hard to keep the house. She eventually puts him in grave danger, but as much as the move shows Lynette’s slippery slope of inner morality, I cannot buy that an entire nightclub’s worth of people would equally throw Kenny under the metaphorical bus, too.
The more people Lynette meets to try and steal, barter and plead for her cash, the more you forget how she knows them, what their significance is and how she hasn’t magically run out of avenues to try. It’s a headscratcher and a bleak one at that, which is just as much of a blessing as it is a curse. There’s no foot off the pedal, meaning Lynette’s wild antics and desperation chug along at a constant pace without any letup. That’s exhausting for anyone, and I think it eventually does a disservice to the overall impact of her story.
As much as I enjoyed pretending to punch anyone who crossed Lynette’s path with a bad attitude, Night Always Comes ultimately has us sitting on the fence. With an almost equal amount of good and bad, it’s perhaps an ironic microcosm of life itself, only I wish I had Julia Fox strutting around sassing me in mine.
Light spoilers follow for Peacemaker season 2 episodes 1 through 5. Full spoilers also follow for Peacemaker season 1 and The Suicide Squad.
It's incredibly rare to see a C-tier comic book anti-hero star in his own show. It's even less likely that such an individual, who's now arguably one of DC Comics' hottest commodities, would be positioned as the most important cog in a nascent cinematic franchise.
Few eyebrows are being raised about Peacemaker being that person, though. With season 1 of the titular character's TV series receiving critical and commercial acclaim in early 2022, it was a case of when, not if, a sophomore outing would arrive.
Over three years later, Peacemaker season 2 is not only ready to be unleashed, but also become a core component of James Gunn and Peter Safran's DC Universe (DCU). The fact that this chaotic tragicomedy's next installment is as super as its first, and sets the stage for future DCU and DCU-adjacent projects, proves they made the right decision to use it as a key building block for their burgeoning shared universe.
Hero to zero
Whether it's saving the world or being grilled by school kids, Chris Smith can't catch a break (Image credit: HBO Max)
Set a few months after Gunn's Superman movie, Peacemaker season 2 reunites us with Chris Smith (John Cena), aka the eponymous anti-hero, as he continues to struggle with reconciling his past.
Things aren't much better in the present, either. A failed job interview to join The Justice Gang, the corporately owned team of metahumans introduced in Superman, coupled with Emilia Harcourt (Jennifer Holland) continually rejecting his romantic advances, leaves Smith longing for a better life.
I really got a kick out of Cena plumbing the depths of Smith's inner turmoil
As fate would have it, such an opportunity presents itself to Smith via the secret Quantum Unfolding Chamber (QUC), an inter-dimensional location outside of normal space that exists in the home of his deceased father, Auggie Smith (Robert Patrick). Inebriated one night, Smith stumbles onto a parallel world where his dead dad and brother are alive, and the Peacemaker of this world is a celebrated hero who's in a relationship with this universe's Harcourt. Hypnotized by this idyllic reality, Smith is drawn to it time and again – but, as the saying goes, the grass isn't always greener on the other side.
If the hit HBO Max show's second season sounds like it's putting a multiversal spin on introspective movies like It's a Wonderful Life with a Sliding Doors-style narrative, that's intentional.
Indeed, if season 1 trained its lens on Smith's superhuman alter-ego and his attempts to redeem the 'Peacemaker' name, its sequel is all about the man himself reflecting on the choices he's made and, if he had a do-over, how he'd handle things differently. I really got a kick out of Cena plumbing the depths of Smith's inner turmoil and, despite Smith's efforts to deal with them more maturely, his deeply flawed approach to handling his demons with external vices and increasingly regular trips to an alternate dimension that allow him to live a double life.
Harcourt and Smith's relationship is put through the wringer this season (Image credit: Curtis Bonds Baker/Max)
Parallels can be drawn between Smith's methodology and that of his perennial love interest, Harcourt. Harcourt's sense of self is rattled after she's fired by ARGUS and blacklisted by every US intelligence agency for apparently helping to expose former ARGUS chief Amanda Waller's role in Project Butterfly and Task Force X last season.
Two sides of the same coin, this impulsive pair uses physical pleasure and pain to numb themselves to their deep-seated trauma, and continues the show's exploration of the nature versus nurture debate in engrossing fashion through their individual arcs. Meanwhile, surprise-laden flashbacks to events that occur after 2021's The Suicide Squad, but before season 1, add a fascinating extra layer of complexity to their dynamic.
John Economos' (left) loyalties are split between his job and his friends this season (Image credit: Curtis Bonds Baker/Max)
The rest of Peacemaker's primary ensemble – who, alongside Smith and Harcourt, are collectively known as the 11th Street Kids – also face similar soul-searching experiences as part of their season 2 arcs.
Indeed, the six-month time jump between Smith chancing upon another universe and this season's main storyline is sufficient enough to show how Leota Adebayo (Danielle Brooks), John Economos (Steve Agee), and Adrian Chase/Vigilante's (Freddie Stroma) lives have changed.
The fascinating regression of some friendships... gives Peacemaker 2 a more pronounced soap opera edge than its forebear.
There's a greater emphasis on what makes each character tick and how they deal with setbacks, too, through their more substantial individual arcs this season. The pleasing progression of certain core dynamics and nascent character pairings gives rise to new kinds of awkward, albeit heart-warming, camaraderie. Equally, the fascinating regression of some friendships adds more than a pinch of melodrama, giving Peacemaker 2 a more pronounced soap opera edge than its forebear.
Admittedly, some characters get more to do than others. I was pleased to see the often underappreciated Agee shine in a much bigger role this season, and even Eagly, Smith's rambunctious White Eagle pet/sidekick, gets a funny, though quickly resolved, subplot this time around. However, I wish Stroma's scene-stealing sociopath wasn't relegated to the sidelines as much as he is. Hopefully, season 2 will rectify this glaring oversight in its final three episodes.
Careful what you wish for
Langston Fleury and Sasha Bordeaux are two of numerous new additions to Peacemaker's cast (Image credit: Curtis Bonds Baker/HBO Max)
With numerous supporting cast members killed off in season 1, there are plenty of vacancies to fill on its follow-up's roster.
So, how do they fare in the DCU Chapter One show? They're all terrific, but Tim Meadows' Langston Fleury and Michael Rooker's Red St. Wild are the pick of the bunch. The former – a greasy, smug, and misogynistic sycophant – picks up the cocksure slack that Cena's Smith discards this season, while the latter plays to Rooker's character strengths as a delightfully unhinged individual who's drafted in by ARGUS director Rick Flag Sr (Frank Grillo) and his deputy Sasha Bordeaux (Sol Rodriguez) to track down Eagly for reasons I won't spoil.
Frank Grillo returns as Rick Flag Sr after appearing in Superman and Creature Commandos season 1 (Image credit: Jessica Miglio/Max)
Like Stroma's Chase, I was initially disappointed over the use of Grillo's Flag Sr. Apart from a couple of scenes, including one of the flashbacks I mentioned earlier, Waller's recently-installed replacement – he was hired by ARGUS eight months before season 2's primary story begins – mostly takes a backseat in this season's first four episodes.
Like Stroma's Chase, I was initially disappointed over the use of Grillo's Flag Sr
Okay, Grillo's active role in proceedings is dictated by how the plot unfolds. However, considering Grillo told me that Flag Sr would be "on a mission" for justice in Peacemaker 2 – remember, the titular anti-hero killed his son in The Suicide Squad – I'd hope this storyline would've featured more heavily in earlier entries. Thankfully, once season 2 refocuses its efforts on the Flag Sr portion of the plot, the full weight and impact of Peacemaker's actions in that 2021 Gunn-directed film reverberate through episode 5 and, hopefully, in its final three chapters.
Leota Adebayo and Adrian Chase spend more time together this season compared to its predecessor (Image credit: HBO Max)
While we're on the topic of The Suicide Squad, season 2 does a mostly good job of confirming what parts of the DC Extended Universe (DCEU), i.e., Warner Bros' previous superhero-packed cinematic franchise, are officially canon in the DCU.
Ever since Gunn confirmed Peacemaker's second season would be part of his new-look shared universe, fans have wondered how it would handle this. Season 1 and The Suicide Squad were technically part of the DCEU – learn more about it via my DC movies in order guide – before Gunn and Safran's reboot. Smith's surprising but crowd-pleasing cameo in Superman, as well as Peacemaker season 2's official trailer, did little to answer fans' biggest questions. Fortunately, all is revealed through a handy 'previously on...' segment just minutes into this season's premiere. No spoilers, but I think the vast majority of fans will be pleased with the way that Gunn humorously retcons a particular scene from last season's finale – one that was the biggest canonical headache for many.
Michael Rooker's Red St. Wild is the primary antagonist of this season's Eagly-led subplot (Image credit: HBO Max)
Expected though they are, it's marvellous to see events and characters from the wider DCU play active roles in Peacemaker 2. Whether it's references to Superman's story, or episode 1's brilliantly dysfunctional interview scene involving The Justice Gang, I was heartened to see these narrative yarns spun out further and prove that, unlike Marvel's cinematic juggernaut, events on the big screen can and should be felt keenly in their small screen counterparts.
I'll admit season 2's new title sequence steadily grew on me to the point where I was actively singing along to it
And what of the most anticipated part of the show's return – i.e., this season's new title sequence. Last season's opening credits went viral in early 2022, with Gunn telling Entertainment Weekly it was watched four billion times on TikTok. No pressure, then, to make it as good, if not better.
Initially, I wasn't a fan of season 2's glam-rock-inspired dance number. With each episode that passed, though, I'll admit it steadily grew on me to the point where I was actively singing along to 'Oh Lord' by Foxy Shazam, aka the licensed song this season's ambitious choreographed sequence is set to. Don't be surprised if you feel the same way after re-watching it multiple times.
My verdict
Peacemaker season 2 is an impressive, entertaining, and startlingly thought-provoking continuation of its predecessor. A series packed with the usual trappings of a James Gunn project – dark and awkward humor, heart-wrenching moments, action-heavy sequences, a banging soundtrack, reams of melodrama, and broken characters you can't help but adore – it's must-see TV for DC comic book devotees, nascent DCU fans, and casual observers alike.
There are blemishes, some of which I've outlined above and others, like the occasionally jarring tonal shift, ruin its chances of earning a better rating. However, those flaws are comparatively minor in the grand scheme of things.
As I mentioned up top, not many DC Comics characters could carry their own series and be an integral part of the DCU storytelling machine. And yet, Peacemaker proves that, with the right cast and crew, and a creator who understands the material, anything is possible. If Chris Smith existed in the real world, I'm convinced the high regard he's held in by viewers would finally help him to *ahem* make peace with his past.
Peacemaker's second season launches with a two-episode premiere on August 21 (North and South America) and August 22 (everywhere else). Read my dedicated guide for Peacemaker season 2 before it arrives.
Nobody 2 is a far cry from being one of the best new movies of the year so far. Before I dig a little deeper into what went wrong, I must stress that I cannot think of a single word more apt to describe it than ‘naff’.
For anyone unfamiliar with UK slang, the dictionary definition tells us the word ‘naff’ is “something that lacks taste or style,” and you’d generally use it to describe something that’s a little cringeworthy in its rubbishness. If you went to see a musical put on by a local amateur dramatics society, if your mum ordered something off of eBay that’s arrived looking nothing like its picture, if you’ve watched a total comedic flop like Nobody 2… they’re all excellent times to use it as a descriptor.
Four years after the original Nobody film – which was one of the most-watched movies on Netflix – took place, Bob Odenkirk’s oddball hitman Hutch Mansell is back, and this time, he just wants to catch a break. Taking his family on holiday to Plummerville – a quaint Midwestern town where his dad took him on his one and only vacation as a kid – Hutch unknowingly walks into the middle of a crime syndicate operated between the local cops and boss Lendina (Sharon Stone). From there, it’s outright chaos to get the freedom to be left alone, and it comes at a price for almost everyone involved. That, my friends, is more interesting than watching it. Better Call Saul, it is not.
It blows my mind that an action movie that’s so incredibly gory can be as simultaneously mundane as Nobody 2. If you took away the (genuinely impressive) kills, standoffs, and fluke accidents, you’re left with an end product that’s so forgettable, it wouldn’t even live up to being a satisfying movie to watch on the plane. Weirdly, it’s difficult to decide who or what is at fault, with everything blending together in one homogenous blur that if it was a spice, it would be flour.
Nobody 2 has managed to make violence boring with no laughs to boot
The main takeaway from Nobody 2 is that it’s just not funny. Odenkirk tries his best with a plain Jane script to land some comedic blows, but even his sharp and wry wit doesn’t really get very far. The concept of a hitman taking his family on vacation unknowingly to a criminal hotspot should be a slam dunk, but once you’ve seen the reality blow up in Hutch’s face once, you’ve seen the whole narrative arc. We don’t really move on from the “I don’t know what I’m doing here, but I’m going to take every wrong’un I see on to hopefully be left alone” mentality, which means structurally, Nobody 2 is more of a small hill than a giant rollercoaster. Which in itself is ironic, as there are some excruciatingly brilliant deaths involving various fairground rides.
So, where does the problem come from? For me, it’s a combination of script, general story direction, and a tendency to rely on gimmicks. Why do we need to properly unpack relationships and motives when we can just watch Odenkirk punch people, set money on fire (yes, something we saw the first time, big shock) and watch Stone’s villain stab people over a game of poker. Stone herself is introduced way too late in the game, making Plummerville’s criminal hierarchy convoluted and difficult to follow. We don’t really care about who she is (which apparently has no more substance than just ‘being crazy’) by the time we see her as we’ve been led to believe someone else is the main antagonist… but despite an objectively cool tonal switch, it’s hard to be invested in the stakes.
Of course, good is going to triumph over evil and a lot of bad guys are going down in the interim. Of course, our leads will fix their romantic family problems, and fall more in love with each other than they ever have been in their fractured little lives. If a film is going to hit so many expected plot points, it has to have something else to offer. Aside from bombastic violence choices – and more on that in a moment – Nobody 2 fails to check this box (although I’ll give it the surprise pipeline of Queen Vic landlord to M-style mafioso, but that probably only chimes a chord with the Brits).
It’s not all bad news… it’s just mostly bad news
Bob Odenkirk as Hutch in Nobody 2. (Image credit: Universal Pictures)
I’m not that mean, though… Nobody 2 does have a few redeeming qualities. For starters, our cast put in solid ensemble performances, with Connie Nielsen’ Becca particularly stealing the spotlight while rightly putting Hutch in his place. It’s light-hearted fun to follow the family as they get in a few successful holiday frolics, and this is largely where the few laughs that do translate pay off. What really steals the show is the fight scenes. I know I’ve slated them a bit here, but boy, are they something to behold.
I do have to give it to the team for coming up with such creative ways for somebody to meet their maker. Faces get sliced horizontally in half, men are impaled on surfboards, and one even gets his head cut open on a table saw. Hutch kills people with the apologetic bumbling of a dad who just can’t help getting in the way, and the contrast works well in the heat of the moment. You’re probably going to dry heave, bring your hands to your mouth or gasp out loud in sudden shock. I did all three, and I’m feeling queasy just thinking back to those moments.
There might not be a method in the madness, but there is some fun. Nobody 2 is a pretty poor follow-up to an already pretty poor original action movie, though as my friends and I discussed after watching, the sequel (despite its dullness) is a definite improvement. We should all quit while we’re ahead and not make this a trilogy… Hutch said he wanted a rest, so let’s give him one.
Wednesday season 2 is back with a bang, and even though we have to wait until September for part 2, we're off to an excellent start.
Part one of season 2 is made up of four episodes, so it was crucial to keep audiences engaged and make sure they'd come back for the final installment. Considering Wednesday has been renewed for season 3, the pressure is on, but I personally can't wait for this show to keep going.
When we catch up with Wednesday after a two-year break, the gloomy teenager is returning to Nevermore as summer has come to an end. But while her peers were all partying and having fun, Wednesday spent her summer break pursuing a serial killer, very on brand for her.
Upon returning to Nevermore, a lot has changed. Following Gwendoline Christie's departure as Principal Weems, we've got a new head of school in the form of Steve Buscemi's Principal Dort, a dorky yet suspicious character who is keen to secure funding for the school.
He's not the only new addition to the cast, either. Joanna Lumley joins to play Morticia's estranged mother, Hester, expanding the beloved Addams Family and providing more family drama, something season one was seriously lacking.
I was thrilled that the family takes center stage this time, with Wednesday's brother, Pugsley, joining Nevermore, and her parents, Morticia and Gomez, sticking around to help with a gala. Having them around is a delight and you can expect laughs, macabre delights, and some cringeworthy moments because yes, Morticia and Gomez are sickeningly loved up this season.
The Nevermore students are back, too, of course, and we're reunited with familiar faces like Enid Sinclair, Bianca Barclay, Ajax Petropolus, and Eugene Ottinger.
It's not long before more drama ensues, of course, as Wednesday attempts to track down her stalker, deal with her psychic abilities, and figure out why a murder of crows is well, murdering people. There's never a quiet day for Wednesday.
While the main plot focuses on the crows and who (or what) is controlling them to kill people, we do have several subplots going on. Wednesday gets a vision of Enid's death, Enid is caught in a love triangle, Pugsley accidentally creates a zombie, and more.
I will admit, not all of these are attention-grabbing and do slow the pacing down in places, but the main plot is enough to keep you invested. I was also very enamored by the zombie character, named Slurp, who provided laughs and scares in abundance.
Steve Buscemi's new principal is a shady figure. (Image credit: Netflix)
We're only halfway through, but so far, I can confidently say this has been a good season and there's real potential to expand on things across the next four episodes.
I'm hoping we get to learn more about the family and their buried secrets, some of which have been referenced early in season 2. Without spoiling anything, there's plenty for fans to look forward to on that front, and Addams Family drama can rival any reality TV show.
When I was a kid in the early 2000s, Lindsay Lohan was across the holy trinity of sleepover movies: Mean Girls, Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen and Freaky Friday. Each is a sacred text, a rite of passage watched until you and your friends are all word perfect, songs and scenes ingrained into your memory well into adulthood.
Thankfully, Hollywood is hellbent on resurrecting as many existing IPs as it possibly can, meaning Disney is giving us girls now in their 30s a sequel to the 2003 body swap comedy Freakier Friday. In the original movie, a mum and daughter swapped bodies, which allowed them to realize how they’ve been unfair to the other (don’t worry, they got switched back in the end). Lindsay Lohan is now on the other side of rebuilding her post-child star life and ready to reunite with Jamie Lee Curtis, and the result is absolutely glorious.
Mild spoilers for Freakier Friday ahead.
Let’s start with the bad news: Lohan’s Anna and Jake (Chad Michael Murray) are no longer together in Freakier Friday, despite their will-they-won’t-they romance being the entire plot of the first movie. Anna has decided to go parenthood alone in Freakier Friday, raising now 15-year-old daughter Harper (Julia Butters) on her own. Tess (Curtis) is the psychologist-turned-podcaster we remember, intent on helicopter grandparenting as best as she can. Anna meets fellow parent Eric (Manny Jacinto) when Harper gets into trouble with his daughter Lily (Sophia Hammons), and the two fall in love. When Anna and Eric soon plan to get married, a (frankly terrible) mystic at her bachelorette party swaps spirits between the quartet, and it’s a race against time to fix it.
When I found out that the storyline beats were almost exactly the same as the original movie just with additional characters I didn’t want, and even when I saw the trailer, I was braced for the worst. However, nothing could have prepared me for the spring in my step immediately after watching the full movie, which is a lightness I haven’t felt through films for decades. Freakier Friday ticks all the boxes we’re desperate for it to (feel-good storytelling with a light-hearted touch, Lohan at her best, silly nods to girlhood) and that’s going to be a lot of happy young women who’ve been left unfilled by mainstream media.
Freakier Friday is far from perfect, but it is a millennial teenage dream
The best things in life are those that are perfectly imperfect, and in an industry that’s striving for AI greatness and motion-blended superhero glory, that’s refreshing. As a Disney movie, Freakier Friday is not trying to be anything else – it’s not trying to compete as a box office smash, and it’s not trying to get a new audience base. Instead, it’s a love letter to its fans from way back when, and in turn, for Lindsay Lohan, too.
For me, the best part of Freakier Friday is seeing a happy, healthy Lohan back where we want her and absolutely loving it. She thrives working with Curtis and Murray, and it’s almost as if no time has passed. Freaky Friday clearly created an environment she felt comfortable in, meaning she could give her whole heart to the sequel when the timing was biologically right (according to Curtis, Disney was approached when Lohan could viably have a teen daughter).
Lohan turns up to our premiere in a nod to the final outfit she wore in Freaky Friday, and the love in the room for what they have created is palpable. It shows in every one of her scenes, effortlessly finding the balance between legendary Disney icon and a comeback kid proving she never lost the acting chops she was once heralded for. Between them, Lohan and Curtis go full throttle back into the 2000s, with plenty of references to their original movie through a stylised narrative structure typically left behind in the noughties (think school food fights, comedic detention scenes and impromptu fashion shows).
If you’re a fellow child of the noughties, Freakier Friday has this wonderfully rare ability to suspend time, leaving the everyday stresses of 2025 life at bay. In this bubble, the biggest worry is seeing whether Pink Slip will play ‘Take Me Away’ (more on that later), and if Anna will make it to her wedding on time. There’s love, laughs, and plenty of Easter eggs, and it’s genuinely the closest we can come to travelling back in time.
New additions hold up just as well, for the most part
Lindsay Lohan (Anna) and Jamie Lee Curtis (Tess) in Freakier Friday. (Image credit: Disney)
However, this doesn’t mean the new elements in Freakier Friday are left out in the cold. There’s a fresh take on modern social stereotypes that doesn’t feel as though someone’s mom has written it – instead the movie comes across as understanding what it means to be a young woman in the 2020s. Nobody is taking themselves or anything around them too seriously, meaning the movie has flexibility to lean into the unhinged storytelling that children’s TV was fixated with 20 years ago.
The only place this doesn’t entirely work is with popular singer Ella (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan), who Anna now manages. She struggles to feel like a popstar that would genuinely appeal to the TikTok generation, shoehorned into the plot just so Anna has enough emotional background to make up for her split with Jake.
This brings me to my biggest gripe with the sequel – you cannot continue a well-known 2000s IP and not use Chad Michael Murray properly. He was the biggest onscreen heartthrob of a generation, and I was genuinely overcome with nostalgia by seeing him in the flesh just before watching the movie. I hope he’d still be with Anna (or at the very least be back together by the end), but he’s sparsely seen and is only used to prop up jokes coming from Tess. There’s no explanation for why they’re no longer together, and, without spoilers, there’s certainly a missed opportunity to extend his connection to the movie’s main dilemma.
But enough about Chad (I’ll just rewatch Sullivan’s Crossing for a Murray hit). What about Pink Slip? Yes, the iconic fictional band is back together, and yes, you’ll see the entire back catalog. I recommend watching with your best friend for the full emotional effect of belting the words as the band has their onscreen reunion, albeit you might be a bit thrown off by a jarring edit that goes against the original film’s soundtrack. Still, this is a small price to pay for a cinematic moment of dreams, and boy, seeing Christina Vidal back where she belongs is mine.
Frankly, I’m impressed with Freakier Friday. The minute a sequel comes out decades after the original, it’s set up for a losing streak, but Lohan and Curtis’ effortless embodiment of 2003 means the overall premise works despite the huge chunk of time in between. Cinema buffs will say it’s terrible, and they’re probably right. But Freakier Friday is a worthwhile sequel, and it’s definitely what I – and I imagine other noughties children – want.
Zach Cregger burst onto the horror scene in 2022 with what looked to be a simple tale about a double booked Airbnb in the movie Barbarian. With the film praised so highly by horror fans, how could he possibly outdo himself?
Enter Weapons, a new movie that I genuinely believe is even better than Barbarian due to its wonderful cocktail of horror, dark comedy and mystery that keeps you guessing throughout.
Weapons has had some of thebest viral marketing I’ve ever seen for a horror movie. Indeed, it's not all hype and no substance, as after watching the movie I can report that it lives up to all the scary videos and the real looking website you've seen online.
Weapons follows a shocking mystery that shocks a small town. At 2:17am, all but one child mysteriously vanishes from the same class, leaving a sea of worried parents and baffled police officials behind to pick up the pieces.
Fingers are soon pointed towards Justine Gandy (Julia Garner) after the town realizes that it was only the teacher's class impacted by this terrifying phenomenon. CCTV footage shows the children all running, arms outstretched, their destination unknown, and Gandy becomes ostracized as a result.
(Image credit: Warner Bros.)
She's just one of the main characters we follow in the movie, though. The others are Archer Graff (Josh Brolin), a worried father, Paul Morgan (Alden Ehrenreich), a police officer, and Andrew Marcus (Benedict Wong), the school principal.
The less I say about this movie, the better because it's good to know as little as possible before watching Weapons. But just know that this mystery leaves the entire community stumped and soon puts them in danger too.
This is a movie that doesn't let up. Often with horror movies we feel safer when there's scenes set in the daytime, but Weapons has you constantly on edge from the ominous intro all the way to the final credits. It's terrifying and anxiety inducing – everything you could want from a Barbarian follow-up.
Cregger told me during an interview that "if you liked Barbarian, this is more – and in a good way" – and he's absolutely right. It does dial the horror up to 100, and left my jaw on the floor for a lot of it. Some of Weapons scariest moments happen when you least expect it as you find yourself absorbed in the investigation.
This is a very character driven movie. As a result, we do spend a lot of time getting to know the members of the town, often when they're alone. There's some excellent scenes that give us insight into how they're feeling while at their homes, or during nightmare sequences.
It's easy to feel sympathy for the characters but also frustration as well. Each character feels very well-rounded. This troubled town is full of very different personalities and they all shine through here.
The town of Maybrook becomes scarier thanks to the eerie score, composed by Cregger alongside his two friends, brothers Ryan and Hays Holladay. This was Cregger's first time composing for one of his own movie's and he's done a brilliant job.
For me, Weapons is a masterpiece but I know some fans might not like the non-linear pacing, as it can feel slow at times when the tension is building. But if you like character-driven horrors that build to a shocking reveal, you're going to love this.
In the trailer, the child narrator teases that “a lot of people die in a lot of weird ways in this story" and that's very true. To find out how, exactly, you'll have to be brave and go and watch it when it arrives in theaters on August 8 in the US and UK, and August 7 in Australia.
