Our Flag Means Death Delivers Absurdity and Romance on the High Seas
The best show of the year is an LGBTQ+ pirate rom-com. Our Flag Means Death tells the story of real-life pirate Stede Bonnet, the 18th-century aristocrat who gave up his luxurious life for an adventure on the seas. He earned the name “The Gentleman Pirate'' for his peculiar approach to piracy, building his ship the Revenge rather than seizing one by mutiny and paying his crew in wages.
Tick, Tick... Boom! A Love Letter to Art and the Artist
I don’t need to convince you to watch tick tick… Boom!, the film adaptation of the creator of the revolutionary rock musical Rent Jonathan Larson’s autobiographical musical about living in the pressure cooker of eighties New York and trying to make his big break before the age of 30. “Older than Stephen Sondheim and Paul McCartney” when they achieved fame. Gasp!
Don’t hate the player, hate the game: Netflix’s breakout hit Squid Game
Squid Game has taken the recipe for a bingeable Netflix show and seasoned it to perfection. The Korean drama follows Seong Gi-hun, a father who has gambled with both his life and his relationship with his young daughter. With little left to lose and everything to gain, he enters to compete in a series of children’s games, along with 455 other debt-ridden and desperate contestants, enticed by a handsome cash prize. The twist? Losing gets you killed.
Queer love is intimate, hilarious, and real in Feel Good Season 2
If you haven’t seen Feel Good, let me put you on to Netflix’s most chronically underrated series: an LGBTQ+ dark comedy about gender identity, addiction, and love. Canadian comedian Mae Martin writes and stars in the semi-autobiographical tale. The show’s cynical, self-aware humor mirrors that of Fleabag, and it similarly spans two seasons, each containing six perfectly packaged episodes. While the second season, released this year in June, falters on the comedic front in favor of a bolder, darker storyline, you’re certain to fall in love all over again with the complex characters and genuine relationships Martin so beautifully curates.
Nomadland: A Study of Grief and Freedom
Nomadland, directed, written, and edited by newcomer Chloé Zhao, is a quiet study of grief, solitude, and the unspoken promises we make to ourselves and others. The film follows Fern (Frances McDormand), a recently unemployed widow, as she embarks on a solo expedition through the American west. She has no set destination, simply wandering from campsite to campsite, job to job, meeting eclectic yet oddly familiar characters; untethered nomads seeking temporary comfort in endless desert expanses, vast seaside cliffs, and each other.
Big Mouth Season 4 Review
I’m convinced Big Mouth is written by hyper-self-aware 13 year olds. It’s unapologetic in portraying some of the most embarrassing parts of growing up and its characters feel like honest middle schoolers — “I don’t like movies. I prefer watching YouTube 2 inches from my face,” says Nick. Over its four-season run, the Netflix animated series has perfectly captured the woes and wonders of puberty through inventive storylines and a signature raunchy humor that only preteens (and me, and all the reviewers who’ve given three seasons a perfect 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, and probably you) find funny. In season 4, each of Big Mouth’s flawed and lovable tweens work on forging their identities as adolescents, a struggle all of us can empathize with.
