We recommend: The best new movies and TV series
Editor’s note: Boy oh boy, what a packed weekend we have here. Two major Tamil theatrical releases, the controversial and acclaimed Santosh finally streaming, Netflix thrillers from Thailand and South Korea, a video game-based animated action series, a Hindi serial killer film starring Arshad Warsi, a multilingual horror film on Mubi, a documentary on Martin Scorsese, and fresh seasons of The Diplomat and Loot. Phew!
*****
Bison Kaalamaadan (Tamil)
Powerhouse anti-caste Tamil director Mari Selvaraj's new film is set in the world of kabaddi. Dhruv Vikram's protagonist is reportedly inspired by the life of real-life athlete Manathi Ganesan. Selvaraj's film carries shades of his mentor (and co-producer) Pa Ranjith's maddeningly entertaining 2021 sports drama Sarpatta Parambarai, which tracked a Dalit boxer in '70s North Chennai. Can Selvaraj match up to Ranjith? Will Dhruv Vikram step out of the shadow of his superstar father, Chiyaan Vikram?
Where to watch: Theatres
Dude (Tamil)
Breakout Tamil star-filmmaker Pradeep Ranganathan has been on a high since 2022's romcom Love Today, which he directed and starred in; later remade in Hindi as this year's unremarkable Loveyapa. Earlier in 2025, Ranganathan starred in the blockbuster coming-of-age drama Dragon. His new romcom Dude seems as if it's going to make bank. The plot follows two lifelong companions (Ranganathan, Mamitha Baiju) whose relationship is tested as they age and their desires shift.
Where to watch: Theatres
Everybody Loves Me When I’m Dead (Thai)
A family man desperately searching for money decides to partake in one small criminal activity hoping no one will notice; time-tested noir premise. This Thai thriller follows the hapless bank employee protagonist stealing 30 million baht from the account of a deceased woman with no heirs. Of course, things get complex, the Pattaya underworld gets involved, betrayals ensue.
Where to watch: Netflix
Bhagwat – Chapter One: Raakshas (Hindi)
Arshad Warsi and Jitendra Kumar, two gifted actors across generations, lock horns in this new crime thriller. When a woman goes missing—in an Uttar Pradesh town in the year 2009—Warsi, playing upright cop Bhagwat, suspects the work of a serial killer. Parallelly, the calm and sincere-looking Sameer (Kumar), is living his life as an everyman college professor. A cat-and-mouse ensues, as Bhagwat struggles to find evidence that would nail the slippery Sameer for the crimes.
The reviews praise the strong performances of the two leads, who, as Scroll mentions, “ably shoulder a film that is the most compelling until the mystery is solved”.
Where to watch: Zee5
Santosh (Hindi)
It’s been a year-long Kafkaesque fever dream, but Indian audiences will finally get to stream this critically acclaimed police procedural/social critique by Sandhya Suri. Santosh is an Indo-British production about a woman police inspector (Shahana Goswami) investigating the rape and murder of a Dalit teenager.
The film—which ended up being the UK’s official entry for the Oscars—ran into trouble with Indian censors, leading to its delayed release here. Better late than never though; The Guardian calls it a “tough, sinewy, satisfying film”, while LA Times points to Suri’s past work as a documentarian, lending Santosh “the air of something patiently witnessed as much as it is carefully crafted.”
Where to watch: Lionsgate Play
A Nice Boy (English)
A queer romcom exploring sexuality, race, and cultural differences with a deftness of touch. The film, directed by Canadian filmmaker Roshan Sethi, and adapted from a play by Madhuri Shekar, piles on layers of cultural complexities as it takes us through the life of Naveen (Karan Soni), a gay Indian-American doctor who brings home his fiancé
Jay to meet his parents.
Plot twist: Jay, a white man, has himself been adopted by Indian parents. The film, originally titled A Nice Indian Boy for its American audiences, hits theatres here with a slightly changed name. Variety calls it “bright, big-hearted if overly tidy”, and feels the examination of the middle-class Indian-American family is “gently funny and quite moving”.
Where to watch: Theatres
The Ugly Stepsister (Norwegian, Polish, Danish & Swedish)
This multilingual international co-production—a gruesome inversion of the classic ‘Cinderella’—is a horror black comedy with a fair amount of gore. An inventive visual treatment drives the chilling story forward, in what is Norwegian filmmaker Emilie Blichfeldt’s directorial debut.
“‘Extreme’ is a mild word for Blichfeldt’s approach,” warns Rogerebert.com; it breaks apart classic tropes around beauty and self-esteem with a “‘burn it all down’ approach” that “creates turbulence and upset while walking over very well-trod ground.”
Where to watch: Mubi
Mr. Scorsese (English)
This is five episodes of ice cream for cinephiles. Filmmaker Rebecca Miller (trivia: playwright Arthur Miller’s daughter) combines in-depth interviews, archival footage, and behind-the-scenes reflections to put together a crisp portrait of post-war America's greatest mainstream filmmaker Martin Scorsese.
Interviewees include close collaborators Robert De Niro and Leonardo Dicaprio, along with filmmakers Steven Spielberg and fellow New Yorker Spike Lee. Master method actor Daniel Day-Lewis, who is married to Miller and has starred in two Scorsese films, also appears.
Where to watch: Apple TV
Good Fortune (English)
Aziz Ansari has a typically up-and-down style of direction. It feels deliberately messy and uneven in its rhythms. For his feature debut, Ansari enlists Keanu Reeves to play an angel, as Ansari’s character struggles with odd jobs to make ends meet. Will Gabriel (Reeves) help Ansari find a new way?
The reviews are mixed, but Reeves’ performance is a highlight: “What emerges from that slight muddle of ideas,” writes The Independent, “is, ultimately, Reeves’s perfectly tuned performance as a naive celestial slowly being drawn down to earth.”
Where to watch: Theatres
Good News (Korean)
South Korea is dependable for two kinds of AV content: mushy K-dramas and intense thrillers. This one's a dark-comedy political thriller set in 1970, when a communist group in Japan hijacks a passenger plane and tries rerouting it to North Korea's Pyongyang. The Korean intelligence sends a mysterious fixer to defuse the crisis. The director Byun Sung-hyun, following the footsteps of South Korean masters Park Chan-wook (Oldboy) and Bong Joon Ho (Parasite), has helmed acclaimed thrillers in the past.
South China Morning Post has called it "a riotously entertaining black comedy about the nature of truth, the power of propaganda and the delicate intricacies of international cooperation." Screen Anarchy is also positive: "a richly entertaining and unabashedly commercial satire that keeps its finger on the pulse—the gags are all in service of a larger picture about stifling social structures and ideologically bankrupt political apparatus, propped up by hypocrisy and hierarchy, always on the verge of collapse."
Where to watch: Netflix
She Walks in Darkness (Spanish)
Amaia (Susana Abaitua), an officer in Spain’s Civil Guard, is embedded for over a decade as an undercover agent within the ETA, a Basque separatist group. The organisation has hidden weapon caches all across southern France, and Amaia is tasked with identifying these locations.
The film, directed by Agustín Díaz Yanes, brings into focus the toll it takes to lead a double life, focussing on the protagonist even as political volatility continues unchecked in the backdrop.
Where to watch: Netflix
Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Deathwatch (English)
An eight-episode noirish spy-action series, this is based on Ubisoft's acclaimed video game series. Retired cover operative Sam Fisher (voiced by Liev Schreiber) returns to train a new generation of agents while battling ghosts from his past. Co-created by John Wick writer Derek Kolstad. Expect high-octane stealth missions and a meditation on surveillance, loyalty and state power.
Where to watch: Netflix
Striking Rescue (Thai)
Thai martial arts superstar Tony Jaa is back to kick some ass as Bai An, a battle hardened Muay Thai fighter on a revenge mission. An’s wife and daughter were killed by drug smugglers, and thus he is on a crusade, beating up every bad guy he can find in the hope of some catharsis.
A Chinese production, Striking Rescue is a classic action thriller with a straightforward plot and a whole lot of exhilarating violence and stunt work by the gifted Jaa. Collider writes: “Jaa is much of an electric rage machine as ever, but he's been given some chances to exhibit greater range here and succeeds.”
Where to watch: JioHotstar
Fresh off the big screen…
Final Destination: Bloodlines (English)
The latest installment of the long-running Final Destination franchise was in theatres earlier this year and reportedly grossed six times its $50 million budget. This series is particularly exciting because it keeps informing you of inventive ways you can possibly die. Bloodlines, particularly delirious and funny, is the best-reviewed film of the series. It has a whopping 92% positive rating on review-aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes. Highly recommended for Diwali viewing with friends and family.
Where to watch: JioHotstar
Here’s a new chapter…
Loot season 3 (English)
Loot, a sharp comedy and satire of late capitalist excess, stars Maya Rudolph as Molly, a billionaire philanthropist grappling with the messy intersection of wealth, generosity and identity, as she attempts to do good while inadvertently exposing her privilege. The third season takes off from Molly's high-profile divorce and investigates her growing disillusionment with corporate philanthropy.
Where to watch: Apple TV
The Diplomat season 3 (English)
The Diplomat has somewhat filled the Kevin Spacey-shaped void left behind by House of Cards. The political drama follows US Ambassador Kate Wyler (Keri Russell) through the machinations of statecraft and geopolitical intrigue. The new season has her personal and political worlds colliding, while a nuclear drone called Poseidon threatens an international incident.
Where to watch: Netflix
souk picks