We recommend: The best new movies and TV series
New releases
Some true crime first to pepper up the buffet: this new Netflix documentary is a tell-all from the daughter of one of America’s most infamous serial killers. Dennis Lynn Rader AKA the BTK Killer murdered 10 people, mostly women, between 1974 and 1991. BTK was a moniker he encouraged by referring to his modus operandi of “bind, torture, kill” in letters he would write to local media challenging them to investigate.
Rader got caught in 2005, 24 years after his last known kill. His daughter Kerri Rawson was 26 at the time, thoroughly shocked by the revelation that his dad is a true-crime superstar.
The Netflix documentary builds off Rawson’s 2019 memoir, featuring interviews with journalists and the police. The documentary has Rawson recalling the weeks and months after her father’s arrest: “I don’t know who my father is. What is he hiding? Was he using my family to hide? It’s hard to know who I am if every moment of my life was a lie.”
Where to watch: Netflix
Martial arts, love, mythology and fantasy, this has it all. A warrior, Ming Yi (Lu Yuxiao), is poisoned. In search of an antidote, she disguises herself as a dancer to lure her poisoner, Ji Bo Zai (Hou Minghao), into giving her what she needs. Recipe for sexual tension.
Where to watch: Netflix
Benny Safdie’s (one half of the Uncut Gems director duo) new film The Smashing Machine is a vérité drama masquerading as a sports biopic. It tracks the turbulent career and life of Mark Kerr, the real-life mixed martial arts phenomenon whose addiction to painkillers wrecked his career.
Dwayne Johnson, himself no stranger to the rough and tumble of wrestling, plays the titular machine, with Emily Blunt starring as Kerr’s supportive girlfriend. Reviews are largely positive, with Rogerebert.com highlighting its off-kilter sensibility: “While sports films are known for pulling you in, this one actively pushes you away, something that even feels true about the meta casting of its leading man.”
Where to watch: Theatres
Faisal Muhammed’s Malayalam dramedy follows homemaker Fathima unassumingly becomes a rebellious feminist when she decides to replace an old mattress in her home. Through small actions, Fathima starts slowly irking her insensitive preacher husband.
Critically acclaimed, Feminichi Fathima won multiple awards at the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) last year. The theatrical release is courtesy Mollywood heartthrob Dulquer Salmaan’s Wayfarer Films. Scroll notes, “Feminichi Fathima pays homage to fellow Malayalam director Jeo Baby’s trailblazing The Great Indian Kitchen (2021), which exposes the drudgery involved in housework.”
Where to watch: Theatres
Our favourite ABCD Hasan Minhaj stars as a tech guy in the third instalment of the techno-thriller Tron series, designed as a standalone sequel to 2010’s Tron: Legacy. Director Joachim Rønning captains the ship. The cast includes Greta Lee, Gillian Anderson, Jared Leto, and others.
The film imagines a reality where Ares, a cutting-edge AI program, is sent to the physical world for a dangerous mission, and mankind encounters artificial beings for the very first time. (We desis know Ra.One did it first, right?)
A quick note: Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross AKA Nine Inch Nails, and the duo behind some of the most scintillating film scores of the past couple of decades, have crafted a pulsating score, which includes a fresh single featuring Reznor on vocals!
Where to watch: Theatres
Konkona Sensharma, a powerhouse performer, had never got her Clarice Starling role that every actor will want to try out once in their life.
So she has decided to spearhead this new crime thriller series that sets off with the chilling rape murder of teenager Naina, whose body is found in a politician’s car. The clinical ACP Sanyukta Das (Sensharma) is paired with the younger and brash Jay Kanwal (Surya Sharma). The series, directed by Rohan Sippy, is an official adaptation of the Danish cop procedural The Killing (2007).
Where to watch: JioHotstar
There’s another crime mystery featuring a woman investigator this weekend. Journalist Lo Blacklock (Keira Knightley) is on assignment aboard a luxury cruise ship packed with the rich and the powerful. The plot kicks off when Lo witnesses a person being thrown overboard. No one is ready to believe her. All passengers are accounted for, she’s told in no uncertain terms.
The psychological thriller also stars Guy Pearce and Hannah Waddingham (whose turn on Ted Lasso won her acclaim and admirers aplenty), and is based on a 2016 novel of the same name. Lo, already cornered for being a journalist amidst the wolves, also has to fight the insinuation that she is paranoid; a passenger tells her, “You are a bit of a downer, Lo. It’s kind of toxic.” Will Lo be proven right?
Where to watch: Netflix
In the 1990s, it was illegal to be openly gay in the US military. The eight-episode Boots follows a closeted teenager who joins the Marine Corps alongside his straight best friend. Along the way, the protagonist meets a diverse set of young recruits, battles fears of getting outed, deals with strict drill instructors in a virulently homophobic environment, and manages a complicated relationship with his mother, played by Vera Farmiga.
Miles Heizer stars in the lead role. Based on the memoir The Pink Marine by Greg Cope White. Critics have found the coming-of-age story heartfelt. The New York Times noted, "Without being heavy-handed, Boots consistently undercuts macho clichés about the Marine Corps... the show demonstrates that individuals from all sorts of backgrounds potentially have a place in America’s military and, by extension, America itself."
Where to watch: Netflix
Imagine Victoria Beckham saying out loud, "That uncool kid at school that's awkward, that was me. But I desperately wanted to be liked, have a sense of worth."
The three-episode documentary charts Victoria's rise to popstardom with the Spice Girls and getting slotted as a "WAG" (Wife and Girlfriend of a sports star) after her marriage to footballer David Beckham, following which she began focusing on her fashion brand. The last episode covers her efforts to revive her struggling business and culminates with her preparations for a runaway show at Paris Fashion Week amidst high stress and visible pressure.
Interviews and appearances include key fashion insiders such as Anna Wintour, Tom Ford, Roland Mouret, and Donatella Versace; David Beckham; close friends including Eva Longoria; and members of her family. Fans of the Beckhams will surely love it, but some reviews have been ice cold. The Guardian declares, "Victoria Beckham the documentary is as immaculately groomed, polished and controlled as Victoria Beckham the person. It is a puff piece for her, for husband David, her beauty line and, above all, her fashion business."
Where to watch: Netflix
Director Darren Aronofsky (Requiem for a Dream, The Wrestler, Black Swan) has been a millennial film-bro superstar for almost three decades. It's a bit strange to see him tackling a quirky little crime film instead of an Oscar-baiting prestige project.
Rising heartthrob Austin Butler (2022’s Elvis) stars as Hank, a former basketball prodigy turned bartender in New York. Hank's life takes a chaotic turn when his punk-rock neighbour asks him to look after his cat and leaves; soon enough, Hank becomes the target of Russian mobsters, Jewish hitmen, and narcotics detectives. Expect thrilling chases, a kinetic score by pop-punk band The Idles, and snarky New York banter. Aronofsky is a NYC native which explains his choice of material.
Where to watch: Theatres
The creator of crime thriller TV series The Blacklist, Jon Bokenkamp, is back with The Last Frontier, a story about US Marshal Frank Remnick, who lives a quiet, serene life with his wife on the outskirts of Alaska. Until a plane transporting violent criminals crashes in his jurisdiction, forcing Marshal to turn action hero.
Starring Jason Clarke, Dominic Cooper, Haley Bennett, Simone Kessell, and Alfre Woodard. While primarily an action show, the series also touches on themes of family and the community spirit of rural America.
Where to watch: Apple TV+
Something for horror fans. The Conjuring series creator James Wan executive produces this five-episode documentary following apparently true incidents of supernatural hauntings. The episodes intercut between fictional reenactments and present-day interviews with the people who experienced the horrors.
Where to watch: Netflix
Indian viewers will recognise John Candy from Home Alone (1990) surely; the widely loved Canadian actor-comedian played little Kevin's father. Cinephiles will know him for his performances in classics like Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987) and Uncle Buck (1989); The title comes from an iconic line by Candy's character in the former film: "I like me. My wife likes me. My customers like me."
Tom Hanks' son, actor-director Colin, directs this documentary that promises an intimate look at how Candy juggled his comedic genius with his personal struggles, including battling anxiety, early loss of his father, and pressures of fame.
Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video
Fresh off the big screen…
Sequel to Siddharth Anand’s (Pathaan) 2019 spy actioner War, the 170-minute action film has Hrithik Roshan reprising his role as Major Kabir. Telugu star NTR Jr. (RRR) joinjs him as Vikram Chelapathy, a fellow officer and old friend of Dhaliwal’s.
The plot: Kabir is a freelance mercenary, believed to have betrayed his country. Vikram is dispatched to track him down and fight him in very expensive locations or computer-generated scenes, directed by Ayan Mukerji (Brahmastra). The film’s box office was disappointing. Reviews were poor to mixed. So now is your chance to see this for yourself and play online critic.
Where to watch: Netflix
souk picks