The Truth About Jussie Smollett sets out to re-examine one of the strangest celebrity scandals of the last decade. In 2019, Smollett, best known for his role on the TV series Empire (which I’d honestly never heard of before watching this), reported that he was the victim of a brutal hate crime in Chicago. According to his account,…
I saw Paul and Paulette Take a Bath last month at the Soho Screening Rooms, and honestly, I found it very hard to immerse myself in. It’s the feature debut of British-French filmmaker Jethro Massey, and while I respect him for trying to make something original and different, leaning into bygone times instead of giving…
I normally enjoy crime dramas based on true events, but Under the Bridge left me unsettled in ways I didn’t expect. It wasn’t just the horror of the crime itself it was the fact that these kids, who committed something monstrous, also felt like products of broken homes and fractured identities. The series doesn’t excuse their actions,…
The recent episode of The Summer I Turned Pretty just reminded me why Taylor is quickly becoming one of my favorite characters this season. Honestly, her whole arc has been such a glow-up. She’s still the bold, confident Taylor we’ve always known the one who’s quick with a joke, unafraid to speak her mind, and never short…
On 19th February 2008, Karen Matthews called the police to say her nine-year-old daughter Shannon hadn’t come home from school in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire. What followed was West Yorkshire Police’s biggest investigation since the Yorkshire Ripper. A massive £3.2 million search unfolded, lasting 24 days and gripping the nation. This new two-part documentary, The Hunt for…
Victoria Mapplebeck is a BAFTA-winning filmmaker and professor of Digital Arts at Royal Holloway. She received the 2019 BAFTA for her short-form documentary Missed Call, shot entirely on her iPhone. With her debut feature Motherboard, which premiered at the 2024 London Film Festival, Mapplebeck turns the camera on two decades of life with her son Jim, exploring…
When you think of The Summer I Turned Pretty, the first thing that comes to mind is probably Belly’s messy, romantic love triangle but here’s a different take: Season 3 feels like it’s quietly telling a completely different story. Beneath the beachside drama, one character’s quiet evolution has started to steal the spotlight and it’s not…
Some shows fade from memory the minute the credits roll. Normal People isn’t one of them. Since Normal People is now back on Netflix, maybe they can convince BBC to finally do a second season like the audience has been wanting all along. Normal People really is one of those rare shows that deserves more recognition. It’s already got a…
I’m walking past the theatre district the other night, and I swear I thought I’d taken a wrong turn into an earlier age. Back to the Future in giant neon. Down the street The Lion King (again). Around the corner The Devil Wears Prada and right there in the middle? A whole pack of spotted dogs 101 Dalmatians and…
Something I spotted in The First Shadow might be the missing piece of the Season 5 puzzle. After seeing Stranger Things: The First Shadow at the theatre for the second time, I was amazed all over again but this time, I left with my brain spinning, trying to figure out what the elusive easter egg might be for the…
