Essays on TV and film — exploring stories, characters, and the choices behind them.
Let me be honest about what Apex is before I tell you why I watched all 95 minutes of it without looking at my phone. Apex is a survival thriller in which a woman is hunted through the Australian wilderness by a psychopathic stranger. The script, written by Jeremy Robbins, is not doing anything … Read more
On May 13, 2026, the South Carolina Supreme Court overturned Alex Murdaugh’s double murder convictions in a unanimous 5-0 ruling. On May 18, Netflix started filming a documentary about it. On May 30 — twelve days later — that documentary was streaming globally. That timeline is the story. Not just the Murdaugh story, though … Read more
Jennifer Lopez has made a lot of romantic comedies. Some of them were great. Some of them were not. Office Romance, which arrives on Netflix tomorrow, June 5, looks like it belongs in the first category — and the reason is standing next to her on every poster. Brett Goldstein, best known as Roy … Read more
The first scene that stopped me in The Boroughs isn’t the supernatural one. It’s quieter than that. Sam Cooper has just moved into his new retirement community after the death of his wife, and he’s standing in his apartment looking at a box he hasn’t unpacked. He doesn’t open it. He just stands there. … Read more