Directed and co-written by Chloé Zhao, Hamnet is the story of the events in the life of highly regarded English playwright, William Shakespeare; a time that inspired his timeless masterpiece, Hamlet.
Paul Mescal, Jessie Buckley, Zac Wishart and Joe Alwyn star.
An emotional slog is what this looks like. Still, I’m interested to see a promising dramatisation of part of Shakespeare’s personal story. One that’s produced by Sam Mendes and Steven Spielberg, no less.
I’m going to re-familiarise myself with Hamlet, before watching this. Until then, a thought:
‘Art, beautiful art, that wondrous gift with the glorious power to help us heal in countless ways.’
Will you be watching?
James Lintern, James Lintern, Joe Alwyn, Justine Mitchell, Eva Wishart, Emily Watson, David Wilmot, Dainton AndersonLouisa Harland, Smylie Bradwell and Faith Delaney also star.
I ‘endured’ everything, albeit through my own fingers sometimes, including the scenes that were featured for shock value, because it’s Hunnam. Additionally, as someone who’s lived long enough to be aware of the darker facets of the human experience, there wasn’t plenty that shocked me.
Monster – The Ed Gein Story (2025), Tom Hollanderm Netflix
The fact that Monster – The Ed Gein Story is a dramatisation rather than a documentary is part of the reason I was able to sit through all of it. Knowing that Hunnam was doing his best acting helped give me that distance from the reality of Gein’s depicted crimes. I say ‘depicted crimes’ because, as you can imagine, a number of the crimes/scenes are based on speculation/pure fabrication, for dramatic effect.
As for the matter of whether Monster – The Ed Gein Story is actually good, the acting is fantastic, all around. Hunnam is great, of course, and another highlight is Tom Hollander as Alfred Hitchcock.
What surprised me about the third instalment of the Monsters anthology series is that the show didn’t just focus on Gein’s tragic story over the years. Since Gein is known to have inspired many horror movies, including Hitchcock’s Psycho (1960), The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974), and more, the show dips in and out of telling Gein’s story and showing us scenes of how the aforementioned classic horror films came to exist.
Monster – The Ed Gein Story (2025), Charlie Hunnam, Netflix
Admittedly, all the switching from Gein’s life to showing his impact on American culture results in a somewhat disjointed experience. Nevertheless, because I’m a movie fanatic and I’ve seen almost all the films featured, plus I happen to be a big fan of Hitchcock’s Psycho, I welcomed these diversions. watching them meant I wasn’t having to endure other harrowing scenes from Gein’s life, which, in the end, made the show a little easier to sit through.
It probably won’t surprise you to learn that I found the latter part of Monster – The Ed Gein Story very moving. Particularly that all-important conversation with the psychiatrist. My eyes certainly were not dry. No, sir/lady.
I’m not going to dare to tell you to watch this, unless you are very, VERY curious, of course.
New sci-fi/crime/thriller Mercy has Chris Pratt playing a detective whose fate is to be determined by the AI (Rebecca Ferguson) he championed, after he’s accused of murdering his wife.
Annabelle Wallis, Kenneth Choi and Noah Fearnley are among the key cast, while Timur Bekmambetov directs.
I want this to be great, of course. But I don’t yet have the feeling it will be.
Still, I remain curious and will no doubt be very happy and pleasantly surprised if the quality of this film exceeds that of Tom Cruise and Steven Spielberg’s Minority Report (2002), which I need to rewatch forthwith.
I suspect that what may be most impressive is what the film shows us about the level to which the American public is under surveillance. Additionally, wouldn’t it be quite the twist if Pratt’s character is actually guilty?
What are your thoughts, dear reader?
Kylie Rogers, Chris Sullivan, Kali Reis, Rafi Gavron, Jeff Pierre, Philicia Saunders, Renata Ribeiro and Jamie McBride also star.
In search of refuge and peace, a technology expert returns to Recife, Brazil, his hometown, after fleeing a mysterious past. Only, peace and refuge aren’t quite what he finds in the city.
Set in 1977 and starring Wagner Moura, and directed by Kleber Mendonça Filho, additional key cast for The Secret Agent includes Maria Fernanda Cândido and Gabriel Leone.
I love the look and feel of this trailer. It reminds me of The Penguin Lessons (2024), which is also set in South America, in the mid-to-late 1970s. I want to experience something like the vibe of that again.
Are you also interested in ‘travelling’ to Recife, Brazil, for just two hours and thirty-eight minutes?
Alice Carvalho, Udo Kier, Isabél Zuaa and Hermila Guedes also star.
The Movie My Life 