Robert Eggers Teases Unlikely Connections Between The Northman and Werwulf

With four features in his filmography, we now have certain expectations for a Robert Eggers film. We want moody visuals, we want excellent performances (especially from Willem Dafoe), and we want people using words that no one has used in 1000 years. What we don’t expect, however, is a sequel. Despite their stylistic similarities, each of Eggers’s four movies take place in different places and time periods, minimizing the potential for connections between them.

One would expect the same to be true of Eggers’s latest film, Werwulf, which stars Aaron Taylor-Johnson as a farmer in 13th century England. But in a recent conversation with Esquire, Eggers revealed that he toyed with the origins of the werewolf myth in a previous film, The Northman. When discussing the origins of legends about humans turning into wolfs, Eggers observed, “If we really want to get into it, we can talk about the Berserkirs [an ancient Norse term for especially ferocious warriors who wore bearskins] and the Úlfhéðnar [another Old Norse word, for “wolf-coats”] that you see in The Northman that come from Viking culture.”

Released in 2022, The Northman starred Alexander Skarsgård as Amleth, a 9th century Viking who sought revenge against his uncle for the murder of his father. A retelling of one of the myths that influenced Shakespeare‘s Hamlet, The Northman featured Eggers’s usual eye for historical detail, especially in his depiction of Viking culture.

An early scene finds young Amleth (Oscar Novak) and his father King Aurvandill (Ethan Hawke) acting like dogs as part of a ceremony held by Heimir the Fool (Dafoe, in a great performance, as expected). After a seven-year time jump, we see Amleth among the ulfhéðinn, performing another ritual to (metaphorically) transform from humans to beast before going into battle.

To be clear, the connections here are thematic and not literal. It would be shocking if Eggers is setting up a time-travel plot, in which Amleth emerges from the volcano where he had his final battle, preserved for hundreds of years, to hang out with Taylor-Johnson’s farmer in Werwulf. Furthermore, it sounds like Eggers plans to do with Werwulf the same thing he did in The Witch, taking literally the records left by the people he’s describing instead of imposing realism upon them.

In other words, there will be werewolfs in Werwulf, not because it is realistic, but because the people of 13th century England believed that some people turned into wolves. Yet, as Eggers points out, even that belief harkens back to the warriors from The Northman, albeit from a different perspective in the Christianized period shown in Werwulf. “In a Christian setting, people who turn into werewolves become evil, and the early associations in the Christian mythology become satanic,” explains Eggers.

While the title tells us that Werwulf will indeed have the antiquated language we love in an Eggers film, it’s still not clear how moody the visuals will be, nor how great Willem Dafoe will be, cast here as a hunter. But if the connections to The Northman are any connection, Eggers will deliver another piece of uniquely weird horror with Werwulf.

Werwulf comes to theaters on December 25, 2026.

Supergirl’s Shocking Ending Changes the Book, the Character, and Works

This article contains full OF Supergirl spoilers.

At the climax of Supergirl, Ruthye Marye Knoll (Eve Ridley) has finally found her prey. The young adolescent and Supergirl (Milly Alcock) have spent the film chasing down of the Yellow Hills (Matthias Schoenaerts), who murdered the Ruthye’s family while poisoning the hero’s dog. Throughout their journey, Ruthye insisted that she must kill Krem in revenge, a plan that Supergirl categorically rejects. Yet that’s exactly what Supergirl does at the end of the movie, administering a fatal stab to Krem, one for each of the wrongs he’s committed against Kara and her young charge.

Supergirl’s decision to execute Krem doesn’t just contradict the morals she professed in the film, it contradicts the behavior of most DC Comics superheroes, especially Kryptonians who wear an “S” on their chest. More specifically still, it contradicts the comic miniseries Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, in which writer Tom King and artist Bilquis Evely imagine a different resolution to the threat of Krem. Yet Supergirl manages to justify this decision with how it makes both Supergirl and her wholesome cousin Superman far more interesting characters

The Woman of Tomorrow, Yesterday

Even though it trades Evely’s sumptuous artwork for Guardians of the Galaxy earthtones, and King’s True Grit-inspired prose for standard blockbuster dialogue, Supergirl retains Woman of Tomorrow‘s plot. In both stories, Ruthye Marye convinces a hard-drinking Supergirl to help her find the murderer Krem of the Yellow Hills. When Krem injures Krypto, Supergirl gets all the motivation she needs, and she and Ruthye Marye chase Krem across the galaxy. Along the way, our hero muses about living in the shadow of Superman and ponders her moral code.

As in the movie, Ruthye attempts to execute her enemy at the end of the Woman of Tomorrow comic. But on the page, Ruthye cannot do it, no matter how many times she tries to deliver the final blow. Supergirl arrives and confesses that she could not teach Ruthye to give up her thirst for vengeance, because she still burns with anger still about the destruction of Krypton. To spare Ruthye from the cost of vengeance, Supergirl decides to kill Krem herself, but Ruthye stops her.

Instead Supergirl ultimately takes Krem to the Phantom Zone, that ethereal dimension where Kryptonians send their worst criminals. The comic then jumps ahead centuries into the future where an eternally young Supergirl visits an elderly Ruthye. She brings Krem with her, who has has spent enough lifetimes in self-reflection to sincerely repent his crimes. With tears in his eyes, the old man begs for forgiveness.

Even though the older Ruthye ultimately whacks the defeated, emaciated Krem upside the head with her staff instead of offering her forgiveness, the comic’s ending is very different from the one in the movie. Clearly the film approaches the concept of goodness and revenge from another angle, complete with Kara slitting the villain’s throat with Ruthye’s sword. But it works because of the changes that director Craig Gillespie and screenwriter Ana Nogueira made to the source material.

Krem of the Darkest Nightmares

It takes no more than a glance to see that Schoenaerts plays a Krem of the Yellow Hills differently from his comic book counterpart. In the King and Evely story, Krem was a closer analogue to Tom Chaney from True Grit, a sniveling coward and opportunist. The comic book Krem killed Ruthye’s father because he was sucking up to the king. He bribes his way into the Brigands, here little more than space pirates, by offering to help attack a nearby town, hoping they’ll spare him in their genocidal plans and help fend off the pursuing Supergirl.

Conversely, Supergirl makes Krem into a superhuman marauder and sex trafficker. Krem of the comics shoots Krypto while hiding in the grass, a sneak attack. Krem of the movie shoots Krypto because he can, barely looking up from his cereal bowl when committing this act of cruelty. Throughout the movie, we see Krem kill others, even children, with equal disregard. He and his Brigands capture young girls and force them to appease the desires of his men, calling them “brides.” Furthermore, he possesses incredible strength, able to catch a falling tank with one arm.

In other words, Supergirl makes Krem more dangerous and more evil than the character from the comics. If Supergirl were to walk away from him at the end of the movie, he would surely just get a whole new band of Brigands and continue terrorizing women. Even if we accept that the DCU has Green Lanterns, Thanagarian Hawkpeople, and other intergalactic peacekeepers from the comics, Krem represents a threat that cannot be stopped through normal means, and one delights in his immunity to morality or rehabiliation.

At this point, one might point out that Supergirl and Krem are fictional characters, and aren’t bound by rules other than those made up by the storytellers. So if Gillespie and Nogueira wanted to spare Supergirl from executing Krem, they could have made up a different way to stop him, as strong and evil as he was. Which means that Supergirl’s decision to kill Krem is part of the movie’s worldview, a worldview that the movie works to build before the climax.

Did Supergirl Lose?

Supergirl has two thematic arcs in this film. The more obvious involves her feeling homeless since the destruction of Argo City and the death of her parents. She begins the movie wandering across the cosmos, and flashbacks to her youth and arrival on Earth emphasize that sense of dislocation. The film’s actual ending, with her telling Clark that she and Krypto plan to stay on Earth, completes that arc.

The second relates to the first, but it may feel less coherent because of the contradiction between Kara’s words and actions. As in the comics, Supergirl constantly warns Ruthye against taking vengeance, which makes her decision to kill Krem on its face seem disingenuous. But the movie also shows us how Kara wrestles with the idea of goodness throughout the story. Unlike Bradley Cooper’s Jor-El, Kara parents tell her that she must be good when she arrives on Earth, especially since she’ll possess greater powers than humans. David Corenswet’s Clark repeats that charge when she lands on Earth, giving her a costume like his because it represents goodness.

Yet Kara realizes that she can’t share Clark’s morality. Superman “sees the good in everyone,” she explains, while she “sees the truth.” Supergirl explicitly ties that more complicated viewpoint to Kara’s upbringing. She feels the loss of her parents more keenly than Clark, not just because she actually knew life among her parents and the Kryptonians, but because she arrived on a hostile, aggressive planet, seemingly absent the loving guidance of Ma and Pa Kent.

The first two acts of Supergirl treat that inability to see goodness as a shortcoming on Kara’s part. But by the time we hit the climax, she’s come to realize that her morality isn’t flawed—it’s just different. She can look at the complexities of the world, see hurting that’s sharper and more subtle than Clark would notice, simply because she understands hurting on a deeper level. Kara agrees that execution, even a just execution, rots the soul, which is why she prevents Ruthye from doing the deed. But she believes that her suffering has already robbed her of that innocence, of that unvarnished soul, so she does the most heroic thing she can do. She protects Ruthye’s innonce by stopping Krem herself and taking on that rot.

It’s not the goodness of Superman. It’s a messy, complicated, imperfect goodness. But it’s a goodness nonetheless.

Maid of Might and Man of Steel

No one watching Supergirl can avoid thinking about the ending of Zack Snyder‘s Man of Steel. That movie put Superman against a similarly unstoppable threat, the Kryptonian conqueror Zod, who promised that he would never end his attacks on Earth. With no other choice was available, Superman chooses to execute Zod by snapping his neck.

For many longtime Superman fans, even those who know that Superman also executes Zod in 1988’s Superman #22, the moment felt like a betrayal. It not only demonstrated a lack of imagination on the part of Snyder and his writers, who had a powerful fantasy character in Superman but couldn’t imagine what saving the day looked like, but also a misunderstanding of Superman’s fundamental morality. Superman helps and inspires people; he doesn’t destroy.

Those who defend Man of Steel point to the scream of anguish that Superman unleashes after killing Zod. While that moment does indicate that Superman feels bad about his decision, it’s too brief, too easily ignored, and too immediately glossed over to be taken seriously. Contrast it to the many ruminations on goodness and vengeance in Supergirl. By the time Kara decides to kill Krem, we know that she’s already considered the cost. She accepts the weight of her actions intentionally, fully cognizant of what she’s doing, because she wants to save Ruthye.

In contrast to Man of Steel, Supergirl’s decision also saves Superman. The DCU Superman is special not just because of David Corenswet’s charming and guileless performance, but also because he insists that his power be used purely for good. He will avoid at all costs anything that makes people feel afraid, and he believes that even Lex Luthor can be redeemed because he thinks the good that Lex could bring to the world outweighs the harm he intends.

It’s a beautiful fantasy, and it’s a fantasy that the world needs. And it’s a fantasy that Superman can continue to have because his cousin is willing to do what he cannot. Supergirl helps Superman be the wholesome paragon that the DCU needs, by embracing her own complicated and messy goodness.

Supergirl is now playing in theaters.

2006’s Silent Hill Contains Surprisingly Relevant Environmental and Political Themes

The first Silent Hill movie adaptation is far from perfect; shoddy acting and a bloated storyline keep it from achieving its ambitions. But its gruesome practical effects, tense atmosphere, and grim aesthetic, alongside the cultural relevance of its source material, have kept people rewatching the film since its 2006 premiere.

However, there are more layers of critique beneath the surface level themes of the film that also play a role in preserving its status as a movie worth seeing over and over. Under the crust of cult psychology and revenge lies an intersection of environmental, political, and feminist values present in few mainstream horror movies.

Silent Hill follows Rose (Radha Mitchell), a mother who is trying to uncover the reasons for Sharon (Jodelle Ferland), her adopted daughter, having nightmares about the town Silent Hill. After doing intense research, Rose discovers the titular town where the majority of the film takes place was abandoned due to a reported coal-seam fire — a real world phenomenon of extremely long-lasting blazes that are often caused by mining activity. She decides to take her daughter there, where things inevitably go wrong; she wakes up in a foggy alternate reality of the town she was looking for, and Sharon is missing. It’s up to Rose and police officer Cybil (Laurie Holden) to find Sharon in the twisted Silent Hill dimension.

While the original Silent Hill video game is set in an American town, with no specifics provided on which state it is in or what environmental catastrophe that led to the town’s abandonment, the film’s Silent Hill is in West Virginia, a state often defined by its economic reliance on the coal industry. This Appalachian setting encapsulates the fear its creators want audiences to feel. Horror filmmakers have used Appalachia as a setting to elicit a fear response from viewers for years, capitalizing on the long history of media misrepresentation and cultural othering the region has faced.

Silent Hill instead highlights a real life problem faced by West Virginia and many other parts of Appalachia without relying on stereotypical representations of Appalachian people. Where stereotypes have depicted uncivilized godless violence (Deliverance is a prime example), the local residents of Silent Hill are middle class fundamentalists, each of them devoted members of a cult called the Brethren.

This subversive depiction is further expounded on in flashbacks to before the disaster that made the town uninhabitable and created the alternate hellish reality. The residents of Silent Hill are economically comfortable, with lofty ideals of social compliance and snuffing out perceived abnormal behavior in cruel ways more in line with a critique of suburbia than Appalachia. This representation is a major departure from the traditional reliance on the imagery of scattered, violent hillbillies that has dominated depictions of Appalachian antagonists across mediums.

Although there is still a depiction of a violent populace, it’s a violence not rooted in the degradation of Appalachians as ignorant and uncultured but rather a more translatable depiction of conformity that could happen anywhere. The use of West Virginia as the setting highlights the real contemporary issues of environmental destruction caused by the extractive industries that have plagued the region for centuries.

The disaster that ultimately caused the supernatural creation of the Silent Hill dimension deepens the thematic strata of Silent Hill. Alessa (also played by Jodelle Ferland), a young girl from the days before the dimension opened, was ridiculed and villainized by the pious residents of Silent Hill for being born out of wedlock. Dahlia (Deborah Kara Unger), Alessa’s mother, allows Christabella (Alice Krige), the high priestess of the Brethren, to try a “purifying” ritual on Alessa after she is raped by her school’s janitor. Christabella and her followers then attempt to burn Alessa alive in an immolation ritual which is stopped by Dahlia and police officer Thomas Gucci (Kim Coates), but only after Alessa is horribly disfigured by the fire (this fire is ultimately what causes the coal-seam disaster that forced residents to abandon the town).

Torn apart by her hatred, Alessa creates the constantly-shifting nightmarish dark Silent Hill dimension, trapping a guilt-ridden Dahlia and members of the Brethren in her ashen, monster-laden hellscape. Alessa is thus split between Dark Alessa, a demonic entity feeding off her hatred, and Sharon, her innocence incarnate.

It is not a stretch to describe Silent Hill as an ecofeminist piece of media. Ecofeminism is defined as “both political activism and intellectual critique” by ScienceDirect. It is a framework that argues the harm done to women and the harm done to the environment mirror each other and manifest in a number of parallel ways societally and politically.

The coal-seam fire ignites after the residents of Silent Hill torture a girl who was the victim of an unspeakable crime. The primarily female cast showcases women fighting who, knowingly or not, are fighting environmental catastrophe alongside attempting to save a girl from an awful fate at the hands of conservative zealots. Alessa’s scarring by the fiery violence of the Brethren mirrors the scarring of West Virginia, her home state, done by mining and extraction. Violence against women and violence against the land, as well as women-led political action, are inseparable in Silent Hill.

At a time when human-driven climate change and rising fascism are joining hands and taking humanity into the sunset of doomsday, Silent Hill presents a surprising, yet poignant vessel for environmental and social critique that can only age better as time goes on.

15 Photos Remembering Hollywood’s Most Desirable Name

Few actors have changed Hollywood as profoundly as Marlon Brando. With his naturalistic performances and magnetic screen presence, he redefined movie acting and became one of the most influential stars of the twentieth century. By playing rebellious outsiders, powerful crime bosses, and complex historical figures, Brando brought an intensity that inspired generations of performers.

His career included award-winning classics, ambitious dramas, and unforgettable blockbusters that remain essential viewing decades later. These photos highlight the remarkable range of an actor whose name became synonymous with cinematic greatness and enduring star power.

A Streetcar Named Desire

Brando’s performance as Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire turned him into a Hollywood sensation. Reprising the role from Broadway, he earned his first Academy Award nomination and introduced audiences to a revolutionary style of screen acting.

On the Waterfront

Brando won his first Academy Award for Best Actor as former boxer Terry Malloy in On the Waterfront. His emotionally layered performance, including the famous taxi cab scene, remains one of the defining achievements in film history.

The Godfather

As Don Vito Corleone, Brando created one of cinema’s most iconic characters. He won a second Academy Award for Best Actor but famously declined the honor, sending activist Sacheen Littlefeather to the ceremony in his place.

Apocalypse Now

Brando portrays the mysterious Colonel Walter E. Kurtz in Apocalypse Now. Despite appearing late in the film, his haunting performance became central to Francis Ford Coppola’s epic exploration of war, power, and psychological collapse.

The Wild One

The Wild One established Brando as the ultimate cinematic rebel. His leather-jacketed biker Johnny Strabler became a cultural icon, influencing fashion and helping define the image of youthful rebellion throughout the 1950s.

Julius Caesar

Brando surprised critics by delivering a polished Shakespearean performance as Mark Antony in Julius Caesar. His famous “Friends, Romans, countrymen” speech demonstrated his versatility and earned another Academy Award nomination.

Guys and Dolls

Brando stepped into musical comedy as gambler Sky Masterson in Guys and Dolls. Although not known as a singer, he held his own alongside Frank Sinatra in one of Hollywood’s most beloved musical adaptations.

Last Tango in Paris

Last Tango in Paris featured one of Brando’s most controversial performances. His emotionally raw portrayal earned an Academy Award nomination, while the film itself sparked decades of debate over its explicit content and production methods.

Mutiny on the Bounty

Brando starred as Fletcher Christian in Mutiny on the Bounty, one of the era’s most expensive productions. Although the film became notorious for production problems, his performance remains one of its most discussed elements.

The Young Lions

In The Young Lions, Brando played German officer Christian Diestl, portraying a complex soldier whose ideals eroded during World War II. The ambitious war drama showcased his ability to humanize morally conflicted characters.

Reflections in a Golden Eye

Brando starred opposite Elizabeth Taylor in Reflections in a Golden Eye, portraying an emotionally troubled Army officer. The psychological drama was unconventional for its time and demonstrated his willingness to tackle difficult, deeply flawed characters.

The Chase

Brando leads an ensemble cast in The Chase as a small-town sheriff confronting corruption and mob violence. The tense Southern drama paired him with Jane Fonda, Robert Redford, and Robert Duvall in memorable early performances.

Burn!

Released internationally as Burn!, Brando plays British agent Sir William Walker, manipulating a colonial revolution for political gain. The historical drama has since earned recognition as one of his most underrated performances.

The Missouri Breaks

Brando plays eccentric hired killer Robert E. Lee Clayton opposite Jack Nicholson in The Missouri Breaks. His unpredictable performance divided critics upon release but has since become one of the film’s defining features.

Superman

Brando appeared as Jor-El in Superman, accepting one of Hollywood’s highest salaries for a relatively brief role. Despite limited screen time, his portrayal of Superman’s father added prestige to the landmark superhero film.

13 Horror Movies Inspired By Real Life Killers

True crime documentaries are all the rage these days, telling us of the gruesome murders committed by the now infamous serial killers of old. They have also inspired several film adaptations retelling their lives and major events, yet they’ve inspired more than just biographical works.

Many hallmarks of horror were inspired by their terrifying acts, some more directly than others. The styles differ between one movie to the next, but the intent is the same: showcase the horror of real life in a safe, fictional environment. Nothing inspires more than the atrocities committed by our fellow men.

Psycho

Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho wasn’t a retelling of Ed Gein’s crimes, but Norman Bates was heavily influenced by the Wisconsin killer’s disturbing relationship with his mother and isolated lifestyle. The result became one of horror’s most iconic fictional murderers.

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre

Leatherface was created as a fictional character, yet director Tobe Hooper drew inspiration from Ed Gein’s gruesome crimes. The masks made from human skin and macabre home décor echo Gein, even though the film’s story is entirely fictional.

Maniac

William Lustig’s Maniac features the fictional killer Frank Zito, with the character partially inspired by David Berkowitz, the infamous Son of Sam. Rather than recreating the crimes, the film channels Berkowitz’s paranoia and indiscriminate violence into an original slasher

Black Christmas

Although never officially confirmed, many critics and true crime fans have long linked Black Christmas to the unsolved murders committed by the so-called Babysitter Killer. The film blends those similarities into an entirely fictional holiday slasher.

Eaten Alive

Tobe Hooper’s Eaten Alive takes loose inspiration from Joe Ball, the Texas tavern owner nicknamed the Butcher of Elmendorf. The film transforms the legend into a bizarre horror story featuring a hotel owner and his pet crocodile.

Deranged

Rather than portraying Ed Gein directly, Deranged fictionalizes his crimes through Ezra Cobb, a lonely farmer whose descent into grave robbing and murder closely mirrors Gein’s infamous case while changing names and specific events.

Scream

Ghostface is a fictional killer with a constantly changing identity, yet screenwriter Kevin Williamson has acknowledged drawing inspiration from Danny Rolling, the Gainesville Ripper. The film transforms those real crimes into a self-aware slasher mystery instead of a direct adaptation.

Natural Born Killers

Oliver Stone’s violent satire follows fictional lovers Mickey and Mallory Knox, with their cross-country murder spree being partly inspired by the real-life crimes of Charles Starkweather and Caril Ann Fugate, filtered through a heavily stylized and exaggerated narrative.

Angst

The Austrian horror film Angst follows a fictional psychopath inspired by the crimes of Austrian serial killer Werner Kniesek. Rather than recreating the case, it focuses on the killer’s mindset through a uniquely unsettling psychological approach.

Badlands

Though often classified as a crime drama with strong horror elements, Badlands fictionalizes the murder spree of Charles Starkweather and Caril Ann Fugate. Terrence Malick changed the names and story while preserving the unsettling violence that inspired the film.

The Town That Dreaded Sundown

This slasher reimagines the Texarkana Moonlight Murders committed by the unidentified Phantom Killer. Instead of naming a real suspect, it builds a fictional horror narrative around the infamous unsolved serial killings that terrorized the town.

The Girl Next Door

While primarily a psychological horror drama, The Girl Next Door fictionalizes the horrific torture and murder of Sylvia Likens. The names and circumstances were changed, creating a devastating fictional story rooted in an infamous real-life crime.

The Hills Have Eyes

Wes Craven’s The Hills Have Eyes centers on a fictional family of desert cannibals. The premise was inspired by the legend of Sawney Bean, the alleged Scottish clan leader whose family supposedly murdered and consumed travelers for years.

15 Fictional Companies That Could Never Stay in Business in the Real World

Movies, television, and video games are filled with memorable fictional companies that somehow keep the lights on despite endless lawsuits, catastrophic accidents, or spectacularly incompetent management. In the real world, many of these businesses would be bankrupt after their first major incident, buried under regulatory fines, insurance claims, or public outrage.

Others survive only because stories need them to. These companies have become iconic precisely because they operate by fictional rules instead of real-world business realities. Here are a few we’ve chosen that probably wouldn’t last a year outside fiction.

Acme Corporation (Looney Tunes)

Acme sells gadgets that almost always explode, malfunction, or catastrophically fail. Between endless product liability lawsuits, recalls, and customer injuries, the company would almost certainly collapse under legal judgments long before Wile E. Coyote could order another rocket-powered contraption.

Dunder Mifflin (The Office)

Dunder Mifflin struggles to compete in a shrinking paper industry while enduring constant HR violations, management disasters, and questionable business decisions. In reality, the company’s legal expenses and declining market would likely force bankruptcy much sooner.

InGen (Jurassic Park)

After multiple dinosaur-related fatalities across several parks and facilities, InGen would face overwhelming lawsuits, criminal investigations, and regulatory intervention. No modern corporation could survive repeated disasters involving genetically engineered predators escaping into public spaces.

Umbrella Corporation (Resident Evil)

Umbrella repeatedly causes viral outbreaks that devastate entire cities while attempting to conceal its involvement. Even before global catastrophe struck, the company’s criminal negligence, illegal experimentation, and countless wrongful death claims would permanently destroy its business.

Aperture Science (Portal)

Aperture Science burns through enormous resources conducting wildly unethical experiments on unwilling test subjects. Between workplace fatalities, unsafe laboratories, and reckless executive decisions, government regulators would almost certainly shut the company down before portal technology reached consumers.

Oceanic Airlines (Lost)

After suffering multiple mysterious disasters across its history, Oceanic Airlines would face a public relations nightmare. Passenger confidence would collapse, insurance premiums would skyrocket, and regulators would likely ground the airline pending exhaustive safety investigations.

Buy More (Chuck)

Buy More somehow survives despite chronic employee misconduct, property damage, theft, and spectacular customer service failures. Any real electronics retailer experiencing that level of operational chaos would struggle to retain customers, staff, or corporate investors.

Duff Beer (The Simpsons)

Duff enjoys enormous popularity despite frequently encouraging reckless marketing practices and questionable corporate ethics. Numerous scandals involving its leadership and promotional campaigns would likely invite regulatory scrutiny and expensive legal challenges in the real beverage industry.

Prestige Worldwide (Step Brothers)

Prestige Worldwide never develops a coherent business model beyond vague branding and absurd promotional events. Investors would quickly lose patience with a company producing no meaningful products or sustainable revenue despite its founders’ boundless confidence.

Cyberdyne Systems (The Terminator)

Cyberdyne repeatedly develops increasingly dangerous artificial intelligence with catastrophic consequences. Even ignoring Skynet’s ultimate fate, the company’s negligence surrounding autonomous military technology would trigger devastating lawsuits and intense government oversight.

MomCorp (Futurama)

MomCorp effectively controls countless consumer products while repeatedly placing profits above public safety. The company’s history of dangerous inventions and monopolistic behavior would attract relentless antitrust investigations, recalls, and consumer protection lawsuits.

Wayne Enterprises Applied Sciences (The Dark Knight Trilogy)

Wayne Enterprises’ Applied Sciences division develops advanced military hardware that repeatedly falls into criminal hands. Shareholders and regulators would demand sweeping accountability after so many prototype weapons were stolen and used to endanger civilians.

Rich Industries (Tommy Boy)

Rich Industries knowingly sells defective brake pads that put countless drivers at risk. Once the defects became public, the company would face massive recalls, product liability lawsuits, government penalties, and likely complete financial collapse.

Vandelay Industries (Seinfeld)

George Costanza repeatedly invents Vandelay Industries as a fake employer, importer, or exporter depending on the situation. With no actual products, staff, or operations, the company would never survive even the most basic business verification.

Wonka Industries (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory)

Wonka’s factory routinely allows children into hazardous production areas filled with experimental candy and dangerous machinery. Modern workplace safety standards, health inspectors, and liability laws would almost certainly close the factory after a single tour.

15 Characters With Unrealistically Luxurious Apartments

Television and movies have always loved giving characters dream apartments that make audiences wonder how they could possibly afford them. Granted, sometimes the apartments need to be the size of a filming set for logistical reasons, but they don’t stop being jarring.

Sometimes there’s an in-universe explanation, but even then, the math rarely adds up. After all, there’s only so much money an average salary can bring in. These iconic apartments became almost as memorable as the characters themselves, even if their square footage and locations belong firmly in the realm of fantasy rather than reality.

Monica Geller (Friends)

Monica’s spacious West Village apartment is television’s most famous unrealistic residence. Although the show explains it as a rent-controlled apartment inherited from her grandmother, its size and location remain wildly implausible for a chef sharing expenses with a waitress.

Carrie Bradshaw (Sex and the City)

Carrie supports herself primarily by writing a single newspaper column, yet lives in a charming Upper East Side apartment with remarkable stability. The show’s rent-control explanation helps, but the lifestyle still stretches credibility for her income.

Jessica Day (New Girl)

Jess and her roommates occupy an enormous Los Angeles loft with soaring ceilings, huge windows, and four bedrooms. While several tenants split the rent, finding a space like it at an affordable price is virtually impossible in reality.

Ted Mosby (How I Met Your Mother)

Ted and Marshall’s Upper West Side apartment features generous living space in one of New York City’s most expensive neighborhoods. Even with roommates, their stylish apartment seems far beyond what an architect and law student could realistically afford early on.

Penny (The Big Bang Theory)

Penny spends much of the series working as a waitress while pursuing acting, yet maintains a decent Pasadena apartment directly across from two highly paid scientists. Her financial situation rarely seems capable of supporting the lifestyle depicted.

Frasier Crane (Frasier)

Frasier’s luxury Seattle apartment overlooks the skyline and features museum-quality furnishings, designer décor, and expansive rooms. Even accounting for his previous career as a psychiatrist, fans have long questioned whether his radio salary could realistically support it.

Holly Golightly (Breakfast at Tiffany’s)

Holly Golightly lives in a stylish Manhattan apartment despite having no conventional full-time job. While the film hints at wealthy admirers supporting her lifestyle, her desirable New York residence has long been viewed as more glamorous than financially realistic.

Mindy Lahiri (The Mindy Project)

Mindy is a successful doctor, but her colorful Manhattan apartment goes well beyond practicality. Even the show’s production designer acknowledged that the oversized layout was intentionally unrealistic to accommodate filming and create an aspirational setting.

Kimmy Schmidt (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt)

Freshly arriving in New York with little money, Kimmy quickly lands an apartment in Brooklyn. Sharing the space helps, but her housing situation remains surprisingly generous considering her limited income and lack of established employment.

Max Black and Caroline Channing (2 Broke Girls)

The title promises two women struggling to make ends meet, yet Max and Caroline somehow afford a two-bedroom Williamsburg apartment while working low-paying diner jobs. Even with roommates, the Brooklyn rent has always stretched credibility.

Joe Goldberg (You)

Joe Goldberg works as a bookstore employee during the first season, yet occupies a surprisingly spacious apartment in New York City. Considering the city’s rental market and his modest income, his living situation is far more comfortable than reality would typically allow.

Marnie Michaels (Girls)

Marnie and Hannah’s Brooklyn apartment looks far more polished and spacious than their unstable careers suggest. As both struggle financially through much of the series, their living arrangements often seem considerably nicer than their budgets would allow.

Peter Parker (Spider-Man 2)

Peter Parker’s apartment is intentionally shabby, but finding even a modest Manhattan apartment while juggling college, freelance photography, and unpaid superhero work would be nearly impossible without constant financial strain.

Emily Cooper (Emily in Paris)

Emily relocates to Paris on a marketing salary but quickly settles into an enviable apartment in a picturesque neighborhood. While smaller than many TV homes, its location and charm have sparked frequent debates about how she could realistically afford it.

Matt Murdock (Daredevil)

Matt Murdock operates a struggling law practice, yet lives in a spacious Hell’s Kitchen loft with soaring ceilings and massive windows. The series offers no financial explanation, making it one of television’s most implausible apartments.

15 Candid Photos of Hollywood’s Original Heartthrob

Few entertainers have ever matched Frank Sinatra’s combination of charisma, talent, and screen presence. Long before celebrities were called heartthrobs, “Ol’ Blue Eyes” captivated audiences in both concert halls and movie theaters, building a film career that stretched from lavish musicals to gripping crime dramas and wartime thrillers.

He even earned an Academy Award for his acting, proving he was far more than just a legendary singer. We’ve gathered some photos of him throughout his career to remember what a legend he was. These showcase why Hollywood couldn’t get enough of its original heartthrob.

From Here to Eternity

Frank Sinatra revived his acting career with From Here to Eternity, playing Private Angelo Maggio. His acclaimed performance earned him the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and helped establish him as a serious dramatic actor, not just a recording superstar.

The Man with the Golden Arm

In The Man with the Golden Arm, Sinatra took on the challenging role of Frankie Machine, a recovering heroin addict. The daring performance earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor and remains one of his most respected dramatic achievements.

The Manchurian Candidate

Sinatra considered The Manchurian Candidate the high point of his film career. Playing Major Bennett Marco, he anchors the political thriller with a restrained yet powerful performance that continues to receive praise decades after its release.

Guys and Dolls

Sinatra starred as gambler Nathan Detroit in the lavish musical Guys and Dolls alongside Marlon Brando. Though he had originally wanted Brando’s role, his performance and unmistakable singing voice remain highlights of the classic adaptation.

Ocean’s 11

The original Ocean’s 11 united Sinatra with fellow Rat Pack members Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Peter Lawford, and Joey Bishop. Their effortless chemistry helped turn the stylish Las Vegas heist film into an enduring pop culture favorite.

High Society

High Society paired Sinatra with Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly, and Louis Armstrong in a glamorous musical remake of The Philadelphia Story. Sinatra’s charm and musical performances fit perfectly within one of MGM’s most star-studded productions.

Pal Joey

Pal Joey gave Sinatra one of his signature musical roles as a smooth nightclub entertainer chasing success. Co-starring Rita Hayworth and Kim Novak, the film showcased both his acting ability and his effortless command of sophisticated song performances.

Anchors Aweigh

One of Sinatra’s earliest major successes, Anchors Aweigh teamed him with Gene Kelly in a lively musical comedy. Their contrasting personalities and memorable musical numbers helped make the film one of the decade’s biggest hits.

On the Town

Sinatra reunited with Gene Kelly in On the Town, playing one of three sailors enjoying a day of leave in New York City. The energetic musical remains one of the defining examples of postwar Hollywood entertainment.

Some Came Running

In Some Came Running, Sinatra delivered another acclaimed dramatic performance as a troubled war veteran returning home. Acting alongside Dean Martin and Shirley MacLaine, he helped elevate the film into one of his strongest non-musical projects.

Von Ryan’s Express

Von Ryan’s Express cast Sinatra as an American colonel leading Allied prisoners on a daring escape through wartime Italy. The suspenseful World War II adventure became one of his biggest box office successes during the 1960s.

Tony Rome

Sinatra reinvented himself as private detective Tony Rome in this stylish crime thriller. The character proved popular enough to earn a sequel, allowing Sinatra to embrace the detective genre during the latter part of his film career.

Robin and the 7 Hoods

Robin and the 7 Hoods transplanted the Robin Hood legend into Prohibition-era Chicago. Sinatra leads an impressive cast that includes Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., and Bing Crosby in one of the Rat Pack’s most entertaining musical comedies.

Suddenly

In Suddenly, Sinatra surprised audiences by playing a cold-blooded assassin plotting to kill the President of the United States. The tense thriller demonstrated his willingness to take darker, more unconventional roles early in his acting career.

The Detective

The Detective featured Sinatra as New York police detective Joe Leland in a mature crime drama tackling corruption, prejudice, and violence. Its source novel later produced the sequel that eventually became the basis for Die Hard.

Supergirl: How the Canceled Flash Spinoff Brought the Maid of Might to Screen

Since her debut in 1959’s Action Comics #252, Supergirl has been reinvented time and again. Originally a teen girl riff on Superboy, Supergirl has been everything from a modern woman making her way through 1970s Chicago to a shapeshifting blob of goo to a scantily-clad minion of Darkseid. Even outside of comics, we’ve seen varying interpretations of the character, with Milly Alcock’s hard-scrabble hero playing very differently from the wholesome do-gooders played by Helen Slater and Melissa Benoist.

The most significant difference between Supergirls might involve one we’ll never see. While promoting the new movie, directed by Craig Gillespie, screenwriter Ana Nogueira has credited the film’s success to a script she wrote about the Supergirl that Sasha Calle played in The Flash. “It was useful to me,” Noguiera told Entertainment Weekly of the script. “There is a real thing when you’re doing this, you have to really onboard yourself on things like power set, what these characters are capable of, what a fight would look like, how strong you want them to be … So that was really useful, that I knew that power set for [Supergirl] in and out.”

While the two Supergirls do have similar power sets, they have very little else in common. Where the current movie draws inspiration from the Tom King and Bilquis Evely miniseries Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, the previous iteration would have borrowed from the New 52 Supergirl and the Flashpoint depiction of Superman.

The Flashpoint connection makes sense, as 2023’s The Flash adapted that comic book storyline, which itself led to a line-wide reboot of DC Comics. Set in the DCEU that began with Zack Snyder‘s Man of Steel, The Flash sees Barry Allen (Ezra Miller) going back in time to prevent the murder of his mother. When he tries to return to his own time, Barry gets knocked off course and arrives in an alternate 2013, one in which there’s no Superman to prevent General Zod’s attack on Earth.

The two Flashes get help first from a retired Bruce Wayne, played once again by Michael Keaton. Together, the trio learns about a Kryptonian ship that crashed in Siberia. They track down the ship, thinking it belongs to Superman, but instead find Supergirl, who has been kept hidden in a research facility and tested upon since her arrival.

The idea of Supergirl being used as a test subject comes from 2011’s Project Superman #1, which told the story of Kal-El in the darker world that the comic book Barry Allen created when he went back in time in Flashpoint. At the end of the Flashpoint storyline, Barry puts things right when he goes back to the present. But he gets some things wrong, leading to the DC Universe reboot known as the New 52. With the reboot, the Project Superman story was more or less transformed to Supergirl, making Kara a darker and more angry character, who did not trust humanity.

The Supergirl of The Flash contained aspects of those stories. At first, Kara resented humanity for the way she treated her, and saw no reason to save them. But upon Barry’s urging, Kara found her more heroic side and joined the fight against Zod. Originally, the film would have ended with scenes setting up future movies with Calle’s Supergirl and Keaton’s aged Batman, with the former getting her own solo film written by Nogueira.

To this day, Nogueira says very little about that movie, telling Entertainment Weekly, “I don’t think I can even say what it was about, but it could not have been more different.” Presumably, however, we can guess that it would have followed the trajectory of the New 52 Superman comics. Those stories tracked Kara’s slow and circuitous route toward heroism, as she rejects the way of her cousin and finds her own path. The comic book version of this Supergirl sometimes did things her cousin would never consider, such as joining the rage-filled Red Lantern Corps. But she did the right thing more often than not.

Certainly, we can see some echoes of that Supergirl in the version played by Milly Alcock. While she’s never as antagonistic toward humanity as the New 52 character, this Supergirl has to find out how to be good in her own way, and ultimately finds a code that’s very different from the one held by Superman.

Would that Supergirl movie be better than the one now playing in theaters? There’s no way of knowing, but we can say with confidence that whether she’s a party girl trying to find her home or an alien making peace with a planet that mistreated her, she’ll always be Supergirl.

Supergirl is now playing in theaters worldwide.

Netflix’s Unhinged Is an Immersive Home Invasion Nightmare

“I see you in there.”

“Claire, I’m not in my room.”

Another addition to Netflix’s venture into gaming, Unhinged takes on the survival horror genre as a dark and stormy night takes on more than just power outages and shadows. Players must survive against a maniacal killer hell-bent on making you his victim. Created by Netflix’s Night School Studios, the creators of Oxenfree, gamers use their cellphones as both a controller and an in-game lifeline to navigate and escape from the masked killer in this home-invasion nightmare.

Unhinged follows Ava (Zoë Kravitz) as a storm ravages her apartment building, and she agrees to meet her best friend Claire (Sadie Sink) in the lobby to find a hotel to bunker down against the storm, as their power has gone out. Ava, while on the phone with Claire, is quickly notified by her that it looked like someone was in her bedroom window — Ava dismisses this claim, already being creeped out by the stormy darkness, only to discover how right Claire is when a mysterious man quickly appears behind her with a weapon.

Ava must escape through her bathroom window to get out of her apartment. Next, the trailer shows flashes of Ava crawling through vents, walking into a room with computer monitors showing a live feed from security cameras of the building, and a confrontation between Ava and the killer. Ava must rely on Claire and the building superintendent, Ben (Troy Baker), to navigate the danger and get to the apartment lobby safely.

While the story itself isn’t a new trope in the horror industry, the immersive aspect of the game makes it 10 times more interesting. After selecting Unhinged, players will scan a QR code that connects their smartphone as a controller to the game. Ava’s hand movements in the game sync with the controller, allowing players to guide her flashlight in the game.

Players’ phones also act as an audio immersion device outside their TV speakers. When Ava’s phone rings in the game, so does the player’s phone. The phone will also vibrate and play audio that coincides with Ava’s phone in the game. The game will also feature a Story Mode and a Standard Mode.

Story Mode is for those who want to play a strictly narrative-driven experience. There is no timer, preventing players from dying, and allowing them to experience the full expanse of the story. It removes the many high-stakes tensions of in-game death, but it gives players the time to enjoy a good horror mystery.

On the flip side, success in Standard Mode depends on how hard players train their gamer reflexes. In high-stakes moments, players will be presented with a rapidly shrinking timer bar that forces players to scan the room for an interactive object, leading to a quite unfortunate death if the object is not found when time runs out. Fortunately, there are checkpoints, so players don’t have to start from the beginning.

Due to its unique platforming, the game itself has a much shorter runtime than traditional horror-mystery games. With a runtime of 30-60 minutes, it’s the same length as a standard episode of a TV show, which game developers told Page Six was the point. They further explained that the low runtime makes it approachable for inexperienced gamers.

With a small, yet star-studded cast, Unhinged looks like an interesting and quick playthrough for all horror lovers — PC gaming experts or passive mobile game players alike.

Unhinged will be available to play starting June 30 on Netflix.

Stranger Things: Millie Bobby Brown Knows What Happened to Eleven, and We Never Will

Let’s face it, none of the buzz lingering six months after the Stranger Things finale is very good. If anyone brings it up at all, they’re going to criticize the terrible acting, the languid plotting, or that absurd final battle. To make matters worse, the one positive thing that people still talk about will never be resolved, because no one who knows the answer will spill the beans.

Appearing on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Millie Bobby Brown dashed the hopes of anyone hoping to know the definitive facts about the fate of her character, Eleven. Brown revealed that Stranger Things creators Matt and Ross Duffer told her what happened to El, but also swore her to secrecy. “They were like, ‘Do not tell anyone. Because we made it a secret kind of pledge,'” Brown said (via Variety). “No one else knows. It’s just us three. And what we do with that information, it’ll be up to them.”

For those who care but don’t remember, El seemed to sacrifice herself after the final standoff with Vecna. Knowing that governments will continue to explore the Upside-Down, and could potentially release another threat, El stayed behind to permanently close the fissure between worlds. She appears to be buried under ruble, but the final moments of the episode hold open hope for El’s return. The show ends like it began, with Mike and his friends playing a game of Dungeons & Dragons. As Dungeon Master, Mike weaves another story for El, one in which she survived the gateway’s collapse and continues to have adventures in the Upside Down, at least until she can finally return home to Hawkins.

Was Mike’s story a prediction of things to come? Was it just a way for him to cope with the loss of his friend? Fans have shared theories time and again, as have the stars, but no concrete answer has come down.

Brown’s comments reveal why we don’t know for sure what happened: because the Duffers only told her the truth, and she can’t tell anyone else.

Frustrating as that may be, a lack of clarity may be best for all involved. Before the last season, fans came up with all sorts of predictions about how dangling plot points would resolve and how the series would wrap up. And, in most cases, the fans liked their ideas better than the story that appeared on screen.

Anyone who needs proof can just look at the “Conformity Gate” theory, in which fans convinced themselves that Netflix had a secret, “real” final episode to release after the finale, one that would be far more satisfying. So fervent was the speculation that Netflix actually had to reiterate that the series had definitively ended, that what fans mistook for a bonus episode was, in fact, a behind-the-scenes feature.

With that in mind, it’s probably better if we let Brown and the Duffers keep their secrets. The rest of us can follow Mike’s lead and just make up our own stories, one in which El gets the arc that we want to see.

Every episode of Stranger Things is now streaming on Netflix.

New Batman Animated Series Will Bring the Most Extreme Dark Knight to TV

Absolute Batman is the biggest thing in comics right now… literally. It’s not just that the series is set in an alternate universe where evil is the moral center. It’s that the series imagines Bruce Wayne as a 400-pound hulk, who grew up in Gotham’s slums after the murder of his father, a modest school teacher instead of a doctor with generational wealth. The increasingly gonzo reinterpretations that creators Scott Snyder and Nick Dragotta present each month has made Absolute Batman a sensation, with every issue soaring straight to the sales chart and burning up the internet with memes and discussion.

Something that big cannot be held to just one medium. And so, DC Studios and Warner Bros. Animation‘s latest announcement included not just a show about the super-dog Krypto and an anime show titled Joker: Laugh Riot, but also an animated Absolute Batman series. The decision makes perfect sense, but DC Animation’s track record with adaptations makes us wary of potential for success.

Launched in 2024, the Absolute Universe is a dark mirror of the DC Universe, in which villains have unprecedented power and the heroes we know all lack some key element. In this world, Wonder Woman is a witch who was raised in Hell by Circe, isolated from Paradise Island and the Amazons. Superman grew up on Krypton as the son of laborers, and came to Earth as an angry, alienated young adult who only had a few short years to learn about human kindness from the Kents. Absolute Martian Manhunter and Absolute Green Lantern radically reinvent their core concepts to tell mind-bending stories about the nature of fear and evil, while Absolute Flash, Absolute Catwoman, and Absolute Green Arrow use more traditional story forms to address corruption in economics and government.

All the Absolute comics have been excellent thus far, and all have captured the public’s imagination, none more so than Absolute Batman. Part of the popularity stems from the line’s central appeal. By reimagining the Joker and Ra’s al Ghul as untouchable billionaires who trample people in pursuit of economic power, the series speaks to our current political moment, turning our feelings of powerlessness and anger into power fantasies with immediacy—just check out last year’s Absolute Batman Annual #1, in which the Dark Knight laid waste to a group of white supremacists.

Absolute Batman also stands out because of Snyder and Dragotta’s fearless approach to the material. It’s not just beefy Batman who gets bigger; Joker is a dapper, sullen man who can transform into a cackling dragon, Poison Ivy is a plant creature who envelops the city, Bane grows to the size of a building and literally beats Harvey Dent and Oswald Cobblepot into becoming Two-Face and the Penguin. It feels like Snyder and Dragotta challenge themselves to push the concept to increasingly absurd lengths with every issue.

That very audacity gives us reason to doubt the animated adaptation. DC has been making animated adaptations of landmark comic stories and, with few exceptions (2010’s Batman: Under the Red Hood, for example), the cartoons have fallen far short of the source material. All-Star Superman hits the story beats, but lacks the wonder of the Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely series, 2011’s Batman: Year One shined off the grit and immediacy of the Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli original, and Batman: The Killing Joke inserted an unsavory romance between Bruce Wayne and Barbara Gordon into Alan Moore and Brian Bolland’s already unpleasant story.

Whether making changes that don’t serve the story or rendering the artwork bland and smooth, these adaptations play as bland, unnecessary remakes. And if DC Animation diminished even straightforward superhero stories, how much more damage will they do to a series defined by its over-the-top visuals and plotting?

If there’s one bit of hope for Absolute Batman, it’s that Snyder and Dragotta are both on board as producers, and Snyder will serve showrunner. But how much time can they devote to the show when they’re busy making some of the best and most popular superhero comics of all time? That’s a big ask, even for people who made the biggest Batman.

Absolute Batman is now on comic book shelves.

From Possession to Obsession: The Horror Movies People Just Couldn’t Stop Thinking About

If you’re heavily into horror movies, you’ll give most of them a chance, no matter how low-budget they are or how poorly they went down with critics. Occasionally, you’ll also hear online or from friends that there’s one you’ve just gotta check out because it’ll mess you up a bit. It’s natural to be wary, as many of those kinds of horror movies embrace the more psychological side of the genre and the last thing you want is a sleepless night. Still, those films can be spectacular and irresistible—they make you think!

In the spirit of celebrating those very movies, we’ve put together a list of the ones people just couldn’t stop thinking about after watching them. These films have clawed their way into audiences’ brains, either by presenting scenarios so grisly and realistic that people weren’t quite convinced they were fictional, or by playing deft psychological games that left viewers reeling.

Major spoilers ahead as we take a look back at the horror movies that had our psyches in a chokehold.

Possession

A movie that didn’t do any business when it was first released, Possession has gained appreciation as a truly great cult horror film every year since. The plot of Andrzej Żuławski’s film is, uh, let’s just say tricky. So tricky that 40+ years later, no one’s even agreed on exactly what sub-genre the film is. Supernatural? Psychological? Political? Lovecraftian? You can make a case for all of them.

Luckily, we don’t really need to go into the movie’s actual plot here, because that’s one of the reasons it’s held its ground in discussions of the best horror films of all time. A group of people can sit down for a screening of Possession and come away with completely different interpretations of it. There’s no straightforward explanation for what happens. Yet, thanks in part to a killer performance by Isabelle Adjani, no one forgets this surreal masterpiece in a hurry.

Perfect Blue

When JPop idol Mima Kirigoe decides to leave the music world behind and become an actress, things go from bad to worse as she tries to establish herself. An obsessive fan begins stalking her, and she sees small, day-to-day moments from her life written up on a website called “Mima’s Room.” What’s weirder is that they’re written from Mima’s perspective, and she soon starts to question whether she’s somehow subconsciously involved. She’s also landed a role in a TV detective drama where she’s required to film sexual scenes that make her uncomfortable, and people in her circle keep getting murdered. A paranoid Mima struggles with psychosis, unsure of where the line is between fact and fiction.

Satoshi Kon’s psychological horror eventually became one of the most respected anime movies of all time, heavily influencing the visually dynamic output of directors like Darren Aronofsky, and the film itself has certainly lost none of its boundary-blurring effectiveness since its release in the late 1990s.

Cannibal Holocaust

1980’s Cannibal Holocaust absolutely broke new ground in the genre, and not always in the best ways. Often considered the first-ever found-footage movie, the Italian exploitation flick tracks the efforts of an anthropologist leading a team into the Amazon rainforest to find a crew of missing documentary filmmakers. What follows is a stomach-churning series of events featuring largely unpracticed actors in scenarios with indigenous peoples. As a result, the film’s mix of graphic bloodshed, sexual assault, and actual cruelty toward animals had many people convinced it was snuff for a while.

Even today, critics can’t decide if Cannibal Holocaust displays genuine merit with its social and ethical commentaries or if it’s just really bloody unpleasant. Either way, this one will stick with ya and no mistake.

Hereditary and Midsommar

Ari Aster’s cinematic double-punch of Hereditary and Midsommar ensured they became instant classics for a new generation of genre fans. Although the plots of these two are fairly straightforward compared to some others on this list, both contain unnerving and shocking moments that burrow deep into the brain and refuse to leave, including an elderly couple flinging themselves off a cliff and a teenage boy sitting in shock after his sister becomes decapitated in the backseat of the family car.

As both films feature Aster’s disturbing visual touches and linger in the memory, we’ve paired them here. People may always wonder what happens beyond Paimon’s arrival or Dani’s choice at the culmination of the midsummer ceremony, but neither film offers any answers, leaving you to forever mull whether Christian deserved his fate or whether the cult that gathered at Charlie’s treehouse found the riches they pursued.

The Babadook

The Babadook became an unwitting precursor to a string of “the monster is grief/trauma” horror movies, which is a shame because it does terrify a lot of people and doesn’t deserve retrospective eye rolls from those who have grown tired of that particular theme.

Boasting an effective storybook monster and a disturbing family dynamic that really gets under your skin, The Babadook is probably the best to ever do “the monster is grief” while maintaining a proper sense of the genre, following a widowed single mother struggling to recover from a car accident that suddenly took her husband out of the picture just as their son was about to be born. For anyone going through their own grief, this one leaves a lasting impression.

Psycho

Defying audience expectations and introducing a new level of psychological horror to mainstream movies, Alfred Hitchcock and Joseph Stefano adapted Robert Bloch’s 1959 novel of the same name with Psycho, a groundbreaking film about a boy who loves his late domineering mother so much that he starts dressing up as her and slaying the women staying at his secluded motel who make “Mother” angry.

Bernard Herrmann’s incredible score and the film’s iconic shower scene (where audiences thought they saw much more than they actually did) both contributed to Psycho’s endurance in the minds of those who kept on revisiting it, as more of them began to not just fear the supernatural or alien monsters of cinema, but also the ones who could realistically live next door. Off the back of Psycho, serial killers became big business.

Get Out

Using the genre’s framework to explore themes of racism and power in contemporary society, Jordan Peele’s breakout hit once again proved that some of the funniest people alive can thrive in horror.

When Chris (Daniel Kaluuya), a Black photographer, visits the family of his white girlfriend and discovers a horrifying conspiracy hidden beneath their seemingly progressive attitudes, a sharp cultural critique emerges that encourages viewers to mull the movie’s complex themes long after the film’s final gag. A surprise hit, Get Out also inspired worthy conversations about race and privilege in a way that few horror films have managed before or since.

Lake Mungo

Lake Mungo starts off as one story about a family’s grief, then derails into an entirely different one before coming full circle, and that narrative disorientation serves the movie spectacularly.

After 16-year-old Alice (Talia Zucker) drowns in a dam in Ararat, Australia, her brother deals with his grief by fooling people into believing that her ghost is haunting their house. Mathew’s grainy footage is spooky and compelling, but you’re not really sure where the film is going once it’s been debunked. As more of Alice’s secret life is exposed, we realize that she knew she was going to die after an encounter with her own bloated corpse on a school trip to Lake Mungo. We cannot warn you enough about the psychic damage you’ll take from the cell phone footage of the incident, unless you’ve already seen it. In that case, well, you already know. You will never be able to unsee it, and that’s just one reason you’ll still see people discussing Lake Mungo almost 20 years later.

Director Joel Anderson hasn’t helmed another movie since, which adds to the mystique of this compelling mockumentary, but he has recently got back into the industry, working as a script editor on Netflix’s Clickbait and Shudder’s Late Night with the Devil, which is a creepy movie, but not up there with Lake Mungo.

Men

Here’s a random peek behind the curtain at Den of Geek that supports adding Men to this list: our Ending Explained article is still going strong years after its release. Why? Because Alex Garland’s follow-up to Annihilation was somehow even weirder and more confounding than that movie, and it’s worth remembering that Annihilation had a kind of mutant bear creature that could do a human voice. Nevertheless, Men is certainly more challenging than Annihilation, which is probably why reviews were decidedly mixed. It’s also rather unforgettable.

We follow Harper Marlowe (Jessie Buckley) as she pops off on a lovely holiday to a Herefordshire village to try and decompress from a tragic incident where her husband suddenly hit her, then plummeted to his death from a balcony at their block of flats. Does she get a much-needed break from the psychological impact of this incident? No. No, she does not. Instead, she’s hounded by a string of unsettling men, all played by Rory Kinnear, who eventually give birth to her dead husband. “What?” you may ask. Exactly, yes.

Mulholland Drive

One of the scariest entries on this list is not technically considered a horror movie. Instead, Mulholland Drive is a hugely unnerving story that refuses to be straightforward or linear. Many have tried to interpret David Lynch’s film over the years, but the director always refused to fully elaborate on it (RIP to a real one), so sometimes you’ll see a few theories about what exactly happens in Mulholland Drive doing the rounds, yet never anything definitive.

One of many options is to look at Mulholland Drive like this: a failed actress called Diane Selwyn (Naomi Watts) goes to sleep one night in the knowledge that she’s paid for her estranged lover, Camilla Rhodes, to be killed by a hitman. She dreams that she and Camilla are back together, solving a mystery, and that those who have wronged her are getting their comeuppance, but when Diane wakes up she realises that the real Camilla is dead and that she’s responsible. Unable to live with her crime, she takes her own life.

That is just one way to look at it. Still, Mulholland Drive is ultimately open to interpretation, and fans of the film have kept coming back to it over and over again because it’s a puzzle box of identity-questioning and weirdness that can never really be solved, even with a shiny blue key.

The Blair Witch Project

The Blair Witch Project wasn’t the first found-footage horror movie ever made, but it was the first to achieve such massive success, grabbing almost $250 million at the box office from a budget of less than $1 million.

For a while, many people were convinced that the movie was actually a true story, and that what they were witnessing were real events from the Appalachian Mountains where three students had apparently gone missing. Thanks to a convincing promotional mockumentary and a fascinating website about the “missing” actors, The Blair Witch Project picked up hype before its release and went viral before anyone really knew what that meant, haunting those who watched it for years to come.

Martyrs

Martyrs is one of the most discussed (but divisive) horror movies of this century. Kicking off as a brutal revenge tale, it becomes so much more than that as it goes along, transforming into a distressing exploration of whether suffering can unearth hidden truths about the nature of existence and forcing us to think about how much we’re willing to sacrifice to be truly certain about what happens after we die (Flatliners ain’t got nothin’ on this bad boy!). Shocking, existential, and absolutely traumatizing, this movie has messed with a lot of heads since it emerged. And as more people discover it, more heads will be messed with.

Funny Games

Some people might have been fooled by the title of this movie when they sat down to watch it, but there’s not much to laugh at when two young guys arrive at a vacation home to hold a family hostage and torture them with games like “how good y’all movin’ with a broken leg?” and “guess how alive your dog is right now?”

While those games are upsetting enough, the pair’s knowing winks, glances, and questions to the camera break the fourth wall, making viewers partly complicit in watching the horrors play out. Director Michael Haneke doesn’t consider Funny Games a horror film; rather, it’s supposed to be a pointed message about violence in media. Still, people usually do feel like they’ve watched one, and for a long time after.

The Exorcist

There have been about a trillion possession movies since The Exorcist, but back in the early 1970s, depicting the demonic possession of a child was shocking. Controversy raged on for years after its debut, with the movie’s content said to have caused nausea, fainting, and even spiritual crises in those who had lapsed in their faith.

But all publicity is good publicity, as they say, and wild reactions to The Exorcist continued. In fact, video copies of the movie were withdrawn from circulation in the U.K. as late as 1988. It wasn’t until 1999 that it was once again granted a home video release, such was the furore over its “lenient” rating and its controversial story of an exorcism performed on a young girl by two priests. Don’t even get us started on whether the film itself is cursed!

Faces of Death

This mondo horror from 1978 pretends to be a documentary, but although some of the footage in Faces of Death shows actual humans dying from a distance, much of the movie is fake, with other queasy real-life footage purchased from the likes of random news stations and medical researchers and reappropriated in a mockumentary context. Despite many having this knowledge, the film sparked a moral debate over exploitative movies and their worthiness.

If you were a kid at the time, you often heard whispers in the playground about Faces of Death. Apparently, it showed real, grisly crimes, and it had scarred the kid who watched it for life. If you happened to hear those whispers in the U.K., you may have also been aware that it was a banned “video nasty,” which may have conjured gory imaginings far beyond the movie’s actual content.

These days, many countries have removed their bans on Faces of Death, but some still called for substantial cuts. However, the fact that there’s been a Hollywood reboot of the film tells you all you need to know about how shocking it is compared to what people regularly see online these days.

Pulse

Depending on who you talk to, Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s Pulse, a.k.a. Kairo, is either one of the scariest movies ever made or wildly underwhelming, and we would argue that both reactions are understandable. Pulse is just so…intentionally empty. Yet, we’d also suggest that Pulse was pretty damn prophetic, given it came out back in 2001.

Exploring loneliness and disconnection in the digital age, and the fear that technology may be opening a door to something beyond human understanding, the characters in Pulse slowly become detached from the living world as society collapses into isolation. As such, it’s lingered somewhere in the back of our minds ever since, as real-world technology becomes more invasive and AI is thrust upon us.

Jacob’s Ladder

Massively influential on a whole bunch of horror movies and games that came after it (the Silent Hill universe wouldn’t truly look or feel as cool without this one paving the way), Jacob’s Ladder follows a Vietnam vet now living in New York called Jacob Singer (Tim Robbins), who struggles to cope in a fragmented reality. After a string of disturbing visions, it’s revealed that much of the film has taken place in his mind and that he actually died in Vietnam. Surreal and essential, Jacob’s Ladder is often namechecked as a triumphant, modern spin on Carnival of Souls that invites multiple interpretations.

Obsession

This year’s movie that people just can’t stop thinking about is a real peach. Inspired by the “be careful what you wish for” theme of The Simpsons’ “Treehouse of Horror II,” we follow “nice guy” Bear (Michael Johnston) as he makes a wish on a novelty toy for his crush Nikki (Inde Navarrette) to love him more than anyone else in the world. The wish comes true, but in such a horrifying way that you’d assume Bear would just wish he had never made it. Bear being Bear, though (insecure, selfish, irredeemable), he just kinda wants to make alterations, even knowing that Nikki’s newfound devotion is entirely beyond her control. Her bodily autonomy ripped away, Nikki no longer has free will and Bear doesn’t have consent, forcing Nikki to act strangely even when it’s harmful toward others or herself.

Curry Barker’s second feature film seemed to get the whole internet talking as social media filled up with people either misunderstanding the film’s themes or arguing over the nuances of the characters and story. With some key moments in the movie remaining open to interpretation, Obsession became an instant conversation starter in an age when social dynamics and relationships appear more complex, even when they very much aren’t.

Thought of a different movie you couldn’t stop thinking about? Let us know in the comments!

Exploring Supergirl’s History as an Unlikely Queer Icon

Supergirl star Milly Alcock has not been one to shy away from embracing a queer interpretation of the upcoming film’s eponymous Kryptonian. Alcock recently said the character would “swing both ways” at a fan event ahead of Supergirl’s release, and before that she said Supergirl “doesn’t live in the binary” of typical gender expectations.

Supergirl has never been depicted as being anything other than a heterosexual cisgender woman in the comics and was similarly straight in her CW show. However, Alcock’s comments are a microcosm of fan’s views on Supergirl as a character. Despite not being a confirmed LGBTQ+ figure in any mainstream or canonical release, Supergirl has maintained a status as someone queer fans flock to.

Tales of a queer Supergirl have long entertained audiences. Searching on AO3 for gay fanfiction of the character will result in thousands of entries posted by users depicting Kara Zor-El (or a new interpretation of Kara) in a queer relationship. Fans of the CW show prolifically shipped Kara and Lena Luthor throughout its run, going so far as to call some of the show’s writing queerbaiting. DC Comics’ Elseworlds spinoff The Dark Knights of Steel, a medieval fantasy retelling of DC’s main characters, put Supergirl and Wonder Woman in a romantic relationship.

None of this enthusiasm or new storytelling has translated to mainstream LGBTQ+ storylines for Supergirl, but her comics often take a more coming-of-age route with their narratives than her DC contemporaries. Supergirl: Being Super, Joëlle Jones and Mariko Tamaki’s acclaimed four-issue graphic novel, focuses on Kara Danvers’ story on Earth, a narrowing in on her teenage angst and status as an outsider in her high school (while also providing Kara with a lesbian best friend, Dolly Granger). Tom King’s Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, the Eisner Award-nominated eight-issue miniseries and basis for the upcoming Supergirl film, follows a Supergirl who is still coming to terms with her identity as a superhero and her place in the galaxy.

A focus on themes of coming of age and being an outsider, all while centering a person who is still figuring out their own identity, invariably aligns with the lived experiences many LGBTQ+ fans have gone through in their own lives. Going through very awkward teenage years, coming to terms with who you are as a person, and the isolation that comes with growing up different are all hallmarks of both Supergirl comics and being queer.

Supergirl goes through this relatable, deeply human drama, all while engaging in cosmic battles and helping those in need. For LGBTQ+ readers, Supergirl points to a bright future where they can beat the obstacles they face while going through incredibly isolating and turbulent times.

Characters such as Superman and Batman do indeed get to show a recognizably human side in their stories. The Death of Superman crossover comic event revealed that Superman could die just like any regular citizen in the streets of Metropolis. In Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns, readers are exposed to a much darker story that takes on the corrupting influence of power while also showing an older, grittier Batman.

These are just two famous examples of stories in which superheroes step off the pedestal of unstoppable forces of good and become relatable, even if just slightly. There’s a long-running archive of these stories with many other big name characters — but none stand out quite as much as the stories about Supergirl.

Rarely do comic readers get a real coming of age story for any other character like they do for Supergirl, and few other DC characters have such a frequent emphasis on thematic elements and storylines with a close relation to queer lives. Even when she’s joining the Red Lanterns or battling galactic warlords, fans are still exposed to the parts of her that are undeniably flawed, unsure of herself, and human.

So yes, Supergirl might just swing both ways, as Alcock put it. But Supergirl also functions as a narrative capsule for stories many queer comic fans can take from the page and into their own lives. Although she’s not a perfect LGBTQ+ icon, Supergirl’s status is undoubtedly endearing with queer readers.

The Invite Review: Olivia Wilde’s Beguiling Sex Comedy Is the Event of Summer

I’m not going to begin by stating emphatically that Penelope Cruz and Edward Norton play sexy-time ghosts in Olivia Wilde’s The Invite… but what if they might be ghosts, who happen to be sexy? I’m kind of joking, but also stay with me for a minute.

Still high off its buzzy premiere at Sundance, The Invite walks, blurs, and utterly dissolves all manner of boundaries and bougie festival taboos. Floating with an ethereal mystique that borders on the otherworldly, as well as a painfully hilarious naturalism, this is a movie orbiting around a marriage in midlife catastrophe to the point of dizziness—an even more impressive feat after the film was marketed with such deceptive seduction. To be sure, Cruz and Norton are quite appealing, the seemingly perfect couple upstairs in a posh, if ancient, New York City tenement building. They initiate friendly conversation in the elevator, look gorgeous while making preternatural eye contact with neighbors, and apparently have passionate, earth-shattering sex after midnight each evening.

Angela and Joe (Wilde and Seth Rogen) should know. They hear it every night through their ceiling, along with a 12-year-old daughter who is never seen in the film. There is something just inexplicable about Piña and Hawk (Cruz and Norton). And it leaves our central couple so resentful and envious that the movie begins with an insert card of an Oscar Wilde quote: the eternal harbinger of doom for any romantic sentimentality beyond skin-deep nihilism.

So when Joe and Angela invite Piña and Hawk over for a couple’s dinner, something aloof is in the air. Joe thinks it’s tension, as he is more than ready, eager even, to complain about the animal sounds through the floorboards. But for our spirited guests, the tension could have an entirely different flavor, one of suspense as they are here to—eventually—propose the downstairs stuffed shirts join them in a shared sexual experience.

They want to swing by switching spouses for the night.

The ghostly element I mentioned earlier is a bit of a come-on, but not by much. While the film quotes Wilde, Oscar, there’s more than a touch of Dickens and his descendants about the way Piña and Hawk float into our unhappy protagonists’ lives. They’re kinky Jacob Marleys, freaky Clarences, the angel of mercy in It’s a Wonderful Life who’s come to grant Jimmy Stewart a second chance at life after decades of disappointment by getting frisky in the kitchen. Even the audience is tempted into thinking they’re watching one kind of beguiling sex comedy, which we sorta get, even as we’re really being lured into a far more existential exploration of love and marriage after the romance has died. Are things not already in the Twilight Zone when an orgy offer from strangers amounts to the closest thing to high romance Joe or Angela’s heard in years?

The trick of Olivia Wilde’s film and its luminious screenplay by Rashida Jones and Will McCormack is its structure. Based on the Spanish film The People Upstairs, Wilde’s picture borrows the original’s real-time setting of an unwieldy night of collapsing inhibitions and glasses of wine giving way to low-lit confessions in a cozy apartment’s corners. Among Jones and McCormack’s many scripted innovations, however, is the sensation that this is occurring in a bit of a theater workshop. This isn’t a knock at the performances, which are excellent, but at the sense we are sitting with a group of professionals, also over wine, as they psychoanalyze and deconstruct a messy, impermanent thing: the marriage of two people who care for each other but lost love a long time ago.

Wilde shoots the film almost wholly in steadicam and in an underlit setting wherein the decorative paint colors and apartment accoutrements that Angela distracts herself with are indistinguishable. She isn’t wrong to note Joe is checked out when she talks about “finishing” the bedroom several years on, but Wilde the filmmaker cannot let her character hide behind minutiae. She drowns Angela and Joe’s faux domesticity into an inviting yet gloomy shadow world.

Similarly, the helmer constantly films Rogen’s Joe as a domineering force in the life of his wife, towering over the frame and captured in harsh low light like a Halloween fright mask. At other times, the pair are caught in line of sight of each other in their horseshoe-shaped apartment, with the duo able to simply look up across the way and see one another in parallel windows. Yet they never do. It would make eye contact and break the spell of mutually agreed upon isolation.

At its core, though, one does not cast a talent like Rogen, or for that matter Wilde at her most mischievous, and not revel in the humor. Rogen accentuates a new note of tired resignation to his likable, schlubby everyman persona, but there’s a lot more bitterness to Joe than Matt Remick in The Studio, as well as more pathos. This is a sad sack too self-involved to recognize he’s dragging his marriage down, but his unhappiness is not unsympathetic to anyone who reached a certain point in life where they realized they did not become the person they dreamed about when they were 20. It also makes his acerbic digs at Piña and Hawk, particularly for the latter’s clearly self-chosen name, all the more biting.

Meanwhile Cruz delights in her role that purposefully walks a line between the ethereal and earthy. For much of the film, she might be a cipher, or certainly a projection of Joe and even Angela’s desires, albeit in very different contexts, but Cruz plays it with a rueful self-awareness. She’s the cat plucking at a pair of wounded canaries’ wings. The scene where she specifically attempts to uncoil Joe out of his wound-up funk to Sade’s now 26-year-old(!) “By Your Side” is a harmonious car crash; a collision of sweetness and cringe, reverie and gallows humor despair. And I haven’t even mentioned his dance moves.

The Invite is a shimmering dramedy for adults of a certain age, and perhaps a sobering epiphany that this can now be so acutely tailored to elder Millennials and younger Gen-Xers at that. The film is genuinely sexy but in the awkward and disarming way of clumsy foreplay. It stumbles and stammers, with its proverbial pants caught around the ankles before the whole thing tonally keels over. Yet for all the screenplay’s verbose intellectualization about sensuality, and Wilde’s obvious preoccupation with it as a storyteller, the main event is something more intimate and unspoken. It’s a lament about the passage of time, milestones left discarded, and maybe even marriages that also have outlived their shelflife.

One might even call it haunting, complete with the mysterious good-looking specters descending from above.

The Invite opens in select locations on June 26 and in wide release on July 10.

15 Non-Horror Movies With Horror Movie Endings

When watching a movie, the genre helps us get ready for what’s about to come. We don’t expect deep plots from comedies, nor do we think we’ll laugh our way through a drama. Yet genre is a fluid thing, and movies mix and blend them in ways that turn certain endings into unexpected surprises.

Those surprises aren’t always nice or uplifting, rather something that you’d expect to see in a horror movie. Bleak outcomes, lack of survivors and other gruesome fates are the hallmarks of these tales, and here are the most unexpected ones we’ve seen so far.

Se7en

Technically a crime thriller rather than a horror film, Se7en ends with one of cinema’s bleakest finales. John Doe’s final plan succeeds, turning Detective Mills into the embodiment of the deadly sin he desperately tried to resist.

Requiem for a Dream

Requiem for a Dream is a psychological drama about addiction, but its ending feels like pure horror. Every main character loses everything, with their physical and mental deterioration culminating in a series of deeply disturbing final scenes.

Remember Me

Remember Me is primarily a romantic coming-of-age drama, but its final moments completely reframe the story. The revelation that Tyler is inside the World Trade Center on September 11 transforms an intimate character study into an unexpectedly devastating tragedy.

Oldboy

Oldboy blends action, mystery, and thriller elements before revealing one of modern cinema’s most disturbing twists. The truth behind Oh Dae-su’s imprisonment permanently destroys his sense of identity, leaving the story on an unsettling emotional note.

Chinatown

Chinatown is a neo-noir mystery that concludes with shocking hopelessness. Evelyn Mulwray dies, Noah Cross escapes justice, and the final line, “Forget it, Jake. It’s Chinatown,” underscores that evil sometimes wins without consequence.

Uncut Gems

For much of its runtime, Uncut Gems plays like a crime drama fueled by reckless gambling. Just as Howard finally appears to have beaten impossible odds, a sudden act of violence instantly turns triumph into catastrophe.

Prisoners

Prisoners is a crime thriller whose ending leaves audiences deeply unsettled. While one mystery is solved, Keller Dover remains trapped underground, with only the faint possibility that Detective Loki hears his desperate whistle before the credits roll.

No Country for Old Men

This modern western crime drama rejects the satisfying showdown audiences expect. Anton Chigurh largely escapes justice, while Sheriff Bell retires defeated, leaving viewers with the unsettling realization that some violence simply cannot be stopped.

Upgrade

Upgrade begins as a sci-fi revenge story before revealing a devastating final twist. The artificial intelligence STEM permanently traps Grey inside his own mind, taking complete control of his body while he believes he achieved revenge.

The Vanishing (1988)

Often classified as a psychological thriller, the Dutch film The Vanishing concludes with an ending as chilling as any horror movie. Rex finally learns his girlfriend’s fate by suffering exactly the same terrifying destiny himself.

Nightcrawler

Without being horror, Nightcrawler has an ending that is deeply disturbing. Lou Bloom profits from manipulation, crime, and exploitation without facing consequences, ultimately expanding his business and proving that his complete lack of empathy has been rewarded.

The Departed

The Departed spends two hours building toward justice before delivering relentless tragedy. Within minutes, several major characters are abruptly killed, leaving almost nobody standing and creating an ending defined by betrayal and sudden violence.

The Prestige

Christopher Nolan’s mystery drama ends with revelations more horrifying than supernatural. Robert Angier’s obsession required countless versions of himself to die, while Alfred Borden’s family is forever scarred by the deadly rivalry between the two magicians.

Brazil

Terry Gilliam’s Brazil mixes science fiction, satire, and dark comedy, but its ending is devastating. Sam appears to escape, only for the audience to realize his freedom exists solely inside his broken mind after relentless torture.

Buried

Buried is a survival thriller rather than a horror film, yet its ending is pure nightmare fuel. After spending the entire movie hoping for rescue, Paul learns the authorities have excavated the wrong coffin, sealing his fate beneath the desert.

15 Shows from the ’80s You Can’t Watch Anymore

Thanks to streaming rights and online availability, preserving media has become increasingly hard, yet it’s still doable. Back in the day, we depended exclusively on a show doing well for it to be preserved. Now, many of these shows are lost media, particularly if you don’t live in their originating countries.

We’ve also included a few entries that, while you can watch them today, their topics are in conflict with modern sensibilities. Their depictions of race, identity and the like make us wish that, although available, they did become lost media.

The Tom and Jerry Comedy Show

Several episodes remain controversial because they reused or echoed racial stereotypes inherited from earlier cartoons. While the series is available in some forms, edited versions and content warnings reflect how dramatically animation standards have changed since the 1980s.

Throb

This short-lived sitcom about a women-led music magazine was a modest hit during its original run but has never received an official home video or streaming release. Most episodes survive only through private recordings and unofficial uploads.

Hot Hero Sandwich

Created as an educational series for teenagers, Hot Hero Sandwich featured musical sketches tackling drugs, sexuality, and peer pressure. Despite its ambitious goals, it has never received an official home media release, leaving much of it effectively lost.

The New Zoo Revue

Although it began in the 1970s, reruns remained popular into the early 1980s. Today, the series is remembered more as a nostalgic curiosity, with limited official availability and production values that feel unmistakably dated.

The Littlest Hobo

This beloved Canadian family series remains difficult to stream outside Canada because of music licensing and distribution issues. While not completely lost, it has been unavailable to many viewers for years despite its lasting cult following.

Bosom Buddies

Tom Hanks’ first sitcom revolves around two men disguising themselves as women to secure affordable housing. Though groundbreaking in some respects, its treatment of gender identity and cross-dressing often feels uncomfortable through a modern lens.

It’s Your Move

This teen sitcom starring a young Jason Bateman has never received a complete official home media release. Rights issues and limited preservation have left the show difficult to watch legally despite its reputation among television fans.

The Charmings

This fairy tale sitcom imagined Snow White and her family living in suburban America. Despite lasting two seasons, it has never reached major streaming platforms or received a complete home video release, making it surprisingly hard to revisit.

B.A.D. Cats

This action-comedy about motorcycle-riding animal control officers lasted only a single season. It has never been officially released on DVD or streaming, leaving collectors and archival recordings as the primary way to experience the series.

Small Wonder

Small Wonder became a syndicated hit, but its portrayal of gender roles, parenting, and artificial intelligence often feels dated today. While still available in some markets, many of its jokes and character dynamics no longer land as intended.

The Ropers

Although it premiered in 1979, most viewers experienced it through early 1980s reruns. Some of its humor relies heavily on stereotypes surrounding sexuality and marriage that have aged poorly, making portions of the sitcom uncomfortable for modern audiences.

Webster

Webster was a family favorite throughout the decade, but several episodes contain jokes and storylines reflecting outdated attitudes toward race, gender, and disability. The series remains watchable, though some moments now carry content advisories or criticism.

You Can’t Do That on Television

Nickelodeon’s cult sketch comedy frequently pushed boundaries with jokes about corporal punishment, gender stereotypes, and other topics that children’s television rarely touches today. Some sketches feel remarkably edgy by modern standards despite the show’s young cast.

Today’s Special

This Canadian children’s series aired throughout the 1980s and was beloved by a generation of viewers. Despite its popularity, it has never received a complete official streaming or home video release, making many episodes difficult to find.

Out of This World

This sitcom about a teenage girl with alien powers enjoyed several successful seasons in syndication. However, complicated distribution rights have kept the complete series off major streaming platforms, leaving fans with only scattered reruns and unofficial uploads.

Common Movie ‘Injuries’ That Would Actually Be Fatal in Real Life

Action movie heroes, and protagonists of films in general, go through unbearable beatings on what seems to be a daily basis. Of course, we in the general audience lack any kind of training that would allow us to run a mile, let alone survive an explosion, but the question remains if anyone can actually shrug off most of the damage done in movies.

Well, in reality, no one can go through what action heroes do. Sure, sometimes they have superpowers or the like, but many movies depict seemingly normal individuals going through incredible trials. These are the most common tropes we’ve seen in movies, and how fatal they really are.

Catching Someone by One Arm During a Fall

Movies love last-second one-handed rescues, but the forces involved are enormous. The falling person’s momentum could dislocate shoulders, tear ligaments, or pull both people over the edge. Depending on the height, the outcome could easily be fatal for one or both.

Waking Up After a Shipwreck

Characters often wash ashore after being knocked unconscious during a shipwreck. In reality, an unconscious person cannot keep their airway above water. Unless rescued almost immediately, they would drown long before reaching the beach.

Being Thrown by an Explosion

Explosions in movies often send heroes flying before they stand up moments later. A blast powerful enough to throw a person can rupture lungs, damage internal organs, and cause fatal traumatic brain injuries, even without visible burns.

Getting Knocked Out by a Blow to the Head

A punch or blunt object that leaves someone unconscious for several minutes is treated like a brief inconvenience in movies. In reality, prolonged unconsciousness signals a serious brain injury that requires immediate medical attention and can be fatal.

Getting Launched Across the Room

If a person is hit with enough force to fly several feet through the air, that same impact would likely cause catastrophic internal injuries. Broken bones, organ damage, and spinal trauma are far more realistic than simply getting back up.

Jumping Off a Building With a Shoulder Roll

Action heroes routinely leap from two- to four-story buildings, perform a shoulder roll, and sprint away. In reality, those heights commonly result in shattered ankles, broken legs, pelvic fractures, or fatal head and spinal injuries.

Walking Away After CPR

Successful CPR is rarely the instant reset movies portray. Survivors often require intensive care, and chest compressions commonly fracture ribs or the sternum. Even when effective, recovery is lengthy and survival is far from guaranteed.

Crashing Through a Plate Glass Window

Movie characters dive through plate glass with barely a scratch. Real glass can produce deep lacerations that sever arteries, tendons, or nerves. Severe blood loss can become life-threatening within minutes without rapid medical treatment.

Gunshot Wounds

Films often treat gunshots as painful but manageable injuries. In reality, even a single bullet can destroy organs, rupture major blood vessels, or introduce fatal infections. Survival depends heavily on where the bullet strikes and how quickly treatment begins.

Ignoring a Laceration Wound

Adventure heroes frequently wrap a dirty wound with a strip of cloth and keep traveling. Untreated infections can spread into the bloodstream, causing sepsis, a medical emergency that remains potentially fatal even with modern healthcare.

Taking an Arrow to the Body

Movie characters often snap off an arrow and continue fighting. Removing an embedded arrow incorrectly can worsen bleeding, especially if it has damaged a major artery or organ. Without prompt treatment, the injury can quickly become fatal.

High-Speed Car Crashes

Hollywood crashes often end with occupants crawling from a wreck and walking away. Real high-speed collisions generate forces capable of causing internal bleeding, brain trauma, spinal injuries, and organ rupture, even when external injuries appear surprisingly minor.

Falling Into Freezing Water

Characters regularly plunge into icy lakes, swim ashore, and continue their journey. Cold water rapidly causes cold shock, loss of muscle control, and hypothermia. Without immediate rescue and warming, survival time can be dangerously short.

Falling Down a Flight of Stairs

Movies often portray stair tumbles as embarrassing rather than dangerous. In reality, falling down a staircase can produce fatal head injuries, broken necks, spinal damage, or internal bleeding, particularly when the victim strikes multiple hard edges during the fall.

15 Famous People Who Have a Non-Famous Twin

We may never know what it’s like to have a family member in the entertainment industry, but it must be something completely different to have a famous twin sibling. Particularly in the case of identical twins, having your face lead such a famed life has to be strange in some way.

Of course, there are plenty of twins in entertainment that we know of, like the Olsen twins that have done plenty of work together, or the Ashmore twins that have achieved fame separately. The ones we’ve listed here have twins that, for the most part, have stayed away from the spotlight.

Nicholas Brendon

Best known as Xander on the TV show Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Nicholas Brendon has an identical twin brother, Kelly Donovan. Donovan occasionally worked in entertainment and even stood in for his brother on screen, but he never achieved the same level of fame.

Linda Hamilton

Linda Hamilton had an identical twin sister, Leslie Hamilton Freas. Leslie largely stayed out of the spotlight but famously served as her sister’s double during scenes in Terminator 2: Judgment Day that required two Sarah Connors on screen.

Jill Hennessy

Actress Jill Hennessy shares an identical twin with Jacqueline Hennessy, a writer and television host. While Jill became known through acting roles in television and film, Jacqueline built a career primarily behind the camera and in media.

Vin Diesel

Action star Vin Diesel has a fraternal twin brother named Paul Vincent. Unlike Diesel, who became one of Hollywood’s biggest box office draws, Paul largely stayed outside the public eye and worked behind the scenes in entertainment.

Scarlett Johansson

Scarlett Johansson has a twin brother, Hunter Johansson. While Scarlett became one of the world’s most recognizable actresses, Hunter pursued interests in politics, activism, and charitable work rather than building a major Hollywood career.

Kiefer Sutherland

Actor Kiefer Sutherland shares a twin sister, Rachel Sutherland. Although Rachel works in the entertainment industry, her career has largely been behind the scenes as a television producer, making her far less recognizable than her famous brother.

Jon Heder

Known for playing the title character in Napoleon Dynamite, Jon Heder has an identical twin brother named Dan Heder. While Jon became a familiar face in comedy films, Dan primarily worked in visual effects and animation.

Laverne Cox

Actress and activist Laverne Cox has a twin brother known professionally as M Lamar. Although he is a performer and composer in his own right, he remains considerably less famous and is often recognized through his connection to Cox.

Rami Malek

Oscar winner Rami Malek has an identical twin brother named Sami Malek. While Rami found international fame through acting, Sami pursued a career as a teacher, living a much more private life despite their striking resemblance.

Ashton Kutcher

Ashton Kutcher shares a fraternal twin brother with Michael Kutcher. Michael became an advocate for people with disabilities and organ donation awareness, but his public profile remains much smaller than that of his actor brother.

Giovanni Ribisi

Actor Giovanni Ribisi and actress Marissa Ribisi are fraternal twins. Although Marissa appeared in films and television, Giovanni’s extensive acting career made him the much more widely recognized sibling.

Gisele Bündchen

Supermodel Gisele Bündchen has a fraternal twin sister named Patrícia Bündchen. While Gisele became one of the most successful models in history, Patrícia generally stayed away from celebrity culture and has helped manage aspects of her sister’s business.

Parker Posey

Independent film favorite Parker Posey has a twin brother named Christopher Posey. Christopher has largely lived outside the entertainment spotlight, making Parker the far more publicly recognizable half of the sibling pair.

Elvis Presley

Music legend Elvis Presley was born a twin, but his identical brother Jesse Garon Presley was stillborn. Jesse never had the chance to share Elvis’s extraordinary life, yet remains an important part of the singer’s personal history.

Tiki Barber

Tiki Barber and Ronde Barber are both famous athletes, but they took very different paths after football. Ronde became a Hall of Fame player, while Tiki became better known through broadcasting and media work after retirement.

Can Digger Do for Tom Cruise What Birdman Did for Michael Keaton?

The first trailer for Digger, the upcoming collaboration between superstar Tom Cruise and Mexican filmmaker Alejandro González Iñárritu has already generated a host of questions and comments. Responses range from hope that Digger will finally get Cruise his Oscar to worries that the movie will be as ponderous as Iñárritu’s Babel or Bardo. But at least one person has to have had this thought: “Surely, Mission: Impossible—The Final Reckoning wasn’t that bad!”

It’s not just that The Final Reckoning was one of the many Tom Cruise pictures featured in the trailer’s first two thirds, a montage of shots from movies ranging from Risky Business to Top Gun: Maverick. It’s that by putting its attention on Cruise’s movie star career, the Digger trailer brings to mind Iñárritu’s most successful film, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance). By juxtaposing Batman as the height of Michael Keaton‘s movie stardom to the fallow state of the actor’s popularity in 2014, Birdman revitalized Keaton’s career and cemented him as one of the greats. Does the metatextual trailer mean that Digger will do the same thing for Cruise, a man whose star has never fallen far, even after a lesser Mission: Impossible movie?

There’s no question that Cruise has had his ups and downs. Thanks to hits such as Risky Business and Top Gun, Cruise spent the ’80s and ’90s playing cocky and charismatic heroes. The movies of this period followed more or less the same plot line, with Cruise’s character beginning the movie thinking he’s the absolute best, running into people who don’t think he’s the best, and then proving to everyone at the end of the film that he was indeed the best.

By the end of the ’90s, Cruise demonstrated that he wanted to move beyond that limited character arc. He worked with auteurs such as Stanley Kubrick (Eyes Wide Shut), Steven Spielberg (Minority Report), and Michael Mann (Collateral), playing complicated characters, people whose abundant self-confidence betrays a deep brokenness. At the same time, Cruise revived his Mission: Impossible franchise, getting J. J. Abrams to direct Mission: Impossible III, which released six years after its predecessor dropped.

Interesting as that period was, it turned out that Mission: Impossible III would become the bellwether for the next decade. After his infamously weird behavior during an interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2005, all of the more unsavory parts of Cruise’s life came to the fore: his relationship with the 16-year-younger Katie Holmes, the unpleasant end of his marriage to Nicole Kidman, and his connection to Scientology. These personal details made his screen persona less palatable, and while the Mission: Impossible movies continued to resonate with audiences, as did his outrageous and self-satisfied turn as studio executive Les Grossman in Tropic Thunder, stinkers such as Knight and Day, Rock of Ages, and Oblivion entered his filmography.

Then, something strange happened. Maybe it was the incredible trailer for Mission: Impossible—Fallout, or maybe it was his insistence upon holding Top Gun: Maverick until theaters reopened after the pandemic. Whatever it was, people forgave Tom Cruise, at least on screen. No one forgot about his weirdness or his Scientology; but his eccentricities were leveled out by the his passion for cinema. Nobody was talking about him as a Hollywood heartthrob, but we did appreciate him as a billionaire who regularly risks bodily harm for our entertainment.

In that regard, Cruise isn’t that different from Michael Keaton, circa 2014. Despite the differences in their career trajectories and popularities, neither Keaton then nor Cruise today is seen as a respected actor. They’re both living pieces of pop culture ephemera; Keaton because he played Batman decades ago, and Cruise because he’s the strangest movie star of our era.

Birdman used Keaton’s star persona and career arc to tell the story of another actor, haunted by the superhero he once played. Despite its flashy formal decisions, its single-take conceit and intrusive jazz score, Birdman resonated with audiences and made them appreciate Keaton anew, helping to make him a on-screen favorite.

At this point, it’s impossible to know if Digger will do the same. The trailer only contains a few seconds of new material, mostly impressionistic shots of Cruise’s character facing a crowd of desaturated rioters or shouting gibberish in a wood-paneled office. Further, it’s important to note that none of the Academy Awards won by Birdman went to Keaton (though Iñárritu helped Leonardo DiCaprio net an Oscar the next year with The Revenant).

Yet, if Iñárritu can turn our complicated feelings about our generation’s biggest movie star into dark comedy, the Digger may change the way we think about Tom Cruise, adding one more layer to this deeply odd figure.

Digger releases on October 2, 2026.

Daredevil: Born Again Season 3 Set Photos Tease a Hero’s Replacement

This article contains spoilers for Daredevil: Born Again seasons 2 and 3.

Turns out, the title Born Again doesn’t just refer to Daredevil. Since coming to the MCU via the Disney+ series, the Man Without Fear has brought along several characters from the Netflix series, including Vincent D’Onofrio as archenemy Wilson Fisk, Krysten Ritter as Jessica Jones, and Mike Colter as Luke Cage. Initial set photos showed Finn Jones back as Iron Fist, and now a new set reveals that Elodie Yung has returned as Elektra, the Greek assassin/ex-girlfriend of Matt Murdock.

By itself, Elektra’s return isn’t much of a surprise. Since Frank Miller introduced the character in 1981’s Daredevil #168, she’s been a mainstay in Daredevil’s life. However, the timing of the return does raise some eyebrows. Season 2 ended with Matt Murdock’s identity being revealed to the world, and Matt sentenced to prison for his vigilante activities. Matt’s gone to jail several times in the comics for a variety of reasons, and, during his most recent stint in the slammer, a replacement took over as the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen: Elektra Natchios.

HD look at Elodie Yung as Elektra on the set of ‘DAREDEVIL: BORN AGAIN’ Season 3.

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— Daredevil Shots (@_DaredevilShots) June 24, 2026

Elektra becomes Daredevil in 2020’s Daredevil #25, part of Chip Zdarsky and Marco Checchetto’s incredible run. The issue begins with Elektra castigating Matt for choosing to go to prison instead of staying on the streets to help people, a decision she considers selfish and born of his Catholic guilt, not of any heroism. But by the end, Elektra confesses that she’s tired of the darkness that has enveloped her life and wants to walk in the light that she thinks Matt has found. So, in the final pages, she takes up the mantle of Daredevil, a moniker she keeps to this day, sharing the identity with Matt.

Of course, Elektra isn’t the only possible replacement for Matt Murdock on the streets of Hell’s Kitchen. The prison plot line on the show sets up The Devil in Cell Block D, a 2005 story in which Matt goes to jail after having his identity revealed. In that storyline, Danny Rand puts on a Daredevil costume to not just protect the city, but to also prove that Matt couldn’t be the red-clad superhero. With Jones coming back into the fold, Danny seemed like the most likely candidate to replace Matt, especially since Elektra appeared to die in The Defenders.

For those who don’t remember (and no one would blame you, since it is very boring), The Defenders built on season 2 of Daredevil to position Elektra as “the Black Sky,” a living weapon created by the Hand ninja clan. Alexandra Reid (Sigourney Weaver) tried to resurrect Elektra as the Black Sky, but the latter killed Reid and established herself as the new head of the Hand. The series ended with Daredevil facing off against Elektra and, Matt Murdock being Matt Murdock, trying to talk her out of being evil. As usual, Matt’s ethical arguments only partially work, and Elektra seems to die in an explosion.

Of course, we never saw Elektra’s body at the end of The Defenders. And, even if we did, Elektra dies and gets resurrected so much that she might as well join the X-Men.

The bigger question is what she’s doing in season 3 of Daredevil: Born Again. She might just appear in a flashback, not unlike the occasionally-resurrected Foggy Nelson and never-resurrected Wesley in season 2. Or, she could be there for some Hand ninja shenanigans, which make us look even harder at shots of Hand ninjas attacking a prison in the trailers for Spider-Man: Brand New Day.

The simplest answer is likely the most correct. As in the comics, Matt’s faith in the inherent goodness of Elektra, a woman who has killed countless people, has finally paid off. She will become the new Daredevil, if only to save us from having to watch Danny Rand try to be the Man Without Fear.

Daredevil: Born Again season three releases in 2027.

Ghostbusters: Night Shift Can Move the Franchise Beyond the Core Four

Here is what we all know about the Ghostbusters: 1) they ain’t ‘fraid of no ghosts; 2) bustin’ makes them feel good; 3) their names are Ray Stantz, Peter Venkman, Egon Spengler, and Winston Zeddemore. Certainly, the franchise has tried several times over the past 40 years to change point number three, most obviously with the 2016 reboot movie, but also with the addition of Egon’s family members in the recent movies Ghostbusters: Afterlife and Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire. But in every case, audiences largely rejected anyone who wasn’t part of the team that took down Gozer in 1984.

The upcoming animated series Ghostbusters: Night Shift might be the franchise’s best chance to finally move beyond the original. According to the synopsis that Sony Animation posted to their Instagram, the series takes place in 1994, when “a group of scrappy New Yorkers must suit up, face their fears, and bust some ghosts.”

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The nature of that threat isn’t clear yet, but one of the images included with the post might give us some clues. We see a massive humanoid with flames leaping from his head (think DC Comics‘ Firestorm, but the Blackest Night version). It sits in the middle of New York City, dangling what appears to be a citizen in its hand.

If ghosts such as this are popping up, then it’s easy to see why citizens would be strapping on proton packs to help. But who are these citizens? Again, the Instagram post provides the only information we have thus far. We see six figures walking away from the camera, all with the traditional Ghostbusters work suit and gear. At least two appear to be people of color, while the one tossing a ball to a dog looks like a child, while another riding on a skateboard presents as a teenager or a young adult.

Despite the lack of detail, we can tell one thing about these characters: they aren’t Ray, Winston, Egon, or Venkman and that could be a problem. Even though Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, Harold Ramis, and even Bill Murray have had some involvement in each of the sequel and reboot movies, their limited screen appearance has not yet functioned as a proper hand-off. In fact, the only iteration of the franchise since the first movie was the animated series The Real Ghostbusters, which featured stylized versions of the core four. As soon as the continuation Extreme Ghostbusters tried to branch out into new characters, the series met a quick end.

However, Night Shift‘s setting may allow Ghostbusters to move on from the original characters while still retaining some of the first movie’s strength. The series takes place five years after Ghostbusters II, the same amount of time that elapsed between the first two films. That means that we’re only a decade after the founding of the Ghostbusters, and the quartet can still be around instead of scattered to parts unknown, as is the case for the recent movies. Yet, that’s also enough time for a new generation to come in right behind them, making for a cleaner line of succession.

Will that proximity to the originals be enough for audiences to accept this new cast? We can’t tell, but if the franchise wants to be anything more than an ’80s spirit haunting the new millennium, then Ghostbusters has to show us something we don’t know already.

Ghostbusters: Night Shift streams on Netflix in 2027.

Silent Hill: Townfall Leans Hard Into Melancholia and We’re Here for It

After an extended period of dormancy, it’s a really good time to be a Silent Hill fan and that hot streak doesn’t appear to be slowing down anytime soon. Following 2024’s Silent Hill 2 remake and last year’s Silent Hill f, this September will see the release of Silent Hill: Townfall. We got to see an extended preview of the game, including its first-person perspective gameplay, at Summer Game Fest 2026 and it’s looking like the future of Silent Hill continues to be in the right hands.

Set in 1996 at the coastal Scottish town of St. Amelia, Silent Hill: Townfall follows protagonist Simon Ordell after he regains his senses at the ominous location, with his memories compromised. As Simon investigates the town, he rediscovers traumatic elements of his past the deeper the delves into the fog-enshrouded community. But true to franchise form, this painful trip down memory lane is full of disturbing environments and nightmarish monsters which Simon must evade and defeat in order to survive.

Just glancing at the preview, Townfall is among the best-looking Silent Hill games in recent memory, something particularly apparent from the game’s first-person perspective. The environments are richly rendered and detailed, with the fog effects throughout the setting’s exteriors really delivering the sense of foreboding that Silent Hill is known for. This project has been in development since at least 2022 and this in-depth look at the game’s visuals proves that it has been worth the wait.

And it’s that first-person perspective that really sets Townfall apart from the rest of the Silent Hill series, which is historically played from a third-person perspective. The change in perspectives not only makes the experience feel more immersive but it heightens the tension whenever the game shifts to a combat or evasion situation. The franchise had previously experimented with going first-person in the short-form spinoff Silent Hill: The Short Message and the delisted P.T., but Townfall really takes this shift to the next level.

The change in perspective also reflects a change in tone and combat approach compared to the 2024 Silent Hill 2 and f. Both of those games emphasized its respective protagonists getting into grueling, physically fights against monsters, with a noted focus on melee combat. Townfall retains the ability to get into brutal battles while wielding wooden planks and pipes, but also encourages players to take a more stealth-oriented approach to enemy encounters.

In the preview, Simon is seen sneaking around dimly lit interiors as monsters prowl about searching for their prey. Similar to the recent Resident Evil Requiem or Amnesia, Simon can throw objects around to distract enemies to investigate where the item landed while moving away. This suggests that, unlike Silent Hill 2 and f, Simon probably shouldn’t try to kill any monsters that cross his path, but only as a last desperate resort to combat when there is no other alternative to proceed. Instead of using a radio like the original Silent Hill games, Simon relies on a handheld CRTV to detect nearby enemies, a sort of merge between classic Silent Hill mechanics with the tracker in Alien: Isolation.

Another, more stylistic element that struck us watching this preview unfold is that Townfall doubles down the melancholia and desolate atmosphere, elevated by a score composed by Pilotpriest. St. Amelia feels a bit more abandoned and isolated than overtly sinister, as had been the case in the Silent Hill f principal setting of Ebisugaoka. Upon exiting the Silent Hill: Townfall preview at SGF, one of my colleagues commented that this was a game that was going to “make him feel things again” and that observation wasn’t wrong; Townfall is poised to put the psychology back into psychological horror.

In reviving the Silent Hill franchise, Konami has been very careful about making sure that, even with a new game release three years in a row, each experience is distinct from the others. Silent Hill 2 was a return to form in more ways than one, updating the franchise’s greatest game for modern sensibilities while staying true to the source material. Silent Hill f felt like the series’ boldest swing to date, relocating outside of its titular American town to Japan while emphasizing melee combat and that Silent Hill is more of a traumatized state of mind than a single geographic location.

By comparison, at least based on what we’ve seen so far, Silent Hill: Townfall is shaping up to be the moodiest of what is already an intensely introspective series. In a way, many Silent Hill sequels have been chasing the melancholia and self-confrontational themes that the original Silent Hill 2 did so well in 2001. In that sense, Townfall feels like a clear spiritual successor but standing on its own with its first-person gameplay and greater focus on evasion over constant combat.

Konami has consistently put out its Silent Hill games since its 2024 resurgence in time for Halloween and Silent Hill: Townfall is no different in its release strategy. Compared to Silent Hill f, this is a game that hews closer to the familiar aesthetics of the series (albeit in Scotland) but still feels fresh and accessible to newcomers. Any venerable video game franchise needs to evolve with the times and Silent Hill has done this the most visibly since its return, with Townfall getting us excited for another deep dive into the fog.

And, at the very least, make us ready to feel things again.

Developed by Screen Burn Interactive and published by Konami and Annapurna Interactive, Silent Hill: Townfall will be released September 24 for PlayStation 5 and PC.

Supergirl Review: Milly Alcock Rocks in Uneven Space Western Mashup

Director Craig Gillespie, known for I, Tonya (2017) and Cruella (2021), ventures into superhero territory for the first time with the second film in the revamped DC Universe, Supergirl. Written by Ana Nogueira and drawing heavily on Tom King and Bilquis Evely’s Woman of Tomorrow graphic novel, the film makes for an engaging if ultimately shallow intergalactic adventure, and something of a disappointment after last year’s Superman.

There are definitely aspects to admire about Gillespie’s approach to Supergirl, and chief amongst them is Milly Alcock’s casting as Kara Zor-El. The Australian actress, in her first lead film role, completely owns the screen, delivering a charismatic, punk rock take on the Last Daughter of Krypton. From the moment she first appears, nursing a hangover and cosmic regrets, Alock commands a perfect balance of natural vulnerability and a gritty, fierce edge. She brings a badass, cute, girly‑pop energy that’s lightyears away from David Corenswet’s squeaky clean Superman.

The film around her, however, plays like a speed run through King and Evely’s universally praised book. It isn’t exactly a reinterpretation, nor a direct adaptation, but something in between: it captures the aesthetic, a few major plot beats, and the overall attitude, yet loses much of the emotional depth, worldbuilding, and thematic weight that made the comic such a defining storyline for Kara.

Like that book, the film opens with a rougher and more reckless version of Supergirl than audiences might be accustomed to. While Clark embodies optimistic, nerdy idealism, Kara comes across as a grumpy Kryptonian with prickly emotional scars. Beneath her sarcasm, attitude, and bravado, Alcock authentically captures the trauma that defines the character, keeping the heart as visible as the anger.

Celebrating her 23rd birthday—a curious change from the character’s 21st birthday in the book, perhaps to wallpaper over all that drinking?—Kara begins the story by traveling through space with her dog Krypto. They leave Earth often for these interstellar bar crawls because planets with a red sun suppress their powers. In other words, it lets her get drunk! It also allows her to cross paths with Ruthye (Eve Ridley), a young girl seeking revenge against Krem of the Yellow Hills (Matthias Schoenaerts) for murdering her family. Reluctantly agreeing to help, Kara embarks with Ruthye on a galaxy‑spanning quest filled with bounty hunters, outlaws, and difficult moral dilemmas.

The strongest element is the central performances of Alcock and Ridley, as well as how they’re framed in moments of intense spotlight. During one of the film’s most striking vignettes, Kara escapes into space, hovering in the orbit above an alien planet. By herself in negative space, Alcock erupts in a silent scream that no one could literally hear. All the while, the film remains fixated on a single tear Kara leaves floating across the aether. It’s one of the film’s most powerful sequences, hinging on Alcock’ tightening expression and capturing the suppressed grief and rage beneath her stubborn exterior.

Another strength of the film is its worldbuilding and creature design, which is anchored by DP Rob Hardy, production designer Neil Lamont, costume designers Anna B. Sheppard and Michael Mooney, and VFX supervisor Geoffrey Baumann. The film’s blend of practical and visual effects, substantial physical sets, striking costumes, trippy and tactile alien creatures, and intricate makeup, creates a visually rich space Western aesthetic that feels far larger and more diverse than Superman’s Earthbound narrative.

The film spans Krypton, ruined cities, intergalactic bus stops, and numerous alien frontiers, each with its own identity. Furthermore, the costumes are both grounded yet faithful to the comics. Shepherd and Mooney elected to emphasize movement, flexibility, and performance, with their signature key design choice being to keep Supergirl’s iconic skirt and the character’s unmistakable silhouette.

However, much of this worldbuilding and artistry is in service of a film that still feels uneven at times and tonally discordant. Many of the supporting characters are jobbers, lifeless figures with little depth, and the visual effects can be inconsistent. While the practical locations and designs are often impressive, some CGI‑heavy sequences look unfinished or overly artificial, diluting the poetic beauty of Evely’s imagery on the page.

The most noticeable CGI element proves to be Krypto the Superdog, a fully animated character. The visual effects team used motion and emotional references from James Gunn’s own rescue dog Ozu to bring Krypto to life in both this film and Superman, but while the design prioritizes realistic canine anatomy and movement, the character sometimes slips into less convincing territory during faster or more complex scenes. Krypto, like the film, can at times get caught in an uncanny valley caught between two suns.

The fact Supergirl actually has those two suns of different hues in the third act shows that the film understands the comic’s imagery, but not always its heart. While it recreates some plot points from Woman of Tomorrow, it often strips away the elements that gave those moments emotional weight, reducing them to surface‑level sequences defined by exposition instead of empathy. Core thematic ideas such as grief, vengeance, mercy, and moral growth are present in outline, but they rarely develop with the same nuance.

A major part of what’s lost is the richness of the journey itself. The comic is a true galaxy-spanning odyssey in which Kara and Ruthye travel from world to world, encountering dragons, centaurs, strange civilizations, and surreal alien cultures, such as the segregated blue or purple people‑skinned societies. These encounters aren’t filler but essential to the themes, reinforcing the brutality of the universe and deepening the story’s ideas about grief and forgiveness. In contrast, the film condenses this journey into a literal three-day race against the clock, removing much of the fantastical poetry of the book. Instead of fully engaging with its themes of prejudice and genocide and the horrifying actions of Krem’s villainous Brigands, it glosses over a hinted‑at human-trafficking subplot, specifically involving young girls, which is never fully unpacked.

This condensing also weakens the character dynamics and moral stakes. Kara’s arc on the page is shaped through repeated choices toward compassion as she tries to steer Ruthye away from revenge, culminating in devastating realizations. Without that pacing and scope, the film struggles to replicate the richness of the book.

Even so, Ruthye remains one of the film’s strongest elements, thanks to Ridley’s performance and clear chemistry with Alcock. However, her emotional arc is significantly weakened by its brevity. The movie speeds through Ruthye’s family life, her relationship with her parents, and the inciting murder, whereas the comic spends time establishing her bond with her parents and the depth of her grief. As a result, the stakes feel thinner, and even her fighting abilities come across as inconsistent rather than carefully developed.

A similar issue affects Kara’s backstory and the portrayal of Argo City, the last outpost of Krypton that spent years floating through space after the rest of the planet evaporated. This backstory is crucial to understanding why Supergirl differs so sharply from Superman. Although the film depicts Argo City, Kara’s father, radiation poisoning, and Krypton’s destruction, it rarely lingers long enough for these elements to fully resonate. Key aspects such as Argo’s forcefield, the city’s slow decline, and Kara witnessing the death of her people amount to only a handful of scenes. These flashback sequences are striking, but are almost dumped in montage on the viewer instead of being deeply woven into the narrative.

The film’s villains are further underdeveloped. Krem is framed as the central antagonist, but Schoenaerts’ performance is generic and the character underwritten. Krem functions more like a henchman than a truly formidable threat. By diluting the heinous, genocidal elements of the Brigands on the page, the villains as a whole lose their sense of danger. Meanwhile Jason Momoa’s cameoing Lobo, a space biker bounty hunter, plays as largely unnecessary fan service. He’s entertaining to watch, but ultimately distracting from the core Kara‑and‑Ruthye journey.

Tonally, the film plays it safe. It leans on cookiecutter storytelling beats, avoids risk, and lacks the imagination and visual splendor of the source material. The comic’s strange, mythic, and sometimes horrifying universe is traded for a more PG‑friendly structure that flattens. Even the humor and music don’t consistently land, with the jokes often feeling mistimed while the stylized girly‑pop soundtrack and slow‑motion sequences sometimes seem more interested in “cool moments” than meaningful ones.

If it sounds like we’re being overly harsh, there are again many individually strong elements to enjoy: Alcock’s consistently magnetic performance, how it’s implemented in scenes reflecting on Kara’s trauma, every time Ruthye looks up at her unlikely role model in awe, and plenty of Krypto’s usual charm. But Supergirl is an adaptation that seems more interested in recreating the highlights of Woman of Tomorrow rather than understanding why they mattered. The world is beautiful, the cast is excellent, and there are flashes of genuine emotion, but beneath the style lies a surprisingly shallow take on one of DC’s most heartfelt stories.

Supergirl is in theaters on Friday, June 26.