Personally, I’ve already underlined HBO Max’s juicy British legal drama War and the return of The Lowdown, the off-beat Disney+ comic thriller starring Ethan Hawke.
asserted
I → underline → Hawke
Between this adaptation of John Steinbeck’s 1952 novel and the upcoming Pride & Prejudice, Netflix is really leaning into classic period pieces.
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Netflix → lean → pieces
Set over 100 years ago in central California, East of Eden is a retelling of the Bible’s Cain and Abel, as two very different brothers – the conservative Adam (Christopher Abbott, Girls) and the rebellious Charles (Mike Faist, Challengers) – grow adversarial.
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brothers → Set → Cain
This version was adapted by actress and screenwriter Zoe Kazan (The Plot Against America), whose grandfather, Elia, directed James Dean in the 1955 movie adaptation.
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grandfather → adapt → adaptation
She’s realigned the story to centre Adam’s wife, Cathy (Florence Pugh), between the siblings.
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She → realign → siblings
Also on Netflix: Josh Hartnett (Trap), who is ageing like a fine wine, headlines the horror-thriller Below (October 8), a Canadian series about a fisherman in a remote Newfoundland town who must rally and protect his family and community when a mysterious sea creature starts terrorising locals.
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creature → age → locals
If you’re reminded of this year’s breakthrough hit, Apple TV’s Widow’s Bay, please note that this series is played menacingly straight, with a hint of Jaws and without the mordant humour.
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series → remind → humour
Mackenzie Davis (Halt and Catch Fire) and Charlie Heaton (Stranger Things) co-
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Davis → catch → Fire
Having co-starred in January’s The Rip, Netflix’s most successful original film of the year to date, Ben Affleck now co-
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Affleck → co → date
The action-thriller sees Affleck as Mark Kimball, a Los Angeles mayoral candidate whose son is kidnapped.
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son → see → Kimball
To raise the ransom in just hours, Mark and his wife, Abigail (Kerry Washington, Scandal) have to return to parts of their lives they thought they had left behind.
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they → raise → lives
There’s no time for couples therapy as the tension reaches a violent break point, with choice commentary on the Kimballs’ predicament supplied by the supporting cast of Gillian Anderson (Trespasses) and Steven Yeun (The Walking Dead).
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commentary → ’ → Anderson
Some questions were answered – and more asked – in the sports documentary Raygun Untold: Breaking Badly.
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questions → answer → documentary
Created by George Kay (Lupin, Hijack), this British legal drama is an anthology series: every season unwraps a high-profile case being inside and outside Britain’s courts.
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season → create → courts
The debut instalment follows the bitter divorce proceedings between a tech mogul (Dominic West, The Wire) and a movie star (Sienna Miller, Anatomy of a Scandal), each of whom has hired a high-profile London law firm to win the legal (and reputational) battle.
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each → follow → battle
Expect twists, dirty dealings and impeccable accents – the magnificently haughty Pip Torrens (The Crown) plays a lawyer named St. John Smallwood.
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Torrens → expect → lawyer
Also on HBO Max: After six tense seasons balancing global politics and family life in the Washington D.C. drama Madam Secretary, Tea Leoni is switching gears and starring in the sitcom Newlyweds (October 24).
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Leoni → balance → sitcom
Tapping into second-chance relationships, the comedy stars Leoni as a free-spirited woman who marries a reserved academic (Tim Daly, Leoni’s real-life husband) after a brief courtship.
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who → tap → courtship
Once the 50-something duo has to combine their very different lives, the humour kicks in.
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humour → have → lives
Bonus casting: Jamie Lee Curtis (The Bear) will be regularly appearing to add some comic mayhem.
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casting → appear → mayhem
If you pay attention to the horror genre, you’ll know Mike Flanagan is a go-to name.
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Flanagan → pay → genre
During his stint with Netflix, the American writer and director issued a slew of memorable series including The Haunting of Hill House, Midnight Mass and The Fall of the House of Usher.
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writer → issue → Usher
His first Amazon Prime Video series is an adaptation of Stephen King’s startling 1974 novel about a sheltered high school student, Carrie White (Summer H. Howell, Channel Zero), who becomes the target of bullying as she tries to control her growing telekinetic powers.
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she → become → powers
This is the book’s fourth screen adaptation, but King has been fulsome in his praise of the timely new story calling it “brilliant”.
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King → call → it
Also on Amazon Prime Video: Will Love of Your Life (October 14) be the movie that delivers the definitive Margaret Qualley performance?
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that → deliver → performance
The American actress has been everywhere the last few years, whether serving as the foil to Demi Moore in The Substance’s oozy body-horror or playing the post-apocalyptic girlfriend role in Ridley Scott’s recent misfire, The Dog Stars.
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actress → serve → misfire
This romantic-drama puts Qualley centre stage, playing a Boston nurse who flees a loss to start over in Europe.
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who → put → Europe
The different men who pass through the character’s life are played by Gabriel Basso (The Night Agent), Aaron Pierre (Lanterns) and Patrick Schwarzenegger (The White Lotus).
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who → pass → Basso
The Reacher spin-off Neagley delivered a mix of the familiar and new for the franchise’s fans.
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off → deliver → fans
Hockey mask-wearing killer Jason Voorhees has been a prolific slasher icon, spawning 12 Friday the 13th movies since 1980.
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Voorhees → wear → 1980
A spin-off was probably inevitable, but there are some creative decisions here to take note of.
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off → be → note
Created by Brad Caleb Kane (It: Welcome to Derry), Crystal Lake is not an origin story for Jason, but rather his mother Pam.
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Lake → create → Jason
It’s a welcome lead role for Linda Cardellini, who has been exceptional in Mad Men, Dead Like Me and most recently DTF St Louis.
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who → ’ → Me
Her Pam is a mother grieving for her lost son, as her hidden past and future intentions come into question when a pair of strangers seek her out.
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pair → grieve → her
Also on Stan: Gnomes (October 8) invites some wonderful comparisons.
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Gnomes → invite → comparisons
My current fave is Gremlins meets Gardening Australia.
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Gremlins → meet → Australia
Rife with malicious creatures and cartoonish gore, this Australian comedy-horror is set in a small town where an ancient evil is unleashed, turning garden gnomes into an army of darkness.
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evil → set → darkness
It’s up to police officers Arnold Kipps (Asa Butterfield, Sex Education) and Ellie Mackay (Megan Smart, Black Snow) to put down this pint-sized uprising.
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It → ’ → uprising
The Brits do like an antic crime-comedy that leans into the absurd and the violently exaggerated.
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that → like → absurd
Jackie Price (Catherine Zeta-Jones) decides to strike first when a squad of assassins, The Seven Demons, are hired to eliminate her.
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squad → decide → her
…and 42 more, not listed.
The Aporia
