Female Film Critics 24/375
Think Stranger Things meets Cocoon, and you’ll come up with The Burroughs, Netflix’s new sci-fi horror dramedy that introduces a group of seniors living in a supposedly idyllic retirement community in the New Mexico desert. This series attracted immediate attention but, unfortunately, as the eight episodes unfold, the cheesy, predictable plot disappoints, concluding on an ambiguous note.
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If you have been living under a coral reef for a while…this is the movie about the Octopus book everyone has been reading since Shelby Van Pelt’s debut novel hit the best seller list in 2022. Remarkably Bright Creatures is ultimately a heartwarming story, but takes us through change, grief, abandonment and growth before we get all the feels. Writer/director Olivia Newman’s screenplay adaption takes the best parts of the novel making it a multilayered therapy session disguised as a Sweet n Low streamer.
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Sally Field, Lewis Pullman and a rust-colored giant Pacific octopus team up for Remarkably Bright Creatures, a tedious tale of loss, loneliness and love. Set in the quaint, picturesque, seaside town of Sowell Bay in the state of Washington, it revolves around Tova (Field), a widowed cleaning lady at the local aquarium, and a stranded rock musician, Cameron (Pullman), who are befriended by perceptive Marcellus (voiced by Alfred Molina), a captive cephalopod.
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Olivia Newman’s star-studded adaptation of Shelby Van Pelt’s Remarkably Bright Creatures will debut May 8 on Netflix. The novel, which became commonly known as “that octopus book” spent more than 64 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. Sally Field stars as a widow who works at a local aquarium and finds joy again when she forms an unlikely bond with a giant Pacific octopus. Olivia Newman is an award-winning writer-director whose films have screened at festivals internationally, including the New York Film Festival, Aspen Shortsfest and Vancouver International Film Festival, among others.
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Are you sure he’s the one? Before you walk down that aisle, make sure you know the answer – the wrong choice could be your doom. Through eight episodes of unexpected twists and gory surprises, Something Very Bad is Going to Happen leaves you leaping for that next episode button. It’s original and clever, while also taking inspiration from what works in horror – relying on atmospheric creepiness without the overuse of jump scares, found footage, through-the-lens point-of-view, and an unanticipated betrayal that shakes everything up. The success of the show lies in its ability to remain engaging even when the hide-behind-the-blanket moments take the backseat.
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The fatal shooting of pro cyclist Moriah Wilson, who died at age twenty-five, is undeniably senseless and tragic.. The Truth and Tragedy of Moriah Wilson credits an article of the same name by Rowan Moore Gerety in Bicycling magazine as inspiration, an article that explores what it called the case’s “many entangled tragedies.” The film understandably focuses on the lingering trauma for Wilson’s family, and acquaintances, but the article expanded on others, such as the effect on the cycling community.
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Evil thrives, as the saying goes, when good men do nothing. The Netflix drama The Swedish Connection, presenting a low-level bureaucrat as an unlikely hero, shows how inaction stems not from fear or hopelessness but a desire to land favorably wherever the wind blows. Based on true events, the film spotlights Gösta Engzell (Henrik Dorsin, Solisdan), head of the Swedish Foreign Ministry’s legal department, a timid man whose clever paperwork nevertheless helped save tens of thousands of Jews from the Nazi death camps of World War II.
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Looking for a twisty thriller to binge-watch? Try His & Hers, based on the novel by Alice Feeny. Adapted for television by William Oldroyd, this murder mystery takes a deep dive into the dilemma of ‘two sides to every story.’ Having ‘disappeared’ after the tragic death of her child, grieving former TV news anchor Anna Harper (Tessa Thompson) returns to Atlanta to try to reclaim her prestigious job by reporting a brutal murder that took place in Dahlonega, her small Georgia hometown.
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As one of 2026’s first Netflix releases, The RIP is supposed to be a heist thriller – using cop parlance for stealing cash, drugs and/or weapons – but those initials really signify “repetitive informant procedural” since there’s obviously corruption on the Miami/Dade police force. An elite narcotics unit is under investigation after the death of Capt. Jackie Velez (Lina Esco) whose murder seems to be tied to robberies at local stash houses, known as a “RIP.” When Lt. Dane Dumars (Matt Damon) gets a tip that could reveal Jackie’s killer, he assembles his team – Det. Sgt. JD Byrne (Ben Affleck), Det. Mike Ro (Steven Yuen), Det. Numa Baptiste (Teyana Taylor), and Det. Lolo Salazar (Catalina Sandino Moreno) – to raid a nondescript house on a cul-de-sac in a quiet Hialeah neighborhood.
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Academy Award–winning actor Kate Winslet’s (The Reader, Titanic, Mare of Easttown) star-studded directorial debut Goodbye June is heading to Netflix.
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