News

Hulu K-drama Light Shop is a supernatural mystery thriller that tells the story of a light shop in the middle of a dark alley that everyone is afraid to pass through. The 8-part series released 4 episodes to open with and will release the second half of the show, 2 episodes at a time, over the next two weeks. This leaves us ruminating on what’s coming next, because the first four episodes only leave us curious. The series follows multiple characters, none of whom can truly be labeled the protagonist of the show. However, some have a more significant role than others, and this is because they might be the living, rather than the “almost” dead. My recap will probably help us understand that a little bit better. With that, let’s get into the first 4 episodes of Light Shop.

Spoiler Alert

Episode 1: Strangers

Episode 1 is about a man who...

The holidays are upon us, so whether you’re looking for film-related gifts or simply want to get for yourself some of the finest this year had to offer, we have a gift guide for you. Including must-have books on filmmaking, the best from the Criterion Collection and other home-video lines, subscriptions, magazines, music, and more, dive in below.

4K & Blu-ray Box Sets

There’s no better gift than an epic film collection, and 2024 was an embarrassment of riches thanks to a number of box sets. The king of them all, especially if you’re looking for a gift for a burgeoning cinephile, is Criterion’s massive CC40, collecting 40 landmark films form their 40-year history. It’s not the only stellar set from the company, of course, as I adored the essential Chantal Akerman Masterpieces, 1968–1978, Éric Rohmer’s Tales of the Four Seasons, Gregg Araki’s Teen Apocalypse Trilogy, Three Revolutionary Films by Ousmane Sembène,...

Olivia Colman plays a singing nun. I’m almost prepared to say that’s all you need to know about Paddington in Peru: that Olivia Colman, living English treasure, gets her Julie Andrews on and leads a song-and-dance sequence on an alpine meadow that tells us that the hills are still very much alive. It’s not much of a spoiler to say that her Reverend Mother proves to be something less than exemplary in the deadly sins department, at least the ones that involve lying. That’s the best bit, in fact: the singing nun in the naughty corner.

Paddington in Peru is the third film to adapt Michael Bond’s iconic children’s stories. All of it is fine, actually, not just Colman’s homage to the Von Trapps. Directing duties have passed from Paul King to Dougal Wilson, who may not have King’s Midas touch with physical comedy,...

Though this may feel like a dispatch from a different dimension, the first part of Renny Harlin's trilogy of rebooted Strangers films came out this year. Following the original like a road map, Harlin's big idea is setting up the town around the Strangers, allowing the events of Chapter...

Director Renny Harlin shot an entire trilogy of Strangers movies at the same time, and while there was a point when it looked like Lionsgate might be releasing all three of the movies within 2024, that idea has clearly been pushed aside. The Strangers: Chapter 1 (read our review Here) reached theatres back in May, and a release date still hasn’t been announced for The Strangers: Chapter 2. It’s coming soon, though… at least that’s what the newly unveiled teaser trailer promises. You can watch the teaser in the embed above.

Madelaine Petsch (Riverdale) has the lead role in this trilogy and is joined in the cast of the films by Froy Gutierrez (Cruel Summer), Rachel Shenton (All Creatures Great and Small), Gabriel Basso (Hillbilly Elegy), and Ema Horvath (The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power). The Strangers: Chapter 1 centers on Petsch’s character as she drives...

In 2022, then-Vox writer Emily St. James coined a catchy phrase to describe an emerging cinematic trend: the “millennial parental apology fantasy.” Daniels’s Everything Everywhere All at Once and Domee Shi’s Turning Red represented the tip of the spear for a cohort of films, usually with explicitly or understood queer themes, that sought to reverse the tide of intergenerational trauma by demanding expiation from its source. Just a year later, however, All of Us Strangers proves that St. James’s term has already outlived its usefulness, what with 1970s-born writer-director Andrew Haigh and star Andrew Scott demonstrating that the dream isn’t exclusively the provenance of a single generation.

Haigh transposes and queers Yamada Taichi’s 1987 novel Strangers to contemporary London, where Scott’s reserved screenwriter, Adam, dwells in a new and largely unoccupied tower block. From outside the building one evening, he peers curiously into the only other tenanted unit.

How well do we really know someone? We spend our whole lives to know someone, but people change, situations change, and we have to roll with it; that’s exactly what the movie Strangers explores. Tony Dean Smith’s thriller is about Laura, a woman who is stuck in an abusive relationship with Tony (not the director) until her life takes a turn when she falls for a guy named Sky—who just so happens to be a hitman. Yes, I know; it sounds like she has jumped from the frying pan into the fire, from an abusive partner to a “killer.” But Sky’s different, as he’s not just some random criminal; he’s more like a vigilante who delivers justice to those the system has failed. Laura even starts to work for Sky later and becomes a part of Sky’s world. But in the end, she...