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Clockwise from top: Black Phone 2, After the Hunt, Mr. Scorsese, and Hal & Harper.
Photo-Illustration: Vulture; Photos: Everett Collection (Sabrina Lantos/Universal Pictures, Amazon MGM Studios), MUBI, Apple TV+
Imagine being haunted by a guy called the Grabber? How about you figure out what to watch from the Recommender? Here we go: We’ve got that Blumhouse sequel that’ll hopefully fare better than M3GAN 2.0. (I am personally invested in its success for my MFL lineup.) Then there’s Keanu Reeves playing an angel who might not be that great at his job in the new Aziz Ansari flick. And there’s Mark Ruffalo starring in Mubi and HBO TV series that are premiering and ending, respectively, this Sunday.
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The villain with the worst name is back to scare children to death, but this time, the Grabber (Ethan Hawke) is taking on a more Freddie Krueger–style role. In Black Phone 2, the survivor of the Grabber’s kidnapping in the last film, Finn’s (Mason Thames) sister, Gwen (Madeleine McGraw), is the object of the villain’s obsession. He haunts her dreams, giving her violent nightmares of children in trouble.
Keanu Reeves plays an angel named Gabriel who loses his wings in Aziz Ansari’s feature directorial debut. Call it a reverse It’s a Wonderful Life–type situation. All Gabriel wanted to do was show Aziz’s character that money isn’t everything, body-swapping him with his rich boss (Seth Rogen). He should not have done this. —James Grebey
Your tolerance for indie wiz-kid Cooper Raiff may vary: He’s either just earnest enough or too much. He’s the creator and star of this eight-part limited series about the codependent titular siblings (Raiff as Hal, Lili Reinhart as Harper) in L.A. Their closeness is tested when their father (Mark Ruffalo) announces he’s having a baby with his girlfriend. It’s Garden State crossed with Skeleton Twins. —Roxana Hadadi
Director Rebeeca Miller’s five-part docuseries gives Martin Scorsese, who has won but a single Oscar, the thorough portrait he deserves. It meticulously traces the director’s decades of influencing cinema worldwide with his explorations of America’s deadly and competitive nature, and includes interviews with an array of his collaborators, from actors Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio to creative partners Thelma Schoonmaker and Robbie Robertson. —R.H.
“After the Hunt is absorbing and well acted, and Guadagnino ladles on the Ivy League atmosphere (the locations are very accurate to New Haven and Yale, although the film was shot in London, which is a CGI devilry I have trouble wrapping my head around), but despite its deliberate pacing and talky script, it’s not quite the heady intellectual drama it wants to be.” (Read more of Ebiri’s review here; In theaters now.)
➽ After you watch, hunt down After the Hunt in our ranking of every Julia Roberts performance.
A new season of The Diplomat returns with Allison Janney’s former vice-president Grace Penn being promoted to president of the United States after the death of William Rayburn (Michael McKean). The change in administration puts additional tension onto Kate and Hal Wyler’s (Keri Russell and Rufus Sewell, respectively) lives as the two navigate Grace’s rise to power and their relationship with her.
➽ ”Like a … like a fresh focaccia.”
Coming 27 years after the last Last Summer movie, the new slasher stars Madelyn Cline and Chase Sui Wonders alongside returning vets Freddie Prinze Jr. and Jennifer Love Hewitt. It’s now streaming on Netflix, though not on the ad-supported plan. —J.G.
➽ Plus, Guillermo del Toro’s take on Frankenstein is being released in limited theaters this weekend before it hits Netflix next month, and R.L. Stine’s Pumpkinhead is on Tubi.
The last time Netflix adapted Roald Dahl, it was Wes Anderson’s beautiful take on The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and three other shorts. The Twits is not beautiful — and that’s kind of the point, since the story is about a gross, mean, and spiteful couple who pull all sorts of nasty pranks on each other and everyone else. Margo Martindale and Johnny Vegas voice Mrs. and Mr. Twit, respectively, with Natalie Portman and Emilia Clarke also having voice roles. —J.G.
Brad Ingelsby’s follow-up to Mare of Easttown is reaching its conclusion this week, after the explosive events of its penultimate episode. Task, as critic Roxana Hadadi put it, has been a real test of patience for audiences as the cat-and-mouse game between the FBI task force and the Dark Hearts biker gang simmered for most of the season. But the finale is this Sunday, and as we alluded to earlier, there’s a lot of fallout to cover from last week’s episode.
“In the end, Keaton became the rare female star whose name could reliably open a movie — not just when she was young, but well into her 60s. Women of her generation were arguably as loyal to her as men of Clint Eastwood’s, turning out to see Something’s Gotta Give (her first fully nude appearance, at 57) as well as Because I Said So, Mama’s Boy, Morning Glory, Love the Coopers, and three Book Club movies (part of a 21st century wave of ensemble comedies teaming up female stars from earlier eras). One characteristic of beauty is that it draws and holds attention regardless of the social taboos or aesthetic standards of the moment. Keaton’s radiance was living proof.” — Matt Zoller Seitz on the beauty of Diane Keaton.
For more of Keaton’s works, here are 10 great recommendations, including:
➽ Annie Hall, on Tubi (for free), Prime Video, and MGM+
➽ Marvin’s Room, on PlutoTV (for free) and Kanopy
➽ Father of the Bride, on Hulu and Disney+
Want more? Read our recommendations from the weekend of October 10.
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