Aarcflick

What Markus Goller delivers is disappointingly trivial; his cinematic approach is deeply mediocre and unsatisfying. In the summer of 2015, a young man named Lukas (Louis Hofmann) was so distressed by the plight of refugees attempting to reach Europe across the Mediterranean that he decided to take matters into his own hands. These refugees made the crossing in rubber boats—often dangerously overloaded—resulting in many lives being lost at sea. Faced with a lack of government assistance, Lukas decided to act on behalf of the refugees. He sought a boat to purchase and approached both banks and charitable organizations for funding.  Director: Markus Goller Writers: Michele Cinque, Oliver Ziegenbalg Stars: Louis Hofmann, Mala Emde, Katharina Stark He even printed flyers to distribute on the street and raise public awareness of his cause. Initially, his appeals fell on deaf ears; no one wanted to help him. Later, Nina (Katharina Stark), inspired by his passion, joined him; following her...

Set during the Joseon era, the series follows Gu-cheon, a spirit hunter capable of crossing into the realm of the dead, and Saeng-gang, a cursed court lady with the ability to hear ghosts. Every so often, a Korean drama comes along determined to throw a mix of genres into a blender; usually, the result is chaos. Surprisingly, *The East Palace* makes this formula work. From the very first episode, the series makes one thing clear: it has no interest in being a typical, conventional palace drama. Yes, there are royal conspiracies and power struggles over the succession, but these elements are filtered through restless spirits, ancestral curses, and an unsettling mythology that constantly blurs the line between the living and the dead. It feels as though *Kingdom*, *The Guest*, and a traditional *sageuk* briefly crossed paths inside a haunted building. The result is undoubtedly ambitious. Stars: Nam Joo-hyuk, Roh Yoon-seo, Cho Seung-woo Nam Joo-hyuk delivers a captivating performance in h...

 "I just wanted to feel desired again," says Lucero (Ludwika Paleta), a lawyer who begins an affair with a swimming coach named Matías (Óscar Casas). Lucero has been "happily" married to Fernando (José María Yazpik) for twenty years and has two children: Julián (Matías Coronado) and Viviana (Pilar Pascual). The latter, who is also a swimmer, begins to feel attracted to Matías. In one scene, she drops her towel and kisses the coach.  Matías, of course, immediately rejects her advances because he is intoxicated by the intense sex he is having with Lucero—a state of extreme arousal he mistakes for love due to, well, hormones. Lucero, however, is very clear about the nature of her relationship with him: it is simply fun, casual sex. She wouldn't have embarked on this illicit affair if Fernando had possessed the libido of a teenager. During the couple's anniversary party, guests ask them the secret to a happy marriage. Ultimately, *Desire* reveals that the answer...

 Jati is a brilliant student, but he struggles to cope with the pressure that comes with that status. *Me Before Me* presents a deeply emotional story that explores the invisible burden carried by many children and adolescents. At the heart of the narrative is Jati, a gifted student who has won one of his school's most prestigious academic competitions. To the outside world, he appears to be a highly successful young man with a promising future: his teachers admire him, his peers look up to him, and his family is proud of him. Yet, hidden behind all these accolades is a young man grappling with profound emotional distress. Director: Gina S. Noer Writers: Salman Aristo, Gina S. Noer Stars: Ringgo Agus Rahman, Bima Sena, Widuri Puteri His achievements no longer motivate Jati to excel; he has lost his sense of happiness because he feels constantly compelled to prove his worth at every turn. Complicating matters is his relationship with his father—an aspect the creators and screenwrite...

 A wealthy heiress can see a ghost who died without finding justice. While the premise sounds interesting, the plot of *Spooky in Love* is something we’ve seen time and again in K-dramas, blending romance, mystery, supernatural fantasy, and crime. The story centers on Cheon Yeo Ri, the heiress to one of South Korea’s most powerful conglomerates and the CEO of a prestigious luxury hotel. To the outside world, she projects the image of a wealthy, successful, and intelligent woman. However, appearances are deceiving.  Stars: Park Eun-bin, Yang Se-jong, Ong Seong-wu Behind that public persona lies a burden she has carried in silence her entire life: the ability to see ghosts. Every night, restless spirits who met tragic or violent ends come to her, pleading for justice. Cheon Yeo Ri tells no one, fearing they won't believe her encounters. Enter Ma Gang Uk, an elite prosecutor dedicated to upholding and fighting for justice. His world is built on facts, evidence, and the law. Every...

If you have a keen eye as a viewer, you’ll notice just how bad *The Hawk* is. It isn’t made to be enjoyed, but rather to be forgotten very, very quickly. According to Netflix, *The Hawk*—created by Will Ferrell, Harper Steele, and Chris Henchy—is an "absurd" work, and Wikipedia classifies it as a "comedy." Why, then, does it make you sleepy for much of the series? To be fair, there are moments that elicit the occasional laugh, and most of them come courtesy of Molly Shannon, who ought to be declared the main attraction of... well, whatever this is. It’s not just that Shannon, in the role of Stacy, appears more alert and expressive (which she certainly is!); it’s also that she brings a lively, dynamic touch to her foul-mouthed dialogue.  Creators: Will Ferrell, Chris Henchy, Harper Steele Stars: Will Ferrell, Molly Shannon, Jimmy Tatro When she threatens to crack open her husband Lonnie’s (Will Ferrell) head and shit inside it (they are in the middle of a divorce), t...

One of the most terrifying aspects of adolescence is constant change. Young people are expected to navigate school life, friendships, romance, and mental well-being before making major decisions about the future direction of their lives. Since its debut four years ago, the Netflix series *Heartstopper*—based on Alice Oseman’s novel and graphic novel of the same name—has captured the magic, energy, joy, and anxiety inherent to this stage of life.  Now, in the series finale *Heartstopper Forever*, Oseman guides her characters and the audience into a new chapter: the unknown, a realm as heart-wrenching as it is fascinating. Director: Wash Westmoreland Writer: Alice Oseman Stars: Kit Connor, Joe Locke, Anna Maxwell Martin *Heartstopper Forever* begins in the autumn. It is Nick’s (Kit Connor) final year of secondary school, and much has changed. Charlie (Joe Locke)—no longer the shy, withdrawn boy he once was—is running for student representative and trying to start a club for queer stu...

 The series follows a former con artist forced back into the criminal underworld after a multi-million-dollar heist goes disastrously wrong. Pursued by both law enforcement and dangerous figures from her past, Lucky must contend with betrayals, family secrets, and impossible choices. Crime thrillers usually begin with the big score. *Lucky* starts with the aftermath. It is a far more interesting starting point. When we meet Lucky, the plan has already fallen apart. The money is gone, trust has evaporated, and almost everyone she crosses paths with has a reason to stop or kill her. Instead of watching an elaborate heist unfold, we see someone desperately improvising after everything has gone wrong. It is an ingenious twist on a familiar formula. And more importantly, it gives Anya Taylor-Joy exactly the kind of role in which she shines. Creator: Jonathan Tropper Stars: Anya Taylor-Joy, Annette Bening, Clifton Collins Jr. Taylor-Joy has always possessed an uncanny ability to make com...

 The friendship between Debbie (Octavia Spencer) and Judith (Hannah Waddingham) is put to the test when it is revealed that the latter is an international assassin and the former’s family ends up in the crosshairs of a hitman. Broadly speaking—collectively, that is—here is what we have come to know about Hannah Waddingham (and by "we," I mean Americans who started paying attention to her after *Ted Lasso*): she has an incredible voice, she is quite tall, and she is an accomplished actress on both stage and screen. Creator: Tessa Coates Stars: Octavia Spencer, Hannah Waddingham, Ed Skrein So, naturally, it makes perfect sense for her to play an international assassin in an episodic buddy comedy alongside Oscar winner (and two-time Emmy nominee for Best Narrator) Octavia Spencer. Frankly, such a leap to break free from typecasting is a victory in itself, even if Amazon executives likely saw her in *Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning* and/or *The Fall Guy*, factored in the ...

Arriving just in time for Pride Month, this film is, in many respects, a conventional coming-of-age story, yet it feels refreshing in the way it treats its teenage protagonist’s queer identity as completely natural. The journey of *Girls Like Girls* from song to screen is unusual. In 2015, pop singer Hayley Kiyoko released her—extremely catchy—eponymous track, bringing an explicit declaration of lesbian desire ("girls like girls, like boys like girls") to a viral mainstream audience. It was accompanied by a music video that condensed the story of two suburban teens discovering their friendship was something more into just five minutes.  Director: Hayley Kiyoko Writers: Hayley Kiyoko, Stefanie Scott, Chloe Okuno Stars: Maya da Costa, Myra Molloy, Zach Braff Co-directed by the singer herself, the video was artfully shot and empathetically told, captivating fans to the point where Kiyoko published a young adult novel expanding on the adventures of its young protagonists, Coley a...

 It’s time for another little podcast on the prairie. Steve Barnes and I got together to chat about the new version of *Little House on the Prairie* coming to Netflix on July 9, 2026. Update: We’ve already watched all eight episodes of the first season, and I have recaps and a full review ready for the podcast. Find all my content regarding *Little House on the Prairie* here. In this preview podcast, we discuss how the series came about and who the creators are, the actors cast in the roles, what we see in the trailer, and some social media buzz we’ve heard. This preview is for anyone wanting to get ready for the new series. Creator: Rebecca Sonnenshine Stars: Luke Bracey, Crosby Fitzgerald, Alice Halsey Steve Barnes is a guitarist for the stoner metal band Introvoid and also plays guitar in the cover band Rebecca Crow. Lindsey Dunn is a film critic and a member of the NC Film Critics and Southeastern Film Critics associations. Her interests include independent horror films, comple...

 Art can speak to anyone, regardless of the distance between the work's content, its creator's experiences, and its purpose—whether intentional or seemingly obvious—vis-à-vis the audience. *Reading Lolita in Tehran* deals precisely with this, as well as the personal experiences of its protagonist: an English literature professor who returned to Iran in the midst of the 1979 revolution, harboring high hopes and the promise of a fulfilling career and life. Over the course of some two decades, the professor comes to realize that—at least regarding the former—achieving this might not be possible in that place. Director Eran Riklis’s film is an adaptation of Azar Nafisi’s memoir; the screenplay, written by Marjorie David, retains the book’s central premise: examining the author’s experiences and discoveries through the lens of various literary works. One of these is, of course, Vladimir Nabokov’s controversial *Lolita*, which leads the film’s Azar—played by Golshifteh Farahani, an I...

 *Nothing to Lose* opens with a striking hook that immediately grabs the viewer's attention. Built around every parent's worst nightmare, the plot centers on a mother who stops at nothing to save her son after he is diagnosed with leukemia. Life has never been easy for Jada; after years of battling infertility, she finally becomes a mother thanks to embryo donation, leading her to believe the hardest part of life is behind her.  However, her world falls apart once more when she discovers that her son, Noa, is suffering from an aggressive form of leukemia that requires an urgent bone marrow transplant. Faced with a slow and inefficient system, Jada reaches a point where she must make difficult choices—even if it means defying her own moral compass and the law. Directors: Ludovic Colbeau-Justin, Nawell Madani Writers: Walid Afkir, Mohamed Benyekhlef, Nawell Madani Stars: Manmathan Basky, Fodil Benderbal, Nicolas Briançon *Nothing to Lose* has many strengths. Most notable is the ...

 The nods and references in *Ikka* are superficial: they are included casually rather than being fully developed; they are more decorative than significant. At a TED-style event, Arjun Mehra (Sunny Deol), a renowned lawyer, uses a hypothetical case to discuss the judicial system. It involves a hit-and-run incident in Pune where the culprit turns out to be the spoiled son of a wealthy man. The outcome of such a case would be predictable, and Arjun does not argue otherwise.  Director: Siddharth P Malhotra Writers: Althea Kaushal, Mayank Tewari Stars: Sunny Deol, Akshaye Khanna, Dia Mirza Instead, he poses a question: what would happen if the car were replaced by a truck, and the spoiled rich youth by someone poor? Are the car driver and the truck driver equal before the law? And before the court? Arjun argues that the law treats the poor unfairly and that "a sense of justice is something felt in the gut." "In court, we do not litigate to win, but to defend our rights,...

 The construction of the glass structure where Hillary Clinton would eventually concede the 2016 election might not seem like the stuff of gripping television. And indeed, it isn’t—at least not in *The Westies*, the MGM+ drama about how the Irish gang of the same name tried to cash in on the building of the Javits Center at the far end of Manhattan. Despite featuring veteran actors like J.K. Simmons and Titus Welliver—playing a local crime boss and the corrupt cop in his pocket, respectively—*The Westies* fails to offer a fresh perspective within a well-worn genre. Oscar winner J.K. Simmons plays Eamon Sweeney, a Hell’s Kitchen kingpin looking to turn the Javits project into a lucrative revenue stream for his associates: an interchangeable crew of young thugs with names like Sean and Connor. Sweeney’s plans require coming to terms with the Italian Mafia, which vastly outnumbers his dwindling gang; among them is an up-and-coming, skeptical John Gotti (Hamish Allan-Headley), the most...

The first episode of *The Apartment Job* opens by showing the daily routine of our protagonist, Mr. Park Hae-kang, as he travels from home to his office, HK Trading and Investment—a place where all manner of betting takes place. The protagonist meets with Mr. Oh and Mr. Choi, effectively extorting them to collect outstanding debts. He conducts meticulous investigations into people's assets, both financial and otherwise. We are also introduced to "Mr. Lizard," who works in an apartment complex office and earns a decent income. Stars: Ji Sung, Ha Yoon-kyung, Moon So-ri Next, we meet Ha-ri, who is participating in a school's parents' race as a hired ringer. Later, her agent gives her pointers on how to improve her performance. She aspires to practice law but failed the bar exam; she has been lying to her family about it ever since. On her way home, her sister joins her, but Ha-ri hesitates to tell the truth. Her sister, however, is more concerned about the clothes Ha...