From Beef to Schmigadoon Season 2, Should You Add These To Your Watchlist?
From 80s movie homages to dark and gritty musicals… should you be watching these new movies and shows?
Beef
What if an unhinged road rage incident took over your entire life? That’s what happens in Netflix’s new revenge dark comedy series Beef.
Ali Wong and Steven Yeun deliver fantastic layered performances as two people struggling with a rage that threatens to ruin both of their lives. I’ve never seen a show like this one… it’s complex, funny, tragic, unpredictable, toxic, but keeps you hooked the entire time.
Beef is streaming on Netflix.
Prom Pact
If you love 80s movies, you’ll have a lot of fun with Prom Pact.
It might be the height of prom season, but Peyton Elizabeth Lee plays high school senior Mandy who has her sights set on only one goal: Harvard. While her classmates are doing 80s-themed promposals, she’s trying to get in good with the most popular guy (Blake Draper) in school in hopes of getting a college recommendation from his senator dad. While there are romances in this film, what I loved most was the relationship between Mandy and her best friend Ben (Milo Manheim). The actors have genuinely good chemistry and it’s focused on their platonic friendship, no strings attached. There’s a lot of fun references to 80s movies like Back to the Future, The Breakfast Club, and Pretty in Pink, but in a way that both pays homage and is critical of things that didn’t work back then.
Prom Pact is streaming on Disney+.
Schmigadoon Season 2
If you’re a theatre kid like me, you’re going to love this new season of Schmigadoon.
It’s led by Cecily Strong and Keegan-Michael Key and features high caliber performances from Broadway stars like Kristin Chenoweth, Alan Cumming, Aaron Tveit, and Tituss Burgess. The show follows two people who are struggling in life but find a newfound hope after their experience in the musical paradise of Schmigadoon. While I liked the first season and its references to musicals like The Music Man, Oklahoma!, and Brigadoon, it felt like it was missing episodes.
In this new season, our main duo are struggling to return to their regular lives after the colorful, exciting adventures of season one and want to go back… only to end up in Schmicago. This time around they explore the grittier musicals of the 60s and 70s — which are some of my favorites — like Sweeney Todd, Chicago, Hair, Cabaret, and so many more. This season had a much tighter story and fantastic performances, with Dove Cameron being a particular stand out. There’s a ton of Easter eggs that eagle-eyed theater fans will LOVE, plus Ariana DeBose performs the best song of the entire series!
Schmigadoon season 2 is streaming on Apple TV+.
The Way Home
The Way Home is the best show you’re not watching. I know what you’re thinking: a show on Hallmark Channel… how good can it be? Excellent, I tell you!
The show is a multi-generational drama focused on teenage Alice (Sadie Laflamme-Snow), her mom Kat (Chyler Leigh), and her grandmother Del (Andie MacDowell). They’ve dealt with a lot of pain in their lives due to the loss of Alice’s uncle and grandfather when her mom was a kid. But when she learns she has the ability to time travel, it opens up new wounds as they try to heal the past. The storytelling and lore are so strong, there are high stakes and emotions, and the casting and acting are excellent.
It’s already been picked up for a second season, with an ending that teases so many insane things to come. If you only take one recommendation from me this week, make it this one and watch The Way Home.
The Way Home debuted on Hallmark Channel and is currently streaming on Peacock.
