From Incoming to Pop Star Academy: KATSEYE, Should You Add These To Your Watchlist?
From high school freshman to mafia daughters to aspiring pop stars, these projects feature coming-of-age elements that will be relatable in every genre. Should you add them to your watchlist? We got you covered.
Alien: Romulus
Alien: Romulus is disgusting. In the new standalone film in the Alien franchise, a group of young space colonizers discover the most terrifying life-form in the universe while scavenging a rundown space station.
The film starts slow and rockets into chaotic. The sound mixing isn’t great and I didn’t find the characters memorable, but it makes up for that with the most grotesque scenes and creature design. It ups the ante each act and, when you think it’s over, think again. I get why its rated R.
Alien: Romulus is playing in theaters.
- Kristen Maldonado
Fresh Kills
Jennifer Esposito makes her directorial debut with Fresh Kills, which she also wrote and stars in. Set in Staten Island, it follows the daughters of the Larusso family as they struggle living in the shadow of the men in the world of organized crime.
Esposito beautifully explores young women trying to figure out who they are in a patriarchal society that expects them to be one thing. The film is led by rising stars Odessa A’Zion and Emily Bader who are perfectly cast, leaving all the rage and emotion on screen for viewers to connect with. While it takes some time to build up, Fresh Kills is driven by solid female character development and has a powerful final act. Esposito proves that she has a lot to say and I’m excited to see what she creates next.
Fresh Kills is available on VOD.
- Kristen Maldonado
Incoming
In Netflix’s new film Incoming, four high school freshman get ready to figure out who they are as they attend their first party.
While Benj and Koosh spend the night seeking popularity and romance, Eddie and Connor are the highlight of the film as they get caught up in chaos alongside the most popular girl in school. Raunchy and hilarious, Incoming is anchored by a solid main cast as they learn one night can change everything.
Incoming is streaming on Netflix.
- Kristen Maldonado
Jackpot!
A grand lottery is established in California where, in order to win, the winner must survive until sundown as attackers attempt to assassinate them to claim the multi-billion dollar jackpot. When Katie Kim (Awkwafina) moves to Los Angeles and mistakenly finds herself with the winning ticket, she reluctantly accepts the help of security agent Noel Cassidy (John Cena) in order to survive the day.
The movie is like the child of The Purge and Self Reliance. It has a great balance of action and comedy without sacrificing the story. Some of the characters are a bit cliche and fall into the Los Angeles stereotypes, but overall the main cast is charming, funny, and charismatic. Awkwafina is in her prime as the reluctant protagonist and John Cena continues his dominance as the fighter turned actor in a self aware way.
Watch on Prime Video.
- Jordan Bohan
Pop Star Academy: KATSEYE
The new docuseries Pop Star Academy: KATSEYE takes us through the behind-the-scenes of making a girl group from scratch. With limited time and thousands of contestants, HYBE and Geffen Records put the girls through intensive training and the remaining six debut as the group KATSEYE.
It does a great job at showing how grueling this process is, especially with the time constraints as opposed to years of training, and the fact that these are teenage girls competing. Survival competition shows are nothing new and as someone who’s seen a few like Youth With You and Girlsplanet999, this docuseries fits into that genre of competition, reality TV, music, and makeovers that I love. While they have undeniable talent, I question whether the drama in the docuseries around debuted member Manon overshadowed the process and possibly added negative attention to their newly made girl group.
Pop Star Academy: KATSEYE is out now on Netflix.
- Paola Cardenas
