From Totally Killer to Everything Now, Should You Add These To Your Watchlist?
Vampires, mysteries, and Sweet 16 Killers, oh my! Pop Culture Planet’s Kristen Maldonado breaks down the movies and shows you need to watch… and the ones you can skip.
Everything Now
In Everything Now, Talk To Me’s Sophie Wilde plays 16-year-old Mia who is returning back to school after spending months at a rehab center for her eating disorder. Even though she’s only been done for a few months, she realizes her closest friends have moved on without her. Trying to get her caught up, she and her friends form a bucket list to hit all the milestones she’s missed from first kisses to dating to parties and beyond.
I was really anticipating Everything Now, especially after the success of international teen shows like Heartstopper and Heartbreak High on Netflix. While they have a solid ensemble of young actors and tackle important themes, there’s a spark missing from the show. It’s not nearly as fun as its premise promises and the characters get caught up in petty drama that surprisingly doesn’t destroy their friendships. They focus a whole episode on Mia’s pretty forgettable younger brother and the relationships they introduce seem superficial and lack direction.
Everything Now is streaming on Netflix.
Love Is Blind Season 5
This has got to be the worst season of Love Is Blind yet.
That’s right, from the start of the first episode it was just painful and depressing to get through. Uche and Lydia are at the center of a lot of the chaos as two people who knew each other in real life, manipulating and lying to everyone in a way that messed with the entire experiment. You have JP making a big deal about a woman wearing makeup, meanwhile things take a turn for couple Stacy and Izzy when finance finally comes into play. It just seems like the couples were not having the conversations they needed to have in the pods and then are left to deal with the issues in the real world.
This show proves time and time again that love isn’t really blind. The cast ends up getting caught in looks, money, and lifestyles. While there have been success stories in the past, season 5 made love the last priority. They focus on drama, chaos, lying, and gaslighting both on screen and behind-the-scenes in a way that isn’t fun anymore. Now it’s just sad to watch.
Love Is Blind season 5 is streaming on Netflix.
Monster High 2
Our favorite ghoul crew returns in Monster High 2! As they enter sophomore year at Monster High, Clawdeen Wolf (Miia Harris), Draculaura (Nayah Damasen), and Frankie Stein (Ceci Balagot) face new students, new powers, and an even bigger threat that could not only tear their friendship apart but could change the world forever.
Now that the truth is out about Clawdeen’s half human-half monster background, the school is totally accepting and inclusive right? Not quite. New student and were-cat Torelai Stripe (Salena Quershi) stirs up the controversy between vampires and witches. While Clawdeen and Torelai face off for the role of school prefect with their opposing views, Draculaura finds herself at the center of the vampire-witch war. While I commend the film for its desire to bring acceptance and inclusivity to young audiences, the plot feels lackluster. I think the premise would be more successful as an episode of a live-action TV show versus an entire film.
Monster High 2 teases another film centered around Deuce Gorgon (Case Walker), Frankie Stein, and… Death?! Frankie has often been the comedic relief, so perhaps a third film will focus on the consequences of the experiments that brought Frankie to life. With catchy songs, overdone monster puns, and ghoulish friendships, Monster High 2 is cute, but falls flat when it comes to delivering a spellbinding story.
Monster High 2 is streaming on Paramount+.
The Spencer Sisters
Back to the Future meets Degrassi in The CW’s new Canadian import The Spencer Sisters. That’s right, Lea Thompson plays mystery novelist Victoria Spencer alongside her former cop daughter Darby, played by Stacey Farber, who join forces as a dysfunctional detective duo to solve mysteries in their town Alder Bluffs.
Each week we dive into the light-hearted, female-led procedural, exploring new, puzzling cases as Victoria and Darby manage their own relationship as mother and daughter. Viewers get to see the relatable story of an adult woman moving back home, struggling with living with her mother again, and how their connection grows better over the course of the season. The cases are entertaining to follow, although the supporting characters could use more purpose. The Spencer Sisters is a fun, quick watch for fans of mysteries with a female focus.
The Spencer Sisters airs Wednesdays on The CW.
Totally Killer
If you like Back to the Future and Scream, you have to check out Totally Killer. Nearly 35 years after the shocking murders of three teens, the infamous Sweet 16 Killer returns. Kiernan Shipka plays Jamie who accidentally time travels back in 1987 where it all began. Now she has to team up with a teenage version of her mom (Olivia Holt) to take down the killer once and for all.
There’s a lot to love about Totally Killer. I love the look of the Sweet 16 Killer. It taps into the ‘80s vibe well with the mask and Rob Lowe earring. The film taps into Back to the Future elements in a really fun way. What if you found out your mom was kind of a mean girl in high school? Shipka, best known for Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, brings her A game as usual. From Liana Liberato to Charlie Gillespie to Troy Leigh-Anne Johnson, there are a lot of strong rising stars in the film. I just wish they got more time to explore their characters, which felt a bit two dimensional. When it came to the killer reveal, one aspect needed to be beefed up, while the other was very obvious. I called it within the first 10 minutes of the film.
While this wasn’t a perfect slasher movie, it was a lot of fun. With so many original horror movies getting their shine, it was a missed opportunity not to put this in theaters. People might have been dressing up as the Sweet 16 Killer for Halloween!
Totally Killer is streaming on Prime Video.
