This week is stacked with new releases. The Don’t Worry Darling drama has seemingly slowed down just in time for it to hit theaters. The Olivia Wilde-directed film will be going head-to-head with the rerelease of 2009’s Avatar—the most successful film in movie history(!)—at the box office this weekend, so let’s see if the DWD scandal is enough to beat out nostalgia.
Andor premiered earlier this week, and from the looks of it, the Disney+ show is already a valuable addition to the Star Wars universe. Emmy winner Quinta Brunson’s hit show Abbott Elementary returned to ABC with its second season this week, and I frankly couldn’t be happier. The Kardashians reality show is back on Hulu with more drama in Season 2, and the streamer’s latest sitcom Reboot is also making its debut. Sanaa Lathan is celebrating the release of her directorial debut On the Come Up, which is hitting Paramount+ this weekend.
There were also some exciting TV finales this week as well, with Season 1 of Send Help coming to an end and Industry Season 2 delivering one of the most exhilarating season finales in recent memory (so it was our duty and obligation to cover it at length all week long and in this roundup). We spent hours in front of our TVs and at movie theaters so you don’t have to. Check out our choices below of what we think you should be watching this week.
'Don't Worry Darling'
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When: Friday, Sept. 23
Where: In theaters
By now you’ve probably already learned about the premise behind Don’t Worry Darling. The film centers around Alice (Florence Pugh) and Jack (Harry Styles) who are a couple living it what seems to be the 1950s, in an idealized community called Victory, which is an experimental company town that houses the couples and their families, while the husbands work on a top-secret project their wives know nothing about. The women stay home and enjoy the beauty of their seemingly perfect paradise, pools and manicured lawns. Cracks start to show for Alice after her friend and next door neighbor starts acting strangely, and Alice realizes their life in Victory isn’t as idyllic as it appears to be.
Olivia Wilde directed and also stars in the film, which she said was about female pleasure. From what I recall from the screening, there weren’t enough sex scenes to reduce the film to that. On the other hand, Pugh delivered one of my favorite performances of the year, and not even the film or the drama that occurred behind the scenes can obscure her talent, and she is frankly the main reason DWD is worth watching. —Karla Rodriguez
'Reboot'
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When: Tuesday, Sept. 20
Where: Hulu
Remakes and reboots have taken over Hollywood in recent years. So much show that we now live in a world where there is a TV show about the making of a reboot. Hulu’s latest comedy Reboot is about a young and ambitious writer taking on the challenge of remaking an early 2000s family sitcom titled Step Right Up. The writer wants to bring back the original (and dysfunctional) cast who doesn’t seem to be doing well in their careers after the show’s wide success. Step Right Up had strong Full House vibes but the new story will be darker and a lot less cheesy than the original show. The writer also happens to be the original creator’s hidden child, so she wants to remake her dad’s show in order to tell her side of the story.
The first episode of the comedy is enough to make this worth watching if you need a laugh, especially because of the cast: Keegan-Michael Key plays one of the show’s stars Reed Sterling, Judy Greer also stars as Bree Marie Larson and Johnny Knoxville stars as troubled actor Clay Barber. Key previously starred in an underrated Netflix ensemble comedy Friends from College, which was tragically canceled after two seasons (Go watch it if you haven’t!). He was so hilarious in that show, so seeing him back on our TV screens is a gift I am truly ready and grateful for. Let’s hope people tune in and Reboot runs longer than a mere two seasons. —Karla Rodriguez
'Abbott Elementary' Season 2
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When: Wednesday, Sept. 21
Where: ABC and Hulu
School is back in session for our favorite TV teachers and their students, which means everyone’s favorite show is back on TV. After taking home two Emmys earlier this month, the beloved comedy Abbott Elementary has returned to ABC for its second season which will have 22 episodes, meaning we are in for even more hilarious adventures this time around. If you haven’t tuned in to this gem of a show just yet, the mockumentary sitcom was created by Quinta Brunson and she stars as a second grade teacher named Janine Teagues at Abbott Elementary, a predominantly Black school in Philadelphia. Not only does the show provide plenty of laughs and heartfelt moments, it also sheds light on the public education system and how underserved students in inner cities are. If you missed Season 1, now is the time to jump on board. And if you’re already a fan, trust me when I say the sitcom and its characters are even funnier on the second watch.
While the show usually feels like aftersun lotion on your skin after spending all day outside in the middle of July, the Season 2 premiere is a little more emotional and sad that previous episodes. Janine is heartbroken after breaking up with her boyfriend of 10 years, Tariq, and also dealing with the financial consequences of being a single woman with a teacher’s salary. Season 1 was an escape from life’s hardships but this episode hit a little too close to home. Let’s hope they go back to their usual format for the remainder of the season, simply because the world just needs some laughs. —Karla Rodriguez.
'Avatar'
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When: Friday, Sept. 23
Where: In theaters
James Cameron’s Academy Award-winning 2009 epic adventure Avatar, which is the most successful film of all time, returns to theaters September 23 in stunning 4K High Dynamic Range. The remastered version of the global phenomenon is arriving just in time for the release of Avatar: The Way of Water that’s coming in December. Complex caught up with Avatar star Michelle Rodriguez ahead of the film’s re-release.
“God, it’s a gift that keeps on giving. I love the family that I was introduced to. I’ve even gone and visited them while they shoot the next couple of sequels that I’m not in,” Rodriguez tells Complex. “But as far as this movie being re-released, I think it’s a really great opportunity to explore the last 13 years of technology that we’ve missed out on to watch that being implemented in a remastered version should be exciting. You go to the movie theater to have an extraordinary experience. I’m one of those movie theater goers that only goes to watch the big movies. I’m excited because I haven’t watched Avatar in a couple of years. And I think that the story is very relative to what’s going on in the world today. So it’ll be great to just see it in a new light and new color and new sound.”
If you somehow missed Avatar in theaters the first time, this is your chance to go and experience it the way it should be experienced. If you are already a fan, go back in to get your mind in the way ahead of the new film. Either way, the rerelease is bound to blow your mind and all your senses. I’m personally looking forward to seeing how many more millions the rerelease will add to the film’s already hefty box office tally. —Karla Rodriguez
'On the Come Up'
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When: Friday, Sept. 23
Where: Paramount+ and select theaters
From the writer that gave us The Hate U Give, On the Come Up is a story of a teenager named Bri who has aspirations of being a rap star. Her late father was an underground rap legend in their city, but being his child has not propelled her into stardom or left her with a million-dollar inheritance after his death. Instead, Bri has to fight her way to the top by partaking in rap battles that she believes will her get the recognition she needs to get signed. Bri has a lot riding on her shoulders, her mom Jay (Sanaa Lathan) is a recovering drug addict who is struggling to make ends meet. Instead of her home life discouraging her, the young rapper uses that as fuel to get herself an opportunity that would change her and her family’s life. Will she make it? Can she live up to bar her father set? Check out our review and interviews with the cast, Lathan (who directed the film) here. —Karla Rodriguez
When: Monday, Sept. 19
Where: HBO
Few finales embody the “sowing vs. reaping” relationship better than Industry. The sophomore season finale of the HBO series directly paid off not only a handful of lingering plots for this stretch of episodes but strands from the series debut, too. As Harper (Myha’al Herrold) told Jesse Bloom (Jay Duplass) in the premiere, Icarus’ flight ended in tragedy, but it was pretty beautiful up until he crashed.
Each of Industry’s primary cast—Harper, Yasmin (Marisa Abela), Gus (David Jonsson), and Rob (Harry Lawtey)—have their own Icarus moments, some more successful in how they bounce back than others. Gus, having played and lost a pseudo Game of Thrones with his boss around the NHS contracts, realizes a role in politics isn’t for him. It’s the second time in as many seasons Gus is capable of seeing clarity in a defeat, putting him in a rare position amongst our younger characters to see a bigger picture. Rob has some clarity but can’t help himself from falling into the box Daria put him in at the end of last season. While he might not actively be drinking or doing drugs, his attempt to score coke for Yas paints him as the coke fiend Daria believed him to be in the eyes of the law and puts his future at Pierpoint in jeopardy. Not to mention, Nicole continues to flex her influence as an asset for the company by floating trades his way. Any attempts to get your hands clean will be beaten down by these institutional forces.
Those forces crash heavier upon Yas and Harper, however. For Yas, an attempt to broker a clean break from her father results in, perhaps, more trouble than it's worth. After a brutal confrontation about his past relationship with their nanny, Yas tells her father she’s done with him and, by extension, his money. The resulting fallout upends her life; Celeste tells Yas that without her father’s support, she’s dead weight. The cherry on top of the shit sundae comes when Yas realizes she’s locked out of her swanky Notting Hill house. Without access to the joint bank account they share, Yas can’t even afford to pay the cab fare or pick up what appears to be the world’s most expensive brunch ever (How do you spend 221£ on a work day?!). With her financial future entirely up in the air—even if she manages to keep her job, her previous earnings are DOA—Yas walks out on the check and into the unknown.
Icarus’ flight may end up paling in comparison to Harper’s downfall. After realizing their last-ditch effort to get out of Pierpoint’s London and NYC consolidation would be a move back to NYC, Haper commits some light insider trading to rally Jesse back to her side. As she and Eric (Ken Leung) rally to save themselves, her callousness begins to set off Eric’s alarm bells. In a meeting with Pierpoint head Bill Adler (Trevor White), Harper ruthlessly cuts out Rishi (Sagar Radia) and DVD (Alex Akpobome) to assert her place. As if that wasn’t enough, she adds in a cherry on top—she’s willing to speak about her experience with Nicole. That sweetener feels more like a Trojan Horse’d poison pill, as it's an admission used purely for leverage’s sake.
As Harper wonders if she’s poison herself (a staggeringly awful statement capable of only being rendered from a post-coitus moment with Rishi on the night before his wedding), Eric seemingly answers the question for her. All of this is too much, and he aims to save her from herself by unearthing her forged college transcript from Season 1. While the Industry creators see it as an act of love, Eric’s probably more complicated than that. After all, in this world, a simple act of love can be perceived as so many different things, thanks to how unbelievably dense and nuanced this series is. In broadening its scope this season, Industry stretched its wings accordingly and is soaring as a result. Let’s hope the show can bask in the sun’s rays for years to come. —William Goodman
