It’s Halloween weekend and I’m sad to report that there isn’t much Spooky SZN content dropping this week. At least Netflix’s Wendell & Wild hits the streaming service this weekend, but aside from that, if you’re in the mood to watch something scary, Halloween Ends and Smile are still in theaters.
Sometimes nothing is scarier that the real tragedies of life, though. Till is hitting theaters everywhere this weekend, and it tells the story of Emmett Till’s mother Mamie Till-Mobley’s relentless pursuit of justice after the tragic death of her 14-year-old son, who was brutally lynched in 1955 while visiting his cousins in Mississippi.
Armageddon Time, about a young Jewish boy whose great-grandmother had escaped the Holocaust and settled in America, is also hitting select theaters this Friday. HBO’s House of the Dragon concluded its first season this past Sunday, making way for Season 2 of their hit series The White Lotus. Check out our thoughts on the titles we think you should be watching this week below and come back for more next week.
'Till'
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When: Friday, Oct. 28
Where: In theaters
Film Twitter has been raving about Danielle Deadwyler’s performance in Till—and all those who have her as an Oscar contender are right. She earned her spot in the Oscars conversation with this performance. The film tells the true story of Mamie Till-Mobley’s “relentless pursuit of justice” after the death of her 14-year-old son, Emmett Till. Emmett was lynched while visiting his cousins in Mississippi in 1955. The film explores the mom and son’s relationships on a deeper level and gives a glimpse into what she and so many mothers have experienced in the history of the United States. Losing a child is never easy, but it's even worse when the people who are to blame never faced justice. While a lot of movie lovers are over the trauma porn that can often be found regarding this country’s history, Till showcases Mamie’s journey of grief that she turned to action, and how powerful a mother’s love can be. If there is anything you should go to theaters to watch, let it be Till. –Karla Rodriguez
'Armageddon Time'
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When: Friday, Oct. 28
Where: In select theaters
Writer/director James Gray is one of cinema’s finest humanists. Gray often renders emotion as big as the canvas he uses to tell his stories, whether it’s the expansive emptiness of space in Ad Astra or crowded swaths of the jungle in The Lost City of Z. His latest, Armageddon Time, which releases in New York and Los Angeles today, comes down to Earth—specifically to Queens, New York, in the fall of 1980—for a decidedly small and memoiristic tale that captures the thematic qualities of his previous efforts.
Time details the story of Paul Graff (a winsome Bank Repeta) and his family—notably his mother Esther (Anne Hathaway, who, while great, is decidedly not Jewish), plumber father Iriving (Jeremy Strong, electric as always), and grandfather Aaron (Anthony Hopkins)—as he enters a critical period of his life. On the first day of sixth grade, Paul hits it off with a classmate, Johnny (Jaylin Webb), after the two get into trouble during class. Their shared rebellious nature grows out of their mutual disdain for their racist teacher and for their shared passions for art—Paul for drawing and Johnny for music—not taught in school. After the pair land in serious hot water, Paul, much like the Saturn V spaceship he loves, is rocketed out of public school and into a pricey private school, thanks to financial help from his grandfather, who escaped Jewish persecution in Europe and immigrated to America for a shot a better life.
Time doesn’t shy away from the racial, class, and moral complications of the time while actively trying to avoid falling into the pitfalls that often arrive with these kinds of stories. However, the film doesn’t land its big conclusion to this particular aspect, even though Gray approaches it in decidedly good faith. It’s a bit of a letdown as such, considering the strengths of the other portions. Between this and The Father, Hopkins is having quite a late-career resurgence; he’s absolutely fantastic and compelling here as Aaron, a man who realizes the tension between trying to cultivate a better life for his family at the expense of others and how hard it is to rage against the machine which establishes these conditions in the first place.
Ultimately, Armageddon Time doesn’t land its big swing as convincingly as I’d like, but there’s still quite a compelling whole surrounding this thorny and complex (no pun intended) memory tale, thanks to incredible performances and compelling familial drama. —William Goodman
'The White Lotus' Season 2
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When: Sunday, Oct. 30
Where: HBO
After a surprisingly hit first season last summer, Mike White’s HBO drama/comedy series The White Lotus returns for a sophomore effort, swapping Hawaii for Sicily for another installment. As is now the MO of the show, Lotus will dive deep into a satire of the upper class, set against a luscious landscape with an impressive cast behind it. Checking in this time around are Aubrey Plaza, Theo James, Michael Imperioli, F. Murray Abraham, Tom Hollander, Hayley Lu Richardson, and Jennifer Coolidge (who returns from the first season to tie the two together).
We don’t know much about the overall hook for this booking other than Imperioli and Abraham play a father-and-son duo while Richardson is an assistant to Coolidge. But if it’s anything like the first Lotus, anticipate it to be a cutting exploration of the cages the wealth build for one another and the overlying sense of love, lust, anger, and pain that comes with it. —William Goodman
'Wendell & Wild'
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When: Friday, Oct. 28
Where: Netflix
This is a Jordan Peele stan column. Any project he’s involved in, we’re going to support. After this summer’s Nope, Peele has linked up with Henry Selick to produce the stop-motion animated tale Wendell & Wild. The show also reunites our favorite duo, Keegan-Michael Key and Peele, who star as two demon brothers Wendell (Key) and Wild (Peele). They call on Kat Elliot—a tough teen with a load of guilt—to summon them to the Land of the Living, leading them to a bizarre and fun adventure. Play this show as you’re getting ready for your Halloween plans this weekend, or binge-watch if you’re staying in. Netflix should have dropped Wednesday this month in time for Spooky SZN but we’ll have to wait until November for that. In the meantime, hit play on Wendell & Wild. —Karla Rodriguez
