September is bringing plenty of new movies and TV shows to the screen, from the divisive film 'The Drama' starring Robert Pattinson and Zendaya and the Season 4 return of 'Ted Lasso,' arguably the best comfort watch currently on TV.
Here’s what the critics are watching — and what you should add to your September watch list.
To watch Kristoffer Borgli’s 'The Drama' is to be reminded of how obsessed contemporary culture is with therapy. I suspect many of us even know the name of our closest friend’s therapist.
This, in many ways, is nothing new. In his 1979 book, 'The Culture of Narcissism,' US historian Christopher Lasch prophetically told us “the contemporary climate is therapeutic, not religious”.
In the past few months, you’ve probably overheard or been in a conversation where someone asks, “What’s the worst thing you’ve ever done?”
This is the question that haunts romantic lead Emma (Zendaya) in 'The Drama.' It is at the crux of the social discourse around the film itself.
'The Drama' quickly departs from its meet-cute between Emma and stranger-turned-fiancé Charlie (Robert Pattinson), into a psychological frenzy about revelation and fixation. There are wedding speeches that make you squirm, and deceitful behavior that asks you to continually switch your moral certainty between characters.
The 1930s and ‘40s were the golden age of the “remarriage comedy”. Once, the characters crafted by Katherine Hepburn and Cary Grant were comfortable with just being in each other’s company, silent or otherwise; they didn’t have therapists and social media urging them to anxiously probe the slightest misstep.
Now, as in 'The Drama,' trust in the other has lost currency. The adamant search for authenticity certainly demands a price.
— Audrey Mitchell
'The Shards' follows a fictionalized version of novelist Bret Easton Ellis during his final year of high school. It’s September 1981, and the elite world of a wealthy prep school unravels as a serial killer known as “the Trawler” starts targeting students.
Between trying to maintain his social life and writing his debut novel, Bret (Igby Rigney) becomes convinced the new boy at school, Robert (Homer Gere), is linked to disappearances and ritualistic killings happening around Los Angeles.
With sweeping shots of Mulholland Drive set to the tune of a vibrant early-1980s soundtrack, 'The Shards’ vivid atmosphere is also intensely paranoid.
When Robert enters the inner circle, Bret labels Robert a “virus” and an “insidious invading agent” aimed at destroying the “structure of my friends, my school […] and me”.
Bret’s dehumanising language mirrors President Donald Trump using words such as “vermin” and “infestation” to stoke fears that immigrants will “take over” and permanently marginalize U.S. natural-born citizens.
Stories about the past often reflect present anxieties. While these stories can evoke nostalgia, they can also justify the exclusion of those who don’t fit into a romanticized view of history.
Critical engagement is essential to ensure we don’t trade our better judgement for an infatuation with a past that never really existed.
— Holden Walker
After wrapping up Season 3 with a “we’re all done, it’s over” proclamation, Jason Sudeikis’ brilliant Ted Lasso has returned. The story of an out-of-place American soccer coach in football-mad England continues to be a balm for otherwise difficult times.
This season brings back some of the core existing cast, including Sudeikis as Ted, Hannah Waddingham as team manager Rebecca Welton, Juno Temple as PR executive Keeley Jones, and Brett Goldstein as player-turned-coach of the men’s team, Roy Kent. Then there are the new characters, in a brand new women’s team, including Tanya Reynolds as coach Alice Chilton and Abbie Hern as star striker Gemma Jay.
As I write this we’re about halfway through the ten-episode season, and well into picking up some old plotlines (will Keeley and Roy get back together?). There are also some brilliant new meta-threads. One of these explores what the value of women’s sports really is, and why such a question even needs to be asked.
A recent cameo by Tracey Ullman was particularly delicious, as are the continued pop culture references that marry both American and British culture. You won’t need to know anything about football/soccer, or any sport really, to have a ball with this one.
— Liz Giuffre
From comedies such as 'New Girl' to heavy dramas like 'The Dropout,' showrunner Elizabeth Meriwether is fast becoming one of the most exciting voices in contemporary TV. Her new offering, 'Furious,' is very “of the moment” – tapping into female rage at the sexual violence epidemic, and the lack of justice for victims.
Alice (Emmy Rossum) is a former NYPD homicide detective now working as an FBI agent. She left the NYPD after ending her relationship with a violent partner, another detective who received the support of their colleagues.
When Alice’s only remaining friend on the force, Danny (Scoot McNairy), asks for her help on a murder case, she notices evidence pointing to a female serial killer. Enter petite murderess Catherine (Lola Petticrew), and the cat-and-mouse game begins.
Throughout the chase, Alice is helped by her new FBI mentor Nora (Quincy Tyler Bernstine), the disgruntled head of the sex crimes unit who has been shunned to the building’s basement.
Furious subverts many tropes of the crime drama to great effect, offering an important critique of what justice looks like in the modern age, and whether it’s even achievable. The show’s richly developed characters and narrative twists will keep you engaged until the final episode.
— Stuart Romeo-Richards
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