Entertainment
10 Animated Movies That Are 10/10 but Nobody Remembers
An animated movie gets labeled underrated all the time, but most of those picks are just popular films that people want to sound special about. This list is different. These are the ones that feel quietly perfect and still somehow slip through the cultural cracks, even though they play like total classics. They’re not that popular either. You might not have heard about most of these.
Each pick is a clean 10 out of 10 for me because the craft disappears, and you just feel the story working. Some are funny, some are heavy, and a couple are downright strange, but every one of them has real staying power once you finally press play. So if you’ve been hunting down an animated 10/10 watch, lock in.
10
‘April and the Extraordinary World’ (2015)
April and the Extraordinary World is a pulp adventure that hides a surprisingly sharp idea inside its fun. In this version of history, science keeps vanishing, so Paris feels stuck in a smoky, steampunk limbo while a teen, April Franklin (Marion Cotillard), chases the truth behind her parents’ disappearance. The movie earns your attention fast because every invention feels practical, and every chase has stakes.
As it escalates, it never forgets the emotional core, which is April choosing curiosity over fear. There is a clean sense of momentum to the mystery, and the villains stay unsettling without turning cartoonish. By the time the finale clicks, the story feels complete rather than overexplained, and you realize it pulled off a big, strange premise with real control. It’s a good watch for both children and adults.
9
‘The Red Turtle’ (2016)
The Red Turtle barely uses dialogue, yet it still tells a full life story with clarity. A castaway washes up on an island and keeps trying to escape, until a red turtle blocks him in a way that feels maddening, then meaningful. The film turns survival into a relationship with place, time, and consequence.
What makes it linger is how it keeps changing shape while staying simple. There is no wasted emotional noise, just images that do the work and transitions that feel earned. It’s a 10/10 because it proves animation can hold an entire human life in a handful of images, and somehow make it feel more real than dialogue ever could.
8
‘Tokyo Godfathers’ (2003)
Image via Sony Pictures Entertainment Japan
This film starts as a messy night out and turns into a chain of plot turns that never stops paying off. Tokyo Godfathers follows three homeless friends who find an abandoned baby, and instead of treating it like a cute gimmick, the movie forces them to follow the baby’s trail through Tokyo’s backstreets, debt, family secrets, and bad luck. Hana (Yoshiaki Umegaki) keeps the group moving with stubborn warmth.
The magic is that every “coincidence” hits like life, not writing (and that’s a major problem with most animated films). It is directed by Satoshi Kon, who seems to have kept that feeling checked. The film, therefore, keeps the pacing sharp like a thriller but never loses the bruised humanity underneath the jokes. It’s funny in that painful way where you laugh and immediately feel something catch in your throat. And by the time all the threads collide, you realize the movie wasn’t just about finding where the baby belongs, it was about watching these three people accidentally find their way back to themselves.
7
‘Persepolis’ (2007)
Image via Diaphana Distribution
Persepolis is so different. It looks simple on the surface, yet it carries enormous emotional weight without ever getting stiff. It follows Marjane (Chiara Mastroianni) growing up through the Iranian Revolution and its aftermath, and the story keeps focus on what that does to a kid’s identity, friendships, and sense of safety.
That whole premise makes it an excellent film, giving it that rewatchability factor for anyone who clicks with the themes, and how it refuses to flatten anyone into a symbol. You get clear personal stakes in every phase, from teenage rebellion to exile loneliness, and the film never pretends those phases are neat. Any child who feels the same things in their life ends up loving it.
6
‘Fantastic Planet’ (1973)
There are animated films that feel whimsical, comforting, even playful, and then there’s this strange, unnerving sci-fi fever dream from 1973 that seems designed to make your skin crawl in the best possible way. Fantastic Planet drops you onto a distant world where humans aren’t heroes or explorers, but tiny, disposable creatures treated like pets (or pests) by towering blue beings called Draags.
From the very first minutes, the movie radiates imbalance. Everything is off-kilter: the scale, the power, the cruelty baked into everyday life. Terr (Jean Valmont), the human who escapes captivity, isn’t framed as some shiny savior figure. He’s just surviving, learning, resisting, and the film refuses to turn his struggle into a simple fantasy of triumph. The ending doesn’t wrap things up with some satisfying overthrow or blood-soaked payback. Terr doesn’t defeat the Draags. Nobody wins, nobody is redeemed, and that’s why it sticks.
5
‘Millennium Actress’ (2001)
Millennium Actress makes memory move like cinema itself — fast, fluid, impossible to hold still. A filmmaker interviews retired legend Chiyoko Fujiwara (Miyoko Shōji), and her answers don’t arrive as neat recollections. They explode into scenes: her life collapsing into the roles she once played until the boundary between performance and reality stops mattering.
The film jumps across centuries, wars, and romances with dizzying speed, but it never loses its center. Everything is anchored to Chiyoko’s longing, that single emotional current pulling her forward. It qualifies as a 10/10 for me because it frames love not as something she ever has, but something she is always moving toward. The story becomes a chase stretched across an entire lifetime — not for a man exactly, but for the feeling of pursuit itself. By the end, it appears that the blurred timelines were the only honest way to show what she spent her life running after.
4
‘The Secret of Kells’ (2009)
The Secret of Kells feels like a story carved into illuminated manuscript pages and then brought to life. The plot follows Brendan (Evan McGuire), a young monk in a fortified abbey, and his world is ruled by fear of invasion and strict boundaries. And once he meets Aisling (Christen Mooney), the film shifts into a quest where art becomes the thing worth risking everything for.
The movie stands out because it commits fully to its visual style. Inside the abbey, everything looks stiff and controlled, straight lines, tight spaces, repeated shapes, which match how Brendan’s life is ruled by rules and fear. Once he goes into the forest with Aisling, the animation changes. The backgrounds get looser, filled with curves and swirling patterns, like the world is opening up. The design is taken directly from the real Book of Kells: flat perspective, heavy outlines, and decorative detail packed into every shot. That’s why the film doesn’t feel like a typical fantasy cartoon.
3
‘A Scanner Darkly’ (2006)
A Scanner Darkly uses rotoscope animation to make paranoia feel physical. Bob Arctor (Keanu Reeves) is an undercover cop sinking into addiction while spying on his own friends, and the film never gives you a safe viewpoint. Every conversation feels slightly off, like you are listening through a damaged wire. Donna (Winona Ryder) might be honest, or she might be another angle.
What makes it stick is how it turns comedy into discomfort. The group’s jokes have real nervous energy, and the story keeps tightening until Bob cannot tell what he knows anymore. When the final reveals land, they are brutal because they are quiet, and the movie makes you sit with the cost instead of dressing it up.
2
‘Ernest & Celestine’ (2012)
Ernest & Celestine is one of those rare kids’ films that feels genuinely kind. Celestine (Mackenzie Foy) is a young mouse raised on the idea that bears are basically monsters, and Ernest (Forest Whitaker) is a broke, hungry bear who looks scary on paper but is basically just exhausted and decent. Their friendship doesn’t just “challenge society” in some vague way, it pisses off an entire world built on fear and tradition.
What I love is how calm the movie is about its message. It doesn’t do big speeches or melodrama. The prejudice is baked into everything: the courtrooms, the rules, the way crowds immediately turn cruel. And the softness of the watercolor animation makes that harshness hit harder, because the world looks gentle even when it’s being unfair. The movie feels like watching two outsiders accidentally expose how ridiculous the whole system is, just by refusing to play along.
1
‘Song of the Sea’ (2014)
Song of the Sea is one of the most emotionally wrecking animated films that somehow still looks like a bedtime story. It follows Ben (David Rawle), an angry, shut-down kid who is carrying grief like it’s poison, and Saoirse (Lucy O’Connell), who is quieter, almost otherworldly.
What makes the film work so well is how tightly the fantasy connects to the family’s emotions. The folklore animation is the movie’s way of showing sadness, memory, and healing without spelling everything out. The story itself, setting off on a quest to liberate the fairies and protect the spirit world from the forces of evil, is just beautiful and makes it an ideal watch for children. It’s like Spirited Away, but at a low heat.
Song of the Sea
- Release Date
-
December 10, 2014
- Runtime
-
93 Minutes
- Director
-
Tomm Moore
- Writers
-
Will Collins, Tomm Moore
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One of the best parts of Netflix’s The Witcher when it first premiered in 2019 was all the different creatures roaming around The Continent and terrorizing its inhabitants. Although Geralt of Rivia (Henry Cavill) was roped into a larger conspiracy and adventure, there was an irresistible appeal to the loose monster-of-the-week format, as he fulfilled his dangerous role as a witcher. From the insect-like swamp creature called kikimora to the less intangible but still mesmerizing djinn, the creatures were as diverse as they were uniquely ominous. They fleshed out the magical universe and were one of the main reasons the show was so immersive.
But with the fifth and final season of The Witcher approaching, fantasy fans will undoubtedly need another fix of their love for creative, dangerous monsters. Luckily, Netflix has already announced the perfect replacement, the long-awaited series adaptation of the popular tabletop card game, Magic: The Gathering. If you haven’t had the pleasure of playing the game, the animated show, which is in production, will still be the ideal must-watch for fantasy fans. It hosts a wide variety of creatures, characters, and magical objects, all necessary to build a vibrant world, and from there, potential storylines to get swept away in.
‘Magic: The Gathering’ Offers World-Building and Adventure at Its Finest
For those who are unfamiliar with Magic, it was first created by Richard Garfield in 1993 and is often recognized as the world’s first trading card game. Within it are different classes of creatures, enchantments, artifacts, equipment, sorceries, instant spells, tokens, and lands that are played in a turn-based fashion while operating on a mana system, where the amount of mana (essentially, a spiritual kind of currency) a player has will dictate the moves they can play. Already, you get a sense of the sheer variety of fantasy elements within the basic game, let alone when you incorporate characters like the powerful Planeswalkers or dice that completely alter the battlefield.
After sticking around for decades, Magic has an endless supply of ideas for the show’s creators and writers to draw from, making it brimming with potential for a riveting high fantasy series. The cards are often released in sets, with each one almost acting as a portal to another genre, so while the show’s foundation may remain in the realm of high fantasy, there is plenty of room for genre-bending and diversity. From huge dragons with impossible stats equipped with golden armor, steampunk artifacts that can decimate everything on the battleground, to horror creatures that can rise from the graveyard, the kinds of communities, threats, and visuals available for adaptation are vast. This is all threaded together with five distinct biomes (plains, forests, islands, swamps and mountains), each laying the foundation for effective and immersive world-building.
‘Magic: The Gathering’ Is Just One of Many Recent Hollywood Adaptations
Recently, video game adaptations like The Last of Us or Sonic the Hedgehog have been on the rise, and we even got a brilliant film adaptation of the role-playing game Dungeons and Dragons, but how do you adapt a tabletop card game? What we know so far is that the show will be focusing on Planeswalkers, who are arguably the most powerful characters in the game that depict figures with unique abilities and backstories that can — as the name suggests — traverse across dimensions. They will act as the fittingly dark and complex characters that drive the storylines, while the show will also be crossing different planes and drawing on the lore of their specific world within the Magic multiverse. The main concern is being able to execute a plot that is faithful to the extensive lore and diversity of the original, while connecting the markedly distinct worlds coherently and convincingly.
That being said, it’s a wonder that Magic hasn’t been adapted before, especially since now fans are being spoiled with a TV show and a film in the works. Hasbro has had the rights to Magic since 1999, and while they attempted to adapt the game, they haven’t had success until now. The last announcement of the game’s adaptation was in 2019, which was going to be a series helmed by the Russo brothers (Avengers: Endgame), but fell through due to creative differences.
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Now, Terry Matalas (Vision Quest) is on board as the showrunner and executive producer for the TV show, while Hasbro is collaborating with Legendary for the movie. With a plan to go down the animation route for the series, providing more freedom to showcase the breadth of magic, adapting the visual element of the game has hardly been an issue. Additionally, Magic has routinely done crossover sets by collaborating with the likes of Marvel or Lord of the Rings, so it’s surprising the script wasn’t flipped and no one decided to translate the card game to the screen until now.
Either way, Magic has been patiently waiting for its turn, and in that time, it has transformed from a basic tabletop game to a sprawling multiverse of unimaginable powers and creativity, or, as Matalas puts it, “the ultimate storytelling sandbox.” Whether you’re a longtime player or a fantasy fan, this potentially epic saga needs to be on your radar, and soon, you too will be batting alongside some of the most iconic characters of this world and shaking your head in admiration at a series that is egregiously overdue.
Downton Abbey star Nathalie Baye is dead after a battle with dementia. She was 77.
Baye died in her home in Paris after receiving a Lewy body dementia diagnosis, the actress’ family confirmed to the Agence France-Presse on Saturday, April 18.
Downton Abbey caught the attention of millions of viewers throughout its six seasons — and fans are still binge-watching the drama well after its finale. Thank You! You have successfully subscribed. Subscribe to newsletters Enter your email Please enter a valid email. Subscribe By signing up, I agree to the Terms and Privacy Policy and […]
According to the Mayo Clinic, Lewy body dementia, also known as LBD, occurs when protein deposits called Lewy bodies develop in nerve cells in the brain and affect brain regions involved in thinking, memory and movement.
This story is developing.
The Summer House cast has been divided over Amanda Batula and West Wilson’s romance reveal, and costar Ciara Miller has a theory why.
“I think some people are clearly [taking sides],” Ciara, 30, told Glamour reporter Hunter Harris in an outtake from her Friday, April 17, magazine profile shared via Substack. “But, at the same time, I feel like we have also so many new dynamics in the group. I’m not expecting anyone to take sides.”
She continued, “Honestly, I’m not asking that of anyone. But I think they really know me, and they know how I move, and so I think that this is maybe more of a barometer of maybe why … I don’t know if I’m saying this right, but they’ve watched the whole story unfold in person. I think everyone feels a little bamboozled at this point in time.”
Ciara, West, 31, and Amanda, 34, were all among the Summer House season 10 housemates last year, which is currently airing on Bravo. At the time, West mulled reconciling with ex Ciara while Amanda faced marital issues with Kyle Cooke. Amanda and Kyle, 43, announced their separation in January, three months before she confirmed her connection with West.
Ciara Miller is still sorting through her feelings after longtime friend Amanda Batula started seeing her ex-boyfriend, and their Summer House costar, West Wilson, earlier this spring. “Ciara has told friends that if they really are in love, she will accept it,” a source exclusively tells Us Weekly, noting that if West, 31, and Amanda, […]
“We’ve shown up for each other as friends over the years, through all the highs and lows, and what’s developed recently was the last thing either of us expected,” Amanda and West wrote in a joint statement on March 31. “Our connection grew out of a genuine, longstanding friendship, which made it especially important for us to approach this with care.”
West and Amanda’s big reveal shocked Ciara, who was spotted crying outside Hermès within minutes of the statement’s publication, and their costars. Most of the Bravo cast has since weighed in, picking sides about which friend was in the right. (Amanda and Ciara were once close friends, while West reportedly hooked up with Ciara earlier this year.)
“I’m not telling anyone to take sides, but if they’re taking a side, it’s probably because they’re also very confused and feel like they were led astray,” Ciara told Harris in her first public comments on the scandal. “I feel like there’s been a lot of lying on both sides between Amanda and West. They’ve both lied publicly to my face, to everyone else’s face, so it’s like, ‘Why?’”
Ciara is set to reunite with the pair during the cast’s season 10 reunion later in April.
“I think that there definitely needs to be specific questions answered,” she told the magazine about filming the tell-all. “And to be understood depends by who.”
While West and Amanda haven’t further addressed the drama, they were spotted kissing at the Yankees vs. Royals baseball game on Friday night.
Pope Leo XIV reportedly has been invited to attend the “Eternal City Tip-Off,” a college basketball doubleheader between Villanova and Notre Dame in Rome.
The schools announced the unique doubleheader on Friday, April 17, which is scheduled to take place later this fall on November 1.
“Inspired by the recent election of Pope Leo XIV, the first American-born Pope, student-athletes from two of the United States’ top Catholic universities will travel to Rome and Vatican City for a one-of-a-kind international experience to begin their college hoops season – including a planned audience with Pope Leo XIV set to take place ahead of the game,” read a statement from Notre Dame University.
Pope Leo — from Chicago — is an alumnus of Villanova and a noted sports fan. While it’s unclear whether he has accepted the invitation for an in-person appearance at the games, there is a planned papal audience with the Pope beforehand.
“This extraordinary experience reflects the very best of Villanova’s Augustinian Catholic mission—uniting faith, learning and community in a global setting,” said Villanova University President Peter Donohue in a statement. “From academic engagement and cultural immersion to shared worship and athletics, this journey offers a profound opportunity to grow in mind, body and spirit.”
Pope Leo XIV plays with a member of the Harlem Globetrotters during his weekly General Audience at St. Peter’s Square on April 08, 2026 in Vatican City, Vatican. Simone Risoluti – Vatican Media via Vatican Pool/Getty Images
“Pope Leo has spoken in such inspiring ways about the value of sport, emphasizing that sport is a ‘school of life’ that integrates the body, mind, and spirit, a vision both Notre Dame and Villanova wholeheartedly embrace,” echoed Robert Dowd, President of the University of Notre Dame, in a separate statement. “We are honored to join Villanova for what is sure to be the experience of a lifetime for our student-athletes and fans.”
He continued, “We know well the transformative impact of spending time in a city that is so central to our faith and rich in history, having established Notre Dame Rome in 2014, which allows us to host hundreds of students and scholars from around the world each year. It’s exciting and most fitting to add athletic competitions to our many activities in Rome.”
The trip will also include a welcome reception overlooking Rome and an opportunity to attend Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica.
The international game will mark the first game outside of the U.S. to start a men’s college basketball season.
“This is a special opportunity for our players and coaches to be part of a global event,” said Villanova head coach Kevin Willard in a statement. “To represent Villanova in Rome to open our 2026-27 season is such a great honor. We appreciate the enormous effort that’s gone into making it possible.”
Entertainment
Prime Video’s 6-Part Psychological Thriller Is So Good, You’ll Finish It in One Weekend
David Cronenberg is one of the most important names in horror history, as the description “Cronenbergian” is often applied to innovative works of bodily terror. Cronenberg has many films that have been accepted as classics, but few are more iconic than the 1988 masterpiece Dead Ringers, which starred Jeremy Irons as identical twins. While it’s hardly the first instance in which an actor played twins on screen, Dead Ringers was a bold and subversive look at the grotesque world of medical malpractice. There is never a point in rebooting a classic property without a fresh take, and thankfully, the Prime Video reimagining of Dead Ringers is a totally distinct entity.
Although gender-flipping leading characters has become common within contemporary reboots, Dead Ringers inverts the original material with a feminist slant, given that it’s a story in which the two main characters are gynecologists. That narrative has a different connotation within the new version, as Rachel Weisz plays twin sisters who have sought to control and subvert bodily autonomy through their research. Beverly and Elliot Mantle share a unified interest in revamping the birthing process, but have very different means of executing their goals. Cronenberg’s film was a breakthrough for its time, but the series has been updated to address the radically different landscape for medical research in the 2020s. Dead Ringers is an homage that doesn’t feel like a clone; ironically, the show’s best virtue is that it isn’t identical.
‘Dead Ringers’ Is a Fresh Take on a Horror Classic
The most important aspect of any new take on an established piece of material is using the possibilities of a different medium, and Dead Ringers is retooled to work as a series that can’t rely as heavily on shock value. Cronenberg’s film had to build up to its most visceral scares, but that momentum could never have been sustained over the course of six episodes. As a result, Dead Ringers is able to retain a consistent sense of unease by showing the casual danger of what the Mantles do, as any procedure they perform has the potential to go wrong. It’s because the depiction of medical care feels so authentic that it becomes more shocking when the twins begin to diverge from their accepted policies; it’s evident that they are not only driven by passion to help women find peace, but also out of a desire to see what the human body is capable of. This could have easily felt exploitative, but Weisz brilliantly shows how both Beverly and Elliot have found tranquility through their profession; to them, surgery is just a form of art.
The TV Adaptation of ‘Dead Ringers’ Is Even Bolder Than Cronenberg’s Original
This thrilling reimagining delves into its disturbing subject matter far deeper than its predecessor.
The most challenging conceit in Dead Ringers was that the show had to ensure that both characters were distinguishable from one another, which is much harder to do in practice than it is in theory. Keeping two versions of the same actor straight in a series is already difficult, and Weisz has to do many scenes in which she has chemistry with herself. Although there are a few overt physical distinctions when it comes to body language and hairstyle, the difference between the Mantle sisters is in their conduct; Elliot uses foul language, manages a drug addiction, and engages in more social activities, whereas Beverly is more refined and constantly refers to her twin with disparaging language. They’re two distinct characters, but Weisz also makes them feel linked in a manner that is thematically sound. Since Elliot and Beverly represent two different sides of the same coin, it would make sense that they could only unlock their true potential while working together.
‘Dead Ringers’ Has the Best Performance of Rachel Weisz’s Career
Weisz pulls off an impossible challenge of making her characters both intimidating and slightly empathetic, as the series deals with the ways in which institutions have been corrupted by private equity. It’s an unfortunate reality that many of the most advanced medical innovations have been funded through donors, and the Mantle sisters are forced to take capital from the private investor Rebecca Parke (Jennifer Ehle), who has her own agenda. The consequence of this is that the backers funding the Mantles’ research don’t put safeguards in place that account for their erratic, potentially volatile behavior. Cronenberg’s films have always had a political edge, but Dead Ringers had the ambition to address the changing economic context of the original film’s thesis.
Horror television often runs into a sustainability issue, as audiences may not want to stew in such uncomfortable emotional places for the same extended amount of time that they would in a film. Thankfully, Dead Ringers is filled with mystery and dark comedy, as there is an inherent playfulness in the notion of women dedicated to preserving life while often courting death. It’s the rare reboot that works for multiple audiences; it’s both suited to those who can appreciate the homages to Cronenberg and those who want to see something with fresh eyes. It can be hard to tell which horror shows are actually worth investing in, but Dead Ringers is more than just a gimmick. It’s frightful, innovative, and thought-provoking television, and may end up spawning the same cult appreciation that the original film did.
Dead Ringers
- Release Date
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2023 – 2023-00-00
- Network
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Prime Video
- Directors
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Sean Durkin, Lauren Wolkstein, Karyn Kusama
Plot holes are kind of impossible to avoid in storytelling, and honestly, at times, the audience is willing to play along. If the story is good enough, a few logical leaps here and there don’t really matter. However, things get messy when writers push that limit a little too far. HBO, for all its prestige and reputation, is no exception. In fact, some of the network’s most iconic series are also the biggest offenders when it comes to obvious inconsistencies and unresolved arcs.
That doesn’t necessarily make them bad, though. If anything, it makes their success all the more fascinating. After all, it takes a truly great story to keep the viewers hooked even when the cracks in the plot are right there in plain sight. Here is a list of successful HBO shows that serve as perfect examples of that.
6
‘Westworld’ (2016–2022)
Westworld started as one of HBO’s most ambitious shows with a premise that instantly hooked the audience. The sci-fi series, created by Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy, is about a hyperrealistic Wild West theme park populated by android hosts, where wealthy guests can indulge in their darkest fantasies without consequence. The show was meant to be a philosophical exploration of free will, consciousness, and what it truly means to be human. Now, Westworld Season 1 perfectly set up this concept with a gripping and layered central mystery. However, as the show expands its world, it begins to lose the plot big time. The storytelling begins increasingly convoluted, and timelines start blurring into each other to the point where the rules of the show’s own universe start feeling inconsistent.
Characters are repeatedly killed and revived without clear stakes, major arcs are unresolved, and key plots like the fate of the Outliers never receive a satisfying payoff. The thing about Westworld is that it isn’t necessarily a bad show, but its tendency to constantly reinvent itself comes at the expense of the story and characters. Each season turns the status quo upside down and makes the audience feel that the show is more interested in escalating its complexity than in actually following through on already-established ideas.
5
‘Euphoria’ (2019–2026)
Image via HBO Max
Euphoria has been one of the most talked-about shows of the last decade. The controversial teen drama, created by Sam Levinson, stars Zendaya as Rue Bennett, a high-schooler battling addiction along with a group of her friends and classmates, all navigating their own struggles with identity and trauma. The series takes place in a hyper-stylized world that instantly became its signature and mirrored the chaos that its characters live in. The show has been widely praised for its performances, cinematography, and raw depiction of teenage life. However, for all its strength, the drama has also faced consistent criticism for gaps in its storytelling. Euphoria Season 2 in particular feels messy, inconsistent, and clearly prioritizes shock value over any semblance of character arcs.
Some of these issues include Nate’s (Jacob Elordi) sudden fixation on Cassie despite hating her throughout Euphoria Season 1. Entire character arcs are dropped, like Kat’s (Barbie Ferriera) being reduced to a side character or McKay (Algee Smith) being written out with no explanation. However, Rue’s storyline with Laurie (Martha Kelly) and the fact that she escapes that dangerous situation without any consequence is easily one of the biggest plot holes in the series. Some might argue that all of these loose ends will be solved by Season 3. That doesn’t take away from the fact that the show struggles with its own stakes. Euphoria thrives on how it makes the audience feel in the moment, but once they step back, the cracks in the narrative are impossible to ignore.
4
‘Game of Thrones’ (2011–2019)
Game of Thrones has practically defined prestige television for the better part of the last two decades. The series, based on George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire novel series, takes place in an expansive, fantastical world and centers on the intense power struggle between the seven kingdoms for the Iron Throne. There’s no denying that the show has already gone down in pop culture history for its meticulous storytelling and unmatched worldbuilding. However, as the series moved beyond its source material, logic took a backseat to the spectacle, and that proved to be a major mistake. The later seasons destroyed the legacy that the show had spent around eight years constructing.
Entire storylines felt rushed or abandoned, including Cersei’s (Lena Headey) pregnancy and the prophecy of “The Prince That Was Promised.” Even major narrative arcs like Jon Snow’s (Kit Harrington) true lineage and Daenerys’ (Emilia Clarke) descent into madness ultimately had little impact on the outcome of the story. By the end, it felt like the show was just leaning on convenience to wrap things up, and in doing so, it set up many ideas that were never fully explored. The notorious ending of Game of Thrones raised more questions than answers and is widely considered one of the worst series finales of all time. Despite a rushed finish, though, Game of Thrones is still an undeniable landmark in TV history, with two spinoffs already airing and several others in the works.
3
‘The Leftovers’ (2014–2017)
The Leftovers is a show that fully embraces ambiguity, but that is no excuse for all the plot holes it has left behind. The series, created by Damon Lindelof and Tom Perrotta, begins with two percent of the world’s population suddenly vanishing without explanation. However, the show isn’t about where they went, but it focuses on the people left behind as they grapple with grief and faith in the wake of a phenomenon that just can’t be explained. The show’s deliberate refusal to provide easy answers gives it its emotional weight, but also tends to get frustrating at times. The Leftovers often sets up certain storylines only to abandon them in the middle. For example, Kevin Garvey’s (Justin Theroux) repeated resurrections are never grounded in any clear logic.
Not to mention the entire situation with the Guilty Remnant feels like one of the show’s most interesting elements until the viewer realizes that their larger purpose is never actually explored. Even broader world-building elements like the earthquakes or the surreal hotel world are introduced with weight but never really explained in relation to the overall narrative. Sure, some of this is intentional, but there is a fine line between leaving things to the audience’s interpretation and careless storytelling. Despite all that, though, there’s no denying that The Leftovers is one of HBO’s most emotionally complex stories.
2
‘True Detective’ (2014–Present)
True Detective Season 1 is peak TV, but unfortunately, it goes downhill from there. The HBO crime anthology begins with Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson as two detectives trying to solve a disturbing ritualistic murder case. Each subsequent season has introduced a new cast and case, with the most recent one being True Detective: Night Country starring Jodie Foster and Kali Reis. For all its ambition, though, the one thing the show has struggled with is consistency.
True Detective Season 2, in particular, is often criticized for being overly convoluted and weighed down by too many characters and subplots that ultimately go nowhere. It often feels like the show is focusing more on mood and character rather than telling a believable story. Its best moments have always come from the dynamic between its detectives and philosophical dialogue, but even then, the show’s glaring plot holes are hard to miss. Even at its messiest, though, True Detective is undeniably a great watch.
1
‘The Last of Us’ (2023–Present)
The Last of Us quickly established itself as one of HBO’s biggest hits and set the gold standard for video game adaptations. The post-apocalyptic drama follows Joel (Pedro Pascal), who is tasked with escorting Ellie (Bella Ramsey) across a post-apocalyptic United States to a revolutionary group known as the Fireflies. Now, what raises the stakes is that this teenage girl may hold the key to curing a fungal infection that is slowly taking over humanity. The drama series is far from a typical zombie show, though, because it leans heavily into character-driven storytelling.
However, for a show that attempts to remain grounded in realism, there are plenty of moments where its internal logic starts to crack. Plenty of Joel’s decisions make little sense from a practical point of view. Even the broader stakes, such as the Fireflies’ plan to immediately operate on Ellie without exploring any other alternatives, feel rushed and oddly underdeveloped. A lot of moments in the show rely entirely on convenience or shock value. One can overlook these gaps thanks to the cast’s brilliant performances and the emotional payoff of it all, but they do make it harder to fully buy into the world at times.
The Last of Us
- Release Date
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January 15, 2023
- Network
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HBO
- Showrunner
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Craig Mazin
- Directors
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Craig Mazin, Peter Hoar, Jeremy Webb, Ali Abbasi, Mark Mylod, Stephen Williams, Jasmila Žbanić, Liza Johnson, Nina Lopez-Corrado
Some sci-fi movies are too strange, too sincere, or just too out-of-step with the moment they arrive in. Reminiscence was probably all three. Lisa Joy’s feature directorial debut had a very specific kind of dreamy, flooded-neon melancholy that never really clicked commercially, but it has started finding new attention on streaming. Earlier this year, coverage noted that the film was drawing fresh viewers on HBO Max, which makes sense for something this mood-driven and weirdly romantic.
The cast was never the problem. Reminiscence stars Hugh Jackman, Rebecca Ferguson, Thandiwe Newton, Daniel Wu, Cliff Curtis, Angela Sarafyan, Natalie Martinez, Brett Cullen, and Marina de Tavira. The story follows a private investigator who uses memory-exploration technology to help clients revisit their past, only to become obsessed with finding a vanished woman. It’s pure tech-noir pulp, just draped in a more mournful and romantic register than audiences maybe expected.
Is ‘Reminiscence’ Worth Watching?
Collider’s review of the movie stated that Reminiscence is an ambitious but ultimately disappointing attempt to fuse classic noir with futuristic sci-fi, undone by shallow thematic execution. Lisa Joy’s heavy-handed narration and underdeveloped class commentary talk down to the audience rather than trusting the visuals or story to do the work. Despite its intriguing premise and atmospheric setting, Reminiscence ends up feeling like stylish texture without substance, culminating in a forgettable and emotionally hollow conclusion.
“What’s more frustrating is that the class commentary is merely window dressing. It kind of positions Mae’s story as a consequence of class conflict, but it doesn’t have much to do with Nick. It’s simply the world he inhabits, and while he doesn’t need to be a class warrior or anything like that, his perceptions of the world exist separate from his personal journey to find Mae. He doesn’t see the world one way and have that perception changed through his relationship with Mae, so it’s just Joy embracing her own cleverness by showing a sci-fi world that emphasizes class conflict. However, she doesn’t do the work to connect that world to her protagonist’s story, so it all feels hollow. Reminiscence is texture without purpose.”
Reminiscence is streaming now.
- Release Date
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August 20, 2021
- Runtime
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116 minutes
- Director
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Lisa Joy
Gayle King is throwing her support behind Savannah Guthrie and her Today show comeback as the investigation surrounding her mother Nancy’s disappearance continues.
Speaking to Us Weekly at the Breakthrough Prize event in Los Angeles on Saturday, April 18, King, 71, said she was happy to see Savannah back on air despite the difficult circumstances she’s facing.
“Listen, we’re just glad Savannah’s back, but of course, our hearts are still aching and still breaking,” King told Us. She added, “There are no words to describe what she’s going through.”
The CBS Mornings presenter also urged anyone with information about what happened to Nancy to come forward.
Gayle King struggled to hold back tears as she addressed the news surrounding Today host Savannah Guthrie, whose mother, Nancy Guthrie, has gone missing. “We’re starting things a little differently this morning because like you, we’re all waking up this morning with very heavy hearts [and] praying for our friend and our colleague, Savannah Guthrie,” […]
“I’m still hoping that somebody will do the right thing,” King continued. “Somebody, somebody out there knows something, and it’s shocking to me after seeing Savannah open up her heart, after looking at the video that we all saw, and after the million dollars reward that there has not been some resolution in this case.”
She added, “So I am just here wishing her well and cheering. I’m glad that she’s back.”
Savannah, 54, returned to Today on April 6 after two months away dealing with the disappearance of her mother Nancy, who was reported missing in Arizona on February 1.
“Good morning, welcome to Today on this Monday morning. We are so glad you started your week with us, and it is good to be home,” she told viewers during her first episode back.
Savannah and Nancy Guthrie. Photo by: Nathan Congleton/NBC)
Savannah took a step back from the show at the time, traveling from New York to Arizona amid the police investigation into her mother’s disappearance. During Savannah’s absence from Today, Hoda Kotb filled in for her.
Savannah and her siblings Annie Guthrie and Camron Guthrie have pleaded for the public’s help in finding their mother since she disappeared, offering a $1 million reward for information leading to her recovery.
Savannah Guthrie will share more insight into the disappearance of her mother, Nancy Guthrie, in a new interview more than 50 days after the 84-year-old went missing. During the Wednesday, March 25, episode of the Today show, host Craig Melvin introduced a clip from Savannah’s upcoming sit-down with Hoda Kotb, marking her first interview about […]
In one video released by Savannah, Annie and Camron via social media, they begged for Nancy’s safe return.
“We received your message and we understand,” Savannah said in a video shared on February 7, while flanked by and holding the hands of her siblings. “We beg you now to return our mother to us so that we can celebrate with her. This is the only way we will have peace. This is very valuable to us and we will pay.”
On February 10, the FBI released photos and video footage of a masked individual at Nancy’s home. However, no suspects have been officially identified since her disappearance.
Entertainment
Rebecca Ferguson’s Forgotten 115-Minute Sci-Fi Sequel Is Quietly Climbing Global Streaming Charts
Men in Black: International is one of those franchise reboots people more or less decided on immediately, which meant it never got much room to become anything else. But streaming is often kinder to movies that arrive with baggage, and that seems to be happening here. Earlier this year, the film started drawing renewed attention on Starz in the U.S., while overseas streaming charts have also shown it popping up in places like France. That doesn’t make it a full-scale global juggernaut, but it does mean the movie is finding a broader second life than its original reputation might suggest.
Men in Black: International stars Chris Hemsworth as Agent H, Tessa Thompson as Agent M, Liam Neeson as High T, Emma Thompson as Agent O, Rebecca Ferguson as Riza Stavros, Kumail Nanjiani as Pawny, and Rafe Spall as Agent C. On paper, that’s a really appealing sci-fi comedy ensemble, especially with Hemsworth and Thompson reuniting after the Thor movies.
Is ‘Men in Black: International’ Worth Watching?
Collider’s review stated that Men in Black: International really came down to the sheer appeal of its two stars. The dynamic helps carry the movie through action scenes and story beats that might otherwise feel pretty flat. The review also pointed out that touches like the broader world-building, some fun support from Pawny, and the natural pull of the central duo gave the film a sense of missed opportunity. It may not fully come together, but there’s still enough there to make it an entertaining watch.
“As Agent H, Hemsworth is basically ramping up the most dick-ish of Thor Odinson’s personality quirks, but weaponizing well-timed smirks or winks—or, let’s be honest, an unbuttoned button—to make us still like him. Thompson has the harder role; Agent M is extremely competent and a bit of a fangirl for the Men in Black at the same time. Thompson combines those two qualities into pure, crackling energy. That’s the funny part, really. Thanks to the combination of Hemsworth + Thompson + the world-building, I’d watch the hell out of a sequel to this movie despite feeling cold about it overall.”
Men in Black: International is currently streaming.
- Release Date
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June 12, 2019
- Runtime
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115 minutes
- Director
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F. Gary Gray
Aaron Eckhart fans are currently gearing up for a turbulent flight, as The Dark Knight star’s next project opens in theaters on May 1. An action-packed survival thriller from Deep Blue Sea director Renny Harlin, Deep Water follows a flight from Los Angeles to Shanghai that, while coasting over the middle of the Pacific, enters a terrifying storm that sends everyone on board into the cold ocean below. Just when things couldn’t get worse, along come the sharks. Alongside Eckhart, the movie also stars the likes of Ben Kingsley (Iron Man 3), Angus Sampson (Insidious), Lucy Barrett (Charmed), Kelly Gale (Plane), Richard Crouchley (Evil Dead Rise), and more.
In anticipation of Eckhart’s latest release, fans have been flocking to one of his lesser-spotted recent projects. Thieves Highway, a 2025 neo-Western that made very little impact upon arrival, is perhaps one of the more underrated entries in Eckhart’s impressive catalog, thanks simply to it falling so far under most radars. Directed by Jesse V. Jackson, who also worked with Eckhart on the 2024 conspiracy thriller Chief of Station, Thieves Highway also featured performances from the likes of Devon Sawa, Brooke Langton, and Lochlyn Munroe.
At the time of writing, and seemingly against the odds, Thieves Highway has risen to the very top of the Hulu movie streaming charts in the U.S., outperforming the likes of Gaten Matarazzo‘s new comedy Pizza Movie, the original The Devil Wears Prada, and Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice. A synopsis for Thieves Highway reads:
“Lawman Frank Bennett uncovers a massive smuggling operation after a deadly confrontation. Cut off from cell service and without his truck, he’s forced to take on a dangerous gang led by a deranged ex-military commander.”
What Did Critics Say About ‘Thieves Highway’?
So under-seen that it doesn’t even have a rating on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, those who did catch Thieves Highway in 2025 responded with mixed reviews. Whilst some praised the movie’s gripping lead performance, saying, “Eckhart anchors the film with a world-weary, classic sense of morality,” others were not so impressed with the project as a whole, saying, “Johnson and Mills do some fun maneuvering with their characters and Eckhart is a sturdy enough lead. But the storytelling takes too many shortcuts and the overall lack of suspense keeps us one step ahead.”
Thieves Highway is streaming on Hulu. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates, and check out Eckhart’s next movie, Deep Water, in theaters on May 1.
- Release Date
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May 1, 2026
- Runtime
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106 minutes
- Director
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Renny Harlin
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