Related: Olivia Wilde Teases New Relationship With Caspar Jopling in Sexy Photo
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Olivia Wilde publicly responded to social media trolls who likened her appearance to The Lord of the Rings’ Gollum.
After attending a screening of her new movie The Invite at the San Francisco International Film Festival on April 24, Wilde’s red carpet interview with San Francisco Chronicle sparked online commentary around her facial features, with some social media users drawing comparisons to the physically deformed fictional creature.
In a Sunday, May 3, Instagram Story shared by Wilde, 42, her brother Charlie Chockburn was heard asking his older sister, “Olivia Wilde, do you care to address recent rumors that you’re a resurrected corpse?”
A giggling Wilde, lying in a bed wearing a hoodie and surrounded by blankets, responded, “Listen, that is a fisheye lens and I admit, is that my best angle or was that my best ever look? No. No, it’s startling, it’s a startling image.”
The post included a screenshot of Wilde’s face during the interview, positioned next to an image of Gollum from one of the fantasy trilogy’s films. “It was a fisheye lens and I don’t know why [I] was so close to the camera, I didn’t have to be,” Wilde continued. “That’s not the truth. Do you have any more questions?”
Wilde’s comments drew loud laughter from Cockburn, 33, before the amused Don’t Worry Darling actress and director concluded to the camera, “I’m not dead.”
Wilde further captioned the post, “Leave it to your little brother to give you the maximum amount of s***.”
In the days that followed Wilde’s San Francisco Chronicle interview, which discussed how essential San Franscico was as a backdrop within The Invite, starring Wilde, Seth Rogan, Edward Norton and Penelope Cruz, her appearance drew significant online commentary. In addition to Gollum comparisons, questions regarding cosmetic procedures and weight-loss methods arose via social media.
One social media user wrote via Instagram, “My thoughts and prayers are with @oliviawilde and her injector.”
The media attention comes on the back of Wilde seemingly confirming her new romance with art dealer Caspar Jopling. In an Instagram post shared on January 28, Wilde was seen snuggling up to a man, whom Us Weekly reported at the time was Jopling, 34. In the cozy snap, Wilde was captured with her eyes closed as Jopling, who is Ellie Goulding’s former husband, hugged her tight with his arms wrapped around her back. (Goulding, 39, and Jopling share one son, Arthur, 4. The exes announced their split in February 2024.)
Wilde and Jopling were first linked after photos published by Page Six in September 2025 showed the pair kissing outside a London restaurant.
Apple TV’s crime-drama bench is crowded right now, which makes this show’s chart movement particularly interesting. On April 23, one day after its Season 2 launch, FlixPatrol had it at No. 5 among Apple TV shows worldwide, behind only Margo’s Got Money Troubles, Imperfect Women, Your Friends & Neighbors, and Monarch: Legacy of Monsters. In the U.S. that same day, it also hit No. 5 on Apple TV’s TV chart, jumping four spots, which is a strong early signal for a returning thriller.
The better sign is that it did not vanish after the premiere curiosity cooled. By April 30, it was still sitting at No. 8 on Apple TV’s U.S. TV chart and had climbed to No. 7 overall on Apple TV’s U.S. list, above bigger Apple library names like Ted Lasso, The Last Thing He Told Me, and For All Mankind. By May 1, it remains visible globally at No. 7 among Apple TV shows, ahead of For All Mankind, Shrinking, and The Last Thing He Told Me.
The series is Criminal Record, Apple TV’s London-set detective thriller starring Peter Capaldi as DCI Daniel Hegarty and Cush Jumbo as DS June Lenker. The show’s Season 2 premiered globally on April 22, 2026, with eight weekly episodes running through June 10. The new story forces Hegarty and Lenker into an uneasy alliance after a young man is killed at a political rally, pushing the case toward a far-right bomb plot and the same moral rot that made Season 1 such a tense sleeper.
Criminal Record Season 2 opened with the kind of Rotten Tomatoes score that instantly strengthens the sleeper hit argument: early critics had it at 100%, signaling that the Apple TV thriller had returned with more than just residual goodwill from Season 1. The score has since shifted as more reviews were added, with Season 2 critics’ score on RT currently in the high-80s, but the debut reaction still matters.
Criminal Record is currently trending on Apple TV, and Season 2 will air its remaining episodes through June 10. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.
January 10, 2024
Apple TV
Paul Rutman
Jim Loach
Thomas Eccleshare, Ameir Brown, Paul Rutman
Andrew Brooke
Clive Silcox
Charlie Creed-Miles
DS Tony Gilfoyle
The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox allowed Grace Van Patten to work with sister Anna Van Patten, who then went on to appear in a graphic sex scene as Kitty on Euphoria.
Grace, who is Anna’s older sister, grew up with her siblings in New York City before attending Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School. After being directed by her father, Timothy Van Patten, in an episode of The Sopranos, Grace continued to find success with roles in Boardwalk Empire, Maniac and Nine Perfect Strangers.
Grace skyrocketed to fame after being cast as Lucy in Hulu’s Tell Me Lies. She went on to score the lead role as Amanda Knox in a limited series, which will chronicle the period after Knox was wrongfully accused in Meredith Kercher’s murder trial, her time in prison and her journey to freedom. Margaret Qualley was originally set to play Knox in Hulu’s scripted series, but she exited the project and Grace replaced her.
The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox paved the way for Grace to work with Anna, who plays Knox’s real-life sister.
“I’ll say that Grace is f***ing amazing. That’s what I will say,” Knox exclusively told Us Weekly in March 2025. “I’m in a very, very privileged position as someone who is a subject of a story. Typically someone in my position — the subject — doesn’t get to be an executive producer of their own show.”
Keep scrolling for what to know about Anna after she collaborated with Grace on The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox:

Anna made appearances on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, FBI: Most Wanted, Gossip Girl and she has been cast in season 3 of Euphoria.

Grace and Anna’s father is director and producer Timothy Van Patten and mother is Wendy Rossmeyer Van Patten. Their uncle is comic actor Dick Van Patten and their cousin is actress Talia Balsam, who is the daughter of Joyce Van Patten. Grace and Anna have a younger sister: June.

During a joint interview with her mother in January 2025, Anna spoke with Modern Luxury about breaking into the industry.
“I went to a performing arts high school where you could major in a subject. I majored in drama, and then I went to the New School for college where I studied film,” she explained. “I think learning all aspects of film can only teach me more about the art as a whole. I think that having Gossip Girl as my first job is teaching me a lot, because there’s really nothing like learning from being on set.”
Anna continued: “I’m so thankful for that, but I really want to learn to be more hands-on behind the camera. I think this is all teaching me a lot for potential future projects.”

The sisters shared the screen for the first time in Hulu’s The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox, which premiered in August 2025. Grace played Amanda while Anna Van Patten was cast as her sister, Deanna. The rest of the Knox family was portrayed by Sharon Horgan and John Hoogenakker.

Anna appeared in season 3 as a newcomer at the strip club. The dancer — who is named Kitty — has a brutal start at her new job when she has to have sex with a group of men.
There have been movies made about World War II since its conclusion, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t more stories to tell. The conflict was the largest in human history, and was filled with countless stories of heroism, many of which have never been addressed. “Operation Mincemeat” was an operation by the British military told by author Ben Macintyre in a 2010 novel that described the unusual plan. Although the novel had helped to publicize a story that hadn’t received much attention, Netflix’s Operation Mincemeat brought to life one of World War II’s strangest moments with the help of some of the greatest British actors working today. Beyond the fact that Operation Mincemeat is legitimately informative, it’s also a great work of entertainment that understands why World War II is such a compelling cinematic subject.
Operation Mincemeat examines a particularly dangerous moment in World War II when the Allies had prepared an invasion of Sicily, which could’ve turned the tide of the war through the advantages of European expansion. In order to ensure that the attack is a surprise, Admiral John Godfrey (Jason Isaacs) came up with a strategy to leak false information about an invasion of Greece that would confuse the Nazis, forcing them to mount their defenses elsewhere. The only way to pass along the fake details to the Nazis was to create false plans that were placed on the body of a fallen soldier, who could be intercepted. The unlikely heroes of Operation Mincemeat are Lieutenant Commander Ewen Montagu (Colin Firth) and Flight Lieutenant Charles Christopher Cholmondeley (Matthew Macfadyen), who are tasked with identifying the corpse and giving it the necessary preparations. While it is a war movie, first and foremost, Operation Mincemeat contains elements of the espionage and heist genres.
Operation Mincemeat is effective at showing the substantial pressure put upon the Allied forces at this point in the war, which has already proven to be devastating and responsible for millions of lives lost. The film shows how the Allies became more interested in untraditional strategies, as to simply wage war through endless combat zones would only become more destructive. The irony of the film is that Montagu and Cholmondeley find that the body of a vagrant could end up being responsible for an operation that brings forward peace. Even though this man, who is disguised as a soldier, did not get to enjoy the virtues of life in his own time, he may be helpful in awarding those freedoms to countless others. Although there is some humor in how the film describes how inherently unusual this mission was, it also shows a respectfulness for the deceased that is necessary for the given subject.
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Operation Mincemeat is distinct from other World War II films because it examines the unspoken heroism of those who were not in positions of authority. Among the complications of the secret mission is that Cholmondeley and Montagu understand that their actions will have to be classified in the immediate aftermath, and they may not receive the laudatory praise of their peers if their operation is successful. This opened the door to a deeper understanding of the ethics of spycraft, especially since future James Bond author Ian Fleming is a character in the film, played by Johnny Flynn. While being able to work in secret could have given Montagu and Cholmondeley the excuse to take a more ruthless, immoral approach, their insistence on remaining honorable shows the importance of retaining ethics. Montagu and Cholmondeley believe that victory cannot be attained through malicious means, as they don’t want to fall into the same path of deceit and manipulation that hallmarked their enemies.
Operation Mincemeat is a terrific ensemble film, as it shows that all of those that participated in the operation were integral to its success, and that a war could not be won by simply one brave soldier. Firth has had some experience starring in World War II films, such as The King’s Speech and The Railway Man, but he gives one of his most underrated performances ever as Montagu. Montagu is distraught throughout because he is separated from his family, who have been sent to remain in safety in the United States, which makes him feel even more alienated as he remains in Europe. He’s also Jewish, and there have been rumors about what Adolf Hitler did to the population of Poland, even if the more disturbing details of the Holocaust were not uncovered by the Allies at this point in history. While both of these stresses weigh down on Montagu, Firth shows the integrity of a man who put his best foot forward and served as a role model for those under his command.
The Operation Mincemeat story has strangely become even more popular since the film’s release, as a Broadway musical of the same name became incredibly successful, even if it took a slightly more comical approach. However, Operation Mincemeat is unique among war films because it showed how many of the most pivotal moments in the conflict were made in meetings and boardrooms. While this may not seem as inherently exciting as a film like Saving Private Ryan that is set within the trenches, Operation Mincemeat showed that heroism takes many forms, and that some of the most valiant efforts are kept secret.
Over two decades have passed since Denzel Washington played one of his most iconic characters, John Creasy, in the cult classic action film Man on Fire. The film was directed by his frequent creative collaborator, the late filmmaker Tony Scott. While Man on Fire wasn’t exactly a major blockbuster — it grossed around $130 million worldwide against a reported budget of $70 million — it became a home-video sensation in subsequent years. In many ways, it paved the way for Liam Neeson‘s Taken and for Washington’s own The Equalizer movies. Netflix is aware of the film’s popularity, which explains why the streamer greenlit a reimagined series. The new show debuted this week and emerged as an instant hit on the platform.
Headlined by Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, the seven-episode Man on Fire series is created by Kyle Killen. The show’s first two episodes were directed by Steven Caple Jr., who rose through the Hollywood ranks with Creed II and Transformers: Rise of the Beasts. He’s now putting together a sequel to I Am Legend, starring Will Smith and Michael B. Jordan. Abdul-Mateen II has appeared in two major superhero projects, James Wan‘s Aquaman and Damon Lindelof‘s Watchmen series on HBO. His Man on Fire series offers direct competition to Prime Video’s rival titles Reacher and Jack Ryan, but it wasn’t as well-received as either of those shows.
Man on Fire currently holds a 60% score on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, which is higher than the 39% score of the 2004 movie, but is simply not good enough for long-term success. In her review, Collider’s Carly Lane described it as a “perfect binge for Reacher” fans, but noted that it “is more of a slow burn than an instantaneous firestorm.” Despite the mixed initial reactions from critics, the show emerged as Netflix’s number one title both domestically and worldwide, according to FlixPatrol. Meanwhile, Washington is gearing up to reprise his role as Robert McCall in two more movies in The Equalizer franchise. The series’ three movies so far have each generated higher global box-office returns than the Man on Fire movie, and have remained hot favorites on streaming. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.
April 30, 2026
Netflix
Kyle Killen
Steven Caple Jr., Vicente Amorim, Clare Kilner, Michael Cuesta
Kyle Killen
Real Housewives of Rhode Island star Kelsey Swanson is officially a one-man woman.
“I’m only in one relationship now,” Kelsey told Us Weekly exclusively ahead of last month’s RHORI premiere. “You’ll see as the season progresses where that goes, but I am in a relationship. [I have a] boyfriend, I will label it that, but not married, and no kids.”
The Sunday, May 3 episode of RHORI offered more insight into Kelsey as she moved on from an “unconventional” 10-year relationship which turned her into “a lady of leisure.”
Kelsey and her ex were able to date other people while they were together, but during Sunday’s episode she explained that he was dating “more people than she initially” thought.
“I want [a] real solid relationship, like I have to make a move now, for me,” Kelsey said in her confessional on Sunday. Her ex said that she was making “the right decision” for her future.

“He didn’t even fight it,” she said. (Aside from her ex, who didn’t make an appearance on the Bravo show, Kelsey introduced viewers to William “Bill” L’Europa, who was referred to as her boyfriend during Sunday’s episode.)
Kelsey told Us that the “hardest” part of her post-breakup transition was moving out of her ex’s mansion.
“I handle change very well, believe it or not. It’s just thatI didn’t want to handle it,” she said, “I didn’t want to have to. Especially the timing of everything just sucks. I think I handled it well. It was just a s***** situation to be in.”
The first episode of RHORI featured Kelsey sharing the house’s specs during her confessional.
“Living in a 16,000-square-foot home, the house literally has everything that I need. Four kitchens, 79 TVs, the closet — the best part,” she said at the time. “My boyfriend’s family is probably one of the most prominent families in the state of Rhode Island, and he has allowed me to live a life of not being able to work.”
During Sunday’s episode, Kelsey broke down in tears while moving out of her ex’s home. She cried, telling costar Liz McGraw that she’s “happy” and “sad” about the situation.
“Leaving this mansion, I am terrified. I lived with my parents until I met my boyfriend. I was 20 and I went straight from my parents house to his house,” Kelsey said in her confessional. “This is the first time where I’m taking that step and, literally, am going to be solo.”
New episodes of The Real Housewives of Rhode Island premiere via Bravo on Sundays at 9 p.m. ET and stream via Peacock the next day.
Euphoria introduced Grace Van Patten‘s sister Anna Van Patten by having her character involved in a brutal group sex scene with multiple men.
During the Sunday, May 3, episode of the hit HBO series, Kitty (Anna Van Patten) joined the club after Angel (Priscilla Delgado) disappeared from rehab. She initially was meant to dance for the customers at the strip joint but then a group of four men hired her to join them in a private room.
Kitty was then seen taking ketamine before the men took turns having sex with her. Rue (Zendaya) watched the brutal situation unfold on the cameras in the back. She then tried to offer help to Kitty — even asking if she was forced to work at the club — but the new dancer blew off her concerns.
Things take a turn for the worst when a robbery took place at the club. The manager got shot and Rue ultimately realized that Laurie was to blame. Elsewhere in the episode, Maddy (Alexa Demie) took Cassie (Sydney Sweeney) under her wing, which resulted in her gaining tons of new subscribers on OnlyFans.
Euphoria, which premiered in 2019, originally followed troubled high school student Rue as she struggled to remain sober after rehab. The hit HBO series was quickly renewed for a second season after its premiere, but it took nearly three years for the next batch of episodes to air.
Season 3 was originally set to air on HBO in 2025 before facing several obstacles, including creator Sam Levinson’s commitment to his short-lived series The Idol. The dual WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, which took place in late 2023, also prolonged the delay.
Since season 2 concluded, the cast went through a loss when Angus Cloud died at age 25 in July 2023 following an accidental overdose. The show is expected to address the fate of his character, Fezco, while Eric Dane‘s Cal made an appearance in the trailer one month after the actor’s death following a battle with ALS. He was 53.
“Some people ask why it took so long between seasons 2 and 3. There were obvious factors — the strikes, trying to make a schedule work with our very in-demand cast, but the real time was in trying to figure out how to find a way to pay respect to those who we lost,” Levinson said in a speech at the season 3 premiere in April 2026.
He continued: “When Angus died, it was tough. I loved him deeply, and I fought hard to keep him clean. The year he died, in 2023, he was one of 73,000 people in America who died of a fentanyl overdose. I learned a whole lot that year, but what I realized more than anything is that death is what gives life meaning. You can’t be arrogant about existence. You’re forced to reckon with the fact that life itself is a wonder, a gift, a profound blessing.”
Levinson also explained how the show will pay tribute on screen.
“There are a lot of scenes where people are either talking to him on the phone,” he told Variety about the decision for Fez to still be part of the story. “I thought that if I couldn’t keep him alive in life then maybe within this show that I can control and keep him alive there. I think the whole thing was to honor him and also I can’t wait for you to see the last few episodes. I think he would be cracking up at his story line. I think he would love it.”
Euphoria airs on HBO Sundays at 9 p.m. ET.
The Met Gala curse has become a popular online theory suggesting that celebrity couples who attend the event together are doomed to break up shortly after. Over the years, several high-profile splits have fueled the speculation, giving the idea a life of its own across social media.
However, the pattern may be more coincidence than curse, as many couples who have walked the Met Gala red carpet together have gone on to stay happily together. Nevertheless, the speculation continues to trend online.
In 2016, The Weeknd, real name Abel Tesfaye, walked the Met Gala red carpet with model Bella Hadid. The couple arrived in matching Givency outfits, with Hadid donning a black strapless gown and The Weeknd wearing an all-black suit with a matching bow tie. Six months after the event, however, they announced their amicable split, citing their busy schedules.
The following year, The Weeknd made his new relationship with Selena Gomez red-carpet official when they attended the Met Gala together and shared a kiss for photographers. The former Disney star wore a blush-colored silk chiffon Coach dress with hand-sewn embroidery. In October that same year, multiple sources confirmed that the couple had broken up.
It isn’t clear when Katie Holmes and Jamie Foxx began dating, but the actress has been spotted with the “Django Unchained” actor as early as 2013. The couple kept an extremely low profile in their romance, with only insiders offering a glimpse into their relationship.
In 2016, an insider said Holmes and Foxx were “very serious” about each other. Papparazzi shots were the only evidence that the two spent time together, often seen holding hands and hugging. In 2018, the two were spotted at a gala in New York, where they sat beside each other and shared laughs the whole night.
They made their first appearance as a couple at the 2019 Met Gala, where Holmes wore a purple Zac Posen gown. Three months later, the couple broke up after six years together.
Rumors that Kim Kardashian and Pete Davidson started making the rounds after the reality star appeared as a guest on SNL, where she shared the spotlight with the comedian. In a sketch, the two played Aladdin and Jasmine and shared a kiss in a parody of the Disney movie. Later, Kardashian described that the kiss had a “little zing.”
The two were then spotted on several dates and even went on a vacation to the Bahamas. In February 2022, Davidson publicly called Kardashian his “girlfriend” in an interview with PEOPLE. They attended the Met Gala that same year, with the reality star donning the controversial Marilyn Monroe dress. Three months later, they separated, with a source claiming the relationship “ran its course.”
Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth’s on-and-off relationship dates back to 2009. The two met on the set of “The Last Song” and sparked a relationship. They broke up and got back together a few times before getting engaged in 2012. In September 2013, however, they called off their engagement and went their separate ways.
Cyrus and Hemsworth sparked dating rumors in January 2016, and a week later, the “Party in the U.S.A.” singer showed off her engagement ring on Instagram. The couple married sometime in December 2018, and they attended the Met Gala the following year. In August 2019, they announced their separation and later filed for divorce, citing irreconcilable differences. Their divorce was finalized in 2020.
Dating rumors about Sabrina Carpenter and Barry Keoghan began circulating in late 2023, when they were seen having a “romantic dinner” together. The two made several public appearances together but never outright confirmed their relationship, often avoiding questions about each other or vaguely answering relationship inquiries without naming each other.
In May 2024, Carpenter and Keoghan attended the Met Gala separately but posed for red carpet photos together. The actor portrayed the singer’s love interest in the music video for “Please, Please, Please” the following month, further fueling rumors about their relationship. Eight months after the Met Gala, the two parted ways for good, with a source claiming the relationship “didn’t end well.”
Yellowstone‘s Marshals spinoff shocked viewers with a dangerous ranch fire that resulted in country singer Riley Green‘s character Garrett suffering from second degree burns.
During the Sunday, May 3, episode of the hit CBS series, Kayce (Luke Grimes) saw a fire break out in a barn on his property. He rushed over as Garrett was helping the horses in the stable escape but then things took a turn. Garrett was caught under a beam that fell and he subsequently suffered second degree burns.
The rest of the episode showed Garrett’s loved ones concerned about his health — and his lungs — after a doctor noted that there was internal damage in addition to external. It remains to be seen how much of a health scare Garrett is going through.
Marshals marks Green’s acting debut — with him appearing in multiple episodes this season.
“I’m so excited to be joining the cast of Marshals. Being on set with my buddy Luke Grimes made the experience even more memorable,” Green said in a statement in February. “This is my first go around in the acting space and I couldn’t have asked for a better introduction to this world.”
Green plays former Navy SEAL Garrett, who arrives at the ranch hoping to lean on his friends Kayce Dutton and Cal to help “put the demons of his past to rest,” according to the official character description.

“It happened really organically. It was through Luke Grimes, who’s become a real good buddy of mine,” Green told People in April about how his role on the show came to be. “He’s starting his music career and was starting to come to Nashville and doing some cowriting and stuff. I was trying to help him out in that world a little bit with some people that I knew. He was like, ‘Man, you should try acting, you know? I think you’d be good at it.’ I was already kind of putting thought into that.”
Green recalled everyone being “so welcoming” to him on set as he balanced acting and performing.
“A lot of my music career, other than writing new songs and adding things to a set, there’s a lot of monotony of playing the same songs over and over again, showing in and out during a tour,” he shared. “This is something that’s brand new every day.”
After meeting with an acting coach, Green was taught not to “worry so much about the lines” and instead focus on responding “to what the other person says.” Green also teased how his character has “a lot of vulnerability,” in addition to his extensive military experience.
“He’d been through a lot and had a lot of problems and that’s not the easiest thing to just jump into,” Green noted. “I certainly think there would have been characters that would have been easier for me to sort of tap into that were more similar to me.”
He continued: “This guy was somebody that really had a lot of deep emotional problems from things that had happened to him in the past. And when you haven’t lived those, you really kind of just rely on feedback from other people in the room.”
Marshals airs on CBS Sundays at 8 p.m. ET.
Each year, the annual Met Gala encourages Hollywood’s finest to make an unforgettable appearance that coincides with the theme of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute.
From “Camp: Notes on Fashion” in 2019 to “Punk: Chaos to Couture” in 2013, stars bring their A-game to the fundraiser.
Outrageous looks have almost become an essential part of the stylish night. With the imaginations of fashion’s most creative designers behind them, stars have sported everything from backless chaps to pope attire.
The “China: Through the Looking Glass” collection in 2015 brought forth some seriously wild looks. Sarah Jessica Parker arrived in a Philip Treacy headpiece that featured a mohawk and a custom H&M dress that she helped design. Rihanna turned heads in a bright yellow Guo Pei Couture number that had a train over eight feet long. And you could hardly see Solange Knowles’ head peeking out of her structured Giles dress.
Possibly the funkiest theme of all was 2019’s “Camp: Notes on Fashion.” Katy Perry made headlines for wearing a Jeremy Scott ensemble featuring a 3-D chandelier that even lit up. From Tiffany Haddish’s Michael Kors sparkly suit to Cardi B‘s Thom Browne mattress dress, it’s nearly impossible to narrow down the wild looks.
These are just a few of the wacky and cool outfits that have stood out through the years. But to see all the wildest, greatest and completely absurd looks to grace the Met Gala red carpet, keep scrolling.
If you’re of a certain age, there’s a very good chance you’ve read William Golding‘s classic 1954 novel Lord of the Flies, which has been required reading in many schools. The book, about a group of young boys stranded on an island after a plane crash, has inspired many other works since, including Showtime’s Yellowjackets. It’s also been adapted a few times on screen, most notably via films in 1963 and 1990. Now, Lord of the Flies is back as a four-part miniseries set to premiere on Netflix in the U.S., and if you’ve read the book, you know what to expect. Not content to simply let things play out exactly as they do in the novel, though, creator Jack Thorne (Adolescence) and director Marc Munden (The Secret Garden) take some creative risks that don’t always work.
The first thing this new version of Lord of the Flies does right is that it doesn’t give in to temptation and update the source material for the modern age. The miniseries isn’t set in the 21st century, with whiny kids missing their cellphones. The BBC is involved, which means it’s not Americanized either. Lord of the Flies isn’t interested in slowly establishing the characters before hitting viewers with the inciting incident. From the first scene, the plane crash has already happened, with the focus on a survivor lying in the muck.
Each of the miniseries’ four episodes revolves around a different major character. The premiere revolves around Piggy (David McKenna), a short kid with asthma and the smarts to lead everyone, if only the others would listen. In the second episode, the plot shifts to Jack (Lox Pratt), the angry blonde kid and head of the boys’ choir, who quickly assumes leadership of the hunters. Episode 3 belongs to Simon (Ike Talbut), a boy torn between two sides and mentally breaking down, while the finale centers on Ralph (Winston Sawyer) as he struggles to hold on to his role as chief.
This approach allows for an understanding of how different personalities adjust to being stranded when they’re much too young to process the situation. Some rise to lead, while others crumble and let selfish desires take over. Piggy is the brains of the group, but isn’t respected because of his appearance. Increasingly, it’s him and Ralph against the insanity spreading in Jack’s group. How many of them will make it out alive?
How do you add something new to such a well-known story, especially when the choice has been made not to modernize it? In some respects, you don’t. Munden and Thorne seem to recognize this and allow this tale to mostly play out as is, since throwing in too many ideas would cut a classic off at the knees. Golding’s story stands on its own, and its powerful themes about societal breakdown remain timely today.
Still, this Lord of the Flies adaptation is more than a simple, straightforward retelling; it’s a work of art. Munden contributes an impressive cinematic flair that becomes its own character at points. Shots twist or go fuzzy in the chaos. Colors brighten or become more saturated when one character starts to fall apart. When the group of survivors is being introduced, the camera often finds them, one by one, in uncomfortable close-ups on numb faces, like end-of-the-world school photos.
The score, created in part by the iconic Hans Zimmer, has the same unnerving personality. It’s never too aggressive, but it doesn’t allow the viewer to relax either. It begins with simple woodwinds and strings, putting the audience in the story’s era, before becoming more frantic, reaching a crescendo of horror in later episodes. These artistic touches are a treat for the eyes and ears, but they also feel a bit too overwrought at times, mostly as a consequence of the overall series length.
Golding’s novel is just 224 pages long, which means that Lord of the Flies works perfectly as a two-hour film. As a four-hour miniseries, the story is strained midway through, with repetitive scenes and meandering shots leading up to bigger moments. There’s one crucial scene where the new adaptation goes in a direction it should’ve avoided. Rather than being sudden and terrifying, it’s drawn out too long, with prolonged goodbyes that diminish the immediate shock of the original moment, removing the pain of immediacy where things can go to hell in an instant. It’s the only time when the miniseries makes a misstep, becoming too modernized after rejecting it elsewhere.
Thankfully, this divergence can be somewhat forgiven due to the young cast’s phenomenal performances. Talbut’s wide eyes convey Simon’s breakdown, while Sawyer displays the calm and steadiness that make Ralph a chosen chief. Yet Lord of the Flies is especially buoyed by two cast members. Lox Pratt’s Jack is awful in the best way possible. He’s a horrible jerk, a selfish kid who deserves the worst, yet he’s also shown to be scared and weak when he’s not showing off. It’s easy to see why Pratt was cast as Draco Malfoy in the new Harry Potter TV series. McKenna’s Piggy is the tragic heart of Lord of the Flies, and the miniseries is at its best every time it finds him. The character is wise beyond his years, a lonely soul forced to grow up all too young, all conveyed without the necessity of dialogue.
Another adaptation of Lord of the Flies arguably isn’t necessary, especially if you’re already familiar with the story, but this new interpretation is a solid way in for the uninitiated. Its cinematic style is effective, and its performances are outstanding. If its four episodes had been a bit shorter, and a few changes to the source material had been reversed, Lord of the Flies could have achieved greatness; instead, it settles for being pretty good.
Lord of the Flies is now streaming on Netflix.
2026 – 2026-00-00
BBC One
Marc Munden
Jack Thorne
David McKenna
Nicholas (Piggy)
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