Basement 

The iconic title character stars in her own horror and gothic TV series.

Two Distant Strangers (2020) centers around Carter James (Joey Bada$$) as he tries to get back home to his pitbull, Jeter, after spending a night at the apartment of his date Perri (Zaria Simone). What gets in the way of Carter reuniting with his dog is that every time he tries to leave Perri’s apartment,  he is killed by police and wakes up back in her bed in a never-ending cycle. It addresses the issue of police brutality which rightly has been in the public eye more and more with the unjust deaths caused at the hands of law enforcement.

Zombie apocalypses have been metaphors for late-stage predatory capitalism, but never a system disrupter that brings about freedom.

For anyone who is not a cis white woman, a justice-fueled murderous rampage is not framed as liberation. Instead, they contribute to harsh stereotypes that vilify minority women with dangerous consequences.

In Amazon’s new shark flick, The Devil’s Mouth, terrible tourists finally get their comeuppance while two estranged best friends must overcome their petty squabbles to survive as the rest of their party gets chomped one by one. While it’s by no means an Oscar winner, The Devil’s Mouth is good old fashioned shark week carnage with a tourist critical twist, perfect with popcorn, a friend, and a healthy does of schadenfreude. 

A film for the post-MeToo era that inverts the narrative with an ironic coda, Tár depicts the duality of a sensitive artist capable of great evil and vile manipulation.