American Horror Story - Season 13 Casting/Spoilers/Disney Upfronts 2026

With filming for Season 13 of FX's American Horror Story continuing, I wanted to hold back on posting more stuff but after last night, I felt another blog was in order.

First of all, let's confirm some returns, shall we? In the above picture, we had the very people at the Disney Upfronts last night. Over the last few weeks, it's been confirmed that Sarah Paulson, Emma Roberts, Gabourey Sidibe and Angela Bassett are reprising their Coven roles. Yup, we get to see Cordelia Goode, Madison Montgomery, Queenie and Marie Laveau in the upcoming season.

Now what about Evan Peters? If rumours are correct, he'll be reprising his role of James Patrick March from Hotel. It's also likely he'll play another character in the season. Billie Lourd and Leslie Grossman will reprise Mallory and Coco St. Pierre Vanderbilt respectively from Apocalypse. There's still a question regarding who Kathy Bates might be playing but an educated guess, it's likely Madame Delphine Lalaurie once again.

There's no question mark surrounding Jessica Lange. She's absolutely reprising her Murder House character, Constance Langdon. Keeping with that ...

Last month Joey Pollari was confirmed as a new male lead for the thirteenth season. It's been revealed (not officially) that he'll be playing a new character named Ben DeSoto. Pollari's character encounters the number 13 in unusual places and filming confirmed that Ben will interact with Constance in the Apollyon Hotel. This will also be the third season in a row set in New York.

Pollari's casting wasn't the only thing revealed over the last few weeks. While we're still in the dark about who John Waters and Ariana Grande are playing, we do know that Avantika and Alex Consani have been cast, likely as new witches. However the biggest casting actually came at the Disney Upfronts last night.

Fresh from his performance as JFK Jr. in FX's Love Story, Paul Anthony Kelly was introduced on stage as a new cast member for American Horror Story. Dressed in cultish robes and a mask, the actor joked about being a fresh nightmare and 13 being his lucky number. Could he be playing a baddie this season? 

I did say that the show needed more men this season and it seems like Ryan Murphy has gotten the message. Other rumoured cast members include Jamie Brewer, Mena Suvari, Seth Gabel and Fedor Steer. Two of those actors will be reprising characters from Murder House. 

As for everything else, Ryan Murphy has directed the first episode of Season 13 with Tim Minear and Jennifer Salt returning as producers. Both Charlie Carver and Ned Martel will be writing for the show and Crystle Robertson will direct some episodes. On top of that, a recent bit of filming at an airport indicated that references to every previous season will be made.

As for the logline, we got something to mull over ....

"Created and produced by Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk, 'American Horror Story' has redefined the genre with various installments featuring a creepy murder house, a coven of witches, a traveling freak show, a haunted hotel and the apocalypse itself. Which iconic horrors will return to haunt the hallowed halls of 13 and what new terrors await? Light your candles, draw your pentagrams and prepare for a supreme surprise."

I can't lie, that does sound pretty exciting. A nice mix of a greatest hits package along with some new elements in the mix. I'm looking forward to seeing how they're going to make 13 into such a plot point. While the official subtitles has yet to be confirmed, I think we can all guess what it'll be.

American Horror Story Season 13 will air on FX from September. Disney+ for everyone else.

My Review of 8mm (1999)

 

Written by Andrew Kevin Walker 

Directed by Joel Schumacher 

Max California: "There are some things that you see, and you can't unsee them. Know what I mean?"

I remember I watched this movie as a teenager and for some reason, I just ended up revisiting it the other day. It's a movie with a heavy subject matter and a performance from Nicholas Cage that's in the middle of his performances I guess.

Cage played a private investigator named Tom Welles. Welles was contacted by Daniel Longdale (Anthony Heald). This was on behalf of a wealthy but surprisingly decent widow named Mrs. Christian (Myra Carter). Basically she discovered about her late husband that she rather wished she hadn't.

The something being a snuff movie in his possession. Mrs. Christian wanted Welles to find out if the woman in the film was actually alive. Welles took on the case and learned that the woman was called Mary Ann Mathews (Jenny Powell) and that naturally led into a rather dark underbelly in itself.

Taking on the role of sidekick/fetish expert was adult video store clerk Max California (Joaquin Phoenix). He's a great foil to Welles and I actually really liked the back and forth both men had with each other. It also helped that Max genuinely wanted to help Welles get justice but at a price.

The bad guys in this movie were as clichéd as you could get. It wasn't too shocking that Longdale ended up being involved in the seedy world of those type of movies and he got a much deserved comeuppance. Of course he was more of a bit player.

The real villains were pornographer Dino Velvet (Peter Storm are) and his right hand "Machine" (Chris Bauer). Both are pretty despicable characters and both get their just desserts as did Eddie Poole (James Gandolfini). The events of the movie rightly impact Welles going forward.

- Other actors who popped up here included Norman Reedus as Warren Anderson and Catherine Keener as Welles's wife, Amy.

- Mark Walhberg was originally cast as Max California but dropped out.

- Standout music: Aphex Twins Come To Daddy was frequently used.

- Chronology: Took place in both Hollywood and North California.

8mm isn't an easy watch. It tackled a very dark subject matter and did it's best to give it the necessary weight required. It's fairly successful with solid performances throughout. Not a career high or low for anyone involved.

Rating: 6 out of 10 

My Review of Abandoned (2022)

 

Written by Erik Patterson And Jessica Scott

Directed by Spencer Squire

Sara: "You know I don't mind a little haunting. We'll take it."

Well, this might be one of the dullest horror films I've had the misfortune to watch. Let's take a young couple with a new baby, plank them in the middle of nowhere and have some spooky shit happen.

It's a simple premise that's so ineptly executed that it beggars belief. The couple in question being a school teacher Sara (Emma Roberts) and farmer Alex (John Gallagher Jr). They're not exactly having the best of times.

I felt at the start of the movie, the rather obnoxious realtor was trying to give both Sara and Alex an out when it came into moving into the farmhouse. It turned out that a woman died in that house along with her baby and father. The woman also looked a bit like Sara, despite being played by Addy Miller.

Anyways the movie trundled along at an excruciating pace with baby Chris constantly crying and Sara being unable to placate in spite of her best efforts to do so. Various items kept going missing, Chris ended up in danger a few times and Sara and Alex fought with each other.

All of them stuff should've resonated and felt real but it's tackled so poorly that I ended up rooting for the creepy ghosts haunting the place. Yes, there's ghosts and at some point Sara managed to loosen their hold on the place and live a happy life with her husband and son.

The only actor in this movie who seemed to bother to try to make the material work was Michael Shannon as Chris Renner. He had connections to the opening kill and tried to help both Sara and Alex as much as the script would allow him to. Michael Shannon was thoroughly wasted though.

- By the end of the movie, Sara was pregnant with her second child. 

- Emma Roberts went barefoot for most of this film for god knows what reason.

- Standout music: Thr Turtles Happy Together.

- Chronology: Present day in that abandoned farmhouse. The murders took place forty years beforehand.

Abandoned is an absolute crapfest that foolishly takes itself far too seriously for it's own damn good. The scares are barely tepid, the ending was rushed, Michael Shannon was the only actor who made an effort and I wished that I hadn't wasted any time on this. Best avoided.

Rating: 2 out of 10 

My Review of Bros (2022)

Written by Billy Eichner And Nicholas Stopper

Directed by Nicholas Stoller

Aaron (to Bobby): "Hey! If you don't trust me, that's fine. But if for some reason, underneath all that strength and confidence, you still don't trust that you are lovable enough, I'm living proof... .that you're wrong."

I've been putting this one off for a long time and I was going to leave it until next month but boredom got the better of me. There's a reason I left this one so long and it's the lead actor.

I don't dislike Billy Eichner as an actor but he's quite abrasive at times and for a romcom, I did question whether he was the right choice to lead one. Watching this movie still didn't give me a definitive answer by the way. The box office numbers would suggest no by the way but are they always a good indicator?

Like all romcoms, everyone's well off or affluent enough to afford decent apartments. With Eichner's character, he's playing an opinionated LGBT podcaster named Bobby Lieber. Bobby's not into relationships and had a dim view on certain type of men.

There's Aaron Shepard (Luke Macfarlane). He's the more masc for masc kind of gay man that made Bobby self conscious and Aaron's in a lawyer job that's not satisfying him creatively. Bobby and Aaron try the casual relationship for some of the movie but it got serious rather fast and their differences ended up causing some problems for them.

There's such a thing as being too forthright and Bobby being that was vexing for Aaron when the latter's parents came to town. That led to a temporary split between the two of them. Of course this being a romcom, both men learned from each other before inevitably reuniting with each other.

Aaron learned to loosen up a bit and go into the actual line of work he wanted to do while Bobby embraced a genre of music that normally wasn't to his taste. The reunion was sweet and I'll admit after a shaky start, there's some genuinely solid chemistry between Billy Eichner and Luke Macfarlane. 

- While she's certainly not popular these days, I did find Debra Messing rather funny being exasperated by gay men mistaking her for her most iconic character.

- There's some great supporting roles from LGBT actors such as Dot Marie Jones, Guillermo Diaz, Harvey Fierstein, Amanda Bearse, Jai Rodriguez and TS Madison to name a few.

- Aaron wasn't lying when he said that The Hangover was his favourite movie. I like it when people admit something very mainstream is their favourite rather than their Letterboxd favourite.

- There's cameos from the likes of Seth Meyers, Ben Stiller, Amy Schemer, Kristin Chenowith and Kenan Thompson. Some of them played some very famous LGBT people.

- Standout music: Nat King Cole's Love Is Here To Stay, Orville Peck's Turn To Hate and Billy Eichner's Love Is Not Love.

- Chronology: Took place over several months, included Christmas and then three months later in New York.

I think I seriously misjudged Bros (2022) as a movie. I ended up liking it a lot more than I thought I would and while I'm not sure Billy Eichner is a leading man for this genre, I'll admit there's good chemistry between him and Luke Macfarlane.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of Half Man: "Episode 3"

 

Written by Richard Gadd 

Directed by Alexandra Brodski 

Ruben: "Say it, please I need to hear it. Who am I?"

Niall: "My brother from another lover."

We are now at the halfway point in this limited series and while time continued to move slower in the present day, things were speeding up in the past a lot.

It's been four years since Ruben viciously attacked Alby and his day in court was imminent. During that time, Ruben was volunteering with young lads and seemed to enjoy being a positive influence on them. Niall was also graduating from college.

It's funny that in the previous episode, Lori was determined for Niall to keep his distance from Ruben but this time around both her and Maura wanted Niall to lie in court. I was rather disgusted with the idea of Niall being strong armed into lying that Alby groped Ruben just so the latter would avoid prison. Niall almost went through with it.

Fortunately there was Joanna. She was the only one who actually confronted Niall on his sexuality, blasted Ruben to his face and to both Lori and Maura and even accepted that Niall was gay. There was a subplot where Niall and Joanna briefly dated and thankfully it was just brief. Joanna for the win in general. 

The court case was rough itself because while Ruben might live Niall in his own fucked up way, the latter made the right call by going against Ruben and sticking up for Alby. Ruben vowing to make Niall ugly still packed a punch. 

As for the present day, both Niall and Alby were now married. The reception was tense as anything and it got even more tense when Ruben sat beside Niall and decided to give a speech. That was a way to end this one on.

- I spotted another Doctor Who actor in Anjli Mohindra as Ava. She was in the previous episode as well.

- Niall's best man went from promising to protect him to moving very fast when Ruben appeared.

- I know Maura was dead in the present day but I thought she was faking cancer in the past to manipulate Niall to help Ruben avoid prison. Ruben alluded to being abused by his father.

- Alby was in a coma for six months. Joanna didn't want to be a teacher, in spite of her qualifications and Niall was in a production of Hamlet at one point.

- Standout music: Echo And The Bunnymen's The Killer Moon.

- Chronology: The flashbacks were set in 1993. Present day was the reception.

A strong third outing. The 1993 flashbacks made progress in Niall getting closer to accepting his sexuality and Ruben's hold on him starting to falter. If this was the last episode for the younger versions, then both Stuart Campbell and Mitchell Robertson went out on a strong note.

Rating: 8 out of 10 

My Review of Lurker (2025)

 

Written And Directed by Alex Russell 

Oliver (to Matthew): "I guess that means you're like my best friend."

Catching up with movies, this one's due to make its debut on HBO Max this month. It's been on my list for a while and it's a tale about toxic friendships.

You've got two men. There's aspiring singer/musician Oliver (Archie Madekwe) who definitely wanted to have a huge career but found himself surrounded by too many yes men. To be fair that wasn't something Oliver seemed to be that bothered about for most of the movie.

On the other hand, there's also retail employee Matthew Morning (Théodore Pellerin) and to be fair, the movie was more geared towards his obsession with Oliver than anything. Matthew was desperate to be a part of Oliver's life, no matter what.

At first, Matthew succeeded in doing just that. He bonded with Oliver over obscure music, got the backstage pass and found a way to make himself vital by helping Oliver with his documentary. Despite the fact that some of Oliver's crew were a bit wary of him, things were going Matthew's way.

Where it went wrong was Matthew reluctantly agreeing to let his former co-worker Jamie (Sunny Suljic) into Oliver's world as well. This brought Matthew's jealous side and it had been up to Shai (Havana Rose Liu) to tell Matthew that he was no longer part of the group.

Of course Matthew wasn't going to accept that and created a scenario that forced Oliver into taking him back into the group. There's a real battle of wills between Oliver and Matthew but the latter made a point about wanting it more. Matthew wanting it more might have compromised his morality but it certainly got the desired results throughout. 

- Matthew's only family figure was his grandmother, who appeared in a few scenes. Despite the premise, Matthew was seemingly straight.

- Oliver didn't have supportive parents when it came to his music career. He also feared being misunderstood the most.

- Standout music: Oliver's Love And Obsession was fitting considering the events of this movie.

- Chronology: Mostly set in Los Angeles but there was a trip to London and the movie ended with Oliver being a Grammy nominee while promoting his documentary at a film festival.

For the most part, I rather liked Lurker as a movie. We've done these toxic/obsessive friendship tropes and there's certainly blurred lines between how Matthew viewed Oliver throughout the whole film. Good performances from the leads help it.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of The Drama (2026)

 

Written And Directed by Kristoffer Borgli

Emma (to Charlie): "Do you live around here?"

Well, I've been waiting a bit to watch this one. It's garnered a bit of a reputation but was it as good as everyone said it was? Funnily enough, it was.

I'm actually surprised they didn't try a Valentine's release for this one because it would've been perfect. Anyways you've got a couple named Emma Harwood (Zendaya) and Charlie Thompson (Robert Pattinson). Their journey to the altar was draught and that's an understatement.

Their meet cute stemmed from Charlie faking an interest in a book that Emma was reading in a café. It was also during their first encounter that it was revealed Emma was deaf in one ear. Charlie assumed it was since birth. The real story on the other hand was a lot worse.

With Charlie and Emma about to get married, there was a dinner with their friends Mike (Mamoudou Athie) and Rachel (Alana Haim). The dinner took a dark turn when they all confessed to their worse deeds. Emma admitting that she originally planned a massive shooting wasn't on my bingo card.

I'll admit that genuinely shocked me when she went into detail and while Rachel's reaction was one that most people would have, the latter would get progressively annoying as the movie went on. In particular, at the actual wedding itself, Rachel delivered the type of speech that would kill any friendship stone dead.

As for Charlie and Emma, the latter's confession which came with flashbacks of her being an anti-gun activist during her high school years created a lot of tension. Their wedding day couldn't go without Charlie getting punched by a co-worker's boyfriend. As for the ending, well we did get another meet cute, so maybe Charlie and Emma will be fine.

- Misha (Hailey Gates) was the co-worker that Charlie attempted to kiss when he was having a meltdown about Emma.

- Charlie cyberbullied a kid, Mike used an ex-girlfriend as a human shield and Rachel locked a disabled child in a trailer overnight.

- Emma's father was in the military, adding more context to her story. Charlie's grandparents were also alive.

- Rachel's cousin Sam (Anna Baryshnikov) was a victim of a school shooting but survived. I didn't like the way Charlie accosted her.

- Standout music: Mackeeper's Pieces Of You.

- Chronology: Set in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Two years timeline.

I really did like The Drama (2026) a lot as a movie. There's genuinely great chemistry with Zendaya and Robert Pattinson. They're wonderful to watch and i can't wait to see how they will interact in two other movies coming out this year.

Rating: 8 out of 10