My Review of Twinless (2025)

 

Written And Directed by James Sweeney

Dennis (to Roman): "You know how people say "just be yourself"? Like, what version of me? I hate most of them. But the version of me that was just hanging out with you, I... I wanted to be him all the time."

I'm going to start this review by pointing out that I'm a twin myself and the polar opposite of my siblings, though we do share some things in common. The premise of this movie certainly intrigued me.

Dylan O'Brien as an actor has definitely done his best to shed his teen heartthrob identity from his Teen Wolf days by taking on of a variety of different roles. In this movie, he's a set of twins. There's Rocky, who's gay and Roman who happened to be straight.

Then there's Dennis, played by writer and director James Sweeney himself. Dennis was briefly involved with Rocky until the latter ghosted him for George (Chris Perfetti). Dennis was also one of two people who last saw Rocky alive before the latter got hit by a car.

Now that wasn't strictly Dennis's fault but everything else from that point onwards absolutely was. No one told Dennis to wear a wig and attend Rocky's funeral and no one told Dennis to befriend Roman under false pretenses. These were things that Dennis chose to talong with lying about having a dead twin.

It's a pretty messed up lie because the sad thing was that under different circumstances maybe Dennis and Roman would've been friends. They enjoyed grocery shopping together and each others company. However it was Dennis inadvertently pairing Dennis with his co-worker, Marcie (Aisling Franciosi) that saw the big lie unravel.

I do like that in spite of his growing resentment towards Marcie, Dennis knew that he couldn't lie to Roman any longer. I don't like that Roman's reaction was a violent one, even if the movie made a point of highlighting his anger issues. There's a rather bittersweet final scene between Dennis and Roman that ended the movie on a complicated note.

- There's a few strong support performances from Lauren Graham as Rocky/Roman's mother, Lisa, Susan Park as Dennis's boss Sage, Tasha Smith as twinless twins group woman Charlotte and Francois Arnaud as Roman's gay friend, Sammy. Katie Findley also appeared.

- Dennis's "twin" was called Dean. He pretended he wanted to be a lawyer, worked for a book company before switching to real estate after being fired.

- Standout music: Haim's Leaning On You and Evan and Jaron's Crazy For This Girl.

- Chronology: The movie was mostly set in Portland, Oregon and briefly in Moscow, Idaho. Halloween, Christmas and Valentine's Day all factored in.

Twinless turned out to be an interesting second effort from writer/director James Sweeney (I may or may not watch his debut, Straight Up at a later date). Solid enough chemistry with Dylan O'Brien and a rather murky story, it did make for an interesting experience.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of Half Man: "Episode 4"

 

Written by Richard Gadd 

Directed by Eshref Reybrouck

Ruben (to Niall): "I'm the soundtrack to your greatest moments and it pains you to know that all of your achievements fill you with a void whereas a smile from me fill you with all the fucking energy you need."

What a fucking episode. Earlier in the year, I said the Dear Henry episode of Industry Season 4 was my favourite due to the toxicity of the Henry/Whitney ship but that's starting to look relatively tame compared to the absolute insanity of Ruben/Niall.

We've left the younger versions of both men behind and it's now Richard Gadd and Jamie Bell back at the forefront. We're also into more recent history with Ruben and Niall having very different lives where one turned out to be a more successful than the other. In some ways, it's not actually that surprising.

Prison seemed to be the making of Ruben in a way. He did some reading, showed a little self reflection and while he contemplated getting revenge on Niall, he actually avoiding interacting with him. Until Niall literally forced his hand into doing so. Niall really was his own worst enemy.

Niall's post trial life was mostly shit. He wrote one book that barely sold 100 copies and his editor Daniel (Tim Downie) wasn't impressed with his recent follow up efforts. He also made himself vulnerable to blackmail when Glenn (Mark Kydd) caught him having sex with men in the bathrooms of the library.

Niall's life was such a car crash that Lori had no choice but to admit that Ruben's been bailing Niall out for a while. Niall trashed Ruben's car and scared the latter's wife. Then there was that whole hospital scene.

I'm trying not to be too hyperbolic here but if Richard Gadd and Jamie Bell don't get Emmy nominated for this episode alone, I will be genuinely shocked. Both men give such visceral performances as Ruben and Niall tore into one another. Both men made valid points at each other and both seemed to come to some form of an understanding as well. It's incredible television. 

Cutting back to the present day, Ruben commanded the wedding speech and certainly unsettled both Niall and Alby. As for the last scene, I didn't see that coming and it's gonna be interesting to see how that will transpire on screen.

- Lori kept saying she wasn't homophobic but the way she treated Niall, it did seem like she didn't like him being gay.

- Maura tried to kill herself while Ruben was in prison. I'm not surprised the trial broke Lori and Maura up.

- Niall's former bully Gus (Sandy Batchelor) turned out to be gay but was married to a woman and had kids. Joanna (Kate Robson-Stuart) had her own kids and got an apology off Ruben off screen.

- Ruben married Mona (Amy Manson) and told Niall that Maura referred to him as King Rat. Ruben also sexually assaulted Niall in hospital.

- Standout music: Devastations The Saddest Sound.

- Chronology: The flashbacks were set in 2008. Niall had quite Oxford and was sectioned after having a breakdown.

The fourth episode set a high bar for the last two episodes. It's an incredible piece of writing, acting and plotting. Both Richard Gadd and Jamie Bell were utterly sensational throughout. 

Rating: 9 out of 10 

Doctor Who - AMC+ Acquire US Streaming Rights

I was hoping the next time I'd do a Doctor Who blog it was going to be revealing information about this year's Christmas special but apparently not yet. 

With the Disney+ deal well and truly over, it's been revealed that the 2005-2022 era of Doctor Who will exclusively stream on AMC+ for US audiences from June 11th. I can't say it's entirely a shock.

There was rumours for a while that the show would land on that particular service. Could this mean that the BBC have a potential new streaming partner from 2027 onwards? I guess we'll have to wait and see.

As for this year's Christmas special, it looks like we're going to have to wait a while before any news coming to light.

Meanwhile Big Finish and fans of the Fugitive Doctor in general can enjoy the multimedia event, Circuit Breaker. This event will also include a novel written by Jo Martin herself, due for release in September.

As for The War Between The Land And The Sea, I think we can safely assume that Disney+ will never release this show. It's been five months since it aired on BBC1 and not a sign yet they're bothered with it.

I'll post more Doctor Who stuff when new information comes to light.

My Review of Juice - Series 2 (2025, BBC3 Series)

 

Written by Mawann Rizwan And Nabhaan Rizwan And Emily Llyod-Saini

Directed by Eros V

Winnie: "Welcome to adulthood, Jamma."

Jamma: "I don't like it."

Winnie: "No, it's not very nice."

I watched this last year but I had forgotten about it until the other day. I went back to rewatch it and I'll admit that it's a bit of a patchy second series of the zany show that got better as it went along.

The rest of the first series saw Jamma (Mawann Rizwan) and therapist boyfriend Guy (Russell Tovey) break up. In between that time, Jamma also decided to become an actual clown and in no surprise whatsoever, he's rather bad at it. He also really missed being with Guy, so most of this series was Jamma trying to get back with him.

For Jamma, this meant becoming the very thing he dreaded more in thr world. He became boring for half the series, courtesy of making a deal with Kevin Eldon's Majal character. This would be something that have some rather unique consequences as the series went on.

It also turned out that making deals to change yourself was a family trait. Saif (Jeff Mirza) had made a similar pact and it was partly a reason why he was avoiding divorcing Farida (Shahnaz Rizwan). When he plucked up the courage, things took another shift between the pair.

Then there's younger brother, Isaac (Nabhaan Rizwan) and flatmate/friend, Winnie (Emily Llyod-Saini). They get some fun moments in the series, including a realisation that they're not compatible as a couple. On the other hand, Isaac's quest to find his trauma certainly had an amusing final outcome.

Going back to Jamma and Guy. It was obvious that they would reunite before the show ended but both characters needed to get their shit together so their reunion would feel earned. Guy also spent a lot of the series promoting a book and dealing with some past family trauma of his own.

- Episode titles were Sup, House Sh*tting, Emporium's New Clothes, The Bullfighter And The Egg, The Storm Is Coming and Last Chapter.

- Mark Gatiss guest starred in the penultimate episode as Guy's father. Julien Ovenden's Nigel was teased as a love rival but he turned out to be straight.

- Standout music: Shik Ma Van by Mawann Rizwan.

- Chronology: Six months since the events of the first series. 

Series 2 didn't initially land as well as the first series but I'm glad I did a rewatch of it. Seeing it a few months again later gave me a better appreciation for this show. That last episode also felt like a neatly wrapped series finale to me.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of Lee Cronin's The Mummy (2026)

 

Written And Directed by Lee Cronin

Katie: "Don't worry, grandma, it's fun to be dead!"

Ah, it was time to check out this take. It's not really part of the Universal Monsters but more of a reimagined version with an even heavier focus on a father and daughter. Of course that's the biggest strength of the film.

The father being a TV reporter named Charlie Cannon (Jack Reynor). He's living in Cairo with his pregnant wife, Larissa (Laia Costa) and their children, Katie (Natalie Grace/Emily Mitchell) and Sebastián (Shylo Molina/Dean Allen Williams). Theyre a happy family until they weren't.

Early in the movie, Katie encountered a creepy woman known as the Magician (Hayat Kamille). She was the mother of Katie's friend, Layla (May Elghety/Aisha Laouini). She also abducted Katie and it was years later before Charlie and Larissa were reunited with their daughter.

Katie didn't exactly return as the same child she was beforehand. She was using Morse Code to reveal stuff about her friend Layla and her abduction and it turned out that Katie and her younger sister Maud (Billie Roy) were both possessed and had no problem disrupting a funeral among other destructive things that happened throughout the film.

I got to be honest. While there's a few decent jumpscares in places, I found myself struggling to keep with this movie. There's a fair bit to try and engage with and it's not very engaging to watch. Characters die, get possessed and so on. It's been done better in other movies.

- May Calamawy had a decent supporting role as Detective Dalia Zaki. 

- Nasmaranian was the entity possessing most of the characters in the movie.

- Standout music: Sharmoofer's Khamsa Santy.

- Chronology: Takes in Aswan, Cairo and Albuquerque, New Mexico.

I wanted to like Lee Cronin's The Mummy but I genuinely struggled to engage with it. It's a bit too long, plodding and even the few decent jumpscares weren't enough to save it. I wouldn't recommend it.

Rating: 6 out of 10 

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, Zach Villa and Fedor Steer. Most of these actors will be reprising characters from previous seasons. 

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 Roberson Dorsey 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 

My Review of Drive-Away Dolls (2024)

 

Written by Ethan Coen And Tricia Cooke 

Directed by Ethan Coen

Jamie: "I've had it with love. I know bards and troubadours are high on it, but I don't believe it's relevant to the modern twentieth soon to be twenty first century lesbian."

Last week, I made a booboo and watched Honey Don't! before I watched this one. Not that it mattered because they're separate stories, despite the link that was Margaret Qualley.

In this movie, she's a much different character named Jamie. Jamie had issues with fidelity and it led to her relationship with Sukie (Beanie Feldstein) coming to an ending. Sukie got to keep the dog. Sukie didn't want the dog. Sukie's also not someone to mess with when she's mad. 

Anyways, Jamie spent most of the movie with her friend Marian (Geraldine Viswanathan). The latter was planning a trip to Tallahassee and she wasn't amused with Jamie being inquisitive about her sex life. It turned out that Marian hasn't had it in a while since a former conservative ex-girlfriend.

Now the big thing about this movie actually started off with a character named Santos (Pedro Pascal) who got a horrible death when he tried to flee away with a mystery briefcase. That briefcase also ended up in the car that Jamie and Marian were currently driving in. Needless to say, that put both women in considerable danger.

Enter the danger in the form of a motley trio consisting of Chief (Colman Domingo), Arliss (Joey Slotnick) and Flint (C.J. Wilson). These men were determined to get that briefcase back and while two of them underestimated Sukie, it didn't take too long for them to catch up with Jamie and Marian. It also took very little for one of the men to go rogue as well.

As for the briefcase, what was the big deal? Well it turned out that it contained certain toys shaped from something that Gary Channel (Matt Damon) didn't want made public knowledge. He got his item back, Jamie and Marian got a million bucks and we met the latter's aunt for a very funny final scene.

- The alternative title was Henry James's Drive-Away Dykes. Jamie made a point of not being an avid reader.

- Miley Cyrus had an uncredited role as Tiffany Plastercaster. We should've gotten more of her.

- Standout music: Linda Ronstadt's Blue Bayou and The Liverbirds Peanut Butter.

- Chronology: 1999 in Philadelphia, Tallahassee and Massachusetts.

I had great fun with Drive-Away Dolls. A chaotic road trip with two likeable characters, a fun commentary on love in many forms and a great use of certain actors. 

Rating: 8 out of 10 

My Review of They Will Kill You (2026)

 

Written by Kirill Sokolov And Alex Litvak

Directed by Kirill Sokolov 

Lily (re Asia): "Our offering is on the loose, be on the lookout. I just dropped her picture in the group chat."

Halfway through this film, I was struck by the most obvious realisation. I had already seen this before. I saw it when I had watched Ready Or Not 2: Here I Come. This film pretty much had the same premise. Did that bother me? Not really tbh.

The film started with Asia Reaves (Zazie Beetz) trying to protect her younger sister, Maria (Orefile Moloi) from their abusive father. Asia ended up in prison and Maria's life ended being a lot worse as a direct result.

Of course, Asia would get out of prison, take on the name of Isabel in order to secure a job at The Virgil. The place was run by Lilith Woodhouse (Patricia Arquette) and her husband, Ray (Paterson Joseph). It was a place that also had a few guests that would surprise Asia.

The guests being Kevin Sullivan (Tom Felton), Sharon Vanderbilt (Heather Graham) and a few others. Not only did they try to kill Asia but they're also members of a Satanic cult and they themselves couldn't be killed. Asia herself certainly tried to kill them but they refused to die.

On the plus side, she did reunite with her sister Maria (Myha'la) but both sisters were at odds with one another. Maria had joined the same Satanic cult and needed to make a sacrifice in order to solidify her loyalty to Satan (James Remar). 

The film certainly skimmed over Asia and Maria's abandonment issues and while the outcome was expected, I loved the madcap insanity that led to it. That and the fact that Satan was a talking pig's head was rather amusing. There was so much fun to be had with this one.

- The movie was broken up into various chapter titles. There's a nice supporting role for Angus Sampson as Asia's private investigator/lawyer.

- Patricia Arquette's Irish accent was not good. 

- Standout music: Dead Man's Bones Lose Your Soul.

- Chronology: A ten year time jump between the first scene and the main event. The Virgil was set in NYC.

They Will Kill You was a riot. Satanism, Tarantino style violence, sisterly relationships and awful corrupted people. Oh and a talking pig's head. I had a lot of fun with this one.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of The Devil Wears Prada 2 (2026)

 

Written by Aline Brosh McKenna

Directed by David Frankel 

Miranda: "I always knew that you would end up doing something great."

Andy: "You forgot I existed."

Miranda: "Right, but... before that, I knew."

Ah, the legacy sequel. For every Top Gun: Maverick, there are others that don't fare well. Then there's this sequel. I can't believe it's been twenty years but it has and the gang are back for this second offering.

Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep), the fearsome icon she may be found herself at something of a disadvantage in this sequel. She might still have Nigel Kipling (Stanley Tucci) and new assistants in Amara (Simone Ashley) and Charlie (Caleb Heaton) but there were two people missing from her life that the events of this movie reunited her with.

Those women being Andrea Sachs (Anne Hathaway) and Emily Charlton (Emily Blunt). A rather public faux pas saw Irv Ravitz (Tibor Feldman) bring the former to something help Miranda with the running of Runway. The timing was great for Andrea, given that she just lost her job and was on the verge of writing a book about Miranda herself.

Then there's Emily. She's the senior executive at Dior and she was more than happy to help Miranda as long as it benefitted her. I've had a soft spot for Emily and the grudging admiration that Emily and Andrea have for each other was once again a lot of fun to watch. Emily also had a rich love interest in Benji Barnes (Justin Theroux).

Now, let's have a deep dive into Miranda as a character. She's a fearsome character but this was a movie that tried to deconstruct her with very mixed result. Was Miranda really a thing of the past? Was Emily justified in trying to take Runway from under her? Was Andrea really going to turn down so much money in order to profess her loyalty to Miranda?

I think both Emily and Miranda mostly had the measure of each other and I liked that Miranda also spoke sense into Andrea while giving Nigel his moment to shine. There's also a nice subplot involving Lucy Liu's Sasha that did lead into Miranda and Andrea's newly changed dynamic by the end of the movie. Print media might be struggling but there's clearly some fight in it.

- While there are plenty of cameos from the likes of Lady Gaga, Donatella Versace etc, people like Anna Wintour, Sydney Sweeney and Conrad Ricamora had their scenes cut.

- Andrea and Miranda had love interests in Peter (Patrick Brammall) and Stuart (Kenneth Branagh). Emily had two kids. Irv's son, Jay (B.J. Novak) didn't seem to care for Miranda.

- Miranda was the subject of certain memes and Andrea got her own assistant in Jin (Helen J. Shen). I also liked the return of Lily (Tracie Thoms).

- Andrea really was still living in a modern apartment twenty years on from the last time we met her.

- Standout music: Lady Gaga/Doechi's Runway, Miley Cyrus/Brittany Howard's Walk Of Fame and The Marias No One Noticed.

- Chronology: Twenty years since the first movie. Set in New York and Milan. 

Well, I'll admit that this was something of a sequel. The Devil Wears Prada 2 won't beat out the first movie in terms of quality but it turned out to be a much better handled return than I expected it to be. A good commentary on the industries respectively and some genuinely funny/sweet moments, I don't think we'll have to wait another twenty years for next one.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of Honey Don't! (2025)

 

Written by Ethan Coen And Tricia Cooke

Directed by Ethan Coen

Honey: "Sorry, I think I left some lipstick down there."

MG: "It's okay, that's the only place I ever wear it."

One of a few films of last year that I didn't get through to watching, I remedied that yesterday and I had a good time with it. I'm not gonna say that I'm a hardcore Coen brothers fan but I've seen some of their movies and they're generally enjoyable.

Of course in recent years, both brothers have directed separately and it would appear that Ethan Coen wanted to a lesbian trilogy of sorts. Out of order, I'm reviewing the middle bit I guess. I guess I better find Drive-Away Dolls soon.

Anyways one of the currently popular collaborators with Ethan Coen would be Margaret Qualley. She's cast as the titular Honey O'Donahue. She's a lesbian private investigator that quite frankly feels like she's from another time altogether and got displaced into current day Bakersfield. I mean, she doesn't feel like a modern day person.

Saying that, her problems do seem universal enough with the death of Mia Novotny (Kara Peterson) forming a huge component to this movie. There are bodies dropping all over the place and there's also a rather sinister looking Reverend named Drew Devlin (Chris Evans). He's also a cult leader, who seemed to enjoy seeing himself while having sex with various women.

There's a subplot with the Reverend pissing off high ups and his sexy tunes with the charismatic Chère (Lera Abova) and getting killed as a result. I genuinely thought he was going to be the big bad of the movie, especially when Honey's niece Corinne (Talia Ryder) went missing.

The actual baddie turned out to be a better choice. Of course Honey's love interest, MG Falcone (Aubrey Plaza) would be the one responsible for Mia's murder. The chemistry with Qualley and Plaza definitely helped with this plot along with Honey herself finding another bad girl to tangle with by the end of this movie.

- Charlie Day popped up as Detective Marty Metakawich, who didn't get that Honey liked women. There's also a subplot where Honey confronted her father, played by Kale Browne.

- Billy Eichner also appeared as Honey's client, Mr. Siegfried. He was convinced his boyfriend, Colligan (Christian Antidormi) was cheating on him. He was correct.

- Standout music: Brittany Howard's We Gotta Get Out Of This Place, Margaret Qualley's Odd Wad Wankers and Wanda Jackson's Honey Don't.

- Chronology: Present day Bakersfield, California.

Honey Don't! I guess did make for a good lesbian B noir movie. Everyone's on fine form but it's Margaret Qualley seemed to have the most fun out of everyone. I enjoyed this one.

Rating: 8 out of 10 

My Review of Half Man: "Episode 2"

 

Written by Richard Gadd 

Directed by Alexandra Brodski 

Ruben: "Just say the words."

Niall: "I need you."

I think this show will end up causing me a damn heart attack. It's the ultimate stress test and if the first episode didn't push that, this one sure as fuck did. I actually fucking gasped a few times.

Time moved faster in the flashbacks while going backwards in the present day. Flashbacks first though. Niall had the perfect chance to loosen Ruben's hold on him and he did the exact opposite. College can be stressful but adding Ruben into the mix was a powder keg waiting to go off.

Niall was warned by Lori not to contact Ruben. She knew that he wasn't a good influence on her. Given the events of this episode, it's even more frustrating that Niall ignored his mother's perfectly sound advice. Things really had the potential to go well for Niall had he not contacted Ruben.

There was his flatmates Joanna (Kate Robson-Stuart), Celeste (Philippine Velge) and Alby (Bilal Hasna). Ruben's presence caused tension between Joanna and Celeste and the worst case of crossed wires saw poor Alby getting badly beaten by Ruben. That scene was fucking horrific to watch and actively made me hate Ruben on the spot.

Let's talk about Alby, shall we? I fucking loved him as a character and the chemistry between Mitchell Robertson and Bilal Hasna was wonderful. I saw some say that Alby was pressuring Niall to come out but I didn't see it that way. Alby genuinely cared about Niall and like most characters, he recognised the toxic hold that Ruben had over him.

That same hold made itself too apparent in the present day when even Lori recognised that Niall had feelings for Ruben. The present day stuff led to Ruben's appearance and the reveal that Niall was marrying Alby (Charlie de Melo). Alby's reaction to Ruben's presence was rather telling. Even I was disturbed by Niall practically needing Ruben's permission to marry Alby.

- Alby still had serious facial scars in the present day due to how badly beaten up he was by Ruben. His full name was Albert Franklin Safadi.

- Ruben gave Celeste a lot of drugs, spat on Joanna and smashed up the kitchen. He was also reacting to his father having a child with another woman.

- Celeste called both Niall and Ruben "Porridge Nan" at different point. Niall was visibly upset by his "Student" mug being smashed. Alby likened Niall to a performer. 

- Alby was a fan of E.T: The Extraterrestrial and The Great Escape. Bob Geldof, not so much.

- Standout music: Yazoo's Only You, New Order's Blue Monday and Simple Minds Love Song.

- Chronology: 1989 at Glasgow University for most of the episode while the episode ended with Niall saying "I do" to Alby. 

Well, that episode was both terrifying and electrifying in equal measures. Last week, I praised the performance of both versions of Ruben and Niall and that should go without saying here. On top of that, I've got to praise both Bilal Hasna and Charlie de Melo, both of whom were on excellent form as Alby. 

Rating: 8 out of 10 

My Review of Love, Simon (2018)

 

Written by Elizabeth Berger And Isaac Aptaker

Directed by Greg Berlanti

Simon: "Yeah, maybe not that gay."

I did this the wrong way. You see, I watched all three seasons of sequel show, Love, Victor before ever watching this movie. It's taken me longer than I should've but I finally got around to watching this one. Better late than never I suppose.

Anyways our main character was a highschool student named Simon Spier (Nick Robinson). He's an average guy with a nice set of parents in Jack (Josh Duhamel) and Emily (Jennifer Garner) and not annoying younger sister named Nora (Talitha Bateman). So far, nothing out of the ordinary.

Simon's even got a great set of friends with Leah (Katherine Langford), Nick (Jorge Lendeborg Jr.) and newcomer, Abby (Alexandra Shipp). It's all pretty normal, except that Simon had a secret he was keeping from everyone that was about to come out with no way of stopping.

Yup, Simon's gay and he's been emailing another guy nicknamed Blue. There were three candidates for Blue. Those candidates were theatre guy Cal (Miles Heizer), cute server Lyle (Joey Pollari) and handsome jock Bram (Keiynan Lonsdale). At various points, each one of them was ruled out of being Blue but we'll get back to that in a bit.

Simon's biggest worry wasn't just finding out Blue's identity but he also found himself being blackmailed by annoying fellow classmate Martin (Logan Miller). The latter wanted to date Abby and forced Simon's hand in pushing them together. It seemed like a lot of people wanted to date Abby, including Nick and he eventually did.

Unfortunately for Simon not only did Martin out him after being rejected by Abby but Simon almost lost his friends by inadvertently messing with their love lives. He eventually got them back, even got an ally with fellow gay student Ethan (Clark Moore) and had the heartwarming scenes with both parents that were lovely to watch.

Now circling back to Blue, it turned out to be Bram and the reveal was nicely handled (amongst Martin's attempts of redemption). Like all romcoms, Simon got the guy, learned some much needed life lessons and things ended on a happy note for everyone concerned. 

- The movie's based on the book, Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli.

- In the book, Leah was bisexual as was Cal but that wasn't addressed here. Leah's crush on Simon however was given some screen time. Simon used the alias of Jacques when emailing Blue.

- Both Tony Hale and Natasha Rothwell were given the vice principal/drama teacher roles of Mr. Worth and Ms. Albright. The latter in particular got a genuinely satisfying moment upon dealing with two homophobic students.

- Drew Starkey popped up briefly in the movie. Abby dressed as Wonder Woman for a party while Simon and Leah were John Lennon and Yoko Ono.

- Standout music: Brenton Woods The Oogum Boogum Song and Jackson 5's Someday At Christmas to name a few.

- Chronology: Set in a suburb in Atlanta, Georgia and taking in the likes of Halloween and Christmas at different points.

Love, Simon, in my opinion turned out to be an excellent coming of age story. It's everything a romcom for the younger generation need it to be and it's got a slew of great performances throughout. Nick Robinson's career definitely should've blown up more from this movie.

Rating: 8 out of 10 

DCU Blog - April 2026 Edition: Clayface Trailer, Lanterns Airdate And Major Casting News

Well, April turned out to be one hell of a month for DC fans. There really was so much going on.

Adria Arjona has joined the cast of Man Of Tomorrow (July 9th 2027) but is she playing Maxima or Wonder Woman? Time will tell on that one. Filming has now begun on the Superman (2025) sequel. Andre Royo has also been cast in an undisclosed role.

Charles Dance has been cast as Christopher Dent for The Batman - Part II (October 1st 2027). Filming starts from June in London.

James Gunn has recently confirmed not to expect The Authority any time soon, due to the script not working out.

Season 3 of My Adventures With Superman will premiere at midnight from June 13th on Adult Swim's Toonami with a next day release on HBO Max.

Supergirl (June 26th 2026) got her flowers at both CinemaCon and CCXP Mexico this month. Both Milly Alcock and Craig Gillespie were promoting the movie at both events.

We will be seeing more of Sean Gunn's Maxwell Lord in future DCU projects. I imagine that'll be sooner than later.

James Gunn has also stated after filming for Man Of Tomorrow is complete, he'll discuss what is and isn't canon from The Suicide Squad and Blue Beetle in relation to the DCU. 

The first trailer for Clayface (October 23rd 2026) has been watched by over 11 millions views on YouTube so far. The movie will be set before the events of Superman (2025).

Funko Pops will be released for John Constantine, Midnighter, Apollo and Dreamer to commence with Pride Month.

Correction from last month but Dark Knights Of Steel will be released from July.

Lanterns will seemingly air on HBO from August 16th. The trailer is currently down.

Both Booster Gold and Paradise Lost are still in development with the latter being in extreme development.

Sidney Chandler is rumoured to be cast as Nosferata for the second season of Creature Commandos.

The fourth episode of the Krypto show is now available on YouTube.

That's it for this month. We're going to get a lot of more reveals over the coming months.

My Review of Michael (2026)

 

Written by John Logan

Directed by Antoine Fuqua

Michael Jackson: "I believe music can change the world. Spread love, joy, and peace. That is what I want the world to feel... magic!"

I'm not gonna lie. I had preconceived notions before watching this biopic. My fear was that it was going to be a heavily sanitised affair and to be honest, those fears were justified. This biopic needed a far more objective pair of hands working on it. That's not what we got here.

Casting Michael Jackson's own nephew Jaafar to play the infamous singer was alarming enough. I'll give Jaafar some credit. He did look and sound enough like his uncle to suspend some disbelief but it's still not something that should've been done in the first place.

Of course the movie started off with Michael (Juliano Krue Valdi) at the start of the Jackson 5 being worked excessively by his his overambitious and violent father, Joe (Colman Domingo). Joe's mistreatment of Michael was something that the movie didn't shy on. It was made pretty clear that Joe had no problem hurting his son for success.

As Michael got older, he wanted a solo career and independence from his family. He needed his legal team to almost trick Joe in order to let him record a solo album. The latter resented Michael's solo success but it was also the thing that gave Michael the confidence to take his career to the next level.

The movie delved into Michael visiting children's hospitals but there was a bigger focus on his body issues. There was scenes that focused on his vitiligo and rhinoplasty. There are some of the stronger moments in this movie along with the consequences of a stage accident.

Getting to the music side of things, most the Jackson 5 and Michael's biggest hits are recreated here. They're done reasonably well with the movie ending on the Bad tour at Wembley Stadium.

- There's some solid performances from Nia Long, Miles Teller and Kendrick Sampson as Katherine Scruse-Jackson, John Branca and Quincy Jones respectively.

- Not all of MJ's siblings feature in the movie and scenes with Kat Graham's Diana Ross were cut from the movie.

- Standout music: The likes of Billie Jean, Bad, I Want You Back etc are done well.

- Chronology: This movie covered from 1969 to 1988 in Michael's career and life.

Michael (2026) needed a more objective pair of hands working on this movie. It's too sanitised  and often quite bland at times too. Jaafar did an okay enough job in taking on his uncle's legacy. It'll make enough for that sequel to happen.

Rating: 6 out of 10 

My Review of Things Like These (2025)

 

Written And Directed by Max Talisman

Zack A: "I like you and I'm trying so hard not to."

Zack M: "Yeah, that's what liking someone is like. It's terrifying. All you wanna do is run."

Sometimes you hear about a movie being so bad that morbid curiosity will take over and you've got to watch it. That's partly why I chose to watch this one last night. I'd love to say that the reputation wasn't deserved but I'd be lying.

First things first and because I try to be fair, I will give writer, director and lead actor Max Talisman props for trying to tell a slightly different gay romance. Saying that, he should've put his business hat on here and not cast himself as one of the leads. This movie would've benefitted from a more experienced actor in the role.

Anyways our writer and director cast himself as Zack Anthony. He's a fat guy (something which the movie isn't shy about mentioning) who's also an aspiring writer of vampire fiction. This film opened up with him getting dumped by Ben (James Leone). The latter isn't just repulsed by Zack's physical appearance but his personality in general.

Zack A's personality in general definitely would be one of the biggest problems with the movie. In some ways, we're clearly meant to find his bluntness more charming but oftentimes, it did come across as far too rude. Fortunately, Zack A did manage to temper some of that attitude upon meeting the love of his life.

Yup, this was where Zack Mandel (Joey Pollari) aka Zack M factored into things. Zack M quickly ditched his boyfriend of two years Eric (Taylor Trensch) in order to hook up with Zack A. Slightly stretching credulity a tad it turned out that both Zacks met at a summer camp fifteen years prior and were each others first kisses. Also both mens penchant for self sabotage provided some moderate tension before the big finale reunion at a high school prom.

Yeah, there's a lot of contrivances and sitcom/romcom style tropes that alternate between kind of endearing and rather annoying at times. Zack M's friend Ava (Jackie Cruz), boss Margie (Cara Buono) and father Paul (Eric Roberts) are a mixed bag of characters. Saying that, Ava can be thanked/blamed for reuniting the Zacks. Zack A's friends get some focus as well but seem slightly less drawn out.

- Zack A's book was called Undeath In The Family. He got a publishing deal while Zack M got fired and decided to set up his own talent agency.

- Zack A made a point about hating actresses but didn't mind his straight actor friend, Peter (Danny Chavarriago). Willem Belli also had a brief cameo appearance.

- Standout music: There's a decent cover version of Linger during the prom scene.

- Chronology: Alternates between New York and Jersey, over the course of week during the winter.

I will give Things Like These points for effort and for trying something a little different in the gay romcom genre. I think there's a lot of gay men who are similar to Zack A and wanting to find their Zack M. I just wish the chemistry with Max Talisman and Joey Pollari was there but sadly it's desperately lacking.

Rating: 5 out of 10 

My Review of Half Man: "Episode 1"

 

Written by Richard Gadd

Directed by Alexandra Brodski

Ruben (to Niall): "My brother from another lover."

My original plan for this show was to watch it weekly and then do a series overview. However, after watching the first episode late last night, I couldn't stop thinking about it. I also couldn't wait until the end of next month to do a series review, so I'm doing this instead.

Things started off with the wedding of Niall Kennedy (Jamie Bell). We don't see the person that Niall's marrying but we do see his estranged "brother" Ruben Pallister (Richard Gadd). They're in a barn, their interactions laced with a strong homoerotic tension and then Niall ended up being punched by Ruben.

After that, it's basically a look into their past as teenagers in 1980s Scotland. The younger Niall (Mitchell Robertson) wasn't pleased about the recently released Ruben (Stuart Campbell) sharing a bedroom with him. At this point, it's largely implied that Niall and Ruben's mothers - Lori (Neve McIntosh) and Maura (Marianne McIvor) are in a relationship with each other. Ruben seemed less phased by this than Niall was.

Of course for Niall, not only did he have to deal with Ruben being a volatile presence in his life, he was also victim of being bullied by the likes of John (Scott Greenan), Drew (Calum Manchip) and Murray (Gordon Brown). The bullying bordered on homophobic until Ruben put a stop to it. Niall returned the favour by helping Ruben pass his prelam.

Then there's Mona (Charlotte Blackwood). I could be wrong but I really do get the vibe that Niall's gay because the only he seemed to be able to have sex with Mona was when he looked at Ruben. Ruben also seemed to be kind of aware of that too. For two guys who were essentially "brothers", the homoerotic tension between the two of them was off the flipping charts.

While the majority of this first episode largely focused on the younger versions of Niall and Ruben, we did go back to the older versions to cap the episode off. Ruben went from trying to steady Niall's breathing to trying to suffocate him. Ignoring the "weeks ahead" trailer that gave some context, Ruben was genuinely terrifying in his interactions with Niall in both timelines.

- I wish HBO Max and BBC1 had synced up the release better. Why are they five days apart? This feels like it should be a Sunday show.

- There's a nice supporting role for Stuart McQuarrie as the weary teacher, Mr. Jenkins. He had a few funny lines.

- Niall liked Indiana Jones and Doctor Who. Neve McIntosh played Madame Vastra during the Steven Moffat era of the show.

- Ruben gifted Niall a pair of boxing gloves. Niall wanted to be a writer and his father died when he was eight. Ruben was in Young Offenders. Ruben gave Niall the nickname of "Bambi".

- Standout music: Ian Dury's Clever Trevor was used well during the end of the episode.

- Chronology: Mostly in 1987 and a more present day setting for the older versions of Niall and Ruben.

The first episode really stuck the landing and I've been thinking about it since last night. Richard Gadd clearly wants to give a more layered insight into masculinity. That was evident with Baby Reindeer but this show definitely seems like it's going to push that conversation even harder and I can't wait to see more.

Rating: 8 out of 10