Priyanka Roy

Similar in spirit to the Dardenne Brothers 2014 drama Two Days, One Night and, more recently, the far inferior Straw, front lined by Taraji P. Henson and directed by Tyler Perry, is Night Always Comes. This is a film with a grammatically questionable title, familiar characters and generic treatment but held together by a stirring and steely act by Vanessa Kirby. In the film, that is now streaming on Netflix, Kirby plays Lynette, a woman who has to fight against all odds to ensure that her family — comprising her mom Doreen (Jennifer Jason Leigh) and brother Kenny (Zack Gottsagen, in fine form), who has developmental disabilities — continue to have a roof over their heads.

Spies, by default, are meant to be the most innocuous, even insidious, presence in a room. They need to blend in, careful to not let any eyes linger on them or guess their intent and movement. But when super agent Kabir walks into any room — or for that matter, any space — men, women, children, canines, felines, amphibians, invertebrates and what have you — can’t take their eyes off him. In that sense, Kabir is the antithesis of a secret agent, a test, that in theory he should have flunked at entry level. But then, Kabir is played by Hrithik Roshan. Greek ‘gawk’ is his middle name.

In today’s times, a series that documents the patriotic achievements of unsung heroes without resorting to mouth-frothing, jingoistic chest-thumping distinguishes itself by default. Saare Jahan Se Accha, now playing on Netflix, is yet another addition to the canon of Pakistan’s intelligence agency ISI and its Indian counterpart R&AW attempting to get ahead of each other in a duel of wits, words and weaponry. But with a difference. This six-episode series is set in the 1960s and ’70s, a tumultuous period not only for the two nations which had already sparred with each other on the war field, but one that found itself in the middle of a rapidly changing world order. With alliances being both forged and broken, it was a time of deep political unrest and immense distrust, with an inclination towards unchecked nuclear proliferation. That called for the world’s secret service agencies pressing quickly into a race against time to thwart attacks from powerful adversaries.

In Barbarian, his solo screenwriting and directorial debut, Zach Cregger gave us one of the most watchable horror films in recent times, transforming a generic premise into a truly captivating, suspenseful and thematically rich story. Barbarian, released with a rather flimsy promotional campaign, quickly became a phenomenon, finding favour with even the most staunch horror aficianados. Barbarian’s treatment of horror — which was much more than simply jump scares and bloodcurdling screams — heralded the arrival of Cregger as an exciting new voice in a genre which has not always been as inventive as its potential has demanded. Three years later, Cregger is back with Weapons, a more lavishly mounted, studio-backed enterprise led by big names (Josh Brolin, Julia Gardner, Benedict Wong). Post Barbarian, the expectations from Cregger have been high, and in his sophomore directorial, he delivers on most counts.

A young stay-at-home woman’s tedious maternal routine takes a surreal turn when she finds herself finding a sense of freedom in her newly-developed feral tendencies. Simply and bluntly put, the appropriately-named Nightbitch has its protagonist — who remains unnamed — develop into a dog every night and run amuck through the neighbourhood, after a day of intense drudgery and monotony. Sounds crazy? It sure is. Based on the 2021 novel of the same name by Rachel Yoder and directed by Marielle Heller, whose last outing was the critically-acclaimed 2019 film A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood, Nightbitch stars six-time Oscar nominee Amy Adams in the lead. Adams is more than a few pounds overweight, dressed dowdy throughout the film and perpetually exhausted in the way a lot of us can relate with. What we can’t, of course, is the extreme spiral the character undergoes under the load of stress and mental anguish. With ‘Husband’ away on office work on weekdays, ‘Mother’, which is what Adams is referred to in the description of the film, functions on a daily basis as a single mother. That includes taking care of her infant ‘Son’ with not a minutes’ rest, even as she ruminates on what could have been if she had not paused her career as an artist to take care of her baby full time.

Izzat. A loaded word that, in most parts of Indian society, sits heavy on women. Women need to dress a certain way, behave in a manner that is deemed fit by men (and also other women) and mingle sparingly with those of the opposite gender, mostly under the cognisance of the family. Men claim to be the upholders of izzat, but their actions — no matter how unlawful, bigoted or discriminatory — don’t seem to tarnish it in any way. This, unfortunately, is the truth of a large demographic of our population, fed as it is with archaic, often illegal notions of caste discrimination and pervasive gender roles. The cock-a-snook attitude that Dhadak 2 throws at these ideas and practices hits hard — “bohot hard”. It is a mere coincidence that Siddhant Chaturvedi, who rose as MC Sher in Zoya Akhtar’s Gully Boy — yet another story of a marginalised talent fighting (or rapping) his way to the top — plays the leading man in this Shazia Iqbal-directed film.

If I downed a tequila shot every time someone uttered ‘sarzameen’ in, well, ‘Sarzameen’, I would be drunk till the time Ibrahim Ali Khan became a good actor. Which, going by how things stand at the moment, is a ’naadaan’ (iyan) thought. To be fair, Ibrahim does show some improvement from his debut a few months ago — which was more of a face-meets-palm moment than a jaw-drops-to-floor experience for we the viewers — but Sarzameen, now streaming on JioHotstar, is such a patience-testing assault-on-the-eardrums kind of film that you end up feeling that Saif Ali Khan’s son — along with principal actors Prithviraj Sukumaran and Kajol (credited as Kajol Devgan here) — is the one who has got the raw end of the stick. Sarzameen — though set in the familiar territory of Kashmir-based insurgency and the tense battle in the valley between the Indian army and state-sponsored terrorism — could have made for a riveting watch, at least given the names involved. Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions is the producer, while Kayoze Irani — actor Boman Irani’s son — makes his directorial debut.

There are true-crime documentaries — and then there is Amy Bradley is Missing. The three-episode watch chronicles a missing person story which is equal parts horrific and heartbreaking, appalling and astounding. Most users on Netflix, where the documentary series is trending in the Top 10 in many countries, have used a standout term to describe it: ‘gobsmacking’. Which is what it exactly is, and then some more. This is a ‘missing person’ case which has lasted 27 years, and with no closure for Amy’s parents and her brother. Still, they have decided to never give up hope, and more importantly, never cease trying. Bringing into focus the ephemeral nature of life and the fact that anything can go south any moment, Amy Bradley is Missing is about a family torn asunder when what was meant to be a fun-filled luxury vacation on a cruise goes completely wrong. On board, with roughly a few thousand other vacationers, was Amy, a vivacious 23-year-old just days away from a new job, along with her parents and younger brother Brad.