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The Love Hypothesis movie review time, and honestly? Prime Video made a fake-dating rom-com that had us grinning the whole way through. Meaghan and Shirin dig into the adaptation of Ali Hazelwood's 2021 bestseller, a book that started life in 2018 as Star Wars fan fiction (yes, Reylo) before a literary agent came calling. Directed by Claire Scanlon, The Love Hypothesis stars Lili Reinhart as Olive Smith, a Stanford PhD student who kisses the first guy she sees to sell a lie to her best friend Anh. That guy turns out to be Dr. Adam Carlsen (Tom Bateman), the most feared professor in the department. A fake relationship follows, and so does a truly regrettable amount of sunscreen. The casting twist is real, too: Tom Bateman is married to Daisy Ridley. Somebody knew what they were doing. From Reylo Fan Fiction to Bestseller: Ali Hazelwood's Origin StoryThe Love Hypothesis began in 2018 as Star Wars fan fiction about Rey and Kylo Ren, then became Ali Hazelwood's debut novel in 2021Shirin's love-hate relationship with Hazelwood: this one is still her favorite, and the later books haven't hit the sameQuick takes on Love, Theoretically, Bride, and Deep EndThe Love Hypothesis Book vs MovieRights picked up in 2022, Claire Scanlon directing, and Ali Hazelwood on board as a producerThe book trope Meaghan is very glad got cutThe meet-cute kiss plays as properly uncomfortable on screen, and the movie calls it outAdam's history with Olive (the expired contact lenses) shows up much later in the filmLili Reinhart, Tom Bateman, and the CastLili Reinhart's Olive reads like a real person, not a manic pixie dream girlTom Bateman nails awkward, intense, and uncomfortable (see: the sunscreen scene)Rachel Marsh, Jaboukie Young-White, Nicholas Duvernay, and Arty Froushan round out a cast with real chemistryThe Star Wars full circle: Tom Bateman is married to Daisy RidleyWomen in STEM, Fake Dating, and the Third Act (Spoilers)Olive's pancreatic cancer research and her ride-or-die friendship with AnhDr. Evil, the dog photos, and the Mountain Dew control sampleThe Tom Benton twist and why the public confrontation didn't sit right with either of usThe Love Hypothesis Filming Locations: Montreal as StanfordConcordia University and John Abbott College stand in for StanfordAnother Montreal shoot we spotted: 56 Days with Dove CameronCanadian Content and What's Next on Fully BookedBelow on Netflix: sea creature horror in Newfoundland with Josh Hartnett and Charlie HeatonYaga: Baba Yaga folklore meets murder mystery with Hudson Williams, Noah Reid, and Carrie-Anne MossUp next: Verity, the second Colleen Hoover adaptation of 2026 Subscribe on your favorite platform! SpotifyApple PodcastAmazon MusiciHeart RadioPodchaserYoutubeDon't forget to follow us on socials too! InstagramThreadsTikTokBlueSkyFacebook Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Our Practical Magic 2 review is here, and yes, the Owens curse is back (poor Gary). Meaghan and Shirin went in braced for a nostalgia cash-in and came out pleasantly surprised. Practical Magic 2 adapts Alice Hoffman's The Book of Magic, the direct sequel to Practical Magic, with Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman back as Sally and Gillian Owens and Dianne Wiest and Stockard Channing returning as Aunt Jet and Aunt Franny. This time the story leaves the Massachusetts house behind. Kylie (Joey King) falls hard for Gideon, the death beetle starts chirping, and the whole family ends up in the English village of Thornfield chasing the roots of the curse, with Lee Pace along for the ride as Ian. Practical Magic 2 and Alice Hoffman's The Book of MagicPractical Magic 2 adapts The Book of Magic, Alice Hoffman's direct sequel to Practical Magic, after the prequel Magic Lessons: The Book of MagicWhy this sequel feels book-based: a real beginning, middle, and end instead of a nostalgia patchworkMeaghan's yearly fall rewatch of Practical Magic (1998) and Shirin's Sabrina the Teenage Witch eraThe Owens Curse Returns: Plot and Ending (Spoilers)Gary is gone, and Sally's forgetting spell keeps Kylie and Antonia in the dark about their magicThe death beetle chirps for Aunt Jet, who leaves behind the Book of Raven and a way to break the curseGideon's coma sends Kylie, Sally, and Gillian to Thornfield, England, where the villain twist landsAunt Franny's sacrifice and how Practical Magic 2 finally breaks the Owens curseThe Cast: The Original Coven and New FacesSandra Bullock, Nicole Kidman, Dianne Wiest and Stockard Channing reunite, and the chemistry holdsLee Pace as Ian, from Twilight to Bodies Bodies BodiesJoey King and Maisie Williams as Kylie and Antonia, and why their bond barely registersBotox, Beauty Standards and Frozen Faces on ScreenThe online discourse around expressive performances in Practical Magic 2Olivia Wilde's comments on casting actors whose faces still moveWhy Dianne Wiest's performance stands outWhat Worked and What Didn'tWorked: the aesthetic, Sally's costumes, the aunts, and a bigger world beyond the Owens houseDidn't: forced awkward humor, a thin sister relationship, and not nearly enough midnight margaritasSplit critic and audience scores, and whether a third film happens with no book left to adaptComing Up on Fully-BookedOur interview with Judy Molland on The Making of a WitchFall and winter adaptations on our radar: Verity, Sunrise on the Reaping, Klara and the Sun, and Remain. Subscribe on your favorite platform! SpotifyApple PodcastAmazon MusiciHeart RadioPodchaserYoutubeDon't forget to follow us on socials too! InstagramThreadsTikTokBlueSkyFacebook Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The Making of a Witch began when Judy Molland found her own last name in a book about English witch trials. Meaghan is flying solo this week (Shirin is out sick) with a pre-recorded interview she has been sitting on since the spring. Judy Molland is a first-time novelist, a former French and English teacher, and a practising Wiccan who spent years chasing a woman almost nobody bothered to write down. The Making of a Witch, out now from She Writes Press, tells the story of Alice Molland, the last person sentenced to death for witchcraft in England, at Exeter in 1685. Alice Molland: the last witch sentenced to death in EnglandJudy Molland was 25, at her father's vicarage, when she opened Keith Thomas's Religion and the Decline of Magic and found her own surname in it Religion and the Decline of MagicThe line named Alice Molland as the last person sentenced to death for witchcraft in England, in 1685Her father, a Church of England vicar, shut the book and told her never to mention that woman again. That shut the whole thing down for yearsMolland is an unusual name in Devon, which is a large part of why Judy came to think of Alice as her ancestorWriting a novel when the archive gives you one lineThe only record Judy found was a 17th century Assizes entry naming Alice as tried for witchcraft on the bodies of three womenThe page was part Latin, in a hand she could not read. The librarian pointed at the line and did nothing elseMarks on the record indicated Alice was poor, propertyless and alone. That is the whole evidence baseHaving almost nothing turned out to be freeing, because it meant fiction was the only honest way in The Making of a WitchThe dream, the herbs, and a healer nobody could protectTwenty years ago Judy started having the same dream: a horse chestnut wood, a cottage, a dark-haired woman with blue eyes beckoning her down the path. She knew it was AliceAlice learns healing from Goody Luscombe, executed in the opening chapter while Alice, aged ten, is made to watchAlice works with mugwort, slippery elm and comfrey, and her reputation as a healer is exactly what puts her in dangerHelping people is what Alice is for, and it is what will get her killedHearsay trials and how witch accusations actually workedJudy read Exeter court records across two summers. A woman charged with killing a neighbour's pigs by looking at them. A starving widow refused food, then blamed when that household fell illA red bird on a windowsill. A woman seen with a toad. Enough to put someone in front of a courtBeing tried was often the end of a life even without a hanging, because the label followed youThe Pendle witches in Lancashire and the East Anglia trials are the best known English casesWicca, the Exeter Castle plaque, and the sequelJudy went to a Pagan Federation conference in London not long after her father's funeral and described it as coming homeShe became the overseas member of a coven in Devon and helped put up the first English memorial to accused witches, outside Exeter Castle, in the 1990s Exeter Castle witches plaqueThe moon rituals in the novel arrived because they arrived in her own life first. None of it was plannedEvery witch hunt history she read was written by the rulers, never the accused. That was the driving ideaNext is a sequel following Alice's son Tommy, grown up. Judy calls it a novel of revenge. Subscribe on your favorite platform! SpotifyApple PodcastAmazon MusiciHeart RadioPodchaserYoutubeDon't forget to follow us on socials too! InstagramThreadsTikTokBlueSkyFacebook Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The Whisper Man book vs movie, and the gap between them is wider than it looks. Meaghan and Shirin dig into Netflix's adaptation of Alex North's 2019 thriller, out August 28, and work out what got lost on the way to the screen. Alex North (the pen name of Leeds crime writer Steve Mosby) wrote a slow, atmospheric novel about a widowed writer, a copycat killer, and a father and son who barely speak. James Ashcroft's film keeps the bones and trims almost everything else. Meaghan came in having listened to the audiobook narrated by Christopher Eccleston, Shirin went in completely blind, and they landed in roughly the same place: the cast is doing a lot of heavy lifting for a script that does not give them much. The Whisper Man Book vs Movie Netflix released The Whisper Man on August 28, adapted from Alex North's 2019 debut thriller and directed by James Ashcroft for the Russo brothers' AGBO. Meaghan had just finished the audiobook. Shirin had read nothing. Both of them wanted more.The story moves from England to America, which changes the setting, the town, and the way the characters talk to each other.Meaghan listened to the audiobook narrated by Christopher Eccleston and recommends it, accent and all.The reveal that Pete Willis is Tom Kennedy's father arrives immediately on screen. In the novel, you do not get it until roughly halfway.What the Adaptation Cut The film keeps the plot and drops the reasons, and that is where most of the frustration sits.Francis Carter Jr's motive is fully drawn in the novel: forced as a child to witness his father's crimes, convinced he is rescuing neglected boys, killing them the moment they disappoint him.The book gives you his POV, which makes the guilt and the enjoyment sit uncomfortably together. None of that is on screen.The ending changes for Pete and for the resolution with Tom. The novel handles it as something closer to a dream, which is far more effective.Shirin's biggest complaint: everything gets spoon-fed. The girl in the blue sweater would have hit harder if left unexplained.Cast Notes and Performances The cast is stacked to the point of distraction, and mostly they are doing more than the script asks.Adam Scott as Tom Kennedy is the standout. He also played a grieving writer in Hokum, Damian McCarthy's film from May, which makes two this year.Robert De Niro as Pete Willis is underused, largely scowling. In the novel, Pete is younger and still an active detective, so he actually participates.Michael Keaton as Frank Carter is very good and turns up unannounced if you skipped the trailer.Michelle Monaghan's Amanda Beck deserved far more screen time. She also recurs in The Shadows. Owen Teague as Francis Carter Jr barely gets any.On the Nightstand Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke, a dark satire about a trad wife influencer who wakes up in the nineteenth century. Anne Hathaway is set to star and produce for Amazon MGM.Trad Wife by Saratoga Schaefer, on the pile next, part of a real wave of trad wife horror and satire.Let's Kiss and Tell by Joss Richard, a fake dating romance between a sex columnist and a news writer. Easy summer closer.Coming Up on Fully-Booked Podcast An interview with Judy Molland about The Making of a Witch, her historical novel about Alice Molland, her likely ancestor and the last person sentenced to death for witchcraft in England.Practical Magic 2, The Love Hypothesis on Prime Video, and Verity in October, which the trailers are very much selling as horror. Subscribe on your favorite platform! SpotifyApple PodcastAmazon MusiciHeart RadioPodchaserYoutubeDon't forget to follow us on socials too! InstagramThreadsTikTokBlueSkyFacebook Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Season 3 Is the First One That Lost Us Shirin rewatched seasons one and two to prep for this and went in genuinely excited. Season 3 did not hold up. Ten episodes is too many. An eight episode season would have carried this story without the padding. The problem is not the cast. It is the writing, which shoehorns in conflict to manufacture drama instead of letting it build. Seasons one and two flowed. This one felt choppy and forced. The Cole and Jackie Breakup Nobody Wanted Two seasons of will they, won't they, and the payoff is a clunky breakup built on Cole deciding he is not good enough for Jackie. Cole pulls a full Edward Cullen (leaving Bella in the woods to die energy) and we have collectively moved on from that. Uncle Richard loses it over one party and one slipping grade, which does not track for a character who has been chill for two seasons. Nobody in Silver Falls celebrated Cole's turnaround, and that is the strangest part of the whole season. Cole Walter Deserved Better This Season Cole is getting into college, working at the garage, staying out of trouble, and everyone still treats him like the problem. The drag racing arc gets a shrug from Katherine while Alex's rodeo got a full conniption last season. We wanted more digging on that inconsistency. His arc from season one to now is the best on the show, and this season barely acknowledges it. Dylan Newsome Is the MVP A goofy doofus who steps up for Kiley and for Cole, over and over. The scene where he asks Eliot to back off without getting aggressive, then just closes the door, is the best character beat of the season. Alex realising he wants Kiley only after she is happy with someone great is frustrating and very tropey. The Adult Storylines Are Still the Best Part Katherine and George Walter working through his stroke recovery, the ranch, and their marriage is the material that actually lands. Hannah Walter comes back for Isaac and Lee and the show gives her grace instead of a villain edit. Grace Wagner is the most believable teenage girl on this show. Danny and Erin solve problems by talking. More of that, please. What We Do Not Want in Season 4 Season 4 is confirmed for 2027 and already filming in Calgary. Cole is not dead. Let us all be honest about that. No Alex and Jackie. Do not do it. Subscribe on your favorite platform! SpotifyApple PodcastAmazon MusiciHeart RadioPodchaserYoutubeDon't forget to follow us on socials too! InstagramThreadsTikTokBlueSkyFacebook Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Cape Fear has finished its ten-episode run on Apple TV, and this is the full review: the finale, the cast, and the two episodes nobody needed.  Meaghan is joined by Arthur for a wrap-up of Nick Antosca's Cape Fear adaptation now that all ten episodes are out. The Apple TV limited series is built on The Executioners, the 1957 John D. MacDonald novel that already produced the 1962 film and Martin Scorsese's 1991 remake, so this is the third pass at the same story. Scorsese and Steven Spielberg executive produce. The cast is stacked, the score is excellent, and the runtime is not tight. Full spoilers for the entire series, including the finale.   The Cape Fear Adaptation Problem: Ten Episodes, Eight Episodes' Worth of Story Cape Fear is the third adaptation of John D. MacDonald's 1957 novel The Executioners, after the 1962 film and Martin Scorsese's 1991 remake. Both hosts land in the same place: eight episodes would have been the right shape. At least two mid-season hours drag on good performances alone. The side plots multiply because the runtime demands it. Nevaeh's arc ends when she leaves juvie and simply stops. Zack's mental health storyline is the one that stings. It gets worse across the season, never resolves, and reads as cruel rather than honest.   Javier Bardem's Max Cady and the Rooftop Tone Break The early ambiguity is the show's sharpest move. For a few episodes, you genuinely are not sure Max is behind any of it, and Bardem plays both registers well. The hurricane rooftop scene lands like a comic book. Lightning, close-up, a jump through the window, and a room full of laughter that the show almost certainly did not want. Max's late-season hallucinations tie back to his brain injury, but they do not push the story anywhere. The police work is comically bad, repeatedly, and the show has time to spare for it.   The Crystal Cady Twist and the Finale on the Boat Juliette Lewis plays Crystal Cady, a new character with no equivalent in the films, thirty-five years after her Oscar-nominated turn as Danielle in the 1991 version. The houseboat sequence spanning episodes nine and ten is the best stretch of acting in the series. Ron Perlman, Lewis, and Bardem all firing. Lewis and Amy Adams sharing scenes late in the season is a highlight, and Lewis gets genuine laughs before the reveal reframes her entirely. The finale sets Anna up to expose Max publicly, which is the most satisfying beat the show offers.   Performances Worth Naming Amy Adams carries the series because Max cannot be the centre. She is also completely believable as a lawyer, which is rarer than it should be. Lily Collias as Natalie is excellent in the back half, especially the vacillation in her scenes with Max. Joe Anders as Zack is not likeable, and that is the point. Very believable. Jamie Hector as investigator Ray Rawlins is the voice of reason, so of course he dies. Anna Baryshnikov plays Tabitha, and yes, she is Mikhail Baryshnikov's daughter.   Score, Setting and the Sequel Bait Question Jeff Russo's score is a real strength, reworking Bernard Herrmann's original theme into something that still hits. The Savannah setting is sticky and hot, and you feel it. Lots of Scorsese red. The final over-the-shoulder scene reads as sequel bait for a show billed as a limited series. Nobody here wants a season two. Also discussed: the Wicker trailer, The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, and Silo season three. Subscribe on your favorite platform! SpotifyApple PodcastAmazon MusiciHeart RadioPodchaserYoutubeDon't forget to follow us on socials too! InstagramThreadsTikTokBlueSkyFacebook Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey is finally here, and we gave all three hours a proper sit-down. This is our full spoiler review of the 2026 movie: what Nolan kept from Homer, what he changed, and why a 3,000-year-old poem feels this pointed right now.   Matt Damon plays an Odysseus who is very much not the perfect hero (he fires the extra arrow, and even his men know better). Tom Holland is Telemachus, Anne Hathaway is Penelope stuck ruling Ithaca while the suitors circle, and Robert Pattinson is so hateable as Antinous you will want to reach through the screen. We get into Zendaya's Athena, Samantha Morton's Circe (the body-horror magic scene that had non-horror people squirming in their seats), Charlize Theron's Calypso, and Elliot Page as Sinon, a character who isn't even in the original poem.   Nolan's Odyssey vs. Homer: What Stayed, What Changed The film tracks the epic's major beats closely (post-Trojan War, Poseidon's wrath, the long road to Ithaca) while braiding present-day Ithaca with flashback. Elliot Page's Sinon isn't in the Odyssey at all; he surfaces in other tellings, and here he works as a mentor-figure insert that deepens Antinous. Penelope gets a more modern, furious framing, even if the ending pulls her back toward the original.    The Set Pieces: Cyclops, Circe, and the Underworld The Cyclops (Polyphemus) was a real ten-piece puppet, filmed in an actual cave. Horror people and non-horror people left equally rattled. Samantha Morton's Circe plays visceral and grotesque, closer to the old myth than any wand-waving magic. The underworld was shot in Iceland under all-day daylight, which gave it that eerie glow with no lighting rig needed.   The Ensemble and the Cameo Hunt Matt Damon (Odysseus, real beard included), Tom Holland (Telemachus), Anne Hathaway (Penelope), Robert Pattinson (a gloriously hateable Antinous). Deep bench: Jon Bernthal as Menelaus, Lupita Nyong'o in a dual role as Helen and Clytemnestra, John Leguizamo as Eumaeus, Ryan Hurst as Mentor. Blink-and-miss-it faces: Jovan Adepo, Corey Hawkins, Logan Marshall-Green. The recognize-that-actor game is a feature and, for some of us, a distraction.   Zeus' Law and the 2026 Read The film leans on xenia (Zeus' law of hospitality) and ties Odysseus' suffering to breaking it first, with the Trojan horse. Agamemnon's war for trade routes and power (not honor) reads straight into now. History repeats. The "people from the sea" reveal reframes the whole journey as a reckoning, not just a string of monsters.   Production Worth the Oscars Talk IMAX cameras run three minutes and roar. The crew built silencing boxes and mirror rigs so actors could act. Tom Holland thought he was getting cut for being bad. Costume designers degraded fabric with real salt and sun to age it accurately. The cast learned real rowing and boating (not the movie kind). Everyone came back wet, miserable, and in the best shape of their lives. Subscribe on your favorite platform! SpotifyApple PodcastAmazon MusiciHeart RadioPodchaserYoutubeDon't forget to follow us on socials too! InstagramThreadsTikTokBlueSkyFacebook Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Greek mythology retellings keep multiplying, and nobody can quite explain why. Christopher Nolan just dropped a $250 million adaptation of The Odyssey, a poem roughly 2,700 years old, and Meaghan and Shirin wanted to figure out what keeps pulling all of us (and Hollywood) back to these stories. This one stays high-level, and neither of us was a classics major, so we'll own that upfront. We walk through what The Odyssey actually is, why Odysseus is a much grayer hero than people remember, and why feminist retellings like Madeline Miller's Circe keep landing so hard. Then we get into Nolan's stacked cast: Matt Damon as Odysseus, Anne Hathaway as Penelope, Tom Holland as Telemachus, Zendaya as Athena, Robert Pattinson as the suitor Antinous, and Lupita Nyong'o doing double duty as Helen of Troy and Clytemnestra. Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey (2026): The Cast, Explained • Nolan's $250 million IMAX adaptation of The Odyssey hit theaters on July 17, 2026, his first film since Oppenheimer. • Confirmed casting: Matt Damon as Odysseus, Anne Hathaway as Penelope, Tom Holland as Telemachus, Zendaya as Athena, Robert Pattinson as the suitor Antinous. • Lupita Nyong'o pulls double duty as Helen of Troy and her sister Clytemnestra. Charlize Theron plays Calypso (some listings say Circe, so we're flagging it).   The Odyssey, For People Who Skipped Classics • The short version: Odysseus spends ten years getting home to Ithaca after the Trojan War, mostly because he pissed off Poseidon. • Penelope holds down the kingdom and fends off suitors while raising their son, Telemachus, not knowing if her husband is alive. • Gods, monsters, a cyclops, the enchantress Circe, the sirens. Odysseus survives on cunning over brute strength, then loses his whole crew anyway.   Why Greek Mythology Retellings Keep Winning • Older texts sort people into good and bad. Modern retellings hand the mic to the ones shoved to the margins. • Feminist retellings are the clearest example, like Madeline Miller's Circe, centering a character the original treats as a footnote. • Odysseus himself was never a clean hero, and that gray area is a big reason the story keeps holding up.   Odyssey Adaptations Hiding in Plain Sight • You've seen more of them than you think: O Brother, Where Art Thou?, Cold Mountain (Charles Frazier, 1997), and [LINK: Ulysses] by James Joyce. • It reaches into sci-fi too, from 2001: A Space Odyssey to the creatures and detours borrowed by Percy Jackson (Rick Riordan).   On Our Nightstand: New Releases and ARCs • Shirin is deep in Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman, now getting a Peacock series from Seth MacFarlane (Princess Donut on screen, finally). • Meaghan is reading an ARC of The Iron Hex, the debut romantasy from Canadian author Victoria S. Walsh, out August 4, 2026. Subscribe on your favorite platform! SpotifyApple PodcastAmazon MusiciHeart RadioPodchaserYoutubeDon't forget to follow us on socials too! InstagramThreadsTikTokBlueSkyFacebook Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Enola Holmes 3 dropped on Netflix on July 1, 2026, and it is the first film in the franchise that neither of us actually enjoyed. Director Philip Barantini reportedly pitched it as the Prisoner of Azkaban of the series, the entry where the tone grows up alongside the characters. Enola is getting married. Sherlock has been kidnapped. There is stolen Afghan gold buried inside a story about British rule in Malta. On paper, this should be the best Enola Holmes movie. On screen, she winks at the camera while she is being drowned. Enola Holmes 3 Review: The Netflix Threequel Nobody Was Ready to Dislike Enola Holmes 3 arrived on Netflix on July 1, 2026, four years after Enola Holmes 2, and it is the first film in the series we both came away cold on. Director Philip Barantini took over from Harry Bradbeer and pitched a darker entry, the Prisoner of Azkaban of the franchise. The wink Enola delivers mid-drowning suggests otherwise. Everyone except Sharon Duncan-Brewster seems to be floating through the film. Her Moriarty reads as over the top only because nobody else is playing at her level. The set, the costumes, and Malta itself are lovely. The film uses its locations far better than it uses its plot. Nancy Springer's Enola Holmes Books vs. Netflix's Original Scripts The Enola Holmes Mysteries by Nancy Springer runs ten books, starting with The Case of the Missing Marquess. Only the first film adapts a book. Films two and three are original scripts built on Springer's characters, with the author uninvolved. Springer's Enola is fourteen, a "perditorian" (finder of lost things), and a genuinely clever spin on Arthur Conan Doyle's canon. Colonialism, Stolen Gold, and Commentary That Never Lands The mystery turns on British officers stealing Afghan gold and hiding it in Malta, tied to Tewkesbury's late father and the Empire's occupation of the island. Moriarty raises real, sharp points about who Britain took from and why. The film states them, then moves on to the next scene. Compare Enola Holmes 2, where the match girls' strike of 1888 was woven straight into the mystery. Here the wedding plot and the mystery plot barely touch. Female Empowerment With No Actual Power Enola is asked to choose between being a lady and being a detective, which is the most interesting question in the film and gets the least room. Eudoria Holmes has nothing to do and remains a fugitive. Her companion Edith is right there, and the film will not go anywhere near it. Sherlock and Watson get the same treatment. The tea, the closeness, the careful framing, and then nothing. Commit or don't. The Verdict, the Scores, and Enola Holmes 4 Strengths: costumes, sets, Malta, and the comfort of recurring characters. Weaknesses: tone, plot holes, and a mystery you forget while watching it. Audiences and critics both landed lower than either previous film, the franchise's first entry to miss Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. Netflix has not confirmed a fourth film. Millie Bobby Brown says she is in if Netflix and Louis Partridge are in. Subscribe on your favorite platform! SpotifyApple PodcastAmazon MusiciHeart RadioPodchaserYoutubeDon't forget to follow us on socials too! InstagramThreadsTikTokBlueSkyFacebook Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

📖 Romance & Escapist Picks Beach Read by Emily Henry (2020) — Two writers with opposite tastes swap genres for the summer. A film adaptation is currently in production starring Phoebe Dynevor and Patrick Schwarzenegger. The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren (Christina Hobbs & Lauren Billings) — Enemies-to-lovers enemies-forced-to-share-a-honeymoon. Part tropical, part surprisingly sincere. Fast and Fastidious by R.M. Caldwell — Regency England (1810), illegal carriage races, espionage, and a murder plot that could bring down all of Britain. Bridgerton meets The Fast and the Furious, genuinely works.  🔪 Thriller & Crime The Right to Remain by James Grippando — Book 20 in the Jack Swyteck legal thriller series. A murder client who refuses to say a single word — not to his lawyer, not to the judge, not to anyone. Works perfectly as a standalone.  An Honorable Assassin by Steve Hamilton — Nick Mason is sent to Jakarta to eliminate an international fugitive. His new team doesn't care if he survives. Spy thriller, constant double-crossing, Thailand heat. Standalone-friendly.  The Resort by Sara Ochs — Debut thriller set on the island of Koh Sang, Thailand. Expat dive instructors, a dead tourist, and an epilogue that makes you put the book down slowly.  👻 Horror Picks Molka by Monika Kim — Feminist horror exploring the illegal spy camera epidemic in South Korea. Multi-POV, including the perpetrator's, which is an extremely uncomfortable place to spend time. Follow-up to The Eyes Are the Best Part (Bram Stoker Award winner). You're Not Supposed to Die Tonight by Kalynn Bayron — A full-contact slasher simulation at a summer camp goes very, very wrong. Friday the 13th energy, queer lead, fast pace. YA horror that earns the R-rating it doesn't technically have. Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (2020) — A 1950s Mexico debutante investigates a decaying estate and a family that may have driven her cousin to madness. Gothic tone in a lush, hot, non-rain-soaked setting.  🚀 Sci-Fi & Post-Apocalyptic Rhino: The Rise of a Warrior by Nicholas Sansbury Smith — Hell Divers universe prequel. A boy born in a post-nuclear underground bunker survives slavery, cannibalism, and a Cazador warrior society to become something terrifying. It's aggressively hot the entire time. Old Guns by J.N. Chaney & Nicholas Sansbury Smith (currently reading) — Two retired, very grumpy space marines are dragged back into service to fight the alien force that killed one of their families. "I'm too old for this" energy from page one. 📜 Classic Pick Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier (1938) — The unnamed second Mrs. de Winter. Manderley. A housekeeper who will not let the dead stay dead. One of the great gothic thrillers, and shorter than you think. Partially set in the South of France, which makes it summery in spite of itself. Multiple film adaptations exist; the Alfred Hitchcock version (1940) with Laurence Olivier is considered the essential one. Subscribe on your favorite platform! SpotifyApple PodcastAmazon MusiciHeart RadioPodchaserYoutubeDon't forget to follow us on socials too! InstagramThreadsTikTokBlueSkyFacebook Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Cape Fear is back, Apple TV's new 10-episode Cape Fear series stars Javier Bardem as Max Cady, and we're breaking down the first two episodes. Meaghan is joined by Arthur (filling in for Shirin) to dig into the new Cape Fear adaptation on Apple TV, starring Javier Bardem, Amy Adams, and Patrick Wilson. We trace it back to John D. MacDonald's 1957 novel The Executioners and compare this version to the 1962 film (Gregory Peck, Robert Mitchum) and the famous 1991 remake (Robert De Niro, Nick Nolte, Jessica Lange, Juliette Lewis). Cape Fear's long road from novel to Apple TV Cape Fear started life as The Executioners, a 1957 novel by John D. MacDonald (also known for the Travis McGee series). It's been adapted three times now: the 1962 film with Gregory Peck and Robert Mitchum, the 1991 remake with Robert De Niro and Nick Nolte, and now this 10-episode Apple TV series. At just over 200 pages, the source novel is short, meaning the new miniseries has a lot of room to expand the story. Javier Bardem's Max Cady, how he compares Bardem takes over a role previously played by Robert Mitchum (1962) and Robert De Niro (1991), both iconic, very different takes on the character. We talk about how unsettling his stillness is, and how the show keeps us guessing about whether Max Cady is actually guilty of the murder for which he was convicted. In this version, Max Cady's conviction (for the murder of his wife and unborn child) gets overturned after a confession surfaces, setting up a very different starting point than previous adaptations. Amy Adams and Patrick Wilson as the Bowdens Amy Adams plays Anna Bowden, the defense attorney from Max Cady's original trial, a gender-swapped twist on the classic "Sam Bowden" role. Patrick Wilson plays Tom Bowden, the prosecutor in that same case, now Anna's husband. We dig into the implication that Anna and Tom may have colluded during the original trial, and what that could mean once the truth comes out. The Bowden kids: Natalie and Zack Natalie Bowden, played by Lily Collias, is Anna's daughter from a previous relationship, and seemingly the "responsible" sibling. Zack Bowden, played by Joe Anders, is dealing with a troubling backstory and increasingly disturbing behavior, including a deeply unsettling moment involving self-harm. We talk about whether Max Cady is somehow connected to what's happening with Zack, or whether it's something else entirely. The SJLP subplot and our early theories Anna works for the Savannah Justice League Project (SJLP), an organization focused on freeing the wrongfully convicted — alongside her business partner, Noa Toussaint. A separate wrongful-conviction case tied to the SJLP takes a dark and suspicious turn almost immediately after Max Cady is released. We share our early predictions for where the rest of the season is headed, including whether Max Cady is guilty, innocent, or something murkier. What's next Cape Fear airs new episodes weekly on Apple TV, with the finale on July 31. We'll be back with a full Cape Fear season recap once it wraps. Subscribe on your favorite platform! SpotifyApple PodcastAmazon MusiciHeart RadioPodchaserYoutubeDon't forget to follow us on socials too! InstagramThreadsTikTokBlueSkyFacebook Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Margo's Got Money Troubles season finale review — we break down every book-to-show change across episodes 5–8 of Apple TV+'s adaptation of Rufi Thorpe's novel. In this episode of Fully Booked, we cover: • Nick Offerman's performance as Jinx and why the Emmys need to pay attention • Elle Fanning's version of Margo vs. the book's Margo • Michelle Pfeiffer as Shyanne — the show's biggest character improvement • The custody battle, that wild courtroom scene, and how it compares to the novel • Nicole Kidman's Lace — a character that doesn't exist in the book • Kenny's CPS betrayal and what it sets up for Season 2 • The JB Easter egg and what it means for fans of the novel This is Part 2 of our coverage. Watch Part 1 first if you haven't already!   The Performances That Carry This Adaptation Nick Offerman delivers what we're calling a career-best as Jinx; the methadone clinic scene alone is worth the price of admission, and his portrayal of addiction and relapse is devastating without ever feeling exploitative Elle Fanning brings a mix of naivety, intelligence, and tenacity to Margo that goes well beyond the page, making the character feel genuinely three-dimensional across all eight episodes Michelle Pfeiffer as Shyanne is a massive improvement over her book counterpart, bringing nuance and an arc of reluctant acceptance that the novel never offers   Book vs. Show — The Major Differences In Rufi Thorpe's novel, Shyanne (Cheyenne in the show's pronunciation) is the one who calls CPS on Margo; the series gives this betrayal to Kenny (Greg Kinnear), adding a new dimension and a Season 2 storyline Nicole Kidman's character Lace does not exist in the book at all; a male lawyer fills a similar role but with far less narrative weight Susie (Thaddea Graham) is a more significant presence in the show than in Rufi Thorpe's novel, giving Margo an emotional anchor outside her family The show tones down Shyanne considerably; in the book she essentially cuts Margo off over the OnlyFans reveal and does not show up for the custody fight   The Custody Battle and Courtroom Drama Mark (Michael Angarano) petitions for full custody despite not having primary custody of his other children, and the mediation scene highlights the age and power imbalance between him and 20-year-old Margo The judge scene is over the top (we acknowledge it) but serves the plot by showing Bodhi's attachment to Margo over Mark, and the ruling grants her full custody with Mark getting two weekends a month   OnlyFans, Identity, and Margo's Creative Side Margo's "Hungry Ghost" alien persona is one of the show's best inventions, blending comedy with her genuine creativity as a writer The hosts discuss whether Margo actually qualifies as a "sex worker" given that she doesn't engage in sex acts with anyone; the show leaves this ambiguity productively unresolved The doxing subplot differs between book and show; in the novel it's deliberately done by the high school friend, while the show opts for a less personal but still harmful exposure at a party   What Season 2 Needs to Address Kenny's CPS call and how it will affect his relationship with Shyanne and the wider family The "JB" Easter egg in the finale, teasing a character from Rufi Thorpe's book who becomes Margo's love interest The expansion of Margo's more explicit content and what that means for her trajectory Jinx's ongoing recovery and whether his relationship with Shyanne continues to develop   Subscribe on your favorite platform! SpotifyApple PodcastAmazon MusiciHeart RadioPodchaserYoutubeDon't forget to follow us on socials too! InstagramThreadsTikTokBlueSkyFacebook Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Off Campus Prime Video review: Elle Kennedy's hockey romance adaptation starring Ella Bright and Belmont Cameli is finally here. We're reviewing the entire first season of Off Campus on Prime Video, the adaptation of Elle Kennedy's bestselling book series The Deal. This is a full spoiler breakdown covering Hannah Wells and Garrett Graham's fake-dating-to-real-feelings storyline, Dean and Allie's surprise romance, and every major book-to-screen change we noticed. WHAT WE COVER: • Off Campus book vs show differences • Cast chemistry: Ella Bright, Belmont Cameli, Mika Abdalla, Stephen Kalyn, Antonio Cipriano, Jalen Thomas Brooks • Why the montage approach diluted Hannah and Garrett's relationship • How Off Campus compares to Heated Rivalry as a hockey romance • The Dean and Hunter cliffhanger (not in the books!) • Season 2 casting: India Fowler as Grace Ivers, Phillipa Soo joining • Off Campus book reading order for new fans   Elle Kennedy's Off Campus: From BookTok to Prime Video The Off Campus book series by Elle Kennedy consists of four original novels (2015–2016), plus the BriarU and Campus Diaries spin-offs spanning eleven total books Prime Video dropped all eight episodes of Season 1 on May 13, 2026; the show was renewed for Season 2 before it even premiered Season 1 adapts The Deal, the first novel, following Hannah Wells and Garrett Graham's fake relationship at fictional Briar University Cast and Character Highlights: Who Plays Who Ella Bright as Hannah Wells and Belmont Cameli as Garrett Graham lead the series with real on-screen chemistry Mika Abdalla's Allie Hayes and Stephen Kalyn's Dean Di Laurentis deliver a side romance that nearly steals the spotlight from the leads Antonio Cipriano (John Logan), Jalen Thomas Brooks (John Tucker), Julia Sarah Stone (Jules Logan), and Josh Heuston (Justin Kohl) round out the ensemble Adaptation Deep-Dive: Book vs Show Changes Justin was changed from a football player to a musician, a move even Elle Kennedy approved of publicly Logan's sibling Jules was created for the show as an exposition vehicle and social media narrator; not present in the books Logan's father is an alcoholic in the novels; the show swaps this to the mother, reframing the family dynamic The controversial Dean-vs-Hunter tension in the finale has zero basis in the source material, where they're close friends Handling Difficult Subject Matter in Romance Content warnings: sexual assault, domestic abuse, and violence against children are addressed across both leads' backstories The show draws a notable parallel to 13 Reasons Why in how Hannah's response to assault differs from other portrayals of similar trauma Despite the weight, the series maintains the lighthearted friendship energy that defines contemporary romance Hockey Romance Adaptation Comparison: Off Campus vs Heated Rivalry Both are hockey romance adaptations that dropped in the same era; Heated Rivalry remains the benchmark for the subgenre on screen Off Campus leans harder into ensemble storytelling while Heated Rivalry centers its leads more tightly The Passionflix problem: why shot-for-shot book adaptations produce flat, unwatchable results every time Season 2 Predictions and What's Coming Next India Fowler has been cast as Grace Ivers (Logan's love interest from The Mistake); Phillipa Soo joins as Scarlett, a guest theatre director Season 2 may follow Dean and Allie's story rather than book order (Logan's story), given how much groundwork Season 1 laid for them Easter eggs planted: Grace Ivers name-dropped during the auction scene, Hunter introduced late as a setup for future conflict Subscribe on your favorite platform! SpotifyApple PodcastAmazon MusiciHeart RadioPodchaserYoutubeDon't forget to follow us on socials too! InstagramThreadsTikTokBlueSkyFacebook Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The Devil Wears Prada 2 review: Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway return but the sequel undoes its own characters. Full spoiler breakdown. The Devil Wears Prada 2 reunites the original cast (Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt, Stanley Tucci) twenty years after the 2006 film. Directed again by David Frankel with a screenplay by Aline Brosh McKenna, the sequel picks up with Andy Sachs as a successful journalist who gets pulled back into the world of Runway magazine after mass layoffs hit her newsroom. In this episode of Fully Booked, Meaghan and Shirin give their full spoiler review of The Devil Wears Prada 2. They discuss Miranda Priestly's character changes, Andy's frustrating regression, the copy-paste plot structure, the underused supporting cast (Simone Ashley, Caleb Hearon, Helen J. Shen), and whether the sequel's commentary on the state of modern media actually lands. They also compare the film to Lauren Weisberger's book sequel (Revenge Wears Prada), discuss the Lady Gaga cameo, and debate whether nostalgia sequels can ever really work for films this iconic. Topics covered: • The Devil Wears Prada 2 full spoiler review • Miranda Priestly character analysis: what changed and why it doesn't work • Andy Sachs twenty years later: career growth erased • Stanley Tucci's Nigel deserved better • Simone Ashley, Kenneth Branagh, Lucy Liu, Justin Theroux, B.J. Novak • The Devil Wears Prada books vs. films comparison • Modern media commentary and journalism layoffs • Box office results and Rotten Tomatoes scores • Off Campus (Elle Kennedy) and Margo's Got Money Troubles previews Subscribe on your favorite platform! SpotifyApple PodcastAmazon MusiciHeart RadioPodchaserYoutubeDon't forget to follow us on socials too! InstagramThreadsTikTokBlueSkyFacebook Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Margo's Got Money Troubles on Apple TV: our full book vs. show breakdown of episodes 1–4. Elle Fanning, Nick Offerman, Michelle Pfeiffer, and the cast deliver. We're talking about Apple TV's new series Margo's Got Money Troubles, based on the 2024 novel by Rufi Thorpe. This is our part one review covering the first four episodes of this David E. Kelley adaptation starring Elle Fanning as a young single mom who turns to OnlyFans to survive. Meaghan comes in with the full audiobook under her belt. Shirin watched completely fresh. Together we break down the stacked cast (Nick Offerman, Michelle Pfeiffer, Greg Kinnear, Thaddea Graham, Michael Angarano, Nicole Kidman), the major book-to-show changes, and why the writing on this thing is sharper than most adaptations manage. Topics include single motherhood and the childcare crisis, the nuance of Margo's OnlyFans decision, how the show softens some of the novel's rougher character edges, Nick Offerman's career-best performance as Jinx, and what we're expecting from the back half.   Margo's Got Money Troubles: The Apple TV Adaptation Based on Rufi Thorpe's 2024 bestselling novel, now a David E. Kelley series on Apple TV with an A24 production pedigree First three episodes dropped April 15, 2026; new episodes weekly through May 20 — sitting at a 96% on Rotten Tomatoes Elle Fanning stars as Margo Millet and also narrated the audiobook, giving her a unique dual ownership of this character Winner of the Clark Fiction Prize in 2026, with over 17,000 Amazon reviews — a genuine BookTok-to-screen pipeline success The Cast: Performances That Carry the Series Nick Offerman as Jinx delivers a career-best turn: tender grandfather, struggling addict, estranged father trying to make it right Michelle Pfeiffer brings layers to Shyanne that the book's Cheyenne didn't always get — selfish, complicated, and impossible to fully dismiss Thaddea Graham as Susie steals scenes; her friendship with Margo feels stronger in the show than in the source material Greg Kinnear's Kenny is endearingly goofy on screen, a departure from the book's more one-note version of the character Nicole Kidman as Lace is a show-original character (the book's version was Jinx's sister) — a retired wrestler who mediates Margo's legal battles Michael Angarano makes Mark exactly as spineless and hateable as he needs to be Book vs. Show: What Changed and What Hit Harder Shyanne is softer in the show — less overtly terrible, partially because Pfeiffer makes you see her logic even when it's selfish Susie's wrestling obsession is a show-only addition that gives her a built-in connection to Jinx The novel is narrated entirely from Margo's perspective; the show opens up POV to let Jinx and Shyanne breathe independently Becca's "put the baby in foster care" line is a show invention — the book version of the character doesn't go there Motherhood, Shame, and the Childcare Crisis The show highlights how society boxes women into "mom" the second a baby arrives, stripping every other identity they held Thorpe's novel includes a passage about the unfairness of night-shift workers being locked out of daytime childcare — a detail the show conveys visually The financial spiral is real: Margo can't afford childcare, can't work without childcare, can't survive without working OnlyFans, Sex Work, and Controlling Your Own Narrative The show neither glorifies nor shames Margo's choice — it treats OF as what it is for her: a practical financial decision Jinx is the one who brings up OnlyFans first, inspired by a wrestler who did it as a side gig Margo's intelligence as a marketer becomes a key storyline: she's strategic, resourceful, and creative about growing her audience The tension between motherhood and sex work is handled with real nuance — no easy answers, no moralizing What's Coming Next Part two of this review will cover the remaining episodes of Margo's Got Money Troubles once they wrap on May 20 The Off Campus series (Elle Kennedy) drops on Amazon Prime on May 13 — college hockey romance, all eight episodes at once  Devil Wears Prada 2 is up next week Subscribe on your favorite platform! SpotifyApple PodcastAmazon MusiciHeart RadioPodchaserYoutubeDon't forget to follow us on socials too! InstagramThreadsTikTokBlueSkyFacebook Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.