Vernée Watson and Skye P. Marshall in season 2 episode 7 (Photo credit: Michael Yarish/2025 CBS Entertainment Inc)
Bob Hearts Abishola‘s Vernee Watson is introduced as Olympia’s mother on CBS’s Matlock season two, episode seven. Directed by Tessa Blake, episode seven – “Prior Bad Acts” – will air on Thursday, December 4, 2025 at 9pm ET/PT.
“Prior Bad Acts” Plot: Olympia works to repair her relationship with her family after she takes on a case involving her mother’s new husband. Also, Matty and Olympia receive a shocking piece of information.
Kathy Bates leads the cast as Madeline “Matty” Matlock. Skye P. Marshall stars as Olympia Lawrence, Jason Ritter plays Julian Markston, David Del Rio is Billy Martinez, Leah Lewis stars as Sarah Franklin, Sam Anderson is Edwin Kingston, and Aaron Harris is Alfie Kingston.
Kathy Bates and Skye P. Marshall in season 2 episode 7 (Photo credit: Michael Yarish/2025 CBS Entertainment Inc)
Matlock Series Description:
“Matlock stars Emmy and Academy Award winner Kathy Bates as Madeline ‘Matty’ Matlock, a brilliant septuagenarian who achieved success in her younger years and rejoins the workforce at a prestigious law firm with a hidden agenda, using her unassuming demeanor and wily tactics to win cases. Matty is assigned to Olympia (Marshall), a senior attorney and key rainmaker with a thirst for justice; Olympia’s ex-husband, Julian (Ritter), the son of the head of the firm, is intrigued by Matty and her clever skills.
As Matty endeavors to establish herself in her new high-stakes world, she works alongside the firm’s younger associates—the charismatic Billy (Del Rio) and the uber-ambitious Sarah (Lewis).”
Deana J. Becker as “Judge Bjornstad,” Skye P. Marshall as “Olympia Lawrence,” and Scott Lawrence as “Lionel” in season 2 episode 7 (Photo credit: Michael Yarish/2025 CBS Entertainment Inc)Kathy Bates, Niko Nicotera, and Tim Ransom in season 2 episode 7 (Photo credit: Michael Yarish/2025 CBS Entertainment Inc)Justina Machado as “Eva” and Beau Bridges as Howard “Senior” Markston in ‘Matlock’ season 2 episode 7 (Photo credit: Michael Yarish/2025 CBS Entertainment Inc)
LEONARDO DI CAPRIO as Bob Ferguson and BENICIO DEL TORO as Sensei St. Carlos in ‘One Battle After Another’ (Photo Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures)
Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another was named Best Feature by the Gotham Film & Media Institute during the 35th annual Gotham Awards held on December 1, 2025. It Was Just an Accident earned the most awards overall, scoring three wins, including Best International Feature, Best Director (Jafar Panahi), and Best Original Screenplay (Panahi).
In addition to the “Best” categories, The Gothams Tributes were presented in recognition of “the industry’s most accomplished creators and performers whose work has made an indelible impact on both the art form and popular culture.” Frankenstein was honored with the Gotham Vanguard Tribute, the Sinners cast received the Ensemble Tribute, and Hedda star Tessa Thompson was recognized with the Spotlight Tribute.
Jay Kelly‘s Noah Baumbach was awarded the Gotham Director Tribute, Kate Hudson and Hugh Jackman earned the first Gotham Musical Tribute, and Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere‘s Jeremy Allen White and Scott Cooper received the Gotham Cultural Icon Tribute. After the Hunt‘s Luca Guadagnino and Julia Roberts received the Visionary Tribute.
Netflix’s incredibly popular Stranger Things is wrapping up its five-season run on New Year’s Eve. Season five, part one, premiered on November 26, 2025, and the final season’s part two will drop on December 25th.
Today, the streamer confirmed the finale (season five, episode eight) will run two hours and five minutes. Netflix previously announced the final chapter will screen in theaters simultaneously with its Netflix premiere. The full list of participating theaters is available at www.st5finale.com.
During a press conference leading up to the release of part one, the Duffer Brothers were asked how they balance the fans’ expectations with their own vision of how the story should end. Matt Duffer replied, “I think, you know, that’s one of the most challenging things with the show, or one of the things about the success of the show that’s been challenging is just every year it feels like there’s more and more noise around it. But what we try to do as much as possible is shut off the noise and not listen to it. I mean, of course you hear it, but then at the end of the day, it comes down to me, Ross, and our four writers, all of whom have been on the show since either season one or season two. And we just try to write something that we think is cool.
Because that’s what we did all the way back in season one, because we had no fans. And we were just trying to make something that we loved. And that’s what we did. And then it resonated with, you know, a lot of people. So we try to apply that philosophy to every season. And especially with this final season because of the level of expectation. It can just paralyze you. So we just stopped thinking about it and we thought, ‘Hey, if we’re happy with the way this is ending, hopefully it will work for the rest of the audience.’ So really, you’re just trying to please five people and then hoping it trickles outward.”
Matt Duffer continued: “And it’s interesting with Netflix. The last thing I’ll say is, there is no test screenings. So, we don’t get any reactions from fans. We’re only getting feedback from, I would say, a total of 10 people, which is terrifying, but on the other hand, really freeing. Because you don’t get weighed down by what is or isn’t working with people, what people want. You don’t worry about it at all. You’re just trying to get it to a place where you’re happy. And then you put it out in the world and you pray.”
Season five stars Millie Bobby Brown as Eleven, Finn Wolfhard as Mike Wheeler, Gaten Matarazzo as Dustin Henderson, Caleb McLaughlin as Lucas Sinclair, Noah Schnapp as Will Byers, Winona Ryder as Joyce Byers, and David Harbour as Jim Hopper. Sadie Sink plays Max Mayfield, Natalia Dyer is Nancy Wheeler, Charlie Heaton is Jonathan Byers, Joe Keery is Steve Harrington, and Maya Hawke is Robin Buckley.
Rounding out the ensemble are Priah Ferguson as Erica Sinclair, Brett Gelman as Murray, Jamie Campbell Bower as Vecna, Cara Buono as Karen Wheeler, Amybeth McNulty as Vickie, Nell Fisher as Holly Wheeler, Jake Connelly as Derek Turnbow, Alex Breaux as Lt. Akers, and Linda Hamilton as Dr. Kay.
“The fall of 1987. Hawkins is scarred by the opening of the Rifts, and our heroes are united by a single goal: find and kill Vecna. But he has vanished—his whereabouts and plans unknown. Complicating their mission, the government has placed the town under military quarantine and intensified its hunt for Eleven, forcing her back into hiding,” reads Netflix’s synopsis. “As the anniversary of Will’s disappearance approaches, so does a heavy, familiar dread. The final battle is looming—and with it, a darkness more powerful and more deadly than anything they’ve faced before. To end this nightmare, they’ll need everyone—the full party—standing together, one last time.”
Stranger Things is produced by Upside Down Pictures and 21 Laps Entertainment. The Duffer Brothers, Shawn Levy, and Dan Cohen serve as executive producers.
Aury Krebs, Ashleigh LaThrop, Zachary Quinto, Tamberla Perry, Spence Moore II, and Alex MacNicoll in ‘Brilliant Minds’ season 2 episode 10 (Photo by: Pief Weyman/NBC)
NBC’s Brilliant Minds season two, episode 10, begins at Harlan Oaks with Dr. Amelia Frederick (Bellamy Young) berating Dr. Oliver Wolf (Zachary Quinto) for his behavior. Oliver claims he’s being held against his will, but Amelia reminds him he voluntarily signed in. She brings up “him” and says it’s time to talk about the incident.
(The following is a recap of season two, episode 10—the fall finale—and there are spoilers.)
The story flashes back three months to a ballet rehearsal. The lead dancer panics, believing she’s literally frozen. Obviously, this is the main patient of the week storyline.
Dr. Charlie Porter (Brian Altemus) tells his therapist, Terry, that Oliver has been incredibly unfair and out of line. Terry reminds Charlie that they’re working on letting go of his anger, and suggests that he show Oliver who he really is.
Elsewhere, Oliver’s mom, Muriel (Donna Murphy), is busy decorating Oliver’s home for Christmas. She loves the season; Oliver thinks it’s way too early for a Christmas tree. Muriel brings up the hospital gala taking place that evening and gives him permission to skip it, calling it an early Christmas gift.
“I can handle the gala if it means you’ll stop using these impromptu visits to psychoanalyze me,” says Oliver.
Dr. Carol Pierce (Tamberla Perry) is in a great mood because her divorce is final. Dr. Anthony Thorne (John Clarence Stewart) is also happy as they walk through the hospital. He just learned he has his kids for Christmas. They agree to toast their good news at the gala.
Dr. Jacob Nash (Spence Moore II) is done with his emergency department shift and back with the other residents. The gang’s busy calling hospitals to find a liver for Sam. So far, they’re striking out because everyone thinks he’s too big of a risk.
Oliver speaks with the ballet dancer, Juliet (Casimere Jollette), admitting he’s a huge fan of the city ballet. She’s anxious to get back to rehearsals since tonight’s opening night. Her file indicates she was diagnosed with sepsis and respiratory failure but left the ICU against her doctor’s advice. Juliet doesn’t think this has anything to do with that, since that ICU visit was three months ago.
Charlie intrudes on the exam, and Juliet corrects him when he says she fell. She claims her dumb partner dropped her. Also, everyone has it out for her. Oliver tries to get Charlie to leave but he refuses. Charlie shines a light in Juliet’s eyes and she reacts by saying her eyes are burning. She feels frozen again and doesn’t know where she is. She tries to run off but collapses.
Oliver and Charlie meet with Zora, the ballet’s artistic director, and Zora confirms Juliet’s partner didn’t drop her on purpose. Juliet’s currently in imaging to make sure she doesn’t have a brain bleed. Zora thinks Juliet changed after leaving the hospital; she’s no longer fearless.
Oliver explains Juliet signed out way too early and that she could now be experiencing issues connected to the previous ICU visit. Zora disagrees. She believes it’s just stage fright and is going to replace her with her understudy.
Amelia pops in on Carol, and they discuss the gala which Hudson Oaks is sponsoring. She wants Carol to know that Hudson Oaks really wants to be their partner when it comes to long-term care.
Oliver, no fan of Amelia, pulls Carol away to consult on Juliet. Juliet reveals that when she’s dancing, she feels like she’s transported somewhere else. “Sometimes it’s like I’m freezing, trembling, cold in my bones. Like my body is made of ice,” says Juliet. She also experiences a choking feeling and a sharp pain like she’s being stabbed in the back. And then it just ends.
Al Calderon and Casimere Jollette in ‘Brilliant Minds’ season 2 episode 10 (Photo by: Pief Weyman/NBC)
Later, Oliver goes over her ICU charts, and everything she’s experiencing relates to her visit. She was intubated, hence the choking feeling, and she had a lumbar puncture. Plus, ice packs were applied to bring down her fever. Oliver believes she’s experiencing ICU PTSD three weeks after leaving the hospital. Carol agrees she’s having flashbacks to hallucinations she had under sedation. She suggests exposure therapy, but Charlie disagrees with both suggestions. Oliver thinks he should keep his opinions to himself, and they get into another shouting match. Charlie’s happy this time he has Carol as a witness.
Oliver reminds Charlie that his mistake with the Torres family almost cost the patient his life. Charlie strikes a nerve when he asks if Oliver’s ever made a mistake with a patient.
Oliver speaks with Dr. Josh Nichols (Teddy Sears) and demands to have Charlie taken off his team. Josh suggests that it’s Oliver’s job to train him, and Oliver fires back that Charlie is a lost cause.
Dr. Van Markus (Alex MacNicoll) and Jacob talk about Van’s ex, Michelle, and Van reveals he’s going to ask her to move in with him. Jacob approves, but Van senses something’s up. Jacob confesses that when he went home to Texas his old team doctor offered him a spot in his residency program. He’d be doing neuro in a sports context, and he admits that’s his dream job. Van can tell Jacob’s torn between staying and moving back home.
Carol gets Juliet to explain that when she was intubated, she panicked and they had to hold her down. She could hear Zora in her head telling her was stiff as a board. She felt bad, but was also brave enough to tell Zora off.
Dr. Dana Dang (Aury Krebs) and Dr. Ericka Kinney (Ashleigh LaThrop) check on Sam, sending his mom off to get some food and rest. Ericka pauses after looking in his eyes, and Dana confirms it appears Sam’s condition is worsening. Ericka’s voice breaks as she tries to stay positive about Sam’s prognosis.
Carol and Oliver recommend that Juliet stay overnight in the hospital. Carol wants her to face her fears via exposure therapy. (Oliver deliberately closes the door before Charlie joins them.) She’s taken to the ICU room where she spent three weeks with pneumonia, and they hand her a record of everything that happened while she was there. Nico’s also involved since he was one of her nurses when she was hospitalized.
Nico (Al Calderon) promises to stay with her and watch Real Housewives if she spends the night. She’s still not sure, but Oliver reminds her she could worsen her condition if she leaves.
Josh is getting ready to perform a procedure on Sam when Oliver arrives with news that a liver, intended for someone else, could match Sam. It’s on its way to the hospital right now. Josh promises to talk to the head of the transplant committee tonight at the gala.
Oliver and Ericka are determined to get him to put Sam on the list, and Dana helps Ericka with her makeup as they get dressed up for the gala. (Oliver’s team looks fantastic in formal attire!) Michelle rushes in with letters of support from a shelter where Sam stayed. He used to show up every month and help by giving blood. Ericka’s sure this will help when she pleads Sam’s case.
Michelle tells Van she’s decided not to go to the gala. She thinks Liam can’t handle another heartbreak, and Van swears he’ll be there for her and their son. He’s not going anywhere. Yes! Michelle changes her mind!
Meanwhile, Juliet is shaking and scared while listening to all the beeps from machines surrounding her bed. Charlie rushes in and offers to turn the volume down, but she declines. Charlie mentions how infuriating it is when their mentors punish them. Juliet disagrees; she finds it motivating. She’ll prove to Zora that she’s better than her one day.
“She doesn’t know it now but she’s creating a monster,” says Juliet. Charlie doesn’t respond.
Zachary Quinto and Ashleigh LaThrop in ‘Brilliant Minds’ season 2 episode 10 (Photo by: Pief Weyman/NBC)
The gala gets underway and everyone looks gorgeous. Amelia suggests to Carol that she “shoot her shot” with Anthony, as Oliver and the team look around for anyone on the transplant team. Finally, they spot Dr. Walker and Ericka’s ready to play on his heartstrings.
Ericka introduces herself and tries to pitch Sam’s case. Dr. Walker won’t even listen and walks away.
Oliver makes a bold move and takes the stage, praising his mom for planning this event after she retired. He calls patients the real heroes, and talks about Sam. He mentions that patients with mental illness are often summarily dismissed and not put on transplant lists. Oliver tells the crowd that every hospital rejected Sam outright, except Dr. Walker’s transplant team. He lies and says Dr. Walker recognized Sam’s potential and placed him at the top of the list.
“Dr. Walker is giving Sam Mapesberry that second chance at life,” says Oliver. The team’s shocked and exchange glances as Oliver continues. Oliver wraps up by saying he’s proud that at Bronx General they believe everyone deserves care.
The crowd applauds Dr. Walker, and Oliver’s mom takes over, calling Dr. Walker an angel. She tells the crowd, which includes donors, that this is what their money is going toward. Amelia gets everyone’s attention and announces Hudson Oaks will match donations up to $100,000.
Oliver and Ericka speak to Dr. Walker, who’s confused and upset. Oliver points out that he made him a hero while Ericka scans the crowd and confirms the donors approve. Dr. Walker will put Sam on the list but warns them he has a very long memory.
Ericka’s races out of the gala, all smiles.
Carol and Anthony compliment each other and flirt. However, it turns out that Anthony’s with a date who also works at the hospital.
Oliver’s surprised when Muriel welcomes Charlie Porter to the stage to share his story of why he became a doctor. Charlie talks about avoiding hospitals because his mother was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor when he was a child. Charlie recalls that his mom suffered, and that her young, dedicated doctor swore he’d be with them every step of the way. Oliver stares at the photo of Charlie’s mom now on display and suddenly realizes who Charlie is. (He’s the son of the female patient that still haunts him to this day.) Charlie continues, saying he became a doctor because of his mom’s doctor. He recalls the doctor dangled the possibility that she could be saved and his family clung to that. That left them completely unprepared when she died.
Charlie realized in medical school there was never a possibility that she would have survived. He also realized that Oliver “sold her fantasy because he couldn’t bear to face the truth.”
Charlie believes they’re in the business of telling the truth. He hopes when he’s honest with his patients, he makes his mom proud.
(Meanwhile, Ericka tells Sam’s mom that they have a liver as the team wheels him out of the room.)
Charlie and Oliver step outside, and Charlie admits he wanted to meet the doctor who ruined his life. Oliver attempts to explain that both he and Charlie’s mom wanted to keep fighting, but Charlie doesn’t want to hear it. Oliver is shocked this is all to revenge his mother’s death, and Charlie corrects him. It’s also about his father who drank himself to death four years after she died because he couldn’t deal with the pain she’d suffered.
Charlie’s been alone since he was 14. Oliver apologizes and Charlie doesn’t forgive him. Charlie found Oliver’s father and hands him the address. He walks away, suggesting they’ll see who breaks from not processing trauma.
The night’s coming to an end and Muriel thanks the donors for the record-setting night. Muriel sings, “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” as couples take the dance floor. Oliver rushes past Carol and Josh without answering her question about Charlie’s speech.
Josh and Carol slow dance, and Josh asks if she’s noticed anything off about Oliver.
Nico and Juliet watch Real Housewives as Juliet learns that her understudy got a standing ovation. She shakes it off. Elsewhere, Ericka and Jacob celebrate Sam’s liver transplant. Jacob tells Ericka that she saved Sam’s life and that she’s amazing . They kiss, and she says, “So are you.”
Oliver heads to the address Charlie gave him and breaks the glass in the door when no one answers.
Van’s standing outside with Dana when he texts Michelle after she no-shows. Dana assures him that Michelle will come around, and Van thinks he just put too much pressure on her.
The season two fall finale ends with Michelle unconscious (or maybe dead?) in the driver’s seat. It appears someone ran into the driver’s side of her car.
Sisu: Road to Revenge recently hit theaters and racked up a ridiculously high body count for its main character Aatami, played by 66-year-old Jorma Tommila. Tommila originated the role three years earlier in Sisu. And since I have now joined the ranks of senior citizens, I have to say I thoroughly relish seeing older characters not just given the spotlight but also allowed to drive an action film with fierce virility. So that inspired me to highlight the best action films featuring some not-yet-ready-to-retire seniors.
(NOTE: I am not including films in which the stars are obviously old but the films pretend that they are not and their age never comes into play.)
1 – Bad Day at Black Rock (1955)
Since some people have short memories and only seem aware of films released in their lifetime, I just want to remind them that Danny Trejo was not the first old dude to kick ass. Not sure if Bad Day at Black Rock serves up the O.G. senior citizen action hero but Spencer Tracy was great as a one-armed veteran who arrives in a tiny California desert town to find a man named Komoko. The residents are inexplicably hostile. Then we discover that the racist town bully Reno Smith (played by Robert Ryan) had murdered Komoko years ago and forced townsfolk to help him cover it up. We discover that Tracy’s John Macreedy came to town because Komoko’s son died saving his life and Macreedy wanted to give the medal of honor to the father.
By today’s action standards, Bad Day at Black Rock is tame but we do get to see a one-armed Macreedy karate chop Ernest Borgnine’s thug into submission, and all in the name of justice and tolerance. It was one of the first U.S. films to tackle issues about discrimination against Japanese and Japanese-Americans during World War II. And Tracy is always a joy to watch, especially when he can casually and almost effortlessly take out a bully in a bar fight.
2 – The Wild Bunch (1969)
Sam Peckinpah kicks up the ante in his elegiac Western The Wild Bunch, about an aging outlaw gang that recognizes the changing world of 1913 is likely to make them obsolete. So they decide to plan one last train robbery to retire on. But of course it all goes sideways and the gang, led by Pike (William Holden), heads for Mexico with former gang member Deke (Robert Ryan again) leading a group of bounty hunters hired by the railroad to kill or capture them.
The film is packed with aging Hollywood stars from Holden and Ryan to Ernest Borgnine (also back again), Edmund O’Brien, and Ben Johnson. The film stirred controversy for its graphic and often slow-motion violence, mostly committed by old men. These aging stars are not about to die or fade from the screen without a fight. Holden and Ryan both play characters who seem to understand that they have been discarded by society and are seen as useless. That lends the film a kind of tragic fatalism.
This film feels more modern in tone and style than Bad Day at Black Rock, but both lay the foundation for the more recent senior citizen action films.
The seeds for Danny Trejo’s Machete were planted in 2001 when he appeared as Uncle Machete in Robert Rodriguez’ Spy Kids. Then the character blossomed in 2007 when Rodriguez created a fake trailer for a Machete movie to run in the faux double feature of Grindhouse. The reaction to the trailer was so overwhelmingly positive that Rodriguez felt compelled to cast the 66-year-old Trejo as the kick ass hero of his own Machete feature.
Trejo was always a dynamic presence on screen but Rodriguez was the first to really showcase him as a leading man that women were hot for and an action star who could dominate any opponent. Trejo is such a badass in the role that he got a sequel and has a third one in development. His Machete might be the pinnacle of don’t write this old man off just yet.
4 – Sisu (2022) and Sisu: Road to Revenge (2025)
Jorma Tommila gives Trejo a run for his money in ove-the-top crazy action shenanigans for a person most people would write off as over-the-hill and past his prime. In the first Sisu film, Tommila’s Aatami is a prospector in the Lapland wilderness who discovers a massive gold deposit just as World War II is coming to an end. A retreating group of Nazis foolishly try to steal his gold but then they realize they have messed with the wrong dude. Aatami turns out to be a legendary ex-commando who will stop at nothing to keep what is rightfully his.
At one point a Nazi soldier asks a local woman: “Do you really believe that he’s immortal?” To which she replies, “No. He just refuses to die. We have a word for that in Finland… but it’s impossible to translate. You see, this is not about who’s the strongest. This is about not giving up, and he won’t, ever… no matter what you bitches are trying.”
Filmmaker Jalmari Helander beats the hell out of his main character in each film but like the Energizer Bunny, Aatami just keeps going and going and then going more extreme each time. As with Machete, these films are ridiculously and gleefully absurd in their violence. I was a little sad that Aatami fights the Red Army instead of Nazis in the sequel but revenge of this scale is always sweet and even sweeter when dished out by a grizzled old man, underestimated by his enemy, but who won’t take shit from anyone.
Michael Caine in ‘Harry Brown’ (Photo Credit: Samuel Goldwyn Films)
5 – Harry Brown (2009)
If Machete and Sisu deliver deliciously mindless over-the-top action, then Harry Brown goes for something subtler and more grounded in the real world. Michael Caine is Harry Brown, an aging pensioner, living in a rundown project, and facing life on his own after his wife has passed away. Brown keeps to himself and turns a blind eye to the youth violence that surrounds him. But then his best friend is killed by some punks and that provokes Brown to action and to take the law into his own hands. My friend called it “Death Wish’s smarter brother.”
Caine—conjuring up memories of his Get Carter lethalness—reveals a man who is woken from a slumber to take action. We soon discover Brown’s military training and his service in Northern Ireland as a marine. When confronted with the violence near his home, Brown’s old military reflexes kick in. The film is cold and ruthless in following Brown’s journey to dispense personal justice for a wrong committed, but the film also questions the violence and asks if the vengeance sought is only prolonging a cycle of violence. Caine, who was 76 when he shot the film, gives us a pensioner who holds his own against thugs who are a third of his age and he does it with icy cold effectiveness.
This is sort of an anti-superhero film as the Marvel X-Men franchise addresses the real-life aging of its star. The film opens with a weary and most decidedly older-looking Logan (Hugh Jackman returning yet again). He’s driving a limo and gets into a dispute with some hoodlums and dispenses with them in a fairly efficient and brutal manner—although he’s clearly not at the top of his game.
Jackman’s Logan is older and not in peak physical condition anymore. He gets hurt and suffers physical consequences for his actions in ways that he never had to deal with before. All this makes the action scenes in the film more intense and effective. And Logan ranks as the only official senior superhero on the list. The film serves up an elegiac tale about a man coming to terms with his life and deciding how he wants to go out. And his choice is to, and Dylan Thomas wrote, “Do not go gentle into that good night.” The film gives us some time to get to know the older Logan and to understand what it means to carry the legacy of Wolverine. We also see how Logan has to care for Charles Xavier, who is in his twilight years and suffers from mental disabilities that take on different dimensions when you were a powerful mutant telepath.
The film gives us a great lens on what it might be like to grow old as a superhero but still be willing to fight the good fight—even if it might prove your mortality.
A scene from ‘VFW’ (Photo Credit: RLJE Films)
7 – VFW (2019)
This gets inclusion for gathering a bunch of old geezers (all veterans of foreign wars, hence the title) and letting them tear into a gang of hoodlums with some 80s grindhouse bloodlust. Filmmaker Joe Begos loves old-school grindhouse gorefests and he has a blast letting the likes of Stephan Lang, Fred Williamson, Martin Kove, and William Sadler just cut loose and return to glory in order to defend their lives and save their bar.
It has a bit of an Assault on Precinct 13 vibe in how it sets up the standoff, but it plays out with a lot more blood and guts. The vets devise makeshift weapons and traps from whatever they can find, and do so by tapping into what they saw in the Vietnam War. There are plenty of snide remarks about age and underestimating the old guys’ will and strength, so it’s satisfying to see them mercilessly take out the young hoodlums. This offers a satisfying old dudes fight back scenario even though not everyone survives. But no one goes out without a fight and taking a lot of the enemy with them when they go.
Kudos to filmmaker Jeff Barnaby for tweaking zombie genre expectations to deliver something entertaining and clever in the vein of George A. Romero’s Dead films. The premise this time involves the dead coming back to life within the isolated Mi’gmaq reserve of Red Crow. The big attraction in this film is Stonehorse Lone Goeman’s Gisigu. He’s a sword-wielding, zombie-killing grandpa that livens up the film. As he points out, you never have to reload a sword or worry about running out of ammo, and he is impressive in his ability to take out the undead.
Blood Quantum deftly relocates the narratives and political dimensions of Romero’s Dead films onto the reservation. A viral outbreak transforms white Americans into ravaging zombies while the Indigenous people, due to their ancestral blood, remain immune. The reservation becomes a safe haven, but its security and integrity are soon threatened by white Americans who, either dead or alive, once again seek to invade and take the land back as their own. Barnaby’s film replays colonist history through the zombie apocalypse. But, amid the brutality of reservation life—and the gore-soaked, flesh-eating moments—are characters who represent heritage and hope, offering solutions to generational trauma through Indigenous voice and agency.
And most impressively, a lethal grandpa with a sword. Respect your elders!
RED is based on a comic book series but is not a superhero film. The film stars Bruce Willis as Frank Moses, a former black-ops agent who reunites with his old team to capture an assassin who has vowed to kill him. The film does try to ignore Willis’ age by setting up a romance with a much younger character but his character is definitely old and retired. He’s jolted out of retirement when a hit squad attacks him at his home, and Frank proves his skills are not the least bit rusty as he kills the entire group.
Making up his old team are Morgan Freeman, Helen Mirren, and Brian Cox. Mirren, who always kicks ass, gets to do so within an action film at the age of 76 and within a genre usually reserved for men and decorative young women. So it is great to see a senior action dame who is both classy and lethal. The film leans into action comedy and milks some humor from the age of its characters.
A scene from ‘The Expendables 4’ (aka ‘Expend4bles’) – Photo Credit: Lionsgate
10 – The Expendables Franchise (now at 5 films)
Old action stars never die, they just make Expendables movies. None of these films is great, but they merit inclusion for the sheer number of aging action stars they have employed—it’s better than a retirement home. The films tend to miss opportunities to be truly clever in poking fun at its old action heroes, but the films do exude an appealing sense of camaraderie among the cast.
Sylvester Stallone launched the series and gathered up old co-stars as well as rivals, with a few younger action stars added in for balance. The senior citizens of the franchise include Arnold Schwarzenegger, Dolph Lundgren, Terry Crews, Jet Li, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Wesley Snipes, and Mickey Rourke. So don’t send any old action stars out to pasture, just refer them to The Expendables 6 casting session.
Bonus pick: I wanted to include Original Gangstas on the list because it has such a great cast (Pam Grier, Jim Brown, Fred Williamson, Ron O’Neal, Richard Roundtree). But I ended up leaving it off because despite the characters being treated as from an older generation, they really weren’t that old and did not look past their prime. But this is definitely a fun one and with solid action from a veteran, if not senior citizen, cast.
Honorable mentions and gold watches to: Jean-Claude Van Damme facing his own aging in JCVD; Mel Gibson as an old Santa Claus who is not afraid of violence in Fat Man; Adriana Barraza as the kick ass grandma with a secret revolutionary past in Blue Beetle; Michael Keaton as a hitman with dementia in Knox Goes Away; Michelle Yeoh as an aging laundromat owner who discovers untapped martial arts skills in Everything Everywhere All At Once; and then a trio of violent men who try to reject their past lives and move on but get pulled back—Keanu Reeves in John Wick Chapter 4, Denzel Washington in The Equalizer 3, and Bob Odenkirk in Nobody. I would have included a Charles Bronson film except I don’t think any ever acknowledged he was old.
Netflix just released the official trailer for Run Away, based on Harlan Coben’s 2019 bestselling thriller. Coben’s involved in the eight-episode limited series as an executive producer.
Netflix has set a January 1, 2026 premiere date.
James Nesbitt (The Missing) stars as Simon Greene, Ruth Jones (Gavin & Stacey) is Elena Ravenscroft, Minnie Driver (The Serpent Queen) plays Ingrid Greene, Alfred Enoch (The Couple Next Door) is Isaac Fagbenle, Lucian Msamati (Conclave) is Cornelius Faber. Jon Pointing (Sweetpea) plays Ash, Ellie de Lange (Wolf Hall) is Paige Greene, Adrian Greensmith (Harlan Coben’s Shelter) is Sam Greene, Ellie Henry (Hollyoaks) plays Anya Greene, and Tracy-Ann Oberman (Toast of London) is Jessica Kinberg.
Rounding out the ensemble are Annette Badland (Ted Lasso) as Lou, Ingrid Oliver (The Thursday Murder Club) as Yvonne, Maeve Courtier-Lilley (The Red King) as Dee Dee, Finty Williams (The A List) as Enid Corval, Joe McGann (Kaos) as Wiley Corval, and Amy Gledhill (Big Mood) as Ruby Todd.
“Simon (Nesbitt) had the perfect life: loving wife and kids, great job, beautiful home. But then his eldest daughter, Paige, ran away and everything fell apart. So now when he finds her, vulnerable and strung out on drugs in a city park, he finally has the chance to bring his little girl home,” reads Netflix’s synopsis. “But it turns out she’s not alone, and an argument escalates into shocking violence. In the aftermath, Simon loses his daughter all over again, and his search to find her will take him into a dangerous underworld, revealing deep secrets that could tear his family apart forever.”
Additional executive producers include Nicola Shindler, Richard Fee, Danny Brocklehurst, and Nimer Rashed. Brocklehurst is the lead writer, along with episode writers Tom Farrelly, Amanda Duke, and Charlotte Coben. Lead director Nimer Rashed and Isher Sahota direct the limited series.
To All the Boys star Lana Condor plays a basketball coach’s girlfriend on CBS’s Elsbeth season three, episode eight. “Basket Case” will air on Thursday, December 4, 2025 at 10pm ET/PT.
“Basket Case” Plot: Elsbeth goes from the squad room to the locker room when a campus murder rocks the world of college basketball after an athletic director winds up dead following a heated confrontation with his basketball coach’s 22-year-old girlfriend. Eric Randall wrote episode eight and Mary Lou Belli directs.
Carrie Preston returns to star as the titular character. Wendell Pierce is also back as Captain C.W. Wagner for the series’ third season.
Emmy Award winner Carrie Preston returns as Elsbeth Tascioni, the cunning yet unconventional consent decree attorney working with the NYPD to track down New York’s most well-heeled murderers utilizing her unique intuitive insight. The critically acclaimed series enters its third season with fresh cases, new characters, and unexpected challenges for Elsbeth and the 11th Precinct, led by her boss, Captain C.W. Wagner (Pierce).
CBS’s Tracker season three, episode seven opens with a woman watching a program about sharks when she hears loud banging. She grabs a fireplace poker and opens the front door. There’s a fierce wind blowing, and she sees what she believes is causing the noise. However, once she steps back inside, someone breaks through the door and grabs her.
(The following is a recap of season three, episode seven and there are spoilers!)
Meanwhile, Colter (Justin Hartley) meets with Andy, the son of Walt Fleming, at a shooting range in Boston. Colter explains he’s tracking down info on David Pearson, who used to work with Walt. He shows Andy a photo of his dad, Ashton, and asks if he recognizes him. Andy remembers Ashton stayed with them one summer when he was a kid. David used to stay with them often. Andy also recalls Ashton taught him how to shoot a gun.
Walt Fleming was a neurologist, and Colter gives a brief rundown of his dad’s occupational history. Colter believes David was with the DoD and that he died the same year as his dad—2003. Andy was never close to his dad, so he doesn’t know what they were working on, except that they had meetings in his garage. He recalls that he saw them watching tapes of a man hooked up to a machine.
After Andy leaves, a man nearby overhears their conversation and introduces himself as Dale (Benito Martinez). He wonders if Colter can help him find his daughter, Noelle, who’s been missing for two days. The police haven’t done much, and he’s worried because her phone was left behind. There weren’t any signs of foul play. Only the e-bike that she uses for work was missing.
Dale confesses the Boston PD found drugs in her apartment, so they’re not actively searching for his daughter. However, Dale swears his daughter doesn’t drink or take drugs. She was last seen at work on Friday night at Boston Blaze, a weed dispensary. Dale spoke to Noelle’s manager, who wasn’t helpful. Apparently, the manager and Noelle got into it last week when he was late with her paycheck.
Dale is desperate for help and will find a way to pay Colter if he takes the job.
Colter touches base with Reenie (Fiona Rene) and learns Noelle’s boss is Vince Unger. Vince is on parole and has a prior for assault. An ex-girlfriend also took out a restraining order on him. After Reenie hangs up, the camera pans to show there’s a man in her bed and they’ve definitely been drinking.
Colter walks into Boston Blaze and immediately gets into a fight, which isn’t his fault. He gets Noelle’s boss to confess that Noelle didn’t finish her deliveries and never returned with his money. Vince is forced to admit Noelle changed where she was supposed to deliver and went to do drops at the harbor. He has no idea why, and she was acting strangely before she left. Vince thinks she no-showed on at least five deliveries that night. Colter warns Vince never to touch Noelle or her father again, or else…
Colter gets Noelle’s delivery schedule and finds Noelle’s e-bike at the first stop he checks out. Colter heads to the back of the building where deliveries are made, looks at a sign-in sheet, and goes to the unit that was expecting a visitor when Noelle should have been making her delivery. He enters the office of criminal defense attorney Lyle Voss and finds a Boston Blaze bag. Colter dials the number on Voss’ business card and a phone rings nearby.
He tracks the sound and finds Lyle slumped over on the toilet. Colter speaks with Officer Crosby about the death and informs her she’s looking for a missing woman. He found her e-bike and noticed that the window in the office was open from the inside. Noelle or someone else exited via the window.
Crosby thinks Lyle died of natural causes, but Colter points out the bathroom stall door was unlocked. He believes someone might have given Lyle something that brought on a cardiac event. Crosby humors him and says she’ll order a tox screening.
Randy accesses Lyle’s call log and notices there was an outgoing call to a taxi service on Friday. Colter believes Lyle called a cab for Noelle and then instructed her to go out the fire escape. Also, Randy discovered a voice mail Lyle never heard. It’s from Noelle and she sounds scared. Noelle reveals she’s at Lyle’s place, and Colter thinks Lyle wouldn’t have sent her to somewhere so obvious. Randy sees Lyle has a rental property and that’s where Colter heads next.
It’s obvious someone beat Colter to the location. There’s glass from the broken front door on the floor, and Colter slowly walks around, gun drawn. Noelle isn’t there.
Randy calls with news that Lyle’s search history was wiped after he died. However, his LexisNexis account wasn’t erased and the cases he looked at recently all involve the wealthy Bennings family. Colter recognizes the name and looks at Noelle’s recent delivery records. She worked at a party for the Bennings at the Rosewood Chateau on the night before she went missing.
Randy dives a little deeper and finds waiter Aaron Delaney was found dead outside the Rosewood right after that party. Maybe Noelle saw the waiter being murdered and whoever did it followed her and took her.
Reenie’s one night stand showers and prepares to leave, but first he writes down his number. Colter calls and Reenie explains that the Benning family is very influential in Boston, even among the cops and politicians. The case files Randy found are basically NDAs and gag orders, meaning they want to protect their privacy, making it hard for anyone to dig up dirt on them.
Colter’s on his way to the Rosewood when he discovers his brakes have been tampered with. He’s forced to maneuver through traffic, honking at everyone to get out of his way. His truck finally stops when he deliberately drives over spikes.
Reenie meets with Enzo Sousa (Charlie Gallant) to discuss what he knows about the Bennings. Enzo reveals he no longer manages the Bennings’ assets. He’s suddenly nervous and warns Reenie not to mess around with the Bennings. Reenie talks him down, and Enzo says the Benning patriarch, Gene, would do anything to protect his family. However, he wouldn’t have had anything to do with the Rosewood party. That would have probably been Gene’s son, Graham, who has a lengthy history of getting in trouble.
Reenie asks for the name of the person the Bennings turn to to make their problems disappear.
Colter’s brake line was cut and while he’s examining it, an armed man approaches from behind. Colter sees his reflection and takes him down, shooting him with his own weapon. He grabs the man’s keys and looks through his car. Colter looks through his navigation history just as Reenie calls with news that the Bennings’ fixer is MC. She’s a private family attorney, along with being their fixer. Colter reveals his brake lines were cut and the GPS nav shows the man he just shot was following Noelle. Another address on the GPS indicates it’s the Benning estate.
Reenie sends Colter a photo of Graham Benning, the son who’s probably responsible for all of this. Colter drives to the estate in the dead man’s car.
Meanwhile, Graham (Tyler Johnston) tries to force his way into the room where Noelle’s being held, certain he can convince her not to go to the police. Milo (Tobias Jelinek), who seems to be a bodyguard/protector for the family, reminds him Noelle already went to a lawyer so she’s definitely not going to keep quiet. Noelle apparently saw Graham strangling the waiter, and Graham admits he was high and didn’t know what he was doing.
MC (Italia Ricci) walks up and Graham is still upset that they’re going to hurt Noelle. She promises they won’t but after she and Graham walk off, Milo returns to the room where Noelle’s tied up to a chair. He’s keeping her doped up and gives her more pills while she begs him to stop. She insists no one will believe she’s a junkie, but Milo assures her they will.
Graham knows MC’s cleaned up after him over the years, but this time he thinks they should call the police.
Security doesn’t give Colter a second look when he drives up in the dead man’s car. He’s looking around when Gene (Clay St. Thomas) orders him to get to work. Colter explains he’s looking for Graham, just as MC walks up. She claims she hasn’t seen Graham, and Colter refuses to identify himself before walking off. Milo wants to follow him, but MC suggests he get back to Noelle.
Colter grabs glasses from the catering truck and walks through the mansion. He drops them off and looks through different rooms until he comes across Graham, dead in a blood-filled bathtub. Colter calls Randy and reveals he’s certain Graham didn’t commit suicide; it was just staged that way. He believes Graham wanted to come clean, so MC had him taken care of. Colter has Graham’s phone and it has his confession plus a photo of Noelle tied up.
Randy accesses Graham’s phone via Bluetooth and tracks where in the house the photo was taken. They learn it’s from a secure room behind a gate in the northwest corner of the estate. Colter races there and uses Graham’s key to unlock the room. As soon as he opens the door Milo starts shooting. Colter hides behind boxes and makes his way around Milo, killing him. He confirms Noelle’s still barely alive just as MC walks in, saying she heard gunshots and called the cops.
MC hands Narcan and that brings Noelle around. MC doesn’t say much and doesn’t stop Colter from walking out with Noelle.
Noelle reunites with her dad, Dale, and they hug, both in tears. Colter assures them that she’s safe. After she leaves, Dale can’t thank Colter enough and wonders what Colter wants in payment. (Dale doesn’t have much.) Colter asks for the gun Dale was firing at the range as payment. Dale hopes Colter finds whatever it is that brought him to Boston. He offers to buy him dinner, but Colter’s got another stop to make.
Colter returns to Benning estate and speaks with MC. She confirms Graham strangled his friend, the waiter, during a dispute. Noelle witnessed it. MC lies and says it was Graham who hired Milo to kidnap and overdose Noelle. She also says it was Milo who dumped the waiter’s body in the alley. MC claims the cops have the texts that prove all of this.
Colter confronts her about the man who cut his brake lines; she doesn’t dispute it when Colter says she knew who he was when he first showed up at the estate. Colter thinks MC had Graham killed, with Gene’s permission, because he was a troublemaker. After all of this, Colter warns MC that Noelle needs to be left alone. She’s covered her tracks well, but if she messes with Noelle that’ll point to the Bennings.
Colter assures MC that one day she’ll slip up and get caught. He hopes he’s there when that day comes.
The coroner and other first responders are working on what remains of the train that was set on fire by the Colombian cartel as Paramount+’s Mayor of Kingstown season four, episode six opens. Mike (Jeremy Renner) informs Bunny (Tobi Bamtefa) they found the spot the cartel used to watch Bunny’s men load the train. Mike and Frank Moses (Lennie James) realize the Colombians aren’t worried about being discovered.
(The following is a detailed recap of season four, episode six and contains spoilers.)
Lamar’s driving Bunny on the way to meeting Mike and Frank when someone follows them. They drive over a spike strip and straight into an ambush. Bunny’s car is shot up. They’re outnumbered and outgunned, and Bunny’s hit.
Back at the train, Stevie (Derek Webster) has learned the train was halted a mile away and that’s where the engineer and conductor were shot. The dead man’s switch was tampered with, allowing it to keep rolling.
Mike and Frank believe the Colombians did it to show power. They didn’t remove anything and instead let it all burn. Frank thinks he’ll be able to take care of the cartel before KPD can find them. Ian (Hugh Dillon) calls with the news that Bunny was shot multiple times and is on route to the hospital.
Mike and Frank head to the hospital, while over at the prison, Kyle (Taylor Handley) is keeping his eyes open and head on a swivel in general population. Kyle and the rest of the prisoners march out of the large holding area single file, and the guy behind Kyle suddenly recognizes him as a cop. Kyle delivers a sharp elbow to his nose to get him to back off.
Kyle moves with the rest of the prisoners through the chow line, and the prisoner who hands him his food tells him he’s not alone.
Warden Hobbs’ right-hand man, Deputy Warden Torres (Clayton Cardenas), confronts guard Kevin Jackson – Bunny’s inside man – throwing him against the lockers and searching for his phone. Jackson (Denny Love) was ordered to leave it behind as he starts his shift, but Torres finds it in his jacket. Torres smashes it and walks off, warning Jackson to remember who he works for.
Mike and Frank discuss Bunny, with Mike confirming KPD will watch the hospital entrances and exits. Frank’s men will take care of the streets. Frank’s going to start looking for a target.
Mike asks Ian about the “sicario kid,” since he’s their best shot at finding out who the shot caller is. Ian thinks he’s at the diner and Mike tells Ian to meet him there.
Stevie enters the diner’s back door while Mike and Ian enter from the front. Mike takes a seat opposite Cortez (Derek Rivera), suggesting he’s just cannon fodder and wondering why he keeps being put in the line of fire. Cortez calls him Mr. Mayor, so Mike knows this guy understands who’s who in town. Mike holds his gun under the table and demands the name of the person who put the hit on Bunny. Cortez refuses and Mike says he’ll allow him to live if he gives up the name. Cortez responds, “Bunny Washington’s a pawn. We’re beyond the locals. We’re after knights and rooks, mayors and kings.”
Mike asks him to pass a message to his bosses that the local pawns will kill them.
DA Evelyn Foley (Necar Zadegan) learns her witness is a no-show. She’s forced to release the grand jury.
Bunny’s hooked up to machines and his sister, Whitney (Khalilah Joi), holds his hand and tells him he’s strong. She won’t pray for him because she knows he’s got this.
Cindy Stephens (Laura Benanti) starts her shift in Ad Seg and is shocked that Kyle’s cell is empty. She calls for backup and Breen (Matthew Del Negro) shows up. Cindy asks him to watch the Ad Seg while she tries to figure out Kyle’s location. No one updated the count board, and it still shows he’s there.
Cindy finds Torres and informs him that she’s missing prisoner #081693, a police officer. Torres doesn’t seem concerned but promises to track him down. Cindy steps into the restroom and calls Mike, alerting him that Kyle’s not in Ad Seg. Mike tells her to stay away from Torres because he’s in bed with Hobbs. Cindy can’t believe the whole place is so corrupt.
Kyle walks through the yard, keeping his eyes on everyone. He tells a guard he’s supposed to be in Ad Seg and fears for his life. The guard doesn’t care. It feels to Kyle like all eyes are on him as he calls Mike on one of the phones in the yard. Mike promises to figure it out and warns Kyle to stay away from the whites. He should try and find Raph. As they’re talking, guards come to retrieve Kyle, telling him he’s going back to his cell. Mike screams at him not to go with them, but Kyle hangs up.
Kyle’s placed in handcuffs and escorted out of the yard. Raph and his men have just entered the yard, and Raph realizes Kyle’s being taken to the slaughter, not his cell.
Clayton Cardenas as Torres and Jeremy Renner as Mike McLusky in ‘Mayor of Kingstown’ episode 6, season 4 (Credit: Dennis P. Mong Jr./Paramount+)
Mike arrives at the prison as Kyle fights back while being forced into a room. Mike tries to barge past the guard at the entrance but can’t. Torres arrives with additional guards who hold Mike back. Mike demands that he call Hobbs just as Hobbs calls Torres.
Kyle’s dumped in a room where the Colombians are waiting and beaten and nearly raped. Suddenly, the Aryans appear and attack the Colombians, pulling Kyle out of the room. One of the men tells Kyle that Callahan has his back.
Mike’s locked in a holding cell when Hobbs shows up, and the warden admits she’s working with the Colombians. Since Mike’s so powerful in town, she’ll make a deal. She’ll watch over Kyle if he has Frank Moses arrested. Mike agrees but demands that Kyle be placed back in Ad Seg and Merle moved to gen pop. Hobbs thinks it’s a mutually beneficial deal but remands Mike the clock is ticking.
Kyle declines a visit with Mike. He looks ready to give up on life.
Evelyn’s told her witness has fled the area and his car is in Indiana, or at least it was 12 hours ago. Evelyn realizes he’s probably changed plates. (She has no clue that he’s dead.)
Mike visits Frank and tells him the KPD is set to arrest him that night. Mike says it’s because of the deaths on the train and advises Frank not to leave. If he flees, then KPD will look harder for a reason to chase him down. Frank’s never been arrested before and Mike says if he complies, he’ll make sure he’s walked through the front door. Frank will do it, but says he’ll bring his lawyer.
After he leaves Frank, Mike calls Ian and tells him to hold Frank as long as he can. It needs to look like Ian will do what Mike says. Mike’s next stop is at Bunny’s driver Lamar’s house. Lamar won’t talk to the cops but doesn’t mind speaking with Mike. He believes there were four or five men shooting at them from the woods. They left when he shot back. He’s not sure if he hit anyone.
Mike realizes Lamar’s hiding something and lies and says Bunny’s awake, suggesting Bunny will fill in details Lamar missed. Mike immediately informs Ian and Stevie that Frank Moses flipped Lamar. He realizes Frank’s been wanting Bunny removed from the start, something he didn’t catch sooner because he was focused on the cartel. Mike thinks Frank’s guys will try taking out Bunny at the hospital, so Ian’s going to call in reinforcements.
Mike still wants Frank brought in but believes they should still release him fairly quickly. They’re not prepared to really make a move on Frank yet.
Later that night, Merle asks Kyle how he’s doing. Merle advises him that they protect their own and that it’s not bad having him as a neighbor. Kyle doesn’t respond.
Frank’s picked up and taken to the station, with Ian and Stevie in charge of getting him there safely. Frank’s lawyer accompanies them. Just as they’re walking into the station, a man pulls a gun from his sock and begins shooting. Ian’s quick enough to warn Frank about the gun and moves Frank into a safe area. Ian then kills the shooter, who managed to shoot Officer Keno before being taken down.
Mike takes a seat in Bunny’s hospital room, pulling watchdog duty over his friend.
Toss out any accolade you can think of, and they still won’t begin to describe the sheer brilliance of Hamnet. Director and co-writer Chloé Zhao delivers a stunning period drama, brimming with career-defining performances. Hamnet, based on co-writer Maggie O’Farrell’s novel, takes the faintest hints of history and expands them into a poignant exploration of love, grief, and the creation of timeless art.
Hamnet brings the little-known Agnes Hathaway (who is known historically as Anne) into the spotlight. This towering period drama challenges the historical neglect that has relegated William Shakespeare’s wife to a mere footnote. The facts – that Will and Agnes/Anne married and had three children – are known, but who Agnes was and how she truly influenced his writing has been criminally left to speculation. If they wrote while William was in London working on his plays, that correspondence is lost. Nothing exists to indicate how they felt about each other over the decades of their marriage.
O’Farrell’s novel and the film adaptation position Agnes as the daughter of a forest witch, or at least that’s how the community labeled her. Proficient at potions and far more literate than her female peers, it was her unique spirit that captured William’s heart.
The gorgeous period drama centers on the passionate, unconventional courtship between William Shakespeare (Oscar nominee Paul Mescal, Aftersun) and Agnes Hathaway (Oscar nominee Jessie Buckley, The Lost Daughter). William’s working as a Latin tutor when he spies the spirited, nature-loving Agnes. Will’s like a moth drawn to Agnes’ flame, and their fervent whirlwind romance quickly leads to a handfasting that consummates their relationship. Neither Agnes’s nor Will’s families embrace their relationship. Only Agnes’ beloved brother Bartholomew (Joe Alwyn, The Brutalist) sides with the young couple’s decision to marry.
The film explores the difficulties of their life together and the tension that arises when William, restless and ambitious, seeks his fame and fortune in London. Will leaves Agnes alone much of the time to care for their three young children – the oldest, Susanna, and twins Hamnet and Judith. It’s during one of his extended London trips that young Hamnet becomes deathly ill with the plague. His death and the family’s subsequent grief are the catalysts for Will’s Hamlet.
Hamnet‘s emotional core is the lingering effects of a family’s tragic loss. It examines how an artist processes unimaginable pain, but more importantly, it gives weight and value to Agnes – a woman relegated to just the barest of descriptions in history texts.
The powerful, career-defining performances by Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal are raw, complex, and intense. Buckley is riveting as Agnes, portraying this forgotten figure as strong, deeply connected to nature, and unafraid to speak her mind. Buckley’s Agnes is fierce and capable, filled with extraordinary strength of character. When she suffers a devastating loss, you feel her pain deep down in your soul.
Paul Mescal matches Buckley’s intensity as William Shakespeare. Mescal delivers a revelatory performance, seamlessly moving from the eager, infatuated young lover to the tormented writer grappling with unimaginable sorrow. His transition from earthly passion to intellectual and emotional anguish is mesmerizing. And the chemistry between Buckley and Mescal is electric.
The young supporting cast are all excellent, in particular Jacobi Jupe, who plays young Hamnet. Many of the film’s most heartbreaking moments involve the twins, Hamnet and Judith, and Jupe and Olivia Lynes do a fantastic job of portraying their close bond.
Two-time Oscar winner Chloé Zhao (Nomadland) masterfully creates a world that feels removed from modern days yet strangely contemporary. Though the film may not be based on verifiable facts, it is a stunning, complex, and emotionally moving work that makes you hope this version of Agnes’ life is close to what she experienced. And if not, then at least it restores her to something beyond a footnote.
GRADE: A
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 2 hours 5 minutes
Release Date: November 26, 2025
Studio: Focus Features
Cast: Jessie Buckley, Paul Mescal, Joe Alwyn, Emily Watson, Jacobi Jupe, Olivia Lynes, Bodhi Rae Breathnach, and Noah Jupe
