Culture recs: Leo's Politically Incendiary New Thriller
Plus: The Irish Succession and the return of "the most magnificent monsters on television"
One Battle After Another (in theaters Friday)
Last seen trying to avoid detection at Jeff Bezos’s Venetian wedding, Leonardo DiCaprio is back in a lavish production of a very different kind. From writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson, One Battle After Another stars DiCaprio as Bob Ferguson, an aging burnout and former member of a revolutionary group called the French 75 living quietly in Colorado with his teenage daughter Willa (Chase Infiniti). When his old foe Col. Steven Lockjaw (Sean Penn) turns up, father and daughter are forced to go on the run.
Very loosely based on Thomas Pynchon’s novel Vineland, the film has been in the works for 20 years and wrapped production in the summer of 2024, but its themes and imagery (e.g. an opening sequence depicting a raid on an immigration detention center) feel startlingly urgent. At the same time, it’s a deeply personal look at the relationship between a bumbling dad and his daughter.
With a reported budget of $140 million, OBAA is Anderson’s biggest-budget project to date, and there has been a lot of chatter about whether an original, adult-oriented film can be a big box office draw in today’s climate. Warner Bros. is taking a gamble on movie nerds and releasing the film in a number of widescreen formats, including VistaVision, which hasn’t been used in more than 60 years (and is only available at a few theaters in New York, LA, and London). Anderson is urging his fans to see OBAA at a theater that projects on actual film — “the way nature intended.”
House of Guinness (all episodes streaming on Netflix)
Pour yourself a pint and pull up a seat for this extra stout period piece from Steven Knight, creator of Peaky Blinders. Like the title suggests, it tells the story of the Guinness dynasty, the Anglo-Irish family that made a fortune off their dark, creamy porter. The drama opens in Dublin in 1868, on the day that patriarch Sir Benjamin Guinness is being laid to rest. Ireland is under British rule, and because of the family’s ties to England, the funeral becomes a target for Fenian protests, led by fierce nationalist Patrick Cochrane (Seamus O’Hara). Meanwhile, Sir Benjamin’s grown children Arthur (Anthony Boyle), Anne (Emily Fairn), Ben (Fionn O’Shea) and Edward (Louis Partridge) attempt to put on a united front despite their massive differences and tension over who will control the family business (yes, it’s all very Succession). Billed as a work of fiction “inspired by true stories,” House of Guinness takes a lot of license with history but taps into the current zeal for Irish pop culture (and includes anachronistic music cues from groups like Belfast hip-hop trio Kneecap).
The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City (Season 6 currently airing on Bravo)
I’ve been an evangelist for this deliberately campy, rivetingly bonkers reality series since it debuted back in 2020, and I am thrilled it returned for Season 6. RHOSLC is the little Bravo engine that could, a show that reliably delivers more drama than other, more glamorously located outposts in the franchise. The series has documented some seriously juicy drama, like the arrest and trial of original cast member Jen Shah (who is now serving in a minimum security prison with Ghislaine Maxwell and Elizabeth Holmes), and has featured some of the most unhinged fights in Bravo history (like an argument over “high-body count hair” that erupted at a grown woman’s Bat Mitzvah last season). But it also explores more profound issues like religion, spiritual trauma, and the role of women in the LDS church. (The cast includes several ex-Mormons.) Season 6 just started last week, but it has already introduced a new insult into the reality TV lexicon. Not that I need to justify my enjoyment of this show to anyone, but no less of an authority than John Oliver recently described the women of RHOSLC as “the most magnificent monsters on television.” And is he ever wrong?
The Devil is Busy (HBO Max)
This documentary short follows Tracii, the head of security at a women’s health clinic in Atlanta, over the course of a single, fraught day at work in a state where abortion is effectively banned at six weeks of pregnancy. She is the first one to arrive the clinic before dawn, scanning the property for intruders and laying out snacks and water for guests, many of whom have traveled hours for healthcare. She does her best to ignore the (white, male) protestors outside, screeching into bullhorns about Jesus and “Black genocide.” “I rely very heavily on my faith when I’m here,” says Tracii, who sees her work as an extension of her religious beliefs, “because the devil is busy out there.” Directed by Geeta Gandbhir and Christalyn Hampton, The Devil is Busy is a powerful study in compassion that packs a lot into just 32 minutes.
📰 In other news:
It’s been a busy week at the intersection of comedy, free speech, and authoritarianism. And it’s about to get busier: Friday marks the kickoff of the Riyadh Comedy Festival in Saudi Arabia, which, sadly, is a real thing. The two-week event, sponsored by the Saudi government and dubiously billed as “the world’s largest comedy festival,” will feature performances by big-name comedians who are apparently unbothered by journalists being executed, including Louis CK, Aziz Ansari, Dave Chappelle, Kevin Hart, Whitney Cummings, Bill Burr, and Pete Davidson (whose father, a New York City firefighter, was killed on 9/11). Human Rights Watch has urged the participating comedians to “use this high-profile opportunity to call for the release of detained Saudi activists.” Meanwhile, comedians including Zach Woods, Shane Gillis (who says he turned down an offer to perform) and Marc Maron have been critical of their peers for taking part. “From the folks that brought you 9/11. Two weeks of laughter in the desert, don’t miss it!,” Maron recently joked. “I mean, the same guy that’s gonna pay them is the same guy that paid that guy to bone-saw Jamal Khashoggi and put him in a fucking suitcase. But don’t let that stop the yucks, it’s gonna be a good time!”
The New York Times published a jaw-dropping investigation into The Tell, a bestselling memoir by Amy Griffin, a wealthy, well-connected Manhattan socialite who claims to have recovered memories of childhood abuse while under the influence of MDMA. The book received ringing endorsement from celebrities including Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon, and Gwyneth Paltrow, but questions about its veracity have now arisen.
The Onion has made an “unhinged” 20-minute mockumentary about Jeffrey Epstein that will be released in theaters for one day next week. If the satirical publication’s recent headlines are any indication, it will not pull any punches.
Having thoroughly mocked Donald Trump, Kristi Noem, and J.D. Vance, South Park is now taking aim at Benjamin Netanyahu.
Apple TV+ delayed the release of Savant, a drama about an undercover investigator who infiltrates online hate groups. It was scheduled to premiere this week. Star Jessica Chastain is not happy about it. “In the last five years since we’ve been making the show, we’ve seen an unfortunate amount of violence in the United States,” she wrote on Instagram, citing incidents like January 6, the attempted assassinations on Trump, Charlie Kirk’s murder, and more than 300 school shootings. “I’ve never shied away from difficult subjects, and while I wish this show wasn’t so relevant, unfortunately it is. The Savant is about the heroes who work every day to stop violence before it happens, and honoring their courage feels more urgent than ever.”
Now, if you need a palate-cleanser after all that, please enjoy this tour of Michelle Dockery’s London townhouse, which is dreamier than Downton Abbey.
Meredith Blake is the culture columnist at The Contrarian
Thank you so much for the recs, and especially the tour of Michelle Dockery’s townhome. One can dream…!