By Dave B.

In The Fare (2019) a cab driver on a desolate desert road picks up a lone woman. After a few minutes of conversation, she inexplicably vanishes. Then time seemingly resets and the cab driver repeats the same sequence of events, with no memory of what has previously occurred. Eventually the cabbie, Harris, begins to remember earlier versions of the time loop. As he works with his passenger, Penny, on finding a way out of the loop, they begin to form a close bond. But all is not as it seems. Penny has a secret that lies at the root of Harris’ predicament.

By Dave B.

Amazon Prime’s Upload takes place in the near future in a world where the virtual and “real” worlds coexist in surprising ways. When he’s grievously injured in a self-driving car accident, Nathan’s consciousness is uploaded into his girlfriend’s family’s digital afterlife, Lake View. As Nathan adjusts to his new, noncorporeal existence, he bonds with his customer service representative, Nora. Together, they attempt to solve the mysteries surrounding Nathan’s accident and why some of his memories appear to have been intentionally erased. 

By Dave B.

​The second season of The End of The F***ing World (Netflix) takes place about two years after the dramatic conclusion of Season One. James and Alyssa have not seen each other since the culmination of their adventure. Alyssa (Jessica Barden) is engaged to be married and James (Alex Lawther) is recovering from partial paralysis and the loss of his father. But fate is not done with these two yet, as the first season’s most pivotal event comes back to haunt them in the form of Bonnie (Wunmi Mosaku), a deeply disturbed foe with an implacable grudge against the two teens.

By Dave B.

The foreign-language Vampire Cleanup Department (2017, currently on Amazon Prime), follows the exploits of a secret Hong Kong agency devoted to the elimination of vampires. The protagonist, Tim, is a reluctant hero who discovers that he’s immune to vampire conversion (he's basically Blade, but without strength, speed, or skills). On his first mission, he encounters Summer, a female vampire, who displays some unexpected human characteristics. Tim and the rest of the Department must use ancient magic and weapons to defeat Summer’s master and prevent him from turning Hong Kong into a vast feeding ground for the undead. 

By Dave B.

​IO (Netflix) takes place in the near future after Earth has become toxic to most lifeforms, including humans. In response, humanity made an exodus to Jupiter’s moon Io and plans to begin colonizing the galaxy. On Earth, Sam (Margaret Qualley) lives a solitary life seeking a means to genetically alter life to Earth’s new hazardous conditions. Her normal routine is broken by a storm that destroys her most important experiment and the arrival of a mysterious stranger, Micah (Anthony Mackie), who is determined to get her onto the last transport ship off of Earth, before the planet is abandoned entirely. Anyone remaining on the homeworld will die.

By Dave B.

​In Monsters (2010, currently on Hulu), six years after a NASA probe carry alien life crash lands in northern Mexico, the area is under quarantine in order to contain giant alien lifeforms that resemble giant, luminescent, walking squids. A rich, young heiress is escorted by a freelance photographer through the quarantine zone in an effort to get her home as soon as possible.

By Dave B.

In Colossal (2017, currently on Hulu) Anne Hathaway plays Gloria, an unemployed alcoholic who returns to her hometown after being kicked out of her boyfriend’s apartment after repeatedly lying to him and making little effort to improve her life despite promising to do so for months. She runs into Oscar (played by Jason Sudeikis), an elementary school classmate. As Oscar helps her rebuild her life, Gloria discovers that she is unconsciously manifesting and controlling a gigantic monster that is terrorizing Seoul, South Korea. Colossal is one of those movies that is likely to be more appreciated the less that a viewer knows about it before seeing it, so I’ll try to be particularly careful about what I say in this review.

By Dave B.

The Innocents (Netflix) is an eight episode young adult, science-fiction, romance, mystery starring Sorcha Groundsell as June and Percelle Ascott as Harry. After her mother left the family three years prior, June’s stepfather, John, forces her to live under seemingly unreasonable restrictions on where she could go and what she could do. He also drugs her with sedatives on a daily basis. After John unilaterally decides to move June and her agoraphobic older brother to a remote Scottish Island, June chooses to run away from the small town in which she lives to London, with her secret boyfriend Harry, on the eve of her sixteenth birthday. Unbeknownst to the young couple, however, June possesses a dangerous ability and is a threat to everyone around her. As the mysteries of her power and her mother’s disappearance unfold, the bond between June and Harry is tested to it’s breaking point.