All posts tagged: Netflixs

Inside Netflix’s Rachel Nickell drama The Witness: ‘Not many people know the truth’

Inside Netflix’s Rachel Nickell drama The Witness: ‘Not many people know the truth’

Published by Daniella Wilson

Get the latest entertainment news, reviews and star-studded interviews with our Independent Culture email Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter The day in July 1992 when Rachel Nickell took her toddler to play on Wimbledon Common was ordinary. It had been just the two of them in a secluded area of woodland, meaning that when a man suddenly appeared out of nowhere, sexually assaulted and stabbed Rachel to death 49 times, her son was the only one to see it. At two years old, Alex became the sole witness to his mother’s murder, and the most promising prospect for catching her killer. For many the case will be familiar, its torrid details, relayed at the time in a nonstop churn of salacious news coverage, forever etched into the public consciousness. For others, particularly those born after the 1990s, a new three-part Netflix dramatisation, The Witness, will serve as an introduction to one of the UK’s most notorious crimes. And for Rachel’s …

The Witness cast | Who stars in Netflix’s factual drama?

The Witness cast | Who stars in Netflix’s factual drama?

Published by Daniella Wilson

*Warning: This article discusses murder and sexual assault that some readers may find distressing.* Netflix’s The Witness captures the experiences of André and Alex Hanscombe, who were rocked by the murder of their partner and mother, Rachel Nickell. Murdered on Wimbledon Common in 1992 in broad daylight, the only witness to the crime was her son, two-year-old Alex, who was suddenly thrust into the centre of the police’s investigations. Not only was the toddler interviewed multiple times and forced to relive the most traumatic moments of his life, he was emblazoned on newspaper front pages. So, fearing for his son’s safety, André made the decision to move abroad. The three-parter shows the kinds of impossible decisions that André had to make, the resulting investigation into Nickell’s murderer, and flashing ahead, the advancement in DNA testing that saw the right man caught for Nickell’s murder. But who stars in the factual drama? Read on for everything you need to know about the cast of The Witness. The Witness cast: Who stars in Netflix’s factual drama? The …

Finneas on Making Score for Netflix’s ‘Beef’ Season 2

Finneas on Making Score for Netflix’s ‘Beef’ Season 2

Published by Daniella Wilson

In a word, the score for the long-awaited second season of Netflix’s chaotic comedy-drama Beef is inescapable. From the opening moments of episode one, the music is the first thing viewers hear — the dominant sound ushering in the show’s establishing shots and dialogue for the next 10 minutes of the series before it finally reaches a notable halt.  “It wasn’t until I was on the mixing stage for episode one, which was pretty near the end of the whole process of scoring the show, that I realized it,” says mononymous singer-songwriter Finneas. “We were watching episode one, and I was like, ‘Oh my God.’ There’s so much music in this series, and it’s used so prominently. Sometimes a score really is a background character.”  Like any good character, Finneas’ score contains multitudes. The 10-minute track, “Cold Open,” weaves between tranquility and the anxiousness of being on pins and needles, while “Music for Hospitals” is a bit more sinister and winding, like spelunking in a dark cave. “Vicious Thoughts,” by contrast, is pretty — and …

Netflix’s Instadocs EP on How His New Kind of Docuseries Is Different

Netflix’s Instadocs EP on How His New Kind of Docuseries Is Different

Published by Daniella Wilson

Love documentaries but bristle at their long lead time? Well, first of all, it’s kind of weird how granular you are with your entertainment content, but second, Netflix has the series for you. Instadocs is a new, appropriately titled “expedited documentary series” from executive producers Josh Tyrangiel (Vice News Tonight), Connor Schell (30 for 30) and showrunner Steve Yaccino (Giuliani: What Happened to America’s Mayor?). The whole idea here is to deliver high-quality documentary programming, but to do so at a pace that guarantees the subject matter still matters to consumers. To some degree, the Instadocs concept already exists as what previous generations referred to as “the news.” But Tyrangiel, whose entire career has been news media, says that is not really the right comparison. Instadocs premieres on Saturday, May 30, with Alex Murdaugh, Unconvicted. Three years ago, former lawyer Alex Murdaugh was found guilty of murdering his wife, Maggie, and son, Paul. But that was all covered in Netflix’s other Murdaugh docuseries, Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal (2023). (It was also the subject of …

Rafa review – Netflix’s documentary couldn’t have gotten closer to Spain’s greatest ever tennis player | Rafael Nadal

Rafa review – Netflix’s documentary couldn’t have gotten closer to Spain’s greatest ever tennis player | Rafael Nadal

Published by Sam Flores

There’s a lovely sequence in the second episode of this four-part documentary about the career of Spain’s greatest ever tennis player. It’s 2007 and Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal are walking on to Wimbledon’s Centre Court to play the first of the many finals they would contest. Federer is poised and slightly smug; hair flopping perfectly over his headband, dressed in an immaculate white blazer. Nadal trails behind him, wearing a vest and baggy shorts, shaggy hair flowing and eyes wild, looking for all the world like a beautiful young caveman. It captures his initial appeal perfectly: in his early years, Nadal was elemental, athletic beyond description and impossibly charismatic: equal parts tennis player, action hero and acrobat. It feels like our sporting legends are increasingly reluctant to leave the stage. Lionel Messi (38) and Cristiano Ronaldo (41) will both be at this summer’s football World Cup. One of England’s greatest ever cricketers, James Anderson, turns 44 this year and is still plying his trade in the County Championship. Becoming unsurpassably brilliant at something requires …

Ladies First Reviews: Critics Slam Netflix’s ‘Dated’ Sacha Baron Cohen Comedy

Ladies First Reviews: Critics Slam Netflix’s ‘Dated’ Sacha Baron Cohen Comedy

Published by Sam Flores

When the trailer for the new Netflix comedy film Ladies First dropped, it quickly raised eyebrows, with some critics going as far as calling it “the worst movie trailer” the had “ever seen”. And let’s just say the response isn’t any better now that the film has landed on streaming services, with a smattering of one- and two-star reviews. Ladies First stars Sacha Baron Cohen as a chauvinistic CEO whose life is upended when he wakes up in a parallel world dominated by women. Despite an all-star cast which includes Rosamund Pike, Fiona Shaw, Charles Dance and Emily Mortimer, the film is getting negative reviews across the board. Critics are calling out the film’s subpar jokes, borderline-offensive gender politics and misuse of its talented British cast. Here is what people are saying about Ladies First… “In its attempt to become a one-stop shop for just about every form of nostalgia possible, Netflix has now decided to revive the dreadful British comedy of the 2000s. The all-deciding algorithm has somehow deemed it necessary for a return …

Netflix’s Bawdy Animal Animated Series

Netflix’s Bawdy Animal Animated Series

Published by Daniella Wilson

Back in 1999, the puckish troubadours and cultural anthropologists in the band Bloodhound Gang exhorted, “You and me, baby, ain’t nothing but mammals, so let’s do it how they do on the Discovery Channel.”  Wise words, still to this day. Mating Season The Bottom Line All the animal sex and animal sex trivia you could possibly want. Airdate: Friday, May 22 (Netflix)Cast: Nick Kroll, June Diane Raphael, Zach Woods and Sabrina JaleesCreators: Andrew Goldberg, Nick Kroll, Mark Levin and Jennifer Flackett The video for the song, driven by all manner of double entendres, featured the members of the group dressed as monkeys and marauding around Paris enacting the similarities between the human sex drive and more traditionally depicted animal instincts.  It’s the same general sentiment, reversed, that drives Mating Season, a new Netflix animated comedy from Big Mouth creators Andrew Goldberg, Nick Kroll, Mark Levin and Jennifer Flackett.  Set among the horny and adorable woodland denizens of an unspecified forest, Mating Season argues that while its characters may be nothing but mammals (and the occasional …

‘The Boroughs’ Review: Netflix’s Duffers-Produced Sci-Fi Thriller

‘The Boroughs’ Review: Netflix’s Duffers-Produced Sci-Fi Thriller

Published by Daniella Wilson

The question of time, and how best to spend it, is front of mind for the characters of Netflix’s The Boroughs. As Boomers living out their last years in an idyllic desert retirement community, they’re never not aware of how quickly time can move, how little of it they might have left, how much of it they’ve wasted already or fear wasting still. There is some irony, then, in the fact that the series’ greatest flaw might be misallocation of this precious resource. While the sci-fi thriller proves a fine enough way to while away a few hours, with a plot that boils down to “Stranger Things but old people” and an A-list cast that’d turn the grey hairs of A Man on the Inside green with envy, I left thinking too much of its eight 45-minute episodes had been spent on the former, at the expense of the latter. The Boroughs The Bottom Line A great cast let down by a dull plot. Airdate: Thursday, May 21 (Netflix)Cast: Alfred Molina, Geena Davis, Alfre Woodard, …

Netflix’s ‘masterpiece’ drama Call My Agent to return after 5 years

Netflix’s ‘masterpiece’ drama Call My Agent to return after 5 years

Published by Daniella Wilson

Netflix users, this is not a drill! The highly-acclaimed French comedy-drama, Call My Agent!, is returning to screens five years after its final episode.  The series, which first premiered in 2015, is returning to the platform as a feature film this autumn, with the original cast set to reprise their roles.  © NetflixCamille Cottin and Laure Calamy reprise their roles in the upcoming Call My Agent! film The drama, which viewers have hailed as a “masterpiece,” became a global success on Netflix during lockdown and was praised by TV critics for its sharp writing and excellent performances.  Camille Cottin was a stand-out as the ruthless, seriously chic talent agent Andréa Martel in the series, which followed the lives of the talent agents working at a top Parisian film agency. Recommended videoYou may also likeWATCH: Have you seen the English remake, Ten Percent? Find out more about the upcoming film below… What to expect from the new Call My Agent! Film The upcoming film, which is penned by show creator Fanny Herrero alongside Lison Daniel, picks …

Netflix’s New Crime Thriller Does Revenge Better Than ‘Reacher’ — and Denzel

Netflix’s New Crime Thriller Does Revenge Better Than ‘Reacher’ — and Denzel

Published by skeptic

Man on Fire is a story that first hit my radar, like many of you, when Denzel Washington stepped into the role of former CIA operative John Creasy in Tony Scott’s 2004 action film. The story of that film, like Netflix‘s new thriller, draws inspiration from A. J. Quinnell’s book of the same name — which is the first entry in the five-book series. For all intents and purposes, the 2004 film is a solid adaptation, and thanks to the performances of Washington (who plays Creasy) and a young Dakota Fanning, it has stood the test of time and remains a quality actioner to dig into. Also, potentially like many of you, I’m shocked to say that Netflix’s episodic adaptation of Quinnell’s work is far superior.  If you’ve paid attention to the numbers, you already know that Man on Fire hit the top of Netflix’s streaming charts with a whopping 11 million views in the show’s first four days on the platform. It was this news that nudged me to give the show a try …