Lily Osler

stranger things

Will Byers, queer power fantasies, and me

If it really wants to pull off its latest twist, Stranger Things needs to remember what keeps its characters grounded, writes Lily Osler.

Rundown

Episodes Monday Rundown November 24–30 2025

This week: holiday classics, webs of lies, and a game designed to irritate your friends and loved ones.

open thread

What's the best movie from the year you were born?

Discuss amongst yourselves! (And/or, read our answers below.)

Rundown

Episodes Monday Rundown November 17–23 2025

In this week's Monday Rundown: summer blockbusters, feel-bad Bible cinema, and a cake.

Mailbag

November mailbag!

This month: Food! So many questions about food! Also, the Criterion Closet, stage plays, and Pluribus.

Rundown

Episodes Monday Rundown November 10–16 2025

This week: a better-late-than-never binge watch, Emily's favorite romance author, and two plays of wildly varying quality.

frankenstein

On Gothic sincerity and del Toro's Frankenstein

Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein wears its themes on its sleeve. Lily Osler writes on how that works – and how it doesn't.

Rundown

Episodes Monday Rundown November 3–9 2025

This week: a great concert, a new obsession, and a mildly frustrating romance read.

Yorgos Lanthimos

In Bugonia, power always says "please"

Yorgos Lanthimos' latest movie is a psychedelic nightmare about the ways the powerful use social niceties to pacify their own consciences, writes Lily Osler.

Rundown

Episodes Monday Rundown October 27–November 2 2025

This week: KPop Demon Hunters, del Toro's Frankenstein, and two different Paranormal Activities

halloween

14 under-the-radar tales to freak you out this Halloween

Including movies, books, podcasts, and asking your friends to tell you a scary story.

Rundown

Episodes Monday Rundown October 20-26 2025

This week: The Wicker Man, the new Last Dinner Party album, and so much found-footage horror