The Swimmers, Glass Onion: Knives Out and Wednesday – What’s so special about these 3 Netflix Watches
It’s hard to get invested in a show, or a movie when there’s so much streaming online. Yeah, winter is a hard time to kill. The battle between stepping out, keeping that coffee date and staying in your pyjamas to watch back to back episodes of what you just fell in love with onscreen is by far, a real thing. So let’s make this easier for you.
Three Shows To Watch Because, They Really ARE as good as everyone says!
1. Wednesday For The Rebellious In You
Wednesday has definitely crossed the 1 billion hour mark as far as online streaming is concerned. What captures audiences is Jenna Ortega’s depiction of Wednesday – she is hard on the outside and, seemingly, hard on the inside too, but she sticks up for family, risks death to uncover the truth, prefers to go it alone, (ego issues much?) refuses to work as a team, yet that’s a journey she traverses along with us.
Wednesday, The Addams family spinoff has been repositioned to appeal to a younger generation, So if you’re planning to watch a retake of Addam’s Family, you might miss out on the family business here. Uncle Fester did not give the same feels, Wednesday’s parents were, but support characters who facilitated her journey as she sought to rid herself from their shadows, discovering in the process, as all teens do, that they are, in effect, a very intrinsic part of the family they struggle to leave behind.
The series is best watched on a binge. Wednesday’s journey propels us through Nevermore Academy, a school for outcasts, freaks and monsters plays centre stage to murder, mystery and general mayhem bordering on horror. This, coupled with teen romance, dorm life shenanigans, and a mystery that is unravelled in successive episodes will keep you invested in the show.
From her roommate Enid, to Tyler, the boy who works at the coffee shop, to her headmistress Ms Weems, and everyone in between, Wednesday’s world is surrounded by riveting characterizations – perhaps the two that stand out the most are ‘The Thing’ and Wednesday herself. The Thing performed by Romanian hand performer Victor Dorobantu who studied American Sign Language, Morse code and military hand gestures to perfect his role is a surprise and a half in a hand! Wednesday herself on the other hand (pun intended there), slipped into character like a glove, inspiring many young girls to vibe with her inner strength, sense of right and wrong, and a journey that shows us that asking for help makes us stronger, not weaker.
Watch at any age, 13 + is the official rating but I watched with a 12 year old who gave it two thumbs up! This one’s an unmissable ride on Netflix!
2. Glass Onion: Knives Out
This one is a sequel to the earlier detective film Knives Out – 2019 starring Daniel Craig who had to solve an Agatha Christie x Sherlock Holmes x Murder She Wrote x Colombo kinda murder jigsaw puzzle. If you haven’t watched Knives Out, you can still watch The Glass Onion although the first just picks up your enjoyment level to another level. The Glass Onion is an entirely brand new murder mystery with unpredictable twists and turns. You cannot allow your attention to flag for a teeny tiny bit because the conversation is what this film is all about.
Daniel Craig aka Detective Benoit Blanc travels to Greece to unearth a murder that’s about to happen! Yeah, very Agatha Christie-ish you’d say. But Craig has added enough punch to the character, southern drawl and all, to give it just the right mix of satire, amusement and a je n’sais pas that entertains every moment he’s onscreen!
Directed by Rian Johnson, Glass Onion: Knives Out delivers gripping performances from Edward Norton from Fight Club and more, as Miles Bron, Janelle Monáe As Cassandra “Andi” Brand, Kate Hudson As Birdie Jay and many more. The sets are grand and the narrative revolves around the very current topic of making it big in Tech. Glass Onion has a lot going for it, it is a murder mystery shrouded in satire – gives a hint of Quentin Tarantino, but just a tad, teetering on the edge, before it slips back into the detective genre. the sets are to love and the grandiose feel of the surroundings will only make one want to watch it again on the big screen!
Watch this one because you can! Netflix gives a PG 13 rating though the conversations, gradual yet steady pace of events might be more apt for mature audiences.
3. The Swimmers
If you think you can’t watch a ‘heavy on the senses’ narrative but still crave a meaningful story, this one’s for the true story lover in you.
The Swimmers is a story about so much more than refugees. Take a closer look and you’ll see a part of your soul in places you hadn’t thought to look. This is your Holiday Watch…don’t let this one go by!
The Swimmers is a film by Sally EI Hosaini and if you’re seeking a watch that is strikingly balanced between the uplifting & the ‘heavy on the senses’, this one fits like a
glove. The film will change the way you view the refugee crisis, the US vs THEM debate, the humanity that exists around us, and the one that doesn’t.
The win for me is the true story of two sisters Sara Mardini and Yusra Mardini who lost all hope, gave back some hope, and then, rose to triumph. Yet their wins did not let them forget those they left behind. Their resilience, Yusra with her soft outer shell yet hard inside, and Sara in her tough girl sister role speaks to so many characters that live within us, only to find a voice in these two women.
The Swimmers won’t shove a mantra down your throat. Yet it’ll make you feel intense remorse & guilt.
The Swimmers is available on Netflix and attempts to take us inside the journey of refugees fleeing their homeland in order to save theirs and their families futures – from travelling on foot to rubber dinghy to trucks to refugee camps, it is a story of how a people are displaced in a matter of moments, become homeless, yet keep their
dignity intact. But The Swimmers is about so much more than refugees. Take a closer look and you’ll see a part of your soul in places you hadn’t thought to look.
There are so many reasons to recommend this story. Not the least being that it serves to inspire, despite giving us a wakeup call. It is watchable, not depressing, yet leaves you with a fathomless sense of guilt, universal guilt…
The film ends on a sobering note
Since 201 1, 5.7 million Syrians have become refugees. There are over 30 million refugees (over 3 times the population of Switzerland). And half of them are under the age of 18.
So, if you ask me, The Swimmers, Wednesday, Glass Onion: Knives Out – What’s so special about these 3 Netflix Watches. I’ll tell you they give a little bit of the magic, madness, mystery that you need to slip into 2023!
