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WTF to watch this weekend: Mashable’s top 3 picks

Overwhelmed by choice for TV shows and movies? Here’s three things Mashable loves right now.

Look, I know you can be underwhelmed and you can be overwhelmed, but can you ever just be whelmed? Reader, you absolutely can (and not just in Europe) — it’s the feeling of not knowing what the hell to watch.

With avalanches of TV shows and movies consistently careening into cinemas and streaming services, and not all of it good, there’s a chance you’ve just about had it with choosing what to spend your hard-earrned money and time on. There’s just SO MUCH.

Luckily, Mashable’s deeply obsessed, disarmingly tasteful, and superbly dressed entertainment team is constantly reviewing the series and films trying to elbow their way into your eyeballs — we even pick one as our Watch of the Week.

But in case you need slightly more to choose from, here are three (just three!) things are Actually Good to watch right now.

1. Agatha All Along

Kathryn Hahn in “Agatha All Along.”
Credit: Chuck Zlotnick / Marvel

It’s pretty much spooky season and while we can’t yet offer up a new season of Wednesday, there’s another seasonal delight for you. Agatha All Along, the MCU spinoff from WandaVision, is here with Kathryn Hahn leading a star-studded coven. It’s our Watch of the Week this week, so we’re not taking any chances of you not watching it.

As Mashable’s Belen Edwards wrote in her review, “Agatha All Along feels like a witch’s potion brewed specifically to make me giddy with joy. How could it not, when its ingredients include magical trials, rocking songs, and Patti LuPone herself?”

And make sure you watch Agatha All Along star Sasheer Zamata playing “Slash or Pass: Witches Edition” with us.

How to watch: The first two episodes of Agatha All Along are now streaming on Disney+, with new episodes every Wednesday at 9 p.m. ET.

2. The Babadook

Essie Davis in “The Babadook”.
Credit: Matt Nettheim/Causeway/Smoking Gun Prods/Kobal/Shutterstock

10 years ago, Jennifer Kent created both one of the most terrifying horror movies of the 21st century and an LGBTQ+ icon. The Babadook is celebrating a decade of scaring the shit out of us and it’s back in theatres. Check out Mashable’s Kristy Puchko interviewing Kent in the video below.

How to watch: The Babadook 10th Anniversary re-release is now showing in cinemas nationwide.

Featured Video For You

‘The Babadook’ filmmaker Jennifer Kent on how her character became an LGBTQ+ icon, and why we will never see a sequel

3. How to Die Alone

Natasha Rothwell and Conrad Ricamora in “How to Die Alone.”
Credit: Ian Watson / Hulu

Known for Insecure and The White Lotus, Natasha Rothwell’s own show is all about seizing the damn day. Rothwell leads her deadpan-titled comedy How to Die Alone as Mel, a JFK airport employee who feels unfulfilled in life on many levels. When she’s faced with a pretty embarrassing near-death experience, Mel gets a dose of perspective that propels her to get stuck into life.

Described by entertainment reporter Belen Edwards in her review as “a sweet, vulnerable ride”, this show is one not to miss.

And make sure to check out Mashable’s interview with Rothwell herself.

How to watch: How to Die Alone is now streaming on Hulu.

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‘Never Let Go’ review: Halle Berry horror flick intrigues, then stalls

Halle Berry, Anthony B. Jenkins, and Percy Daggs IV star in this atmospheric, yet lackluster horror flick from Alexandre Aja. Movie review.

Never Let Go creeps onscreen like a dark fairy tale, enveloping its audience in a forest landscape of gnarled tree branches and mossy stones. At the center of this grove lies a solitary wooden house, home to a woman known simply as Momma (Halle Berry), as well as her twin sons Nolan (Percy Daggs IV) and Samuel (Anthony B. Jenkins). According to Momma, they’re the only three people left in the world. A great Evil wiped out the rest of humanity, and now it’s coming for her family.

There are ways to fight the Evil, though. Like Never Let Go‘s wooded setting, these defense mechanisms come straight out of folklore. Momma, Nolan, and Samuel tether themselves to their house with a rope anytime they step outside. That bind grants them protection against the Evil. The same goes for the house as a whole, which the family treats as some kind of holy guardian. They touch its wooden walls to cleanse their souls of any contact with the Evil, reciting a well-worn rhyme that declares, “Heaven is here within our home.”

All these elements form an intriguing blend of folk horror with religious undertones. Yet Never Let Go, directed by Alexandra Aja (Crawl, Horns), fails to deliver on its promising start. The film sometimes plumbs the depths of sinking dread, but for the most part, relies on cheap tactics to elicit any kind of scare.

What’s Never Let Go about?

Anthony B. Jenkins, Halle Berry, and Percy Daggs IV in “Never Let Go.”
Credit: Liane Hentscher for Lionsgate

For Samuel and Nolan, the house is all they’ve ever known. The same goes for Momma’s insistence that they stay attached to the all-important rope and follow each of her rituals. Momma knows best after all, as only she can see the Evil. It manifests in different forms for her, shedding its skin like a snake to take the shape of her deceased family members. Often in zombie-like states of decay, these apparitions shamble towards Momma and taunt her with painful memories.

All that definitely sounds scary, but since Samuel and Nolan have never seen or experienced the Evil themselves, even in the brief moments when they let go of the rope, it’s only natural that doubt eventually creeps in. Samuel, ever the rule follower, remains steadfast in his trust in Momma. But Nolan grows bolder in questioning whether the Evil is even real. As starvation closes in and tensions rise, the stage is set for a family reckoning and all the beliefs they once held dear.

Never Let Go raises fascinating questions, but never goes deep (or truly horrifying) enough

Unfortunately, that reckoning never quite arrives. That’s a shame, as Never Let Go does wring some dread from its ambiguous approach to whether the Evil is actually real or not. Take Momma’s story of the time she left a young, injured hiker to die for fear that she was one of the Evil’s many forms. Are we certain that she outsmarted some malevolent force? Or did she actually abandon a real girl who needed her help? The different possibilities can tear you in two, and Never Let Go remixes that scenario a few times throughout its run for maximum dread.

Too often, though, Never Let Go turns away from this complexity in favor of clichéd frights. Jump scares and nightmare sequences abound, prompting quick moments of fear that quickly give way to exasperation. I don’t need to see another mysterious creature dart across the frame! Give me unbridled panic about losing that vital, protective rope or the horrifying inevitability of starvation any day.

Some genuinely fascinating ideas do shine through Never Let Go, even with these half-baked scares clogging the runtime. Real or not, there are different ways to read the Evil’s significance to Momma, especially through the lens of family trauma. There’s also the angle of children breaking away from their parents: Is Nolan’s skepticism a coming-of-age moment for him? Momma mentions she had a similar phase once, so is her family trapped in a cycle of rebelling against then conforming to rituals surrounding the Evil? Never Let Go certainly seems happy to let us keep asking these questions, but after its plodding pacing and scattershot climax, you’ll wish it had held onto those ideas for just a bit longer.

Never Let Go was reviewed out of Fantastic Fest’s opening night. It is now in theaters.

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Netflix’s ‘Wednesday’ Season 2 behind-the-scenes gives us a torturously short teaser

Netflix dropped a behind-the-scenes look at “Wednesday” Season 2 with Jenna Ortega on set.

Netflix dropped a behind-the-scenes look at “Wednesday” Season 2 with Jenna Ortega on set.

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Netflix’s ‘Devil May Cry’ teaser is an assault on the senses

Netflix has dropped its teaser for “Devil May Cry”, a demon-hunting anime based on Hideki Kamiya’s famous game franchise of the same name.

Netflix has dropped its teaser for “Devil May Cry”, a demon-hunting anime based on Hideki Kamiya’s famous game franchise of the same name.

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Netflix’s ‘Territory’ trailer is already being compared to ‘Yellowstone’

A land succession drama on an Australian cattle ranch where everyone’s out for blood? That’s the pitch for Netflix’s new drama series “Territory.”

A land succession drama on an Australian cattle ranch where everyone’s out for blood? That’s the pitch for Netflix’s new drama series “Territory.”

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‘Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft’ trailer is a battle of personal and literal demons

Netflix’s trailer for animated series “Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft” is here, and our hero (voice by Hayley Atwell) has demons to conquer.

Netflix’s trailer for animated series “Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft” is here, and our hero (voice by Hayley Atwell) has demons to conquer.

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‘The Eternaut’ trailer has people struggling to survive a snowy, radioactive wasteland

Netflix has dropped its trailer for “The Eternaut”, a post-apocalyptic thriller series about a toxic snowfall and an alien threat.

Netflix has dropped its trailer for “The Eternaut”, a post-apocalyptic thriller series about a toxic snowfall and an alien threat.

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‘Arcane’ Season 2 clip has Vi kicking the hell out of her trauma

Netflix dropped a new clip from “Arcane” Season 2 showing Vi (Hailee Steinfeld) in a fighting ring. Watch.

Netflix dropped a new clip from “Arcane” Season 2 showing Vi (Hailee Steinfeld) in a fighting ring. Watch.

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Netflix’s ‘DON’T MOVE’ trailer has a woman fighting a killer and full paralysis

Netflix has dropped its trailer for “DON’T MOVE”, a survival thriller produced by “The Evil Dead” director Sam Raimi.

Netflix has dropped its trailer for “DON’T MOVE”, a survival thriller produced by “The Evil Dead” director Sam Raimi.

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‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’ Season 2 clip teases the arrival of Toph

Netflix dropped a short clip to announce the arrival of Toph in “Avatar: The Last Airbender,” along with the casting of Miya Cech.

Netflix dropped a short clip to announce the arrival of Toph in “Avatar: The Last Airbender,” along with the casting of Miya Cech.

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