Netflix Watch Instantly Recommendation Thread

Episode one of "Maid" was really strong.

Last year's Alice in Borderland trending on Netflix which I assume is a direct result of Squid Game's popularity

i feel like the is a lot to talk about regarding Squid Game. Going to finish it tonight and might start a thread.

Adding to the crowd that Squid Game was great. Not just an interesting premise, but good characters, dramatic, thoughtfully plotted

I thought Midnight Mass was exceptional, and better than the two Haunting series.

Lol just came here to post literally the same sentiment. Just finished episode 5 and unless this goes real dumb it’s by far the best show he’s done

Midnight Mass is very good at kickstarting my obsession for obscure bible references...for 2 days

Would you recommend it to someone who hates horror (particularly jumpscares)?

yes most def.

Yes

it's not in a hurry and pleasingly ambles along for a few hours before even turning into a horror series, which was mainly what I liked about it.

At the beginning of the final episode there's some knocking which is timed exactly the same way as the intro to Raining Blood.

Also there's one them that crops up a lot in the series which is obviously stolen from godspeed you black emperor.

There's a King book on a shelf in the first episode which is a nice touch.

3 episodes into Midnight Mass and enjoying it a lot. Not seen Bly Manor but I found the Haunting of Hill House overwrought (and waaaay overlong); this is well structured so far and actually quite scary in places.

4 episodes in. This had more of the endless talking/crying that Flanagan uses to fill some screen time but the hits were proper hits (how many cups of tears has Kate Siegel shed for Flanagan by now?). This is right in the sweet spot between Needful Things and Salem's Lot.

Just heard about "Teenaged Bounty Hunters," which I guess was cancelled after just one season but was apparently actually really good? I watched the trailer and it looked like a movie, so maybe just one season made sense.

Teenage Bounty Hunters was excellent. Shoulda had another season or two. Although the name of the show is accurate (the leads are teenagers and they do become bounty hunters), it makes the show sound more glib than it actually is. It does have a good sense of humor and fun about the proceedings but the show gives the characters a surprising amount of depth. Anyway give it a try.

Midnight Mass so far seems good but the Buffy fan in me finds it fucking annoying that the main character is calling Riley Flynn

Ghosts are better than vampires, sorry. There’s a Salem’s lot adaptation called Chapelwaite on somewhere (it has Stevie from Schitt’s Creek in it! But also Adrien Brody.)

It's an angel not a vampire. Tchuh.

A few days removed from Midnight Mass and I liked it well enough but I'm edging closer towards a 'bit silly'. For once, I wish they'd done more with the monster, not less. Terrible table manners. Is it worth a thread?

I started posting about Midnight Mass some time back on the Hill House thread, not much traction.

it IS super silly imo, but I still thoroughly enjoyed it - I've come to accept that overwrought monologues is Flanagan's THING, which makes for an easier watch. also the writing in this one was noticeably better than either of the two Hauntings (or maybe the actors are better? It's his best cast for sure - love Hamish Linklater and Rahul Kohli).

Beverly is clearly the true monster of the show.

So far, it's the best Stephen King novel I've ever read watched. It's definitely kept me on my toes (I confidently stated that there's no way that something like the end of episode four would happen, roughly five minutes before the end of episode four happened).

Only tell me if the ending is any good. The Hill House show is one of the best horrors I've ever seen but the back half stripped a lot of its luster.

Well if he does manage to stick the landing then I'm afraid his King impersonation will need some refining.

yes, the ending is good. At least I thought it was good.

thought the ending of bly manor was more contrived than hill house, which really went for something that didn’t feel earned by the previous episodes but, like, i admired the going-for-broke-ness of it

anyway, excited to dip into midnight mass

I will heartily agree, as far as I am into it atm, with those who've said it's the best of the three.

MM lands successfully IMO

I started skipping the long monologues and enjoyed it. Good show otherwise

I did a fair bit of skipping of the monologues in the end. I loved Hamish Linklater but binging its meant a little scripture went a long way.

Fwiw, I thought the end was fine.

Baby Sitters Club is back!

i never finished the first season but i remain impressed by how solid a show it is

binged squid game in two sittings. Compulsively watchable. I hope there isn't a second series though.

I'm sure Netflix will push hard for another season but the writer/director has said there was no plan for another one

second series would be v dumb and bad

How did you watch Squid Game in terms of subtitles/dubs?

Personally gone for original Korean dialogue with English subs. the subtitles are very, erm, detailed.

I did the english subtitles, they were occasionally not well done.

https://www.npr.org/2021/10/10/1044830237/squid-game-is-the-latest-example-of-when-subtitles-are-a-little-off

the worst thing about the show was the english actors in masks, not one of which could deliver a believable line

Feel like English-speaking actors in non-English productions are usually pretty bad, I almost don't notice it anymore

I've read that you want English, not English (CC).

I think I'm one of the few who didn't love SG. It didn't feel like a waste of time but I wouldn't have regretted not watching it.

yeah there are two sets of subtitles: one is closed captions for the English dub - this is the translation that everyone is complaining about, and should be avoided imo.

The subtitles for the original Korean dialogue are much better but there are still a few major things off (fyi i don’t speak Korean but have watched enough Korean content in my life to notice). One example is during the night watch scene, where the subtitles show Ali calling Sangwoo by his name, after the latter asks him to stop calling him boss.

But what Ali actually calls him is “hyung” - meaning “older brother”, a term of affection used by Korean males towards older males they’re close to. This is actually what makes Sangwoo’s later betrayal of Ali even more devastating - Ali thought of him as family. His last words before he gets killed (“Sangwoo hyung”) even calls back to that scene.

I can kinda understand why they went with the simplest route there, cos I guess they don’t really have the time to explain the Korean language’s use of honorifics to a non Korean audience. but still, that was a huge moment where I thought the subtitles didn’t adequately reflect what was happening on screen.

Ah fuck I messed up the formatting there, sorry for major spoiler!!

I think I'm one of the few who didn't love SG.

We watched the first episode, didn't particularly like it, but had heard it got a lot better. Got as far as the first scene in episode two and checked out. I am just not in the mood for that particular type of callous violence just now.

the physical and emotional violence only gets worse!
yeah i dug it

I don't regret watching it, but I don't think I'd have minded missing the show entirely (especially some with some of its gore).

Is Squid Game part of a South Korean genre or at least deeply intersectioning with one? Wondering if there is anything else as good from there. Started watching My Name last night which seems to be a similarly violent crime related drama. Not sure if that is similar enough to categorise them. & that makes 2 series so far which share violence as a partial trope.
I thought there might be reference to further things on this board but I'm not sure what search engine terms to use. I did find some other titles from current Korean tv when googling that are highlighted in the wake of Squid Game but not sure that's something to go by.

I keep thinking of Alice in Borderland but is that Korean? I thought it was set in Japan.

Alice in Borderland is probably most adjacent but yeah that's Japanese and set in Tokyo

Kingdom is South Korean and definitely worth a watch, especially if you're partial to hats (although set in medieval times)

Also Sweet Home but that's post-apocalyptic.

anyway, excited to dip into midnight mass

I haven't watched any of Mike Flanagan's other stuff, but the recommendations from here were enough to steer me to this. Three episodes in and it's properly creepy. As good old Irish Roman Catholics, we are having fun with some of the details. Like, Ash Wednesday is a day of fasting and quiet. It is definitely not the day when you have a potluck with a load of food. You're not meant to eat anything except dry toast and black tea. And a responsorial psalm is supposed to have responses. It's in the name. I'm also assuming that the old-age makeup on half the cast means they're going to get younger at some point, but I am here for whatever jump-scare disaster is about to befall this super-attractive island population.

Also, it's always great to see Henry Thomas.