- Home Entertainment Guide April 2026: Send Help, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, Highest 2 Lowest, More (April 30, 2026)
10 NEW TO NETFLIX
“Beast““Benedetta““Bugonia““The End of the Tour““First Reformed““HIM““Krisha““Mass““Pig““Sing Street“
12 NEW TO BLU-RAY/DVD
“28 Years Later: The Bone Temple“
It’s legitimately hard to believe this played in multiplexes across the country. Sure, last year’s “28 Years Later” was legitimately intense, but this follow-up from Nia DaCosta is even more unhinged in consistently mesmerizing ways. A study of the evil of which men are capable, it continues the story of the last film in a way that unpacks religion, philosophy, and resilience while remaining continuously unpredictable. Ralph Fiennes gives maybe the most fearless performance of the year to date in a movie that’s almost hard to put into words. It kinda bombed, but history won’t remember that, especially if Danny Boyle and Alex Garland are allowed to return and close this trilogy out the way they should.
Special Features
Audio Commentary with Director Nia DaCosta
Behind The Scenes: New Blood, The Doctor and the Devil, Beneath the Rage
Deleted Scene
“Die My Love“
History will regard the snub of Jennifer Lawrence for an Oscar nomination for her fearless work in this Lynne Ramsay drama as one of the most egregious oversights of the era. Lawrence is incredible as a young mother losing her grip on reality. Co-starring Robert Pattinson, Nick Nolte, and Sissy Spacek, Ramsay’s film doesn’t seek to capture post-partum depression and manic disorder as much as make you feel like you’re going through the same. It is disjointed in a manner that’s gut-churning, all of it driven by Lawrence’s organic, passionate work. It’s nice to see a streaming service like MUBI take the time to release their films on physical media, but a single special feature would have been nice. Maybe they’re prepping a Criterion edition?
“The Eye” (Arrow)
The breakthrough international hit by the Pang brothers, this 2002 Hong Kong film rode the wave of Asian horror hits from the era like “Ringu,” “Pulse,” and “A Tale of Two Sisters.” Its legacy was slightly degraded by the truly awful 2008 Jessica Alba remake and mediocre sequels directed by the Pangs, but the original is still a banger, and it got the Arrow treatment this month with a new transfer and great new special features, including a visual essay by the brilliant Heather Wixson. The plot is wonderfully simple: A blind violinist receives a cornea transplant, and starts to see things that no one else can see. It’s a haunting piece of work that’s held up better than a lot of films from its era.
Special Features
Reflections on The Eye, a brand new interview with producer Peter Ho-Sun Chan
To See and to Feel: Vision, Empathy and the Feminine Ghost Story in The Eye, a brand new visual essay on the film by critic and horror specialist Heather Wixson
An archival making-of featurette with interviews with producers Peter Ho-Sun Chan and Lawrence Cheng and actors Angelica Lee and Lawrence Chou
An archival featurette on directors Danny and Oxide Pang
Original theatrical trailers
Image gallery
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Tommy Pocket
Collectors’ booklet featuring new writing on the film by film critic and Asian cinema specialist Hayley Scanlon
“Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die“
The brilliant director of “Rango” and “A Cure for Wellness” finally returned in early 2026 with this clever sci-fi movie about a man (Sam Rockwell) who travels back in time to stop the A.I. apocalypse (timely!). Matthew Robinson’s script then branches off to introduce viewers to the people who will help this new John Connor, and reveals how much their lives have been impacted by dangerously developed technology, including characters played by Haley Lu Richardseon, Michael Pena, Zazie Beetz, and Juno Temple. It kinda bombed in theaters back in February; give it a chance on streaming or social media.
Special Features
The Making of Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die – Featurette
“Great Absence“
Kei Chikaura’s personal and moving drama from 2023 has finally received a stateside physical release from Vinegar Syndrome with an essay by yours truly! This nuanced character study tells the tale of a filmmaker who is forced to reconcile with his estranged father after the latter is diagnosed with dementia. Secrets about his family’s past emerge through a mystery surrounding a missing woman. Delicate and subtle, this is a great drama.
Special Features
Interview with director Kei Chikaura
Behind-the-scenes footage
16-page booklet with essay by film critic Brian Tallerico
“Greenland 2: Migration“
2020’s “Greenland” was a surprising success, a film that avoided the traps of the disaster genre by focusing on its characters, and allowing Gerard Butler to give one of his best performances. Sadly, the sequel dives right into most of those traps, avoiding actual character work for poorly devised set pieces. It’s best to forget this flop exists, but Butler-heads out there may want to know for their collection. Consider yourself informed.
Special Features
Rebuilding: Ric Roman Waugh
Pushing Forward: Gerard Butler
Heart and Soul: Morena Baccarin
What We Leave Behind: Roman Griffin Davis
Theatrical Trailer
“Highest 2 Lowest“
Spike Lee’s remix of Akira Kurosawa’s “High and Low” is one of my favorite movies of 2025, a film that seems like it was widely misunderstood by its detractors, and one that reminds us how good Denzel Washington can be when he works with Lee. In their fifth collaboration, Washington plays a wealthy music exec who believes his son has been kidnapped, only to learn that the kidnappers grabbed his driver and friend’s son instead. Washington, Jeffrey Wright, and ASAP Rocky are all fantastic, but it’s the playfulness of Lee’s direction that I love, especially the reading that this film is about his own creative passion. Notice how the filmmaking style changes when the film’s protagonist goes from his Ivory Tower to the streets below, an almost biographical commentary on how Lee gets his drive from the city he loves more than any modern filmmaker. It’s also worth noting that this is an Apple TV film that’s escaped streaming to get a physical release from A24. Pick it up on their website.
Special Features
“King’s Ransom: Making Highest 2 Lowest” Featurette
“Legends Only” Discussion with Spike Lee and Denzel Washington
Aiyana-Lee “Highest 2 Lowest” Music Video Directed by Spike Lee
Set of Six Collectible Postcards
“Innerspace” (Arrow)
One of my favorite directors of his generation, Joe Dante, has been getting more and more of his deserved flowers with every passing year. Whether it’s the remake of “The Burbs” or the near-constant rotation of “Gremlins” in the pop culture sphere, Dante’s brand of B-movie brilliance has been underrated in its influence. And now the time has come to reappreciate his 1987 sci-fi comedy starring Dennis Quaid, Martin Short, and Meg Ryan. Quaid plays Lt. Tuck Pendleton, an aviator who ends up shrunk down and inside the body of poor Short in this remarkable variation on “Fantastic Voyage.” Short’s gift for physical comedy holds the film together, but what’s most notable here is the boatload of special features accompanying this new 4K restoration, including a new commentary, archival one with Dante, new documentaries, and never-before-seen featurettes. It’s one of the best Arrow drops of the year.
Special Features
NEW 4K RESTORATION
DOLBY VISION/HDR PRESENTATION OF THE FILM
Newly restored original lossless 2.0 stereo, original 70mm 6-track mix in DTS-HD MA 4.1 surround and newly remixed Dolby Atmos audio
Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
Brand new audio commentary by film critic Drew McWeeny
Archive audio commentary with director Joe Dante, producer Michael Finnell, visual effects supervisor Dennis Muren and actors Kevin McCarthy and Robert Picardo
Shrinkage: The Making of Innerspace, a brand new hour-long documentary featuring newly filmed interviews with director Joe Dante, producer Michael Finnell, visual effects supervisor Dennis Muren, visual effects artists Harley Jessup and Bill George and actor Robert Picardo
Behind the Scenes with Joe Dante, previously unseen video footage shot during the production of Innerspace
Behind the Scenes at ILM, previously unseen footage shot by visual effects supervisor Dennis Muren during production
Original storyboards
Continuity and Behind the Scenes Polaroids
Production stills gallery
Posters and Promo stills gallery
Theatrical trailer
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Doug John Miller
Double-sided fold-out poster featuring two original artwork options
Collectors’ perfect-bound booklet featuring new writing by film critics Charlie Brigden, Michael Doyle, Josh Nelson, Jessica Scott and Andrea Subissati, a short guide to Joe Dante’s stock company by Scott Saslow, plus the original exhibitors pamphlet
“Marty Supreme“
What more could possibly be said about Josh Safdie’s fantastic drama, a film that went through the spin cycle of awards season from darling to villain? Losing every single Oscar category in which it was nominated probably actually did the film a favor in that it can be reappreciated and resurrected freed from all that nonsense. I stand by my 4-star review of the film linked above, and admire A24’s exclusive release of the flick on physical media with a commentary, featurette, and even physical postcards. Send one to a hater.
Special Features
Director Commentary with Josh Safdie
“Dream Big: Making Marty Supreme” Featurette
Timothée Chalamet & Gwyneth Paltrow Camera Test with Commentary by Josh Safdie
Set of Six Collectible Postcards with behind-the-scenes photography by Atsushi Nishijima
“Monty Python’s The Life of Brian” (Criterion)
It’s funny to think there was a time when a comedy troupe consisted of some of the biggest stars in the world. People don’t realize the heights that Monty Python reached. This 1979 film was the 4th highest grossing movie in the U.K. that year and the highest-grossing from that country in the U.S. It is regularly on lists of the best comedies of all time, and Criterion has now upgraded their original DVD edition, which was out of print to a 4K version with a restoration overseen by Terry Gilliam. The release also includes the original audio commentaries, a making-of doc from 2007, one from 1979, and much more. It’s one of the densest releases of the year when it comes to special features.
Special Features
New 4K digital restoration, supervised by Monty Python’s Terry Gilliam, with 2.0 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
Alternate 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
One 4K UHD disc of the film presented in Dolby Vision HDR and one Blu-ray with the special features
Two audio commentaries featuring Pythons Gilliam, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin
The Story of Brian (2007), a making-of documentary
The Pythons (1979), a documentary about Monty Python filmed on location for Life of Brian
Behind-the-scenes Super 8 film shot by Palin
Five deleted scenes with commentary by the Pythons
Original British radio ads starring Mrs. Cleese, Mrs. Gilliam, Mrs. Idle, and Palin’s dentist
Original illustrated recording by the Pythons of an early version of their screenplay
Animated stills gallery
Trailer
English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
PLUS: An essay by film critic Bilge Ebiri
“Point Blank” (Criterion)
Lee Marvin gives one of the most memorable performances of his career in this John Boorman adaptation of the novel The Hunter by Donald E. Westlake. Relatively underappreciated in its time, it’s a movie that historians and critics have consistently returned to, and it was even inducted into the National Film Registry in 2016. This month, Criterion dropped a 4K restoration overseen by Boorman, and included an incredible commentary in which he is joined by Steven Soderbergh. There are also new features, including an interview with the genius Mark Harris, reflections on the film by Jim Jarmusch, and much more. This one is a must-own.
Special Features
New 4K digital restoration, supervised and approved by director John Boorman, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
One 4K UHD disc of the film presented in Dolby Vision HDR and one Blu-ray with the film and special features
Audio commentary featuring Boorman and filmmaker Steven Soderbergh
Interview with Boorman conducted by author Geoff Dyer
New interview with critic Mark Harris
New reflections on Point Blank by filmmaker Jim Jarmusch
New program on the midcentury Los Angeles architecture featured in the film, with historian Alison Martino
The Rock (1967), a short documentary on Alcatraz and the making of the film
Interview with Marvin from a 1970 episode of The Dick Cavett Show
Trailer
English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
PLUS: An essay by Dyer
“Send Help“
Sam Raimi, don’t stay away so long next time. The inventive director of “Evil Dead” and “Drag Me to Hell” returned to genre filmmaking this year with one of 2025’s best, a rollicking thriller about a woman (Rachel McAdams) stuck on a deserted isle after crashing there with her awful boss (Dylan O’Brien). More than just a traditional survival thriller, it hums with Raimi’s visual ingenuity and twisted sense of humor. It helps that McAdams and O’Brien are on Raimi’s wavelength, reminding viewers how much fun a blockbuster can be. This one did very well with critics and viewers. Watch it again.
Special Features
Audio Commentary: Watch the film with audio commentary by director Sam Raimi and producer Zainab Azizi
Featurettes:
Constructing the Boar Hunt — Sam Raimi offers a deep dive into the creation of SEND HELP’s epic boar hunt scene and the intensive creative process that amplifies the scene’s visceral impact.
From the Office to the Island — Rachel McAdams and Dylan O’Brien detail their transformative filming experience, moving from controlled studios to open beaches. Discover how this shift in environment influenced the development of their characters and the overall production process.
Becoming Linda Liddle — Rachel McAdams, along with the costume and makeup designers, describes the unique journey of creating Linda Liddle’s unpolished office appearance and developing her striking, unpredictable survivalist transformation.
Survival Instinct — Follow Rachel McAdams as she learns the fundamentals of surviving in the wild with the help of Survivalist Expert Ky Furneaux.
SOS: Sounds of Survival — Danny Elfman details his creative process and collaboration with Sam Raimi to write a score that elevates the emotional and atmospheric landscape of SEND HELP.
Bloopers: Check out hilarious outtakes from the making of the movie.
Deleted & Extended Scenes
- An Invitation to a Film Party: The 13th Annual Chicago Critics Film Festival (April 29, 2026)
The 13th Annual Chicago Critics Film Festival, an event for which I am the co-producer and several other RogerEbert.com contributors are programmers, launches this week at the Music Box Theatre, where over two dozen Chicago premieres will unfold to the biggest audiences the festival has seen to date.
As headlines screech about the divide between critics and moviegoers, CCFF serves as a counterargument, bringing together people who write about movies, those who make them, and those who love them. In just the last few years, CCFF ticket buyers have been treated to the Chicago premieres of “Ghostlight,” “I Saw the TV Glow,” “Sing Sing,” “Past Lives,” “Sorry, Baby,” “Benediction,” “Twinless,” “A Little Prayer,” and so many more.
This year’s crop promises a diverse range of screenings, from the sold-out opening-night comedy “The Invite” by Olivia Wilde to the return of an iconic Chicago filmmaker on closing night with “The Sun Never Sets” by Joe Swanberg. In between, Dawn Porter (“When a Witness Recants”), Zach Schnitzer & Nate Simon (“Loafers”), Edd Benda & Stephen Helstad & Judy Greer (“Chili Finger”), and several short film directors will stop by for conversations, alongside major new premieres from Sundance, Toronto, SXSW, Venice, and Cannes.
John Early’s “Maddie’s Secret” and Gregg Araki’s “I Want Your Sex” are going to be major Chicago events that will likely sell out, so we’ll let those screenings do their thing and highlight six other sections of the program that you should consider, too.
Find the full schedule with links to buy tickets here.
The Anniversary Screenings: “The Fly” (May 1), “A.I.: Artificial Intelligence” (May 3), “Something Wild” (May 6)
While the festival is largely about new indie films, we save some space for anniversary screenings of films we love, almost always on film. All three this year are on 35mm and should provoke further conversation about their place in film history. With the dominance of A.I. in the headlines, it seemed a perfect time to revisit Steven Spielberg’s 2001 masterpiece “A.I.: Artificial Intelligence,” and the fact that “The Fly” is turning 40 this year made that prophetic piece about playing God a perfect fit. Finally, we just love Jonathan Demme and jumped at the chance to showcase one of his best films.
“Power Ballad” (May 2)
John Carney earnestly believes in the power of music. The writer/director of “Once” and “Sing Street” is back with one of his biggest movies, a comedy about a family man (Paul Rudd) who ends up co-writing a song with a giant pop star (Nick Jonas) only to watch that tune get stolen. Releasing nationwide later this year, CCFF is your chance to see this crowd-pleaser before everyone else recommends it to you.
“Loafers” (May 6) & “The Sun Never Sets” (May 7)
Joe Swanberg returns to the site of the Chicago premiere of his 2015 dramedy “Digging for Fire” with his first film in six years, the SXSW hit “The Sun Never Sets,” starring Dakota Fanning, Jake Johnson, and Cory Michael Smith, who will join Swanberg for a Q&A after the closing night screening. The night before, Swanberg cameos in a wonderful quarter-life crisis dramedy that’s clearly inspired by the Chicagoan’s early works. “Loafers” is a smart, subtle comedy about young people figuring out who they are and where they belong that comes from a long tradition of Chicago indies while also feeling fresh and new. Writer/director/star Zach Schnitzer will be at the fest for a conversation about his micro-budget production with producer Nate Simon.
“Chili Finger” (May 5)
Hot off rocking screenings at SXSW and Ebertfest, writer/directors Edd Benda & Stephen Helstad bring one of the best dark comedies you’ll see this year to CCFF, and star Judy Greer is coming with them! An incredible character actress for years, Greer does the best work of her career in this Coen-esque comedy about an ordinary Midwestern couple who find a finger in their chili. Or do they? John Goodman, Sean Astin, and Bryan Cranston co-star in a film that is going to have the Music Box rocking in the middle of the fest. Be there.
Four Incredible Docs: “You Had to Be There” (May 3), “When a Witness Recants” (May 4), “Black Zombie” (May 5), “Broken English” (May 7)
It is a very strong season for non-fiction filmmaking, as evidenced by one of the strongest documentary sections in CCFF history. All four are worth a look (and horror fans shouldn’t miss “Black Zombie,” pictured above), but the Centerpiece screening of the latest from Dawn Porter is the one you definitely can’t miss. The multi-talented director of “John Lewis: Good Trouble,” “Rise Again: Tulsa and the Red Summer,” and “Luther: Never Too Much” will bring her latest, a project made in collaboration with Ta-Nehisi Coates about a case that unfolded in his middle school.
All the Rest
Willem Dafoe and Greta Lee are remarkable in “Late Fame”; “Tuner” is one of the most consistently admired films of the fest circuit; “Carolina Caroline” reveals that Kyle Gallner & Samara Weaving have perfect chemistry; Neon returns to the fest with their latest soon-to-be horror hit “Leviticus”; and so many more. There’s truly something for everyone this year. See you there.
- Chicago Latino Film Festival 2026: Highlights of Real Resilience & Collective Care (April 29, 2026)
As I ascend the escalators of this multi-level theater, I find that its lobby is adorned with flags from featured nations. There is a palpable passion in the air. In its 42nd year, the Chicago Latino Film Festival succeeds in bringing an international array of films that showcase the complexity, diversity, and passion of the diaspora’s stories and the excellence in which they are told with in the cinematic medium. Returning to the Landmark Century Cinema this year, the festival is concentrated in this single multiplex from Opening to Closing Night.
Pepe Vargas, the Founder and Executive Director of the International Latino Cultural Center of Chicago, which produces the film festival, did not shy away from acknowledging the excessive hardship imposed on the entire creative and cultural industry under the current economic and political regime. Naturally, such restrictions resulted in fewer filmmakers attending than in previous years, but several still made the trek to speak with festivalgoers. Their shared stories exposed the injustice of those absent. This resilience reverberates in ways that many audiences relate to; a testimony to this year’s excellent lineup, yet an unfortunate byproduct of an adversarial force that unnecessarily demands that these artists prove that their art is worthy of being accessed and shared across the world.
Across 11 days, the festival programmed 51 feature and 31 short films. With films from over 20 countries, it’s incredible how the festival’s curation is unified by one central thread: the desire for home and belonging. In selecting my festival films, I tried to virtually visit as many places as possible.
From the comfort of my seat at the cinema, I was transported to Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Spain, Venezuela, and more. Similar to my viewing experience at the 2025 Chicago Latino Film Festival, the curators do not uniquely organize dedicated shorts blocks. Rather, short films are paired with a feature film; although they are often from different countries, there are thematic similarities.
Like the vast variety of countries presenting films, the Chicago Latino Film Festival also showcases all genres and styles. This year’s opening night film, “It Would Be Night in Caracas,” from Venezuela and Mexico by directors Mariana Rondón and Marité Ugás, is an intense drama centered on a grieving woman navigating escalating violence and revolution. While grief is a universal byproduct of the human experience, the film speaks directly to the lived experiences of many people who fled their home nation by any means necessary to simply survive. At a time when censorship of hard truths is increasingly prevalent, this film, like many others in the festival lineup, finds ways to reveal realities that many Americans should listen to and learn from. Luckily, the film is now widely available on Netflix.
“Isla Negra,” a Chilean film by director Jorge Riquelme Serrano, also touches on what it means to be connected to a place and how gentrification can manifest as a deeply personal violence while operating on a systemic level. As we see a couple infiltrate the home of the real estate developer, who is a key player in revoking their land and displacing them, it’s as if we are prompted to question which form of hurt is worse. The movie is haunting, with no true resolution, but that’s what resonates.
In a similar slow-thriller style, “Zafari,” by opening-night director Mariana Rondón, also explores what it means when communities are forced to perpetuate inequities and navigate problems greater than the power they hold. Prior to “Zafari,” the fictional short “White Crows” by director Sofia Samour created a similar concept with a more comedic tone. A couple seeking a better life is scamming other couples, hoping to get lucky for a chance for a bright future; we laugh at its silliness while shaking our heads at the characters’ lack of shame.
Puerto Rican filmmaker William D. Caballero screened his experimental, animated documentary, “TheyDream,” which also played and was awarded the NEXT special jury award at the Sundance Film Festival. The reflective feature, which focuses on Caballero’s sense of self and his relationship with his family, is a standout at the Chicago Latino Film Festival because of its artistic style, which blends archival footage and audio. In a post-screening Q&A, Caballero proudly shared that the film will soon screen on PBS. Remarkably, as I began to recognize this recurring theme of home and identity, he says how he “can’t stop coming home in his films.”
A couple of films that brought a bit of levity and laughter to my personal viewing were two women-centered rom-coms. The Costa Rican feature “Abril” is about a mother who is trying to rediscover her sense of self while also nurturing her relationship with her tween daughter. To my surprise, “Heated Rivalry,” star François Arnaud played the adrift artistic love interest.
“Life Is,” a feature film by Mexican director Lorena Villarreal, is a complex story that weaves together generations of women. While each character navigates some form of grief, there is a reckoning with what it means to unearth and go after our true desires, or lack thereof.
As the festival came to a close, I remain hopeful for the years and films to come. While the industry at large is in flux, it’s inspiring to see what’s possible when countries invest in the cinematic arts, fostering an increasingly rare compassion that is so desperately needed.
To learn more about the Chicago Latino Film Festival and its satellite programming, read more about the International Latino Cultural Center of Chicago.
- Criterion Venerates Three Essential Works of ’90s Black Cinema with “John Singleton’s Hood Trilogy” (April 29, 2026)
This is what The Criterion Collection does best: They take a venerated (or sometimes less-known) director, assemble their work in a gorgeously conceived box set, and use archival material, interviews, documentaries, and essays to put that person’s celebrated work in a detailed context. It’s mindboggling, therefore, that it took so long for John Singleton to receive that signature treatment. Spike Lee, Singleton’s contemporary, for instance, has four films in the collection (“Bamboozled,” “David Byrne’s American Utopia,” “Do The Right Thing,” and “Malcolm X”). The Hughes Brothers have “Menace II Society.” These releases, of course, always come down to rights, and I’m sure it must’ve been a tall order to gather Singleton’s historic Hood trilogy of “Boyz n the Hood,” “Poetic Justice,” and “Baby Boy” into a single release. Well, the wait was worth it.
This pristine box set is an imperative tribute to one of cinema’s great, paradigm-shifting directors. Its memorializing begins with the resonant cover designed by visual artist Ngabo “El’Cesart” Desire Cesar, whose past work has been praised by Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong’o, Anderson Paak, and more. The vivid cover depicts a South Central Los Angeles street, set against an orange-smeared sky whose hue could describe either a dawning or a sunset. In the foreground is a cinderblock wall with two spray-painted sketches of Singleton: one showing his visage with his trademark South Central Cinema baseball cap, while the other is a medium view of him in a t-shirt from the waist up.
All of the films are 4K restorations on 4K UHD discs presented in Dolby Vision HDR, with each film featuring its own special features: auditions, deleted scenes, documentaries, featurettes, and more. There’s also a conversation between Regina King and Ryan Coogler and interviews with Taraji P. Henson and Tyrese Gibson. Binding these components together is an essay by critic Julian Kimble.
Taken together, the films in the comprehensive box set attempt to explain Singleton’s creative ethos. One documentary, “How to Make a John Singleton Film,” talks to casting director Kimberly Hardin, producer Peter Hall, and publicist Cassandra Butcher about what made the director so unique. They share his love of hip-hop and R&B artists, like Tupac, Ice Cube, Snoop Dogg, and Tyrese Gibson—those who’d go on to star in his films—his desire to shoot locally in South Central and to employ Black talent, and his persistent pursuit of realism. We learn that for one “Boyz n the Hood” scene, the shooting on Crenshaw, Singleton fired a real gun by surprise to elicit a natural reaction from his actors. He would also screen movies he’d hoped would inform his newest movies, like Héctor Babenco’s Brazilian masterpiece “Pixote” for “Boyz n the Hood.”
When Singleton became the youngest Best Director nominee in history for “Boyz,” thereby altering what stories could be told, he didn’t then grasp for mainstream success. He continued telling his own stories. In a conversation between Regina King and Ryan Coogler in the box set, Coogler, who first met Singleton at a Los Angeles gym, marvels at the director’s desire to represent the heart and movements of Black life with staunch sincerity. King, similarly, recalls how supportive Singleton was in inspiring her to become a director.
Poetic Justice
Through copious deleted scenes, we also get a sense of how Singleton stitched his films together. A subplot that’s nearly totally erased from “Poetic Justice,” involving Justice’s salon co-worker taking their own road trip, shows up in its entirety here. More than prompting the viewer to lament their exclusion, their prominence here should inspire many to consider which decisions require knowing the how and the why of a scene and an arc in relation to the larger picture. Each deleted scene, therefore, is deeply revealing of this artist’s process and rewarding for any aspiring director to witness.
What’s most surprising about the Hood Trilogy is the inclusion of “Baby Boy.” The film, of course, was always part of Singleton’s cohesive vision of a cinematic South Central. But unlike “Boyz n the Hood” and “Poetic Justice,” its popularity and importance remain populist. That is, not many critics would include it on a ‘best of’ list or accord it the same rigor as its predecessors. It doesn’t have the all-caps importance of “Boyz” or the star power of Tupac and Janet Jackson (though, to be clear, Taraji P. Henson and Tyrese are high-watt talents). You’d be more likely to catch “Baby Boy” on BET (which I don’t mean in any backhanded way) than at your local art house.
So much of great 1990s Black filmmaking, like “The Five Heartbeats,” “The Best Man,” “Juice,” “Waiting to Exhale,” and more, falls in that range: it’s instructive entertainment and art, much like the now-celebrated Blaxploitation films. Having “Baby Boy” on this release isn’t imperative for Criterion’s acknowledgment—this film would continue to hold great meaning for those who love it. Rather, it completes the vision of a director like Singleton, who made his films for the people and by the people. This release embodies that spirit and the man behind it.
- Prime Video’s Lush, Ambitious “The House of the Spirits” Does Right By Isabel Allende’s Masterpiece (April 28, 2026)
It’s a truth universally acknowledged that some literary projects are simply not meant to be reimagined as feature films or television series. Or, at least, it used to be. Now, with successful adaptations of previously deemed “unfilmable” classics like Gabriel García Márquez’s “One Hundred Years of Solitude” and Frank Herbert’s “Dune” finding their way to screens both large and small, what was once termed impossible is suddenly both thrilling and necessary.
Like García Márquez’s acclaimed novel, Isabel Allende’s “The House of the Spirits” is considered one of the foundational texts of magical realism, mixing both fantastical and quotidian elements to tell the story of four generations in the lives of a single family and those who weave in and out of their world. The novel was adapted as a feature film in 1993, but its star-studded cast of bizarrely miscast Anglo actors and limited run time didn’t do the depth of the book’s story any favors. But with the release of Prime Video’s lavish eight-part streaming adaptation, Allende’s classic is finally given the prestige treatment it has long deserved.
Told in Spanish and featuring a cast from across both Latin America and Spain, the series feels authentic, lived-in, and, yes, magical from its first moments. Its lush sets, sweeping landscapes, and colorful interiors are both visually striking and narratively significant, interspersed with depictions of the post-colonial political upheaval at work across South America. Showrunners Francisca Alegría, Fernanda Urrejola, and Andrés Wood eagerly embrace Allende’s themes of love, memory, and justice, even as they delve into some of the novel’s darkest subplots without flinching. It’s not a perfect adaptation by any stretch, but this “The House of the Spirits” is a remarkably tenacious and ambitious attempt.
Set in an unnamed Latin American country that bears multiple unsubtle parallels to early 20th-century Chile, the events of “The House of the Spirits” unfold across the better part of a hundred years, mixing fiction and allegorized events from Allende’s own family history.
Fernanda Urrejola y Rochi Hernández
oThe story begins with the Del Valle clan, whose youngest daughter, Clara (portrayed by Francesca Turco, Nicole Wallace, and Dolores Fonzi at various points), has clairvoyant abilities that allow her to communicate with spirits and predict the future. When her beloved older sister, Rosa the Beautiful (Chiara Parravicini), tragically dies from poison meant for their politician father (Eduard Fernández), Clara retreats into silence, refusing to speak for the better part of the next decade. She reclaims her voice in time to meet and wed Rosa’s former fiancé, Esteban Trueba (Alfonso Hernández), a poor miner turned wealthy hacienda owner whose ambition, materialism, and penchant for violence will fuel much of the story to come.
As the years pass, the series not only follows Clara’s story but also those of her daughter, Blanca (Sara Becker and Urrejola), and granddaughter, Alba (Rochi Hernández), whose lives are continually shaped and affected by the choices of the generations that have preceded them. Meanwhile, Esteban continues his climb up the ranks of the Conservative Party, and the family is continually drawn into the (occasionally violent) political upheaval unfolding across the country, with several members finding themselves on opposite sides of the debate.
Book fans will undoubtedly be perturbed that “The House of the Spirits” makes some fairly significant changes to the source material, fully excising a fairly major member of the Trueba family, softening some of the story’s more overt political elements in its earliest episodes, and altering several key details of the novel’s ending. Yet the Prime Video drama remains remarkably faithful to the spirit of Allende’s work, leaning into themes of fate, class, memory, resilience, and hope as it weaves a tale of political and personal turmoil across generations.
But while the series incorporates many of the more charming supernatural and fantastical elements of magical realism that Allende helped to pioneer, this is not a story for the faint of heart. “The House of the Spirits” contains multiple instances of sexual assault, torture, psychological abuse, domestic violence, and murder. (There’s even a grisly animal death fairly early on.) Some of these scenes, particularly in the show’s later episodes, are downright brutal to watch, and the story is clear-eyed about the damage that cycles of generational trauma wreak on the Trueba family and those around them.
Alfonso Hernández (Esteban Trueba)
This “House of the Spirits” is also unabashedly feminist in its politics—perhaps even more overtly than the novel at times—as its female characters, across class lines, push back against aspects of the patriarchy that oppress them. The cast is excellent across the board: Wallace boasts an ethereal glow as the young adult Clara, whose kind and often otherworldly nature offers a stark contrast to Esteban’s overt and unapologetic cruelty. Fonzi’s older version, by contrast, is demonstrably stranger, but more at peace with herself and her unique way of existing in the world. Elsewhere, Hernandez’s Alba perfectly balances the girl’s more modern youthful idealism and strident stubbornness, while Fernanda Castillo is furious and heartbreaking by turns as Treuba’s spinster sister, Férula.
But it is Hernandez, the only actor to appear in all eight episodes, who is perhaps most impressive, playing a character shaped by a lifetime of brutality and anger who turns that pain outward onto everyone around him. It is easy to imagine a version of Esteban Trueba that is little more than a caricature, a bad man and selfish politician who gleefully revels in his power for its own sake. Instead, Hernandez manages to find glimpses of humanity in the story’s most monstrous figure, even as his love for Clara and, later, for Alba, is often not enough to temper his worst and/or most violent impulses.
Like the book it is based on, “The House of the Spirits” is not always an easy or particularly accessible tale, especially for those unfamiliar with the complex geopolitical history of the region in which it is set. But it remains a deeply moving and satisfying story in its own right, and a strong example of the ambitious content the streaming era once promised us. It’s nice to know it still can.
All eight episodes screened for review. Premieres April 29 on Prime Video.
