Few models have seamlessly made the transition to the silver screen and television as successfully as Brooklyn Decker. Brooklyn leapt from the cover of Sports Illustrated’s Swimsuit Issue (the Oscars of swimsuit modeling) onto the big screen in 2011’s hit rom-com, Just Go With It.
Aside from her classic slow-mo emergence from the Hawaiian sea in a swimsuit, reminiscent of the classic film, 10 starring Bo Derek, she held her own opposite comedic heavyweights Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston. Hollywood took notice, subsequently casting her in 2012’s Battleship, alongside Alexander Skarsgard, Rihanna and Liam Neeson. Next up was the ensemble comedy What to Expect When You’re Expecting (based on the mega-bestselling mom-to-be tome) alongside a bevy of A-list actresses, including: Jennifer Lopez, Cameron Diaz, Elizabeth Banks, Rebel Wilson and Anna Kendrick. Decker famously played the young and super fit “pregnant unicorn” who leaves actress Elizabeth Banks’ pregnant character scratching her head in envy and disbelief.
On social media, where most celebrities are retouching their images, Brooklyn thinks nothing of going makeup and photoshop-free at times, fearlessly repping the daily rigors of being a multitasking working mom, while adding tech entrepreneur to her growing resume with her recently-funded fashion startup, Finery.
Decker is currently riding a wave of success, playing the role of Mallory Hanson on the hit Netflix series, Grace and Frankie, now in its fourth season. Decker’s character Mallory is a young married mother of four children, navigating complicated relationships with her parents, played by Jane Fonda and Martin Sheen, and her sister, played by June Diane Raphael.
I caught up with this super babe turned superwoman for a chat about the success of Grace and Frankie, how Netflix is transforming the entertainment industry and the evolution of great characters on television.
TME: What have you learned about great comedy through playing the role of Mallory on Grace and Frankie?
Brooklyn Decker: I’ve learned from my colleagues on the show, especially June Diane Raphael who plays my sister. She’s one of the most talented comedic actresses I’ve ever worked with. What I’ve learned from her and from the rest of the cast is the more you’re playing a scene, the funnier it becomes. All of us, when we’re shooting, we play with each other… that sounds very in appropriate by the way (laughs)…
TME: (Laughs) Don’t worry. My mind was not in the gutter…
Brooklyn Decker: Ha! We’re like, “Can I push you here? Or maybe can you grab my hair here?” We do get physical, and we find a way to play with each other to bring physicality to the scene. What happens from that is it becomes funnier, and it feels more real. I really learned that from June, who, again is one of the funniest people in my life. And the wealth of talent on our show is just incredible. I’ve really learned that when it comes to comedy, if you’re having a fun time, the audience is going to have a fun time.
TME: I agree! June Diane Raphael is a very talented comedic actress, and the two of you play so well off each other as sisters on the show. There’s an interesting parallel of female relationships on Grace and Frankie. You have the close relationship between Jane Fonda’s character, Grace, and Lily Tomlin’s character, Frankie. At the same time, there is the sister relationship between your character, Mallory, and June’s character, Brianna. You don’t often get to see one close female relationship on television, so two female storylines in one show is pretty cool!
Brooklyn Decker: You’re one of the few people who have clued into that. Someone else commented to me that it’s rare to see sisters on television. There aren’t these female relationships that are at a deep level. I feel like Grace and Frankie does a really good job of showing sisterhood as friendship. But yeah, you are one of the few people who have mentioned that.
TME: Thank you for that, and I’m surprised more people haven’t made that observation. Tell me the difference between Jane Fonda’s comedic style and Lily Tomlin’s comedic style.
Grace And Frankie
Brooklyn Decker: They approach their work entirely differently from one another. Lily is just in the scene. She doesn’t care about the technical aspect of a scene. She just wants to be present and then receive. As far as her character Frankie goes, she really embodies that. Jane is so technically perfect. She knows where every camera is, she knows when to take a pause, she knows how to angle her face. They do very few takes with Jane, because everything is pretty perfect. Whereas Lily gets on set and likes to play. You get something different from Lily on every take, because she’s constantly playing, constantly moving. They approach acting so differently; it’s similar to the difference in their characters. It’s fascinating to see the two of them work together. They just rib each other all day long. You can see that there’s so much love and history there.
TME: Because they’ve worked together before.
Brooklyn Decker: Yep, 9 to 5!
TME: One of my favorite movies of all time! Speaking of which, will Dolly Parton make a guest appearance on Grace and Frankie?
Brooklyn Decker: Abso-freakin-lutely! We beg for it every episode. They’re so secretive about it, that I don’t know if it is in the works, or if it will ever happen. I know that a lot of fans of Jane and Lily have wanted to see Dolly on the show because of 9 to 5. In the first two seasons they wanted to make sure that they fleshed out the show before they brought in what would be the tornado that is Dolly Parton. Now that we are in Season Four, they are playing it super close to the vest.
TME: How is it having Martin Sheen, who is also a fantastic actor, playing your father?
Brooklyn Decker: He is such a wonderful person. One of my favorite shows of all time, before doing Grace and Frankie, was The West Wing. Everyone says you should never meet your heroes because you’ll be disappointed. I was nervous to work with him, because I really had him on this pedestal. And he is such a kind, present, lovely person. My son was born when I was shooting the show, and the next week he brought me a rosary with the date that my son was born. He’s so paternal and wonderful, and to be able to play his daughter feels really natural. I have such respect and affection for him.
TME: You were pregnant in season three? I just watched it and you weighed 2 lbs!
Brooklyn Decker: Well, no, I was pregnant in season two, and then I was pregnant with my second this upcoming season four.
TME: I’m going to be on the lookout for a bump in season four!
Brooklyn Decker: It’s so confusing. June and I have four children altogether, off the show, and I have four children on the show. We have trouble keeping up with what’s real and what’s fake. It’s all very confusing (laughs).
TME: Do yours and June’s kids have playdates?
Brooklyn Decker: Yes. When I’m in LA they have; when we all get together.
TME: Could you see you and your husband (tennis star, Andy Roddick) being parents to four kids like your character Mallory?
Brooklyn Decker: Honestly, that’s my dream! I want a ton of children. Both me and my brother wish that we had more brothers and sisters. Whereas my husband comes from a family with three boys, and he likes the idea of two. So far, we’re good with two and we’ll see where that takes us.
TME: Of course, the main plotline of Grace and Frankie is that Robert and Sol, played by Martin Sheen and Sam Waterston, come out as gay after their kids are grown up, they announce they’re in love and leave their respective wives (played by Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin) to be together. Your character, Mallory, being one of the grown children, has to process and deal with that on the show. Have you ever thought about how you would react if that were to happen in your real life? If you had a parent who came out later in life and left your other parent, how do you think you and your brother might have handled those circumstances?
Brooklyn Decker: That’s interesting. I’ve had two male friends who had children and came out to their wives later in life. It hasn’t happened to me, personally, but people do go through it and I think I can relate to the kids on the show. During Season One, one of the more poignant moments was a scene when all of the kids were having a conversation, and basically saying, “We’re not mad that dad’s gay. We love dad no matter what. We’re mad that he’s been lying to his wife, our mother and our family, for twenty years.
For me it would be about the fact that they’ve been having an affair for twenty years; that would be a big deal. June’s character, Brianna, said on the show, “What if dad had been having an affair with a woman? We would all be pissed. But because it’s a man, we have to accept it.” I think that is so true. That was an interesting thing to tackle on the show, and I feel like that would probably be true in real life. If a parent was having an affair, and had been having an affair with one person for so many years, that would be the issue. For me, it would be less about their sexual orientation.
TME: You came on the scene as a model. Back when you were on the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, was the end goal an acting career?
Brooklyn Decker: When I moved to New York and first started modeling, I moved thinking that I was just going to pay for school. That was the goal. When I started 
modeling I was eighteen, and all of my friends were in their freshman year at college. I really missed that. The reason I started studying acting was because I really missed school. My manager said,
“Why don’t you get an acting coach and study acting? It will at least give you something to read and study when you’re on the road.” I liked that idea, so I started studying with a coach in New York and we started reading a bunch of Tennessee Williams. We approached it in a weird way, kind of academically. It was less about performance and more about learning and studying. I fell in love with studying acting. When I started auditioning, I didn’t think anything would come from it.
TME: What made you come to that conclusion?
Brooklyn Decker: Growing up in Matthew, NC, becoming an actor and becoming a model wasn’t a realistic career path. My brother’s a firefighter, my mom’s a retired nurse. It’s not something that you do where I’m from. We weren’t in the arts. In that respect, it was something that happened by chance. Once I started studying and auditioning, I fell in love with it and then of course I really wanted it. By 2010, I got three movies in one year. The second I booked my third movie, I said to my manager, “I’m quitting modeling. I’m done.”
TME: One of those movies was Just Go With It with Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston?
Brooklyn Decker: Just Go With It, Battleship and What to Expect When You’re Expecting. Once I booked my third movie, I had the courage to decide to stop modeling and focus on acting, and that was seven years ago.
TME: At what point did you feel like you made the transition from a model who’s done some acting, to an actor?
Brooklyn Decker: I don’t feel like that…yet.
TME: You don’t??
Brooklyn Decker: I do think that as a model, especially one who was in Sports Illustrated, which really puts you on the map, you have a lot to prove. People are constantly viewing you as one thing, and seeing you as sort of a wannabe (laughs).
TME: I get it. When you’re on the Grace and Frankie set, you’re surrounded by Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, Sam Waterston, Martin Sheen, June Diane Raphael who is a seasoned comedienne. You got a seat at the table, but are you constantly questioning, “Do I belong here?” “Should I be here?” Or do you feel like, “Yes! I belong here.”?
Brooklyn Decker: I feel the insecurity that you just said of “do I belong here?” every single day. I think it’s me. It’s my own neurosis. But I do think that no matter what, any actor, and I’ve been acting full time now for seven or eight years, but any relatively new actor would feel insecure working with that group of actors. But I do feel a little bit more insecure because of where I came from, for sure.
Grace And Frankie
TME: How does the cast feel about you?
Brooklyn Decker: I don’t think they care. Jane is an ultra-feminist and she does not care what your past is. Her attitude is if you’re here, you are part of the show. I think that is how everyone feels.
TME: What would you say is the overarching moral of the story, or the overarching message of Grace and Frankie?
Brooklyn Decker: I think it really is that love and relationships come in all forms. Family can come in all forms. If you look at the central story, it’s the story of two women who typically aren’t represented on television. We don’t usually get to see women who are 80 going through life, and this show explores that. Second to that, I think it shows different forms of relationships. You have the two brothers who are adopted, and you see them navigating that with their parents. You have two sisters who have chosen completely different lives from one another, Grace and Frankie are exploring this sisterhood and family between the two of them, as two single women in their eighties. And Sol and Robert are a gay older couple who have just come out and are married.
TME: This show throws a lot of the “shoulds” that society places on us out the window.
Brooklyn Decker: In season three, Sam and Martin’s characters were wanting to go to gay clubs and open up their relationship, and they were wondering what gay couples are supposed to do. A lot of it was they thought they were supposed to be doing something because they’re gay. Just like Grace and Frankie feel all of these cultural expectations on them because they’re 80 years old. You see each of these characters defy what the societal expectations and projections are. It’s about busting through expectations placed on people.
TME: In past generations, television didn’t reflect the true messiness of life. I can remember my mother telling me that she would watch shows like Father Knows Best or Leave It To Beaver, where everything was so perfect and idyllic, and she would wonder why her family wasn’t TV perfect. The stories we are seeing now on television are embracing the messiness of life, which is what real life is.
Brooklyn Decker: Exactly! And the messiness is more interesting and what’s fun to watch. I don’t know what Netflix’s expectations were, but I do know there was pressure surrounding us when we were filming the first Season. The Netflix streaming demographic was a relatively new concept at the time, and they didn’t know who the audience was for this. What Netflix has discovered, and why it’s such a huge hit, is because it resonates with people in its messiness. The show makes people laugh, makes people cry… there are things people relate to and things that people learn from. Right now, more than ever, people want something that feels real, but also lifts them up. They need thirty minutes to have fun.
TME: What are your thoughts on the movement that Netflix has become? The fact that so many talented writers and actors are flocking to this platform, and everybody is coming on board and trying to be a part of it?
Brooklyn Decker: What’s so exciting about it is that, ultimately, the talent wins out. It’s the first time that we’ve really had that in Hollywood. Because there is such a wealth of opportunity now, you are really getting to see talent. The cool thing about Netflix is they can just make really good content, and with that, they can hire really good talent and they don’t have to be stars. Netflix doesn’t have to share their numbers, and they don’t share their numbers. They’re not about making sales at the box office, so they can just focus on making great content. You’re seeing the result of that. With the way the business is changing, talent wins out, and that’s exciting.
TME: Apart from the amazing Lisa Kudrow, are there any other interesting guest stars coming up on Season Four?
Brooklyn Decker: I don’t want to reveal who the guest starring actor is, but the important and interesting thing is the storyline with this actor. Sam and Martin are having a hard time in their relationship, and they ask themselves if they should bring a third party into it.
TME: The honeymoon phase for Sam and Martin’s characters is over, and now they’re having problems just like any other couple.
Brooklyn Decker: Yep, real relationship problems.
TME: Your character, Mallory, announced that she is separating from her husband on the last episode of season three. Can you share how that unfolds this season?
Brooklyn Decker: I play a woman who got married out of college and who hasn’t been in the professional world at all. For the first time, I have to figure out what I want to do with my life, and Mallory goes back to work. And I may or may not be seeking employment with one of the family members.
TME: On another note, I want to congratulate you on getting funding for your tech startup, Finery! Can you share a bit about what the Finery app does?
Brooklyn Decker: When you think about what iTunes did for music – before iTunes you had tons of CDs in your car or in your house in a CD rack – iTunes took it all completely digital. We are doing that for your wardrobe. Everything is automated these days. Your banking is on your phone, your music is on your phone, your correspondence, everything. The one thing that’s still antiquated is your interaction with your wardrobe. Women will spend two hours a week figuring out what to wear. It’s not because we necessarily love clothes, or because we are fashion loving women, it’s because we need to get dressed. We felt there had to be a better way, and women can spend those two hours doing something more productive. We call ourselves your Wardrobe Operating System.
TME: What is a day in the life of Brooklyn Decker? You’ve got the TV show, the Finery app, the two small kids and the husband. How does it all break down day-to-day?
Brooklyn Decker: That’s something I’m still navigating. Fortunately, we have been on hiatus for the show for the last couple of months. When we were thinking about baby #2 we wanted to plan it around Grace and Frankie, so I didn’t have to come back to work right away. Our baby was born at the end of November, and we did our fundraising for this seed round for Finery starting in July and August. It all worked out that I wrapped the show, we did the [fund]raise, and then I was off four weeks before the baby was born, which was good because my doctor told me I couldn’t travel 30 days before my due date. We literally flew from San Francisco and I landed back in Austin (Decker and Roddick’s home city) at midnight, exactly 30 days before my due date (laughs). We had the baby, and now I’m back to work promoting Grace and Frankie and Finery.
TME: You’re making me tired! I need a nap now (laughs).
Brooklyn Decker: And I’m not finished! Finery is based in New York, I’m based in Austin and for Grace and Frankie I work on the west coast. Yesterday I had conference calls for Finery, I was getting ready to fly to LA to do all Grace and Frankie press. Tomorrow I’ll fly back to Austin and I’ll be with my family.
Our Finery CEO is coming into Austin for meetings. It’s a juggling act, but I have a husband who is retired and who is wonderful. He is around and present with our kids, which is amazing; and I have a nanny. My family couldn’t afford a nanny when we were growing up, but we had neighbors. I’m lucky to have people around me who help, and I swear, it takes a village!
Season 4 of Grace and Frankie is now streaming on Netflix. Learn more about Finery.
Cobweb had limited theatrical release in July 2023 where it was immediately swallowed up by the cultural juggernaut that was the summer of ‘Barbenheimer’. Released onto Netflix in September 2024, presumably in preparation for spooky season. It is an interesting watch.
Cobweb weaves its creepy tale around Peter (Woody Norman) a reserved eight year old boy. Peter lives with his mum; Carol (Lizzy Caplan), and his dad; Mark (Antony Starr), in a decrepit house. Peter is kept awake by strange knockings on his bedroom wall during the night. Both his parents dismiss this as Peter’s overactive imagination yet Mark enlists Peter’s help to put down poison for suspected rats.
Peter is quiet at school with no friends which inevitably attracts bullies. We see that Peter’s problems fitting in at school could be attributed to the odd behaviour of his parents. Despite being set in the modern era their house lacks a TV or seemingly any technology bar a landline phone in the kitchen.
The knocking on Peter’s bedroom wall turns into a female child’s voice asking for help then claiming to be his sister whom his parents have locked away, her name is Sarah. The disembodied voice claims the parents are “evil”. The parents bizarre behaviour turns to abusive when they lock Peter in the basement for drawing the attention of his teacher to their home.
Peter’s sister in the wall eventually tricks Peter into poisoning his parents with the rat poison and setting her free. Sarah turns out to be an evil spider-like monstrous being. She gleefully rips through people with her elongated nails while taunting Peter. Peter is eventually rescued by his teacher Ms Devine (clearly from the Charles Dickens school of character naming) and Sarah is locked back into her cage in the basement. Sarah warns Peter that the night will haunt him forever and that they are “family”.
But is all as it seems with this twisted tale? The outlandish ending left many scratching their heads at what began as a pretty grounded movie. Fans and critics alike took to social media to share their theories and thoughts on this underrated horror.
I enjoyed the story. The acting was superb, particularly Norman who sold his role as an anxious child who slowly begins to understand his own strength and resilience. Special mention of course goes to Antony Starr. His wide smile and Patrick Bateman-esque eyes upped the creepy factor significantly. When Sarah crawled out of her prison behind the wall while talking to Peter in her death rattle, I had to mute the film because I was so creeped out!
Many viewers commented that the third act is vastly different from the rest of the movie. Was this simply a rushed production deadline or COVID related problems? Or was the film alluding to something different altogether? There are many fan theories scurrying around the interweb regarding the origin and meaning behind Peter’s, apparently, demonic sibling.
Here are a few of my favourites:
Sarah is Just a Figment
Throughout the narrative we are reminded that Peter has a big imagination. He’s also lonely, he has no friends at school and spends recess helping the teacher. It also becomes clear that Peter is being abused by his parents, their behaviour becoming increasingly more erratic. Seeing a young child being locked in a basement is far more terrifying to me than any ghost or ghoul. When he’s finally allowed out of the basement his mum brings him a tray of cupcakes to celebrate his freedom and bathes him. In typical abuser fashion Peter is made to apologise for his behaviour. Is it any wonder this little boy conjured himself an imaginary friend? Maybe even one with a familial bond? He would at least have one family member who doesn’t abuse him.
The majority of the story takes place at the family home. Its very noticeable that the outside of the house doesn’t exactly match the layout of the interior (and not just because one is a sound stage). Every shot is so beautiful that we have to believe this was deliberate. Despite the house being colonial in design, the inside is spacious with the use of wide shots. Everything feels so big, is this because we are seeing through a small child’s eyes? In this large, sometimes scary house maybe Peter’s damaged mind build up a fantasy around the sounds of actual rats scratching the walls. Imagining a sister he could run away with and start a new life.
This theory is supported by the almost nonchalant way Peter’s parents treat the whole situation. They have sealed their daughter in the walls of their house, did they not ever think she would maybe try to communicate with their son? Carol doesn’t even seem particularly alarmed when Peter starts talking about hearing sounds coming from inside the walls.
Maybe an abused little boy would fantasise about his magical imaginary sister tearing his bullies limb from limb. Not only that but his favourite teacher arrives in time to rescue him from the massacre.
Did Peter invent a fantastical scenario to escape his abusive parents?
Sarah is Peter’s Subconscious
This is related to the first theory. A Redditor pointed out that in the style of Jungian psychology there are many dream-like ‘hooks’ in the movie. A hook in a dream is something non-sensical to let the dreamer know they are dreaming. There are many of these in Cobweb. The family inexplicably have a beautiful pumpkin patch in their backyard. Very atmospheric but why? Are they selling these pumpkins? They don’t like Halloween. Some viewers think the soup the family ate (every night) was pumpkin soup but looked to me to be the wrong color. Not just the patch but there is a child’s swing hanging from a tree right in the middle. Why would you encourage a child to play in the middle of delicate fruit he could tread on? Or if we lean into the dream theory; the swing in the pumpkin patch could represent Peter’s life from his perspective. Trying to play and be a normal child but with one wrong move he could destroy everything and anger his parents.
Keeping with the narrative Sarah becomes Peter’s subconscious or shadow self, all the repressed thoughts and feelings that are not acknowledged in daylight. The walls of Peter’s bedroom are covered in pictures and drawings except the wall through which he talks to Sarah, which is completely bare.
Sarah encourages Peter to stand up for himself against his bullies and the next day he pushes one down the stairs injuring the bully. Sarah eventually convinces Peter to poison his parents, she warns him they want to kill him. Even Sarah’s appearance; starts off initially creepy with Sadako’s spiderlike movements, long matted hair filled with spiders, and long lethal nails. When we finally see her face the CGI is admittedly awful. The rest of the film has seemed so deliberate with every shot is the CGI deliberately phony looking? Sarah has a too-wide mouth with sharp teeth and shining eyes, basically how a child would draw a ‘scary face’. Sarah taunts Peter, Evil Dead style, from beneath the grate in the basement saying he is just like her. So are they one in the same? Peter seemingly rejects his shadow self, leaving her to rot in her cell. But is that enough after he killed his parents? Is cute little Peter a burgeoning psychopath and this is his origin story?
And They Were Demons!
This is a fun one. While Sarah is locked in her cell she pleads with Peter saying that “it is in our blood”. What exactly does that mean? Sarah is not a normal girl if the walking up walls didn’t give you a clue. How could these outwardly normal-looking parents have birthed such a monster? Unless they are monsters too. It would explain Mark’s sinister attributes. During Peter’s nightmare, his mother has shining white eyes just like his sister.
So is Peter some kind of demonic being? During the movie, Peter shows no outward supernatural abilities. Some have argued he shows super strength when pulling Sarah by her hair or it may just be plot convenience. However, eight-year-old Peter thinks to use the rat poison to poison his parent’s dinner. He even thinks about cutting the phone line so they can’t call 911. That’s extremely evil behaviour to put it mildly. Is this Peter’s demonic genes?
This theory also explains why Peter’s parents are so strict with him. Why did they overreact when Peter pushed the bully down the stairs? They knew what happened with Sarah, she almost got them found out.
Will Peter start to mutate like his sister? Ideas for a sequel maybe?
Even without these theories, Cobweb was a fun ride while it lasted. For an hour-and-a-half film, I personally fell into a virtual world of critiques and fan theories. Perhaps it is best to think of it like a modern fairytale, certainly more Grimm than Hitchcock!
His Three Daughters, Netflix’s emotional family drama, explores the strained relationships between three estranged sisters who are reunited by their father’s terminal illness. Set in a small, intimate family home, the film follows Katie, the eldest daughter and caretaker, Christina, the rebellious middle child, and Laura, the youngest, who carries the weight of family expectations. As they come together to care for their ailing father, old wounds resurface, leading to intense confrontations, moments of reconciliation, and ultimately, the rediscovery of familial bonds.
The narrative is a slow burn, focusing on the sisters’ personal journeys as they grapple with their father’s decline, unresolved issues from the past, and the impending loss of their patriarch. Director Azazel Jacobs captures these emotionally charged moments with precision, delivering a raw, honest portrayal of sibling dynamics, grief, and love. The performances are gripping, with each actress bringing depth and vulnerability to their roles, making the audience feel the weight of their complicated relationship.
The house, almost a character itself, is filled with memories, secrets, and tension. As the sisters sort through their father’s belongings, they also untangle their own emotional baggage, confronting their fears, regrets, and hopes for the future.
His Three Daughters is a powerful character-driven story that captures the complexities of family ties and the inevitability of loss. The film shines with its strong performances, subtle direction, and poignant dialogue. While its pacing may feel slow for some viewers, those who appreciate emotional depth and character development will find this drama deeply moving. The film’s realistic portrayal of sibling rivalry, grief, and reconciliation makes it relatable and impactful.
Rating: 4/5 – A deeply affecting family drama that hits all the right emotional notes.
Kingdom
What could be better than a beautifully realized Joseon-period K-Drama, starring the excellent actor Doona Bae, fresh off her grand success in Netflix’s ‘Sense8’? All of that, but with zombies!
Oh this is a great one ya’ll. Adapted from a webcomic known as The Kingdom of the Gods, the show addresses the huge gap between the high and low classes plaguing (sorry) our Kingdom and of course has several engaging mysteries running throughout, but also happens to be a monster mash in the fantastic new zombie way reminiscent of Train to Busan! The show got not one but two well deserved seasons and even spawned (very sorry) a Netflix special, Kingdom: Ashin of the North, that yes, spoilers, features a zombie tiger. And it is absolutely amazingly rendered too.
Kingdom on Netflix gives us a breathtakingly possible story from long ago, both lovely and terrifying in equal measure, that should get a view from everyone!
Goblin: The Lonely and Great God
Whatever other great supernatural romance KDrama you think is awesome, Goblin did it first. Also known as Guardian: The Lonely and Great God, the show graces us with outstanding performances from Gong Yoo as our Lead and Lee Dong-wook as the Grim Reaper, and is a romance with a supernatural twist for the ages. Like, literal ages. So Ji Eun-tak (Kim Go-eun), a bubbly high school student despite her tragic family history and her ability to see ghosts, who knows diddly about fate and the machinations of destiny, is skeptical in the beginning. But as the supernatural of the Goblin and the Grim Reapers and the search for a destined bride across space and time catches everyone in its clutches, love in all its messy, gloriously alive splendor may just save the souls of everyone involved!
Catch Goblin or Guardian whatever you want to call it, on Amazon Prime now!
Squid Game
This choice is obvious, though honestly it’s kind of sad at the same time. The main reason most of us enjoyed Squid Game quite that much, was because it was entirely possible, for pretty much all of it, to happen tomorrow. The show was so engaging in its many different portrayals of the lowest, pettiest, and darkest parts of humanity that were given to us by these actors like it was pulled out of their very souls and offered up to us the audience on a platter, and we ate, we consumed, with relish. Hell, we demanded a sequel series, which should be coming out soonish.
It says a fair bit about us as a species as we watch these poor, both literally and figuratively if you think about it, people participate in what are actual Games of Death. The show launched another wave of interest in large-stakes games, Korean culinary culture (ask me about the dalgona crack!), and became iconic with the jumpsuit and the blank mask with a shape on it. Have you seen the tinies who wear the jumpsuit and shape-mask to go trick-or-treating? They’re five years old. Did you let them watch the show?! Wow.
We all know Squid Game is a Netflix show, right? Right.
Tale of the 9 Tailed
Plenty has been said about the kitsune, the magical Japanese 9-tailed fox, while the Korean version is known as a gumiho, and is similar-ish in nature and magical powers. Like their other Asian counterparts, the gumiho is known to be otherworldly and long-lived, snarky and arrogant when it comes to humans, unless the prospective human love interest happens to come entangled in the threads of fate and destiny. … Well, guess what!
Celebrated lead Lee Dong-wook is our Korean fox main character Lee Yeon, former mountain spirit and guardian who now spends his earthly time carrying out missions from the Afterlife Immigrations Office while looking for the reincarnation of his former love, the exiled 7th daughter of the former King of Joseon, she who carries the fox bead, Yi Ah-eum, or Nam Ji-ah (Jo Bo-ah) as she’s known here in the modern era.
We’ve got Spirits of Darkness, shamans and Dragon Kings, shapeshifters and turning-humans-into-trees type curses, long-standing grudges and the binding if not choking ties of fate and destiny, all bound together with great love that spans lifetimes! Chase those nine tails of the gumiho on Netflix!
Bulgasal Immortal Souls
This is a hard one ya’ll – featuring pretty constant violent death-and-rebirth, a craptastic ton of guilt everywhere, actual physical and emotional abuse from trusted authority figures and family, no sexual abuse but it sure is strongly threatened and implied, and the equivalent of a vampire crossed with a demon for the supernatural element to tie it all together, Bulgasal Immortal Souls is not for the faint of heart, or stomach.
However, the show is a gorgeous read and wonderfully shot, finding beauty in the (eventual) redemption of its characters, but boy do they take awhile to get there. And the constant, if unintentional, betrayal can start to get on your nerves. And they do, the characters do manage to find their way across fate and lifetimes to be together for a few precious moments, which is great. Be warned though, Bulgasal believes in playing things out to the final, often very bitter but in theory deserved, very end. Treasure those few precious moments, the show says, they will be gone before you know it. Not only a great horror, the show also works as an anti-valentine’s day Bulgasal Immortal Souls on Netflix now!
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