Everyone knows Matt Groening has a singular, unique style of animation he and his company are well known for at this point. It began with The Simpsons more than two decades ago now, continued with the adventures of Futurama, and now we dive deep into the brand new fantasy world of Disenchantment!
Here in the Kingdom of Dreamland, there lies, inevitably, a Princess. There’s a gruff and tumbly King and a wicked-looking stepmother, but this show is all about Princess Tiabini, or Bean (Abbi Jacobson) as she prefers to be called. And Bean is no ordinary Princess, nope, she likes to drink and gamble and hates that whole Princess trap of being forced to marry someone she doesn’t love or even know that well yet, and really dislikes running around in dresses, because yeah, on top of all that Bean is completely graceless too. Expect a belch and a grin in place of a curtsy and a simper, because Bean is the utterly blasé commoner in us all!
Elfo (Nat Faxon) is an elf from, where else, Elfwood, a place where everything is sweet, both figuratively and literally. The elves make sweets and candy and all sugary things to rot your teeth, and they’re so saccharin-sweet to each-other you kind of want to kill them on general principal. In Elfwood, conformity isn’t just a requirement, it’s meant to be a joy too, and Elfo in his little green personhood, just can’t stand how godawful nice they are. He actually wants to experience the miseries and mysteries of life outside Elfwood, and as drunken destiny would have it, he meets up with Bean, on whom he conceives a mighty crush.
King Zog (John DiMaggio) over here, he just wants to rule Dreamland as best he can – he never wanted to be King, he was the brother warrior, good at fighting and killing stuff. But now, he’s managed a marriage alliance with a neighboring swampland kingdom and produced a periwinkle-pale heir to the throne, so what else is there to do but nag Bean day after day into being a proper Princess, whatever that means, and oh yeah, squeeze a ton of elf blood from Elfo, because hey, he’s magical. Elf blood can create the elixir of life y’know, and Zog has a whole bunch of magic-users and shady advisors to help him with that nonsense.
Luci (Eric Andre), and you can easily guess what it’s short for, is a little coal-black demon, that most everyone thinks is Bean’s talking cat. He’s a chain-smoking enabler of a blunt little bastard, always encouraging Bean to drink, carouse, and generally be as bad-decision-making as possible. Very little is known about his background or motivations, other than to tempt Bean to Do Bad Things, yes, but why her? No-one else has a demon attached to them, and one would think some of these moronic wizards attempting magic would’ve made some rather bad choices concerning demons and the like. It seems Luci was actually sent to corrupt Bean, by some very shady characters who want to rain down destruction on the Kingdom of Dreamland and her inhabitants!
Anything more would give the entire rest of the show away, and ‘Disenchantment’ is far too good to do them that disservice. Groening and his animators have really gone all-out for the sets and backdrops of this new show, far beyond even what ‘Futurama’ was regularly known for, and it shows. The first few episodes can be watched out of order if you like, but the latter half of Season One follows a clear pattern and tells an adorable story, full of wonder and enchantment, yes, but also everyday troubles we can all relate to as well.
Go elf and demon hunting with Disenchantment on Netflix now!
Streaming
His Three Daughters (Netflix) – A Heartfelt Family Drama
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.
TV
Top 5 Korean TV Horror
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!