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The Fall of the House of Usher: Quoth the Raven
Spoiler ravens incoming!
Created by a pair of ruthless twin siblings long ago, the current Usher pharmaceutical empire begins crumbling into dust as patriarch Roderick’s adult children begin dying off.
Oh this is a gorgeous one y’all, full of mood and tension and supernatural horror to knock your socks off, sure, but also sporting incredible performances from every single cast member. So let’s dive (off a high-rise balcony) into this!
In the beginning, young Roderick Usher (Zach Gilford) and his twin sister Madeline (Willa Fitzgerald) came from nothing. Their religious fanatic of a mother Eliza (Annabeth Gish) worked as a secretary and occasional mattress-toy for their father William Longfellow (Robert Longstreet), the former CEO of the Fortunato pharmaceutical company. Which is all a glorious irony, because when mother gets sickly, she adamantly refuses to see a doctor due to her religious beliefs, and the children are left to fend for themselves when their father callously denies both them, and their mother, acknowledgement of any kind. And paid a heavy price for it too, when an enraged spirit rose from her grave to exact her righteous vengeance.
Here in the present, old and haggard Roderick Usher (Bruce Greenwood), Fortunato pharmaceutical emperor, opioid king, is haunted by his past mistakes, but also by the specters of his dead adult children. Diagnosed with a heroic list of physical (and let’s face it, mental) ailments, Roderick decides to invite his old nemesis Auguste Dupin (Carl Lumbly) to a secret location, for a full confession of all his crimes, against the world and the courts and even Auggie himself, but most especially against his own family.
Every single one of Roderick’s children comes with a name from an Edgar Allen Poe story and a whole laundry list of odd issues and secrets. Frederick Usher (Henry Thomas), the eldest and heir to the Fortunato empire, has trust issues with his wife Morella (Cystal Balint), and apparently the only actual grandchild thus far, Lenore (Kyliegh Curran). Far as I can tell, Frederick doesn’t actually do anything, other than regurgitate Roderick’s business policies and family fixer-attorney Arthur Pym’s (Mark Hamill) warnings about close-mouthedness as far as the public, media, and especially the law goes. Lenore is of course absolutely beloved by her grandfather, while her mother Morella seems to have past issues with another of Roderick’s kids, Prospero, or Perry (Sauriyan Sapkota) as he prefers to be called.
Frederick’s eldest legitimate daughter, named Tamerlane (really? Wow) but of course she’s called Tammy (Samantha Sloyan) by most, has aspirations of being a different kind of family entrepreneur with her husband Bill Wilson (Matt Biedel) and his fitness influencer lifestyle. Tammy puts a lot of pressure on herself, has frankly utterly ridiculous demands her husband has to follow, and a very unusual way of using call girls to have a … one-some? practically every night. No kink-shaming here of course, but even I raised an eyebrow at Tammy’s nightly adventures and lack of actual sleep.
Camille L’Espanaye is one of Roderick’s several illegitimate children, sharp-tongued and savvy is she, as the head of public relations for Fortunato. Her hair an iconic silvery-white, likely a nod to the older L’Espanaye women of the Poe story, she stalks the scandals, social media, the backgrounds and vices of all the Ushers, and is utterly ruthless in using everything in her power to spin doctor every last Usher disaster as quickly as possible. The on-going trial with older Auggie barely registers in Camille’s arrogant countenance, as she works those sharp-as-steel wits in overtime to address the sudden domino deaths of her siblings. Camille’s casual mistreatment of her two aides Toby and Tina as little more than walking, not talking, sexual stress relievers, it’s apparently literally in their employment contracts and multiple NDAs, is just as horrific as the misdeeds as the other Ushers, and her death comeuppance has a delicious irony to it in this regard.
Victorine LaFourcade (T’Nia Miller) is the eldest of Roderick’s illegitimate children, tall and black and statuesque, a genius heart surgeon on whom Roderick places a ton of expectations and pride. Her partner Dr. Alessandra “Ali” Ruiz (Paola Nunez) is a partner in every sense of the word, both at work and at home, and while Ali has great faith in her gorgeous genius of a partner, she is also leery of using untried Fortunato products in their heart and pace-maker research. The grotesque labs full of monkey test animals and outright lies from an increasingly paranoid and pressured Victorine bring to mind the disaster that led to 28 Days Later, another master horrorpiece.
Poor Napoleon, or Leo (Rahul Kohli) as he rightfully prefers to be called, tatted up and drugged out of his mind more often than not, can’t even rightly claim being a video game designer, as he tries to. No, Leo is a video game publisher and is adrift on the Usher money and lifestyle, both pulling away and edging back to the family that finds him a few shades disappointing. His boyfriend Julius (Daniel Jun) tries so very hard to be just chill about Leo’s increasing paranoia, depression, and hey, feud with that damnable black cat.
The youngest of the illegitimate Usher children, Prospero known as Perry seems determined to live the life of a young bacchanal, full of drugs and sex with multiple partners, an exclusive VIP party that seemingly never ends, and Perry would be the gatekeeper, the overlord of the orgy. His eager ideas for a very posh orgy-porgy amongst the bright young things of the city, with him emperor Dionysus above all, while cute, lacks anything resembling common sense. Indeed, Perry thinks the best place to have his pop-up party of the century is a disused private lab testing site for Fortunato pharma and was meant to have been torn down long ago, but since the Usher family owns these sites (allegedly) he can go ahead and use them worry-free, right? Gives a whole new terrifying spin to, “Make it rain!”
The whole thing with the trial and an elderly but still spry Auguste, and how it directly relates back to that time in the ‘80’s when a much younger Auggie (Malcolm Goodwin) and younger Mads (Willa Fitzgerald) and younger Roderick (Zach Gilford) all wanted to take on current Fortunato head Rufus Griswold (Michael Trucco) and the absolute ass of a jester he’s acting like, is the kind of full-circle irony that a tidy universe loves to show us. Indeed, it’s way back here on a fateful night where, after a beleaguered Roderick has betrayed pretty much everyone but his twin sister, because Mads always has a plan for long-term revenge, that they meet a very strange bartender, who offers them both the deal of several lifetimes.
The woman, or rather the entity that we come to associate as the specter of Death, is never actually given a name. The show BTS information calls her Verna (Carla Gugino), a rearrangement of raven, arguably Poe’s most well-known poem and known in many cultures as the bringer of death, if not Death itself. As the Usher children begin dying, Verna pops up and either guides them through it, or in a rather Final Destination fashion, outright causes their deaths to happen. Verna made a rather monstrous offer of a deal to the Usher twins long ago, they both had to take her up on it, which begins the domino effect that leads all the way to the real fall of the House of Usher, and its lasting legacy on the entire Usher bloodline. Verna encourages the Usher empire founders to think of themselves like that, referring to Mads as Cleopatra and nudging Roderick with his obsession of suicide by khopesh, or the legendary sapphire eyes of Egyptian Queen Twosret, none of which helps the mindset of the Usher family.
The Poe references splashed throughout, the use of light and shadow as each Usher character declines into madness (or dives), absolutely stellar performances from a powerhouse cast, all make for a ride through the haunted legacy of the House of Usher worth repeated viewings! Be there for the collapse of an empire in The Fall of the House of Usher on Netflix now!
No Spoilers
“Apathy is the solution. I mean, it’s easier to lose yourself in drugs than it is to cope with life. It’s easier to steal what you want than it is to earn it. It’s easier to beat a child than it is to raise it. Hell, love costs: it takes effort and work.”
It may come as a shock to many but director David Fincher’s seminal thriller: Seven turns 30 years old this year. Released in 1995 (the math is math-ing) it was the first film Fincher and 90’s heart throb Brad Pitt worked together. It was the film that proved Fincher’s directorial prowess as well as proving Pitt wasn’t just a pretty face but an actor to be lauded. Seven’s neo-noir style was fresh; wonderfully eerie, and befitting the gruesome tone.
I was way too young to see the debut of Seven and admittedly I knew most of the twists through cultural osmosis but I still wanted to see this juggernaut of a murder mystery on the big screen for its anniversary cinematic re-release.
Initially Denzel Washington was tapped to star. Fincher recently admitted that Washington did not like the script which had to be rewritten 10 or 11 times to suit the actor (Fincher, 2025). Despite these reviews Washington ultimately turned down the role but Washington’s loss was Morgan Freeman’s (and our!) gain.
Freeman plays Detective Lt William Somerset who is 7 days away from retirement. Unsurprisingly the number 7 also plays a big role in the film. For his last assignment Somerset is given the case of killer who is artfully killing their victims using the guise of the 7 (see!) Deadly Sins.
Beginning with the sin of ‘Gluttony’ the killer forced a morbidly obese man to literally eat himself to death at gunpoint. This is where we enter the movie and it only gets more disturbing from here!
Brad Pitt’s character; Detective David Mills is new to this unnamed gloomy city accompanied by his wife (Gwyneth Paltrow). The city seems to be its own biosphere where it rains constantly. Not only does this add a sense of foreboding but it could also be a nod to the biblical flood, punishing the characters for their supposed sins. Seven has many religious undertones.
Detective Mills is assigned to the case with Somerset whom he has to remind that despite his youthful appearance, Mills is no ‘rookie’ and has worked on many disturbing cases.
As the sins are counted off the killers methods become more and more sadistic. This leads to a climax that even today, thirty years later, is still shocking and widely quoted.
Seven is a classic due to its many components working together seamlessly. The artful direction, the moody set design, and the atmospheric score composed by Howard Shore, who also scored The Silence of the Lambs. It is amazing to experience the score with cinematic surround sound, particularly the groundbreaking opening credits punctuated by Nine Inch Nails song ‘Closer’.
The two leads are predictably fantastic but the relatively small cast all give memorable performance. R. Lee Ermey (Full Metal Jacket) brings his authoritative charm to the grizzled police captain. John C McGinley (Platoon) gives his usual energetic performance heading the movies SWAT team as ‘California’ (unclear whether this is a code name or his actual name). Interestingly Fincher sourced McGinley’s talent for adlibbing as most of his scenes are adlibbed.
In one of the most iconic scenes in the film and arguably one of the most famous jump scares in cinematic history. The actors (including Freeman, McGinley, and Pitt) were not told to expect this particular scare. So the reactions of the characters are the genuine reactions of the actors. See if you can spot which scene!
Some may be tempted to dismiss Seven as just another popcorn thriller but, for me, there are several lines that are so well written they stay with you. In one scene an unnamed doctor is speaking about the death of a character; “He’s experienced about as much pain and suffering as anyone I’ve encountered, give or take, and he still has hell to look forward to.” This line is powerful on many levels as it is said with the casualness and dark humour of a doctor who is numbed to treating the evils of this world. It perfectly encapsulates the dark inevitability of the film.
It is clear why Seven is considered a classic. For any millennials (such as myself) or Gen Z’s or indeed anyone who wants to relive the creeping tension, I highly recommend catching it on the big screen!
As an anime enthusiast and entertainment journalist, I’ve curated a list of the top five must-see anime series of 2024. These selections showcase the diversity and creativity that define the medium, offering compelling narratives and stunning animation.
Delicious in Dungeon
This series combines culinary arts with fantasy adventure, following a group of dungeon explorers who cook and eat the monsters they defeat. The unique premise and mouth-watering depictions of fantasy cuisine make it a standout this year. Kaiju No. 8
Set in a world plagued by kaiju attacks, the story centers on a protagonist who gains the ability to transform into a kaiju himself. The series offers a fresh take on the kaiju genre, blending action with deep character development.
Kaiju No. 8
Set in a world plagued by kaiju attacks, the story centers on a protagonist who gains the ability to transform into a kaiju himself. The series offers a fresh take on the kaiju genre, blending action with deep character development. Solo Leveling
Adapted from the popular web novel, this anime follows a weak hunter who becomes the world’s strongest after a mysterious system grants him unique abilities. Its dynamic animation and gripping storyline have captivated audiences worldwide.
Solo Leveling
Adapted from the popular web novel, this anime follows a weak hunter who becomes the world’s strongest after a mysterious system grants him unique abilities. Its dynamic animation and gripping storyline have captivated audiences worldwide. The Elusive Samurai
Set in feudal Japan, this historical series follows a young samurai who uses his agility and wit to survive in a turbulent era. The anime’s blend of historical context and engaging action sequences has garnered critical acclaim.
The Elusive Samurai
Set in feudal Japan, this historical series follows a young samurai who uses his agility and wit to survive in a turbulent era. The anime’s blend of historical context and engaging action sequences has garnered critical acclaim. Dragon Ball Daima
The latest installment in the iconic Dragon Ball franchise, this series introduces new transformations and challenges for Goku and his friends. Its high-octane battles and nostalgic elements appeal to both longtime fans and newcomers.
Dragon Ball Daima
The latest installment in the iconic Dragon Ball franchise, this series introduces new transformations and challenges for Goku and his friends. Its high-octane battles and nostalgic elements appeal to both longtime fans and newcomers. These anime series exemplify the innovation and storytelling prowess that continue to drive the medium’s global popularity. Whether you’re a seasoned otaku or new to anime, these titles are essential viewing for 2024.
Director: Sukumar
Cast: Allu Arjun, Rashmika Mandanna, Fahadh Faasil
Genre: Action, Drama
Rating: 4.5/5
Pushpa: The Rise is a raw, adrenaline-fueled ride that showcases the underbelly of the red sandalwood smuggling trade in Andhra Pradesh. Directed by Sukumar, this movie brilliantly blends high-octane action with emotionally driven storytelling, making it a must-watch for fans of Telugu cinema and action dramas.
The narrative follows Pushpa Raj (Allu Arjun), a laborer in the red sandalwood trade, as he climbs the ranks to become a powerful figure. Born into poverty and scorned for his illegitimacy, Pushpa’s journey is marked by grit, ambition, and a fierce sense of self-respect. The film deftly balances the action-packed rise of Pushpa with moments of vulnerability, particularly in his tumultuous romance with Srivalli (Rashmika Mandanna).
The antagonist, Bhanwar Singh Shekhawat (Fahadh Faasil), is introduced towards the film’s end, setting the stage for a gripping sequel. The climactic confrontation between Pushpa and Shekhawat is a masterclass in tension-building, leaving viewers eagerly awaiting Pushpa: The Rule.
Allu Arjun: This is Allu Arjun’s film through and through. His transformation into Pushpa is a revelation, from his rugged look to his unapologetic demeanor. His mannerisms, including the now-iconic shoulder rub and dialogue delivery, make Pushpa an unforgettable character.
Rashmika Mandanna: While her role as Srivalli adds emotional depth to the story, it feels slightly underutilized. However, her chemistry with Allu Arjun is undeniable.
Fahadh Faasil: Despite limited screen time, Fahadh delivers a chilling performance as the cold and calculating Shekhawat. His presence promises an explosive conflict in the sequel.
Sukumar’s direction is stellar, balancing mass appeal with nuanced storytelling. The screenplay maintains a brisk pace, seamlessly weaving action sequences with character development. The film’s raw and grounded tone is a departure from the glossy feel of many mainstream Telugu films, adding authenticity to the story.
Mirosław Kuba Brożek’s cinematography is stunning, capturing the lush forests of Andhra Pradesh and the gritty world of the red sandalwood trade.
Devi Sri Prasad’s music is another highlight. Tracks like “Srivalli” and “Oo Antava” became cultural phenomena, while the background score enhanced the film’s intensity.
Action Sequences: The action choreography is visceral and hard-hitting, perfectly complementing the film’s tone.
The film explores themes of ambition, class struggle, and self-respect. Pushpa’s refusal to bow down to societal norms resonates deeply, making him a relatable anti-hero. The story also critiques the systemic exploitation of laborers, adding a layer of social commentary.
Pushpa: The Rise is an exemplary action-drama that redefines the Telugu film industry’s global appeal. With a magnetic performance by Allu Arjun, stellar direction by Sukumar, and unforgettable music, it stands out as one of the best films of 2021. While it occasionally falters with some underdeveloped subplots, the overall experience is nothing short of spectacular.
4.5/5 Pushpa: The Rise is a cinematic feast that deserves its cult status. Whether you’re a fan of Telugu action films or a newcomer, this film is a must-watch. Its cliffhanger ending ensures that Pushpa: The Rule will be even bigger and better.
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