Welcome back to What the Hell Should I Watch?, where each Friday Chloe and I sift through what’s actually out — from theatrical to catalog to streaming — and tell you what’s worth seeing, what’s worth skipping, and what’s questionable but interesting.
This week’s episode veers across genre and tone: we hit post-apocalyptic carnage, vampire cops, a quiet mystery that never quite clicked, and a few films that stir debate long after credits roll.
Fresh For Your Eyeballs
28 Years Later – The Bone Temple – The latest entry in this revived zombie saga pushes the apocalypse into surreal, wild territory with cult violence, dark humor, and some surprisingly bold tonal shifts. Ralph Fiennes and Jack O’Connell anchor a really weird, often powerful continuation of the franchise, and just when you think you know what it’s doing it does something completely different.
Night Patrol – Imagine a cop thriller crossed with a vampire movie, political allegory, and social commentary — that’s Night Patrol. It’s got a stacked cast and an ambitious premise, but the reach sometimes exceeds the grasp, with ideas that start strong and get a bit messy as the movie goes on.
A Private Life – We saw this at VIFF, and honestly, neither Chloe nor I were feeling it. Jodie Foster is great as always, but the slow, detached mystery just never pulled us in, and Chloe was a bit foggy on where it was actually headed.
New To The Library
This week’s home video and catalog pickups span from classic crime to deep-cut thrillers and long-running TV:
House of Darkness
Natural Born Killers: Director’s Cut
Thunderheart (4K)
Shameless: The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
Whether it’s revisiting a controversial Oliver Stone film or adding a brute-force TV binge to your shelf, I hit on why these are neat additions right now.
Butting In
Chloe jumps into Butting In this week with:
Mickey 17 – Bong Joon-ho’s sci-fi black comedy about a “disposable” crew member on an ice-world colony mission, played with manic energy by Robert Pattinson. It’s inventive and weird and not everything lands, but Chloe unpacked what she liked and why the tonal swings are worth talking about.
Shelby Oaks – A horror-leaning mystery built around found footage aesthetics and a long-lost ghost-hunting crew. It’s got some genuinely intriguing parts, but the style shifts and uneven scares make it a pretty divisive watch.
A Taste of Next Week
Up next: Mercy, Return to Silent Hill, The Things You Kill, Back to the Past, Atropia, Pike River, Wonder Man, The Voice of Hind Rajab, and The RIP. Plenty to chew on.
If you’re trying to figure out what to watch right now — in theaters, at home, or on your shelf — this episode has something for that mood.
Steve Stebbing 