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Time Magazine
11 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Time Magazine
What to Watch After 'Squid Game'
Squid Game has come to an end with six new episodes that were filmed back-to-back with last year's sophomore season, rewarding a global audience who were left on tenterhooks by the cliffhanger of Season 2. There, Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae)—also known as Player 456—led a thwarted coup on his masked captors in the deadly elimination contest that promises to reward debt-stricken Koreans with potential billions to save them from a life of dehumanising insolvency. There's something affirming about watching dystopian television in our current moment, not because it distracts us from existential and political crises, but because it articulates our own helplessness back to us within the momentum of a drama, hopefully offering insight, empathy, and catharsis by the end. As in Squid Game, dystopian drama often plays on the barbarity of entertainment, impossible promises of curing human weakness, and finds salvation in our best qualities: solidarity, compassion, and unity. Dystopian drama is what happens when societal upheaval and science-fiction unite to reflect the danger and darkness of the modern world, and the only weapon against it is the human condition. If you're still in the mood for draconian governments, societal decline, and invasive technology pushing us towards survival, here are ten recommendations for dystopian series to watch after the climactic finale of Squid Game. If you want more mazes: Westworld Based on a nifty but slight Michael Crichton film from the '70s, Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy imagined a world where corporations have the final technological say on what it means to be human. The show is (initially) set in a recreated Wild West theme park where guests interact with near-flawless androids, but the advanced, erratic programming of a few special robots sets them on a course out of their maze-like sanctuary and beyond the borders of creation. It's a thrilling, affecting, and intelligent map out of dystopia. If you want relationships: 12 Monkeys A SYFY adaptation of a beloved '90s sci-fi film sounds like a recipe for disaster, but for four seasons 12 Monkeys surpassed expectations in its story of an exciting time-travel mission to fix the past from a virus-ridden, dystopian future. Over the 47 episodes, we grow close to characters on each side of the 'past/future' divide, like scavenger James Cole (Aaron Stanford) and present-day virologist Cassie Railly (Amanda Schull), whose missions reveal just how fraught and fragile our non-apocalyptic reality actually is. If you want violent secret societies: Utopia This may be Britain's most exciting contribution to dystopian sci-fi this century—yes, that makes it better than Black Mirror. In the series, fans of a cult graphic novel try to discover how it managed to predict major world events and are soon hunted by lethal agents of the sinister 'Network." It was cancelled after two short seasons (and was further punished with a subpar American remake) but this dystopian series is filled with twists, sociopathy, and secret puppetmasters. If you want rebellion: Andor A few blockbuster series focusing on themes of injustice and unity have debuted since the Squid Game phenomenon took off, and this Star Wars saga of Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) rising through the ranks of the Rebel Alliance captures the shaky bonds and emotional surges that Squid Game channels through its three seasons. In particular, the 'One Way Out' prison arc of Andor Season 1 feels almost exactly like the moments Players must go from paranoid solitude to fiercely felt camaraderie during the games. If you want weird prison vibes: Severance One of the major ways that Apple TV+'s psychological sci-fi series mirrors Squid Game is that both the Players and the Innies of the severed floor of Lumon Industries (where they can only remember their work hours and have no idea of their outside lives) have a conflicted sense of belonging in their austere, windowless prisons. The Players believe that the reward—life-changing money—is worth the impossible odds and horrid violence, and many express a desire to remain in a contest that dangles hope in front of them. Likewise, the security of the pristine severed floor discourages many Innies from exploring beyond their authorized borders. If you want class struggle: Snowpiercer There's a Korean connection to this four-season TNT sci-fi series—in between being a French graphic novel and an American show, Snowpiercer was the English-language debut of Korean director Bong Joon-ho. Both film and series are set on the Snowpiercer train, humanity's only vessel for survival in a harsh, apocalyptic winterworld, which is rigidly divided by class and provides a linear, front-to-tail path towards class revolt for the newly oppressed. Daveed Diggs, Jennifer Connelly, Sean Bean and more play passengers from the full range of social classes involved in the plight to keep the fragile Snowpiercer on the rails. If you want twisted contests: Dead Set Before he launched his multi-decade dystopian anthology Black Mirror, Charlie Brooker satirized the intersection between entertainment and violence with a miniseries about a zombie outbreak hitting the Big Brother house in Britain. Like Squid Game, Dead Set juxtaposes familiar cultural symbols and settings with grim, inevitable explosions of blood, straddling the line between twisted, compelling drama and a sobering reminder of violence lurking in our present society. If you want old-school conspiracy: The Prisoner The British affinity for dystopia is all over literature (1984, Brave New World, A Clockwork Orange) but has historically crossed over into television in obscure and strange ways. This one-season triumph from 1967 is about a spy (Patrick McGoohan) imprisoned in a village by sinister forces who want something from him. Like Squid Game, The Prisoner beguiles the viewer by turning traditional symbols of familiar, homegrown calm (in this case, an idyllic seaside town) into disorientating weapons that keep the characters on a knife's edge. If you want more social criticism: 3% In this Brazilian dystopian thriller, a future society has been cleanly but not equally divided between the impoverished 'Inland' and affluent 'Offshore' world, and 20-year-olds can attempt the arduous 'Process' in order to protect themselves for life—only 3% of applicants succeed. As is the case in Squid Game, the aspirational 'players' are well-defined and emotionally-driven, and it's exciting to watch them battle the intellectual and physical challenges of The Process—but why are they pitted against each other in the first place? If you want more games: Alice in Borderland Based on a manga first published in 2010, this survival sci-fi series debuted on Netflix only nine months before Squid Game. In a parallel universe version of Tokyo, a band of young people are forced to compete in sadistic games modeled on the suites in a deck of cards. Led by Tao Tsuchiya and Kento Yamazaki, Alice in Borderland's characters survive the puzzles and battles with logic and agility—and like Squid Game, a third season is releasing on Netflix in 2025.
Gizmodo
19-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Gizmodo
Brad Pitt's Sci-Fi Film Roles, Ranked
From '12 Monkeys' and 'Fight Club,' to 'Benjamin Button,' 'Joe Black,' and others, here's our list. Next week, one of our biggest movie stars hits theaters in one of the summer's biggest movies. F1: The Movie, starring Brad Pitt, is out June 27 and it's the kind of role only someone as huge as Pitt could play. Pitt has been one of the top movie stars in the world for decades. Rising to stardom in the early 1990s, he quickly jumped to leading man status and has never looked back since. Pitt has had an incredibly varied career, making films in seemingly every genre imaginable. He's been in romances, fantasy epics, crime thrillers, sports movies, you name it. He's also made more than a few sci-fi films, which is our specialty here on io9. So, with Pitt on the mind thanks to his latest (decidedly non-sci-fi) movie coming out, here are our rankings of Brad Pitt's sci-fi roles. But, first, a clarification. As we said, Pitt has made a lot of movies, many of which straddle the line between genres. Just so you aren't reading this article all day, we decided to be a little more strict in our classifications. So, for example, many of Pitt's roles are almost on the edge of genre. Crime movies with spy elements, non-fiction characters in fantasy stories, and hyper-realistic settings. All of which kind of fit io9, but won't be considered here. That includes Spy Game, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Inglourious Basterds, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, The Tree of Life, The Lost City, and Bullet Train. We've also decided not to count a few of Pitt's films that are very much genre, but lack sci-fi elements. That takes Seven and Troy off the list. So, what's on it? Here we go. 9. Deadpool 2 Pitt's blink and you'll miss it cameo as Vanisher, one of the members of X-Force, is absolutely hilarious but not big enough to rank highly here. 8. Meet Joe Black In Meet Joe Black, Pitt plays the personification of Death, who then learns to live and love. It's a strong, memorable, stoic performance in a rather dull movie. Not Pitt's fault and not a terrible movie, merely lacking in comparison to some of his other work. 7. Cool World One of Pitt's earliest noteworthy starring roles sees him as the hard-nosed detective of a cartoon world. It's a fun movie with a solid performance. 6. World War Z In a case of the movie being better than the performance, Pitt plays the lead in this story of a global zombie outbreak. It's a solid movie with lots of action and effects, which forced Pitt into a by-the-book performance. It's not his best work, but the scope of the movie brings it up a notch. 5. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Playing a man who ages in reverse, this big, bold production is maybe a little bit too much. Pitt is amazing in it though, using visual effects to really give us a fully formed, wild performance… in a just okay movie. 4. Ad Astra Just because, compared to several of these other films, it's a little underrated, we're putting Ad Astra higher than most would expect. Pitt plays an astronaut who travels deep into space looking for his lost father in a poignant, exciting film with a nuanced lead performance. 3. Fight Club Shock of shocks! Fight Club might be our favorite movie of the bunch but, we're talking Brad Pitt roles. And as incredible as Pitt is as the unforgettable Tyler Durden, it really is a two-hander of a movie with Edward Norton, which just meant we ranked it a tiny bit lower. 2. Interview with the Vampire As the eternal vampire Louis, Pitt shared the screen of this 1994 film with Tom Cruise, making up one of the most beautiful casts of the era. And it's saying something that when paired up with a star as big as Cruise at the time, Pitt's charisma and talent may just overshadow him. 1. 12 Monkeys Pitt received his first Oscar nomation for his role in this film, a twisty, turny, sci-fi mindfuck from director Terry Gilliam. It's not the biggest role, but damned if it isn't unforgettable as Pitt just seems to be having the most fun he's ever had on screen.
Express Tribune
16-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Express Tribune
From 'Iron Man' to 'Vision Quest'
In an interview on Ahmad Ali Butt's podcast, actor Faran Tahir opened up about his return to Marvel, which he was a part of long before the launch of the expansive Marvel Cinematic Universe. Faran, who played the vicious Raza in the first Iron Man film, said, "It'll be fun to revive that character after 17 years to see where he is and what he's up to." He further confirmed, "It'll be a multiverse thing." In January, Deadline reported that the Pakistani actor is set to reprise his role as the antagonist leader of the Ten Rings through the upcoming series Vision Quest. Not much is known about Tahir's involvement or the project at large, but his reprisal came as a surprise for those who are aware of his character's fate in the 2008 film. Closure at last Looking back on how he got the opportunity, the actor said, "I found out six months ago. I was walking in New York and I received a call from the executive producer, who I also worked with on a series called 12 Monkeys. He asked me what I would be doing in February, so I said, given the line of work I'm in, I don't even know what I'm doing tomorrow, let alone in February." The executive producer then pitched the idea to Faran, which turned out to be a fateful callback to an inside joke. "We had this running joke that we'd bring back my characters from Star Trek and Iron Man somehow, and we'd laugh about it and the conversation would end there," Faran said. "Then fast forward to six years later, he calls me up, tells me he's doing this series, and asks me if I want to revive a character of mine." The Umro Ayyar actor agreed to the offer, though this new development did come with its challenges. "Now, I didn't know how I was going to keep that a secret for six months. Because until Marvel announced something, I couldn't say anything." He added that whenever someone would bring up his Marvel endeavours, he would have to stay tight-lipped or evade the topic somehow. But now that he's past those trials, there is much to look forward to. "It's going to be fun. The series has James Spader, Paul Bettany, and me," he said. "We're filming it at Pinewood Studios in London." Although Raza is only returning to the MCU now, Faran revealed that the creators had more plans for the character back when Iron Man hit the big screen. "There's something that always stuck with me. Back when we did Iron Man, the initial idea was that this character would appear in three films." Faran added that the hints are all present in the 2008 film, specifically in a dialogue performed by Jeff Bridges' Obadiah Stane. "The idea was to introduce me in the first film. In the second, I would be in the background gathering my army. And in the third film, there would be a crescendo. But that film, fortunately or unfortunately, did so well that Marvel was sold to Disney, and then they changed things up." An awe-inspiring career Over the years, Faran has recorded a remarkable catalogue of projects, with his most recent venture being the MMA drama film, The Martial Artist. But aside from film and television, he also has an impressive background in stage plays, having appeared in over 50 such productions. Sharing insights from his experience, he said, "American theatre is its own brand. For example, the way they adapt Shakespeare is a lot different from how the British theatre would do it." Faran mentioned that he himself has starred in a theatre production of the playwright's tragedy, Macbeth. "We would entertain an audience of 8,000 people every night. It was like a Shakespeare rock concert. So, that's fun in its own way. The thrilling interaction you have with a live audience is not something you can get out of film or television." He also noted, "Theatre is an actor's medium. The moment you light up that candle, you have to keep going, no matter how good or bad you're doing." Faran believes that unlike screen productions where multiple factors like sound or editing can thwart one's performance, a theatre play is where an actor is fully in control. "Whatever setbacks you face, you have to promptly fix them yourself. So, it's a beautiful challenge." But even the best of opportunities can afford difficult decisions, as while doing Macbeth, Faran was forced to turn down an offer from home. "This is a regret of mine. Humayun [Saeed] offered me a role, but I was doing Macbeth and they had to begin filming soon," he said. "I was offered the role in Gentleman that Adnan [Siddiqui] ended up doing." But Faran, who starred in the sci-fi film Umro Ayyar – A New Beginning, is hopeful about acting in a Pakistani production again. "Now that I'm back at home, let's see. We'll do something."
