Latest news with #TrueDetective
Daily Mirror
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Matthew McConaughey's forgotten thriller with a 'sense of mystery' is now streaming for free
Matthew McConaughey is one of the most acclaimed actors of his generation, but you may have missed his leading role in this coming-of-age drama This weekend, you can stream a critically lauded dramatic thriller featuring Matthew McConaughey for free. Available on BBC iPlayer from Saturday, 19th July, it's a must-see for fans of the Oscar-winning Hollywood heavyweight. McConaughey, renowned for his performances in Interstellar and True Detective, initially rose to fame as a charming lead in romantic comedies, sharing the screen with stars like Kate Hudson and Sarah Jessica Parker. Before clinching an Oscar for his role in Dallas Buyers Club and venturing into the cosmos with Christopher Nolan's Interstellar, McConaughey starred in a lesser-known but highly praised coming-of-age drama directed by Jeff Nichols. In Mud, McConaughey plays a fugitive on the run who forms an unlikely pact with two young lads while concealed on a secluded island, reports the Express. The film features Tye Sheridan (Ready Player One) and Jacob Lofland (Landman) as the duo who stumble upon Mud hiding in a derelict boat and decide to aid him in reuniting with his beloved, Juniper (played by Reese Witherspoon). Despite receiving glowing reviews and boasting a stellar 97 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes, this 2012 gem has often been eclipsed by McConaughey's more prominent roles. Now, it's getting another shot at recognition among UK viewers via BBC iPlayer. A fervent five-star Google review exclaimed: "Loved this movie-watched it with my teenage son-a rich spiritual universe is contained within this well crafted and brilliantly acted film. "There is a depth, authenticity and mystery here not often found-there aren't enough intelligent soulful movies that so artfully speak to adults and (older) teens at the same time. Mysterious and simply entertaining; easy as a snack but as (ful)filling as a thick, juicy steak. Watch it with someone you care about." Another viewer raved: "Dreamy with a touch of poetic licence - I found it quite captivating. Keeps you guessing to the end. "The views on the river are stunning," a different enthusiast wrote: "I would strongly recommend for older kids and young adults. "It maintains the sense of mystery and adventure, while dealing with many of the issues young people struggle to understand. It is both harrowing and warm hearted. i personally loved it. The fact that McConaughey is gorgeous does not hurt." The acclaim carries on over on Letterboxd, where another five-star critique states: "Jeff Nichols' Mud is a beautiful coming of age film. Not only is it beautiful but also, compelling, thrilling, heartily emotional and a well-rounded film." Meanwhile, a final supporter declared: "The last half hour of this is some of the greatest filmmaking I've seen in a while. Goddamn, I loved it. "McConaughey kills it once again and this kid Tye Sheridan, man, he is great." Don't miss your opportunity to discover Mud as it arrives on the free streaming platform this weekend. Mud is available on BBC iPlayer from Saturday, 19th July.
Metro
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Metro
Forget your weekend plans to binge 'exceptional' Netflix thriller
It may well feel like the 'mystery thriller' genre on Netflix has become exceedingly overcrowded. Even for me – whose job it is to watch TV for a living – it feels like every week there is a new 'gripping' series that has spurned out of nowhere, adding to your already long watchlist. But in a frenzied sea of suspenseful mystery, one show is standing tall amongst its competitors, and that is none other than Eric Bana's Untamed. This six-part detective drama created by Mark L. Smith and Elle Smith follows the journey of Kyle Turner (Bana) as he attempts to piece together who killed the young woman we see tumble off a cliff in the first scene. Set in Yosemite National Park, the limited series offers an assessment of the human condition, showcasing how animalistic we can be when pushed into corners. Wake up to find news on your TV shows in your inbox every morning with Metro's TV Newsletter. Sign up to our newsletter and then select your show in the link we'll send you so we can get TV news tailored to you. Described by Metro's very own TV critic as 'the best show of 2025', fans and critics are raving over it. Writing on X, @CSForgey said: 'Phenomenal work and gorgeously shot. Selfishly I hope Kyle's journey continues in another series. He's like a broken Atticus Finch of a hero.' @nigelh_nigel added: 'Thoroughly enjoyed it. Spectacular scenery, those waterfalls….wow!!! Second series please.' Commenting on imdB, kurtdralle said: 'The best detective series since the first True Detective. Could not stop watching from the first minute of the series. This is excellent show with great setting and actors and plot.' BudoSenpai also wrote: 'Bana delivers an intense performance, embodying both vulnerability and strength, while Santiago adds emotional depth with her portrayal, creating a strong chemistry that will draw you into the story.' Meanwhile, Rebecca Nicholson from the Guardian described it is a 'blunt force thriller' that is 'very easy on the eye'. Some viewers, including Nicholson, did point out that there is a lack of depth. Bparkerprivat on imdB described it as 'visually beautiful' but said content-wise it was 'tame'. Another viewer, Ivan_Lilo argued: 'The pacing is a little off, it feels somewhat rushed, with key plot developments and character arcs lacking exploration, which will tend to leave you wanting more depth. An official synopsis of the series on Netflix reads: 'In the vast expanse of Yosemite National Park, a woman's death draws a federal agent into lawless terrain — where nature obeys no rules but its own.' Untamed's success comes after another 'compelling' mystery thriller soared up the Netflix chart after all 6 episodes dropped. More Trending The French mystery series, Under A Dark Sun, is said to promise a 'heartfelt' and 'suspenseful' experience for viewers. The show follows runaway single mother Alba Mazier (Ava Baya) whose boss, Arnaud Lasserre (Thibault De Montalembert), is killed 'just hours into starting her new job'. Now the main suspect, she becomes intertwined in a conspiracy full of 'deep-rooted secrets and morally grey decisions'. View More » Untamed is available to watch on Netflix. Got a story? If you've got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@ calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we'd love to hear from you. MORE: Steamiest 90s erotic film confirmed for 'unnecessary' reboot with a twist MORE: Fans living for 'unhinged' new Netflix movie starring Idris Elba as a dog MORE: Emmy-nominated action film starring new James Bond favourite available to stream on Netflix
Daily Mirror
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
American Primeval creator has made Untamed - Netflix's answer to True Detective that could last for years
Our review of Netflix's latest crime thriller The creator of hit American Primeval have just made Netflix's version of True Detective and it could last for years, despite its limited series status. All six episodes of Untamed are now available to watch on the major streamer as of today (July 17). It is easily a must binge watch show for this weekend for any fans of the two previously mentioned shows. According to the brief synopsis shared by Netflix, the crime thriller is based amidst the vast expanse of Yosemite National Park. A woman's suspicious death draws a federal agent into lawless terrain, where nature obeys no rules but its own. Untamed was created and written by father daughter team, Mark L. Smith and Elle Smith. Smith senior previously wrote the screenplays for The Revenant, for which Leonardo DiCaprio finally picked up an Oscar, and Twisters. He also created the historical drama American Primeval, which was a hit for Netflix earlier in the year. Together, the duo look to have repeated and offered up the closest thing to True Detective Netflix has been able to provide among all its binge worthy crime dramas and declared themselves as two of the steamer's must follow creatives. If anything they write next is as addictive as Untamed, I'll be there day one. True Detective is known for its A-list cast list and Untamed certainly competes in that area itself. It is lead by Australian actor Eric Bana, who has starred in Troy, The Time Traveller's Wife and played the Hulk before the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He is supported by Jurassic Park star Sam Neill, Wilson Bethel who also plays Bullseye in the Daredevil television series along with Rosemarie DeWitt and Lily Santiago. Together, along with a central mystery that follows many twists and turns, the series throws up a story even more gripping than any other murder mystery. In fact, I found myself gripped harder than any of True Detective's four seasons, which often fell by the wayside. There's no such danger here, with the Netflix series determined to clear everything up. Untamed, also like the HBO show, makes understated use of the supernatural and local folklore. It would spoil an early plot point to explain in detail how this is but while True Detective might thrust the ghost stories in the viewers' faces, Untamed keeps them rightfully in the shadows to reflect on its characters and spectacular setting. A clear benefit of setting a show in one of the US' celebrated National Parks is that some of the shots used can be as dramatic or intimate as desired. While Mark Smith's previous Netflix success, American Primeval, took advantage of its setting in its time period, Untamed does similar with its locality. Untamed only ever slows down to allow viewers to appreciate the glimpse of some of the best scenes nature allows. A look behind the scenes of some sequences would be fascinating, and hopefully wouldn't break my heart in revealing any green screen magic. Despite the fact that this is being billed as a limited series for Netflix, Untamed could easily go on for years. Its premise of federal agents investigating serious crimes taking place within a national park they are based is almost too good not to be turned into an anthology. It certainly wouldn't be the strangest series Netflix could renew. The United States has 63 National Parks and Yosemite, which serves as the locale for Untamed, is only the 19th largest. Considering that, it feels like the potential for follow ups, whether they be tied directly or be complete standalone stories in other Parks is endless.
Los Angeles Times
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
‘Untamed' brings Eric Bana into a murder mystery set in the wilds of Yosemite
'Untamed,' a quasi-police drama premiering Thursday on Netflix, is a vacation from most crime shows, set not in a big city or cozy village but in the wilds of Yosemite National Park. (Never mind that the series was shot in British Columbia, which has nothing to apologize for when it comes to dramatic scenery, and whose park rangers are not threatened by draconian budget cuts nor their parks by politicians' desire to sell off public lands.) The mountains and valleys, the rivers and brooks, the occasional deer or bear are as much a part of the mise-en-scène as the series' complicated, yet essentially straightforward heroes and villains. Lacking big themes, it's not so much meat-and-potatoes television as fish and corn grilled over a camp fire, and on the prestige scale it sits somewhere between 'Magnum P.I.' and 'True Detective,' leaning toward the former. Created by Mark L. Smith ('American Primeval') and Elle Smith ('The Marsh King's Daughter') and starring Eric Bana and Sam Neill, Antipodean actors wearing American accents once again, it's a limited series, though, for a while, it has the quality of a pilot, introducing characters that could profitably be reused — with perhaps a little less of the trauma peeking out at every corner. Of course, if the show becomes a fantabulous success, the Netflix engineers may contrive a way to make it live again; it's happened before. 'Untamed' starts big. Two climbers are making their way up the face of El Capitan when a woman's body comes flying over the cliff, gets tangled in their ropes and hangs suspended, dead. She is hanging there still — the climbers have been rescued — when Investigative Services Branch special agent Kyle Turner (Bana) rides in on his horse. 'Here comes f—ing Gary Cooper,' mutters grumbling ranger Bruce Milch (William Smillie) to new ranger Naya Vasquez (Lily Santiago), a former police officer (and single mother, with a threatening ex) newly arrived from Los Angeles. (The horse, says Milch, who regards it as a high horse, gives him 'a better angle to look down on us lowly rangers.') What are the odds on Vasquez becoming Turner's (junior) partner? And on a difficult relationship developing into a learning curve ('This is not L.A. — things happen different out here') and turning almost … tender? More heroically proportioned and handsome than anyone else in the show, a man of the forest with superior tracking skills, Turner is also a mess — a taciturn mess, which also makes him seem stoic — barely holding himself together, drinking too much, living in a cabin in the woods filled with unpacked boxes, undone by the unaddressed family tragedy that broke him and his marriage. (The dark side of stoicism.) Sympathetic remarried ex-wife Jill (Rosemarie DeWitt, keeping it real), who herself is only 'as happy as I can be, I guess,' and sympathetic boss Paul Souter (Neill), try to keep him straight. 'You've locked yourself away in this park, Kyle,' Souter tells Turner. 'It's not healthy.' Turner, however, prefers 'most animals to people — especially my horse.' Nevertheless, he has a couple of friends: Shane Maguire (Wilson Bethel), a wildlife manager — that means he shoots things, so be forewarned — also living in the woods, but without the cabin, is the toxic one; Mato Begay (Trevor Carroll), an Indigenous policeman, the nontoxic one. And he's sleeping with a concierge at the local nice hotel, just so that element is covered; it's otherwise beside the point. If the dialogue often has the flavor of coming off a page rather than out of a character, it gets the job done, and if the characters are essentially static, people don't change overnight, and consistency is a hallmark of detective fiction. The narrative wisely stays close to Turner and/or Vasquez; there are enough twists and tendrils in the main overlapping plots without running off into less related matters. (Keeping the series to six episodes is also a plus, and something to be encouraged, makers of streaming series. Your critic will thank you for it.) Still, between the hot cases and the cold cases, with their collateral damage; hippie squatters from central casting chanting 'Our Earth, our land;' a mysterious gold tattoo, indigenous glyphs and old mines — there is an especially tense scene involving a tight tunnel and rising water — the show stays busy. Though last-minute heavy surprises don't register emotionally — trauma overload, maybe — you will not be left wanting for answers, or closure. And you will learn quite a bit about vultures and their dining habits — not what you might think.
Daily Mirror
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
American Primeval creator has just made Netflix's True Detective that could last for years
Our review of Netflix's latest crime thriller The creator of hit American Primeval have just made Netflix's version of True Detective and it could last for years, despite its limited series status. All six episodes of Untamed are now available to watch on the major streamer as of today (July 17). It is easily a must binge watch show for this weekend for any fans of the two previously mentioned shows. According to the brief synopsis shared by Netflix, the crime thriller is based amidst the vast expanse of Yosemite National Park. A woman's suspicious death draws a federal agent into lawless terrain, where nature obeys no rules but its own. Untamed was created and written by father daughter team, Mark L. Smith and Elle Smith. Smith senior previously wrote the screenplays for The Revenant, for which Leonardo DiCaprio finally picked up an Oscar, and Twisters. He also created the historical drama American Primeval, which was a hit for Netflix earlier in the year. Together, the duo look to have repeated and offered up the closest thing to True Detective Netflix has been able to provide among all its binge worthy crime dramas and declared themselves as two of the steamer's must follow creatives. If anything they write next is as addictive as Untamed, I'll be there day one. True Detective is known for its A-list cast list and Untamed certainly competes in that area itself. It is lead by Australian actor Eric Bana, who has starred in Troy, The Time Traveller's Wife and played the Hulk before the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He is supported by Jurassic Park star Sam Neill, Wilson Bethel who also plays Bullseye in the Daredevil television series along with Rosemarie DeWitt and Lily Santiago. Together, along with a central mystery that follows many twists and turns, the series throws up a story even more gripping than any other murder mystery. In fact, I found myself gripped harder than any of True Detective's four seasons, which often fell by the wayside. There's no such danger here, with the Netflix series determined to clear everything up. Untamed, also like the HBO show, makes understated use of the supernatural and local folklore. It would spoil an early plot point to explain in detail how this is but while True Detective might thrust the ghost stories in the viewers' faces, Untamed keeps them rightfully in the shadows to reflect on its characters and spectacular setting. A clear benefit of setting a show in one of the US' celebrated National Parks is that some of the shots used can be as dramatic or intimate as desired. While Mark Smith's previous Netflix success, American Primeval, took advantage of its setting in its time period, Untamed does similar with its locality. Untamed only ever slows down to allow viewers to appreciate the glimpse of some of the best scenes nature allows. A look behind the scenes of some sequences would be fascinating, and hopefully wouldn't break my heart in revealing any green screen magic. Despite the fact that this is being billed as a limited series for Netflix, Untamed could easily go on for years. Its premise of federal agents investigating serious crimes taking place within a national park they are based is almost too good not to be turned into an anthology. It certainly wouldn't be the strangest series Netflix could renew. The United States has 63 National Parks and Yosemite, which serves as the locale for Untamed, is only the 19th largest. Considering that, it feels like the potential for follow ups, whether they be tied directly or be complete standalone stories in other Parks is endless.
