Asian A.V. Club newsletter #39: What to Watch February 2025
Where we kick off our 'What To Watch' monthly breakdown of new tv/films and the stuff that's hitting our radar! In this issue: Sundance! The White Lotus! Horror films! Asian buzz! And more!
Hello fellow Asian A.V. Club members! Most of you already know me, but for the newbies in the group, I’m Stevie Wong—your go-to guy for all things #AAVC and the one to shower with positive feedback (hint, hint). We’ve been dreaming of curating a monthly list of fresh film and TV titles that have caught our eyes, and guess what? I finally got off my remote long enough to make it happen! So, here’s our (albeit late) February 2025 watchlist/buzzlist, packed with gems that might just become your next obsession.
First up, we were lucky enough to virtually attend the Sundance Film Festival this year! While most of the action unfolded in-person at Park City, Utah, we got to dive into a treasure trove of competition docs and narrative features from fresh new voices—some hunting for distribution, others ready to become this year’s buzziest releases. Last year’s class of 2024 gifted us gems like Didi, I Saw the TV Glow, Kneecap and the Oscar contenders A Real Pain and Black Box Diaries, so naturally, we went into this year with high hopes of discovering the next great indie masterpiece.
These were our top 3:
Sorry, Baby (dir: Eva Victor) - Writer, Director, actress Eva Victor makes her feature debut with this wonderfully moving, quirky and heartbreaking story of Agnes, a grad student turned professor, who, over the course of the film, works through her sexual assault in a way that feels both original and honestly uplifting. It’s no small feat to balance such heavy subject matter without turning into a dark drama, but Victor pulls it off with moments of humor and insight that left me speechless. We weren’t the only ones enamored with this film because A24 picked it up for release later this year!
Hal & Harper (dir: Cooper Raiff) - Though Hal & Harper isn’t a film (the series is featured in the episodic section of the fest), binging all eight episodes allowed the characters to resonate much deeper than we expected. Creator Cooper Raiff calls it his “300-page movie,” and it’s easy to see why. The series follows siblings Hal and Harper, played brilliantly by Raiff and Lili Reinhart, as they grapple with their deeply rooted co-dependency after their dad (Mark Ruffalo) announces he’s selling their childhood home. Jumping back and forth in time—with Raiff and Reinhart even playing their younger selves (trust me, it works)—the family has a lot to unpack. And when they do, it’s nothing short of glorious and profoundly poignant. Currently looking for distribution, someone pick up this funny/sad wholly original series already!
Come See Me In The Good Light (dir: Ryan White) - Popular poet Andrea Gibson has been diagnosed with incurable ovarian cancer and with her wife, poet Megan Falley, they share their intimate journey leading up to what could be the final live performance of their life. Between doctor’s appointments and existential musings, the film shares Gibson and Falley’s tender, raw, and even raunchy moments, showcasing their deep love for each other. We weren’t the only ones moved by the documentary as it took home the Festival Favorite award. Again… someone pick this film up for distribution please! (4/16 UPDATE: Apple TV+ is releasing the film in the fall!)
If you want to see what else we watched this year check out my letterboxd Sundance Film Festival 2025 list.
The White Lotus (season 3): Welcome back to the most luxuriously dangerous 5 star hotel chain in the world! Someone is gonna die and we uber fans are more than happy to go along for the ride. Creator Mike White brings a new group of affluently entitled to the White Lotus: Koh Samui, Thailand property. With so many dynamic performers, White is once again gracious with giving each one of them multiple moments to shine - though Parker Posey, whose heavily medicated Victoria Ratliff is meme ready with the stuff she says. Other highlights include the trio of besties (Michelle Monaghan, Carrie Coon, Leslie Bibb) who have a personally familiar trait of talking ‘truths’ about it each other when one of them is out of the room AND the return of season 1 ‘living’ alumni Belinda (Natasha Rothwell) who might be triggered by someone at the estate.
And if you were wondering how BLACKPINK’s Lisa fares among these titans? Her burgeoning relationship with hotel security guard Gaitok (Tayme Thapthimthong) is a wonderfully sweet storyline that may or may not be affected in a big way by the time this series ends. Once again, we are addicted!
The White Lotus is streaming on HBO/Max weekly.
Virdee: This surprising new gem of a detective thriller takes us to the UK’s City of Culture, Bradford, a city where 32% of its diverse population identifies as Asian, Asian British, or Pakistani. Against this cultural backdrop, we follow Detective Harry Virdee (Staz Nair) as he tries to stop a potential serial killer targeting members of his community while navigating his personal life with his estranged Sikh family, because of his marriage to Saima (an excellent Aysha Kala), a strong and supportive wife who is also a proud Pakistani Muslim.
Adapted by Amit Dhand from his own book City of Sinners, Virdee is the start of a new fictitious hero that I look forward to watching more of!
Virdee is currently showing weekly on BBC One and iPlayer as a binge. No US distributor yet!!
North of North: We love a fresh take on any coming of age comedy and North of North, set in a fictional Inuk Arctic town, is as fresh as it gets. Featuring a predominantly cast of Indigenous actors, the comedy focuses on Siaja (Anna Lambe), who decides that there’s more to her life than being married to the local golden boy. Crashing on her single mom’s (Maika Harper) couch, Siaja navigates her new job, being a reliable mom to her cute young daughter Bun (Keira Belle Cooper) and discovering that the new handsome visiting researcher is none other her estranged father (Jay Ryan) - and that’s just in the pilot episode! To be honest, it takes a few episodes for the town and it’s large cast to get going, but when it does, North of North is a nice and easy charmer that I’m now happily a fan of.
North of North is on CBC in Canada and will stream on Netflix globally Spring 2025.
Reacher (season 3): Honestly, there’s not much to say except Reacher is baaaack! The man of few words will kill some, punch alot, say some cheeky one liners, and weirdly end up in every episode wearing nothing but his underwear (even sometimes not). Oh and get ready for the 7ft 2inch baddie Paulie, played by Oliver Richters, who with one slap could knock you unconscious…or dead.
I mean… if these aren’t reasons enough to be a fan of this series, why the heck not?! Seriously, this season is a fun one.
Reacher is on Prime Video with a new episodes coming out weekly.
Newtopia: BLACKPINK members sure are busy this month as Jisoo flexes more than her comedic acting skills battling zombies while trying to get to her bumbling soldier boyfriend (award winning actor Park Jeong-min) who’s trapped at the top of a high-rise. With surprisingly good special effects and silly antics, this rom-zom-edy is a fun alternative for those looking for a bloody good time.
Newtopia is streaming on Prime Video globally and Coupang Play in Korea.
The Gorge (dir: Scott Derrickson): If you like the idea of watching the equivalent of 4 films mashed into 1 movie, then director Scott Derrickson (The Black Phone) has got the perfect flick for you! Sharp shooter Levi (Miles Teller) takes a one year post guarding a watchtower with the specific task of never letting whats down in the gorge to ever come out. EVER. Soon Levi see’s that across the gorge, Levi (Anya Taylor-Joy) has set up a similar shop and well… so begins their “friendship”. But this is definitely not a rom-com, soon the gorge becomes too volatile and our two leads will have to use their specialised fighting skills to keep their relationship alive. We’re not winning awards here, but if you have a brainless evening available, this is a fun choice.
The Gorge is streaming on Apple TV now.
Dark Nuns (Kwon Hyeok-jae): Two words - Exorcist Nuns. Expanding the universe of the 2015 horror thriller The Priests, we are introduced to Sister Junia (played by Korean superstar Song Hye Kyo), a smoking, unconventional nun working against the church’s outdated guidelines by taking matters into her own hands. With Sister Michaela (Jeon Yeo-been) on hand to help, the two try to save the young Hee-joon (Moon Woo-jin), who has been possessed by a powerful evil spirit. Last years excellent Exhuma set the bar high on dealing with the freaky otherworld. Though these ladies try their darnedest, it’s not quite on that level, but has some outstanding moments of its own.
Dark Nuns is showing in a theater near you.
Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy (dir: Michael Morris): When I saw that the return of our every woman, accident prone, Bridget Jones was regulated to streaming after a 9 year break, I was worried that time wouldn’t be kind to our awkward romantic heroine. To my utter surprise, this film might just be the best outing since the first film! Director Michael Morris (To Leslie) has given Bridget a tough setup. Her husband, Mark Darcy (Colin Firth) has died and left Jones trying her best to keep her family floating above water. After making the decision to get back into the workforce, Bridget meets a few possible new suitors (Leo Woodall & Chiwetel Ejiofor), maintains her friendships - especially with Daniel (still a scene stealing Hugh Grant), and discovers what life can be like after you’ve been in mourning for such a long time. You’ll be laughing one minute and crying the next, all the while so pleased that this film represents the legacy of Jones at her best. Those outside of the US are definitely proving that there is a market for rom-coms, as the box office for Bridget in the cinema is very healthy, I just wish we had more faith in this genre domestically.
Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy is streaming on Peacock and showing in theaters everywhere internationally.
The Accidental Getaway Driver (dir: Sing J. Lee): Since we began with #Sundance25, I wanted to take a moment to highlight Sing J. Lee, the 2023 winner of the Sundance Directing Award in U.S. Dramatic for his debut feature, The Accidental Getaway Driver. Inspired by the 2016 true story of Long Ma (played by Hiep Tran Nghia in the film), a Vietnamese taxi driver, who is abducted by three prison escapees. Over the course of the night, Long slowly connects with Tay (Dustin Nguyen), one of the escapees, and a gentle understanding develops between the two. It’s a surprising tonal twist from what could have been a gangster thriller, and a solid first film for the award winning director.
Always love a good Stevie recommendation!
I love this Stevie! So glad to be able to follow all your recommendations and reviews