The Screen Scribe

Over the last several weeks I have travelled into deep space, wandered the post-heroic ruins of a fantasy world, watch Birmingham being bombed during world war 2, and witnessed a batshit crazy battle royal between mages and heroic spirits. I may not have been overly active here, but that is not to say I wasn’t watching anything.

The quality of releases from January to March is generally quite poor, often regarded in the industry as a dumping ground period for films and tv shows that studios either have lost faith in, or never had faith in to begin with. But March kicked off with possibly the best film of the year. For now it wears the crown, but in a year that is still waiting for Avengers: Doomsday. Dune Part 3, Spider-Man: Brand New Day, The Odyssey, Toy Story 5, The Devil Wears Prada 2 and Supergirl, that crown may pass to a successor. But I highly doubt it. Of all those mentioned, I really only expect Dune Part 3 to give Project Hail Mary any sort of competition for the film of the year.

But I digress, let’s dive in.

Project Hail Mary

This was simply a pure joy to watch. There is a particular feeling I get when watching a truly great film, a sense of complete immersion and wonder and awe. Its the feeling I had watching the Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Gladiator, Braveheart, and The Dark Knight. All personal favourite films and often regarded culturally as some of the best. So when I get that sensation, I know this is going to be good. Ryan Gosling did a lot of heavy lifting to foster emotional investment for the audience, his endless charm, vulnerability, intelligence and sacrifice as Ryland Grace mosr definitely should put him in Oscar contention next year. Technically, PHM is a marvel. Visually stunning, the colour pallete is vibrant and engaging, and score was emotional and sweeping. Hollywood needs to learn from this film. This is what audiences want. Not an endless stream of sequels and reboots that some corporate stooge deemed risk averse and safe. Tke a fucking swing, make something with passion and quality, trust the audience, and you will see more hits like this. Truly the best film of the year in my opinion, and I doubt anything will top it.

5 / 5 ✨

Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man

I would be lying if I said this wasn’t the film I was most looking forward to this year. I would also be lying if I said I wasn’t immensely disappointed by this film. Anyone who knows me knows I adore Peaky Blinders. I have watched the series multiple times, and in my humble opinion, despite some stumbles in its final two seasons, it remains one of the finest pieces of television work ever put to screen. The Immortal Man, however, is more of a mixed bag. Cillian Murphy returns as Thomas Shelby, gypsy gangster and head of the Peaky Blinders. Cillian delivers another powerhouse performance, and his love for the character is evident in the care he has put into this performance over the years, and in this film. It is the writing though that let’s it down. Story threads from the final season are never addressed. Characters from the series are either missing entirely or given unsaitsfactory endings. The pacing is incredibly uneven, with a slow burn opening hour, and a rushed and emotionally unsatisfactory ending. The central relationship of the film, Tommy and his son Duke, is flat and hollow, given Duke was only introduced tangentially in the final season, before being taken over by Barry Keoghan. I’d be remiss not to mention, the performances are truly excellent. But the writing and the narrative make this a massive disappointment for me.

2 / 5 ✨

Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End – Season 2

Ah, Frieren. Given I was only recently fresh off of absolutely devouring season one in the space of two nights in late November, I was highly geared up for season two. I completely and utterly fell in love with these characters, the chill and cozy atmosphere, the deep but relatable philosophy, the emotional intelligence, and the stellar animation. Season two continued all of that and more. Clocking in at a shorter episode count than season one in at 10 episode in comparison to the 28 episodes of season one. This I think is due to source material constraints. To my knowledge the manga is actually not very far ahead of the narrative seen in season two. Season two retains and even improves on everything that made season one so special. I have seen some discourse only griping about how slow and ponderous season 2 was, with little to no overarching narrative, and I want to push back against that. Frieren has never been about overarching meta narratives or sweeping quest stories. It’s about the characters, everyday interactions that examine the passing of time and Frieren’s relationship with it, about how past interactions can have consequences on your present day self. Frieren has always been about emotional development and character relationships and the small shared everyday moments of a journey. Season two gets the rare honour of another five star rating, and it’s well deserved.

5 / 5 ✨

Fate / Strange Fake

Now it’s common knowledge that I would have what many would deem an unhealthy obsession in Dragon Ball Z and all Dragon Ball related things, but I won’t apologise for it for the simply fact that it introduced me to the wonderful medium of anime. And while DBZ may have been my doorway in the 2000s, it was the Fate franchise that truly fostered my love of anime. Fate / Zero remains to this day one of the finest tv shows I have ever seen, never mind anime, and its animation even 15 years later is remarkable. It’s also one of the most difficult anime worlds to grasp and understand. The basic premsie is actually quite simple: seven mages summon seven spirits of legendary historic or folkloric figures referred to as servants and fight to the death in a battle royal to win possession of the Holy Grail and have a single wish granted. This is known as the Holy Grail War. Easy peasy right? Wrong. The Fate franchise takes that single premise and launches off into alternate realities of the same event (Fate / Stay Night, Unlimited Blade Works, Heaven’s Feel) from different perspectives and with different outcomes, or entirely new events hinged on choices that changed history (Fate Grand Order, Hollow Ataraxia, Fate Apocrypha). Fate / Strange Fake sits in the latter group. Taking place in America, it follows the generation of a fake Holy Grail War that then descends into utter chaos with more servants than a War should have, some of them corrupted or twisted beyond the contraints of the Wars rules, or servants summoned that are simply too powerful to be safely controlled. For those familiar with the franchise, its a joy to see this finally adapted to screen and seeing fan favourite characters return and given more screen time, while new characters are introduced that have already garnered cult followings. The animation, as with all Fate entries, is simply astouding, while the fight scenes make this a must watch regardless if you follow the franchise or not. My only gripe is that some of the early episodes take a while to get going, and the sheer number of characters requires a bit of mental gymnastics to keep track of. But overall, a stellar addition to a beloved franchise and a robust anime Spring season.

4 / 5 ✨

Lord of Mysteries

Given the dearth of decent things to watch during the graveyard period of the year, I decided to dive into this little gem. Lord of Mysteries constantly popped up on my top picks on Crunchyroll so I decided to give it a go. Released in July 2025, its an adaptation of a chinese web novel of the same name. And boy did it hook me immedietely. Lord of Mysteries follows a young man who is mysteriously transported into a fantasy world with strong Victorian London vibes, a class of magic wielders called Beyonders, unknowable gods, and deep conspiracies. The ability progression of the Beyonders is very clearly RPG game inspired, but it never breaks the immersion or becomes a distraction. Rather, it’s integrated organically into the fabric of the worldbuilding, and trusts the audience to follow along, a trust that is extended to the narrative twists and turns. It’s a refreshing turn of pace not to have a world and narrative with complex density spelled out to you every five minutes, and the payoff for that trust is highly rewarding. Now, this is not a cozy otherworld anime like Frieren. It’s often dark, disturbing, and haunting. Think of it as the atmosphere of Penny Dreadful, the complex narratives of True Detective, and the deep magic systems of Fate. But its thoroughly worth it if you have the patience. I loved it so much I went and downloaded the web novel.

4 / 5 ✨

Murderbot

I had been wanting to watch this for quite a while, and as I mentioned above the graveyard period was an ideal time to do so. I renewed my Apple TV account and off we went. I knew the basic premise of the story: AI security robot gains awareness, tries to obtain independence, shenanigans ensue. I was not prepared for how bloody funny this turned out to be. Murderbot, played with utter charm and dry wit by Alexander Skarsgaard, was a breath of a fresh air as a main character. Sarcastic, dry, exasperated on an almost perpetual basis, all he wants is to be left alone to watch his cheesy soap operas and dramas. On a surface level its immensely entertaining watching his inner monologues and reactions contrast with his calmer, more submissive outer self. But on a deeper level, it presents a fascinating examination of human behaviour through the lens of a sentient AI as it reacts in much the same way we do, though somewhat lacking in social graces and struggling in group dynamics. It’s a character study on the socially anxious, neurodivergent, and introverted personalities of society, handled with a care and intelligence often lacking in modern releases. Apple TV has been quietly building an impressive portfolio of science fiction entries, and Murderbot, adapted from the books of Martha Wells, is another excellent building block in its growing reputation. With 10 episodes of 25 minutes each, it is a quick and easy watch that is rewarding in its simple delivery and deep thematic resonance.

5 / 5 ✨

And that is the round up rapid fire review slate for March and April. I am currently watching Maul: Shadow Lord, incoming review next week, and The Boys, which I think is due to finish the weel after Maul, as well as Daredevil: Born Again season 2.

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