• Natalia Grace Mans spoke about being diagnosed with reactive attachment disorder.
• RAD is a rare condition in which children fail to form healthy relationships with their caregivers.
• Natalia said in "The Curious Case of Natalia Grace" that she felt her diagnosis was "understandable."

In "The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: The Final Chapter," Natalia Grace Mans speaks about being diagnosed with reactive detachment disorder.

Reactive attachment disorder (RAD) is a condition in which children do not form healthy relationships with their caregivers. Legal analyst Beth Karas said in episode six of "Natalia Speaks," the second installment of the series, that Natalia was diagnosed with RAD in 2010, while she was living with her then-adoptive parents Michael and Kristine Barnett.

Since then, Natalia — who was first adopted from a Ukrainian orphanage to the United States in 2008 — has lived with multiple families. In 2010, she was adopted by the Barnetts, who came to believe she was an adult and petitioned in court to change her birth year from 2003 to 1989. The Barnetts moved Natalia into an independent apartment in 2012, and in 2013, she met Cynthia Mans and moved in with her family. Antwon and Cynthia Mans adopted Natalia in 2023, but later that year, she left their home to live with Nicole and Vince DePaul, who attempted to adopt her when she was a child, in upstate New York.

In "Natalia Speaks," Natalia said that her diagnosis was "understandable."

"I still don't know the full length of reactive attachment disorder, but I know one thing for me is that I don't like being left," she said in episode four of "The Final Chapter." "I constantly feel like people are just going to walk out of my life."

RAD makes it very hard to connect with others

In episode four of "The Final Chapter," Nicole DePaul speaks to rehabilitation psychologist Melissa Misegadis about Grace's former RAD diagnosis.

"Reactive attachment disorder is what happens when children don't bond to their caregivers," Misegadis said in the show. It's recognized in the DSM-5, the standard classification of mental disorders in the US.

Symptoms include a failure to play with other kids, lack of eye contact, and unexplained fear.

While RAD can resemble a disorganized attachment style, attachment styles are more fluid and describe differences in how people connect in relationships. RAD qualifies as a disorder because of the severity of its symptoms, such as behavior problems.

Childhood abandonment is a huge risk factor

Misegadis wasn't surprised that Grace has RAD. "Individuals with unaddressed trauma like Natalia has, these are behaviors that are coming from years of rejection and trauma," she said in the show.

According to the Mayo Clinic, risk factors for developing RAD include losing a parent early in life (or having a severely neglectful parental figure), spending time in orphanages with no loving adult figures, and cycling through foster homes.

"I constantly feel like people are just going to walk out of my life," Grace said in the show. "I personally can't handle someone leaving me anymore. I can't handle caring about somebody and then they walk away."

Rita Soronen, president and CEO of the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, previously told Business Insider that international adoptions like Grace's often don't provide much background. As a result, parents who adopt or foster kids can be shocked by RAD symptoms, rehoming their kids in the end.

RAD treatment usually requires therapy

Left untreated, RAD can lead to long-term consequences, like substance abuse disorder, depression, and difficulty forming relationships.

Treatment usually involves therapy, social skills classes, or parenting classes to help caretakers effectively manage their kids' behaviors. Though Natalia declined mental health services during production, producer Shannon Evangelista told The Hollywood Reporter, she told People that started seeing a therapist after she had a panic attack in 2024.

So far, Natalia said she feels "free" living with the DePauls, who initially tried to adopt her in 2003. She says in episode four of "The Final Chapter" that she's "not really talking" to the Mans.

"Did she probably do weird things in the past? Yeah," Nicole DePaul told People. "[But] when you take in a child, you take that child as your own. You don't just get rid of them when they don't fit into your puzzle."

"The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: The Final Chapter" is now streaming on Max.

• The Front Man in "Squid Game" is Hwang In-ho, detective Hwang Jun-ho's brother.
• One fan theory suggests that In-ho could be related to another character in the series.
• It's not impossible, but the evidence isn't overwhelming.

In season two of "Squid Game," the game's steward — known as the Front Man, or Hwang In-ho under the mask — enters the game himself. Though he's already related to one other character in the show, a new theory suggests he could be further tied to the games.

In season one, detective Hwang Jun-ho (Wi Ha-jun) infiltrated the games in search of his older brother In-ho (Lee Byung-hun). In-ho wasn't a player in the games with Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae), however — he was the one running them. But in season two, In-ho infiltrates the games as player 001 using the name Oh Young-il.

In-ho mostly seems to be there to break Gi-hun's spirit, treating him like a comrade until he sabotages Gi-hun's rebellion in the season finale. He's not the first player 001 to betray Gi-hun's trust: In season one, the game's creator Oh Il-nam plays alongside Gi-hun as well before revealing his true identity in the outside world.

One moment in season two has fans thinking that In-ho and Il-nam may be further connected — but it's far from conclusive.

Fans speculate that Il-nam is In-ho's father — because of two lines about milk

In season one, episode three, Gi-hun asks one of the guards distributing snacks to players if he could trade his regular milk for chocolate milk, saying that he's never been able to digest plain milk. The guard refuses, but Il-nam remarks on Gi-hun's preferences.

"I bet your father spanked you a lot when you were young," Il-nam says.

"How did you know?" Gi-hun asks.

"My son was just like you," Il-nam replies.

In season two, episode five, In-ho doesn't drink his plain milk either. After the guards serve the players a similar bread and milk snack, In-ho passes his milk to the pregnant Jun-hee instead of drinking it.

"I don't drink plain milk," he tells her.

The "milk theory" has proliferated on social media platforms like Reddit and X. However, one image in support of the theory being circulated online includes inaccurate dialogue.

The above screenshot, which was also posted to the r/squidgame subreddit, simplifies the dialogue in both scenes. Il-nam never tells Gi-hun, "you are just like my son he couldn't drink milk too," and In-ho never says, "here, I can't drink it anyway."

To be fair, the original dialogue in each respective scene isn't that different — but it is slightly more nuanced.

The 'milk theory' raises some other questions

A twist like this would feel a bit out of character for "Squid Game," particularly given that the show has already pulled a secret-family-member twist with the Front Man already. That doesn't necessarily mean it couldn't happen, but the evidence isn't overwhelming.

First, Il-nam says several times in season one that he has a son, singular. In the season finale, he tells Gi-hun on his deathbed that "long ago, I once lived in a house in an alley just like that one with my wife and son."

However, in season two, we learn that In-ho and Jun-ho are half brothers who share a father because Jun-ho's mother refers to In-ho as her stepson. If Il-nam was In-ho's father, he should be Jun-ho's as well.

That doesn't fully rule out the theory: it's possible that Il-nam abandoned In-ho with Jun-ho's mother, and that he didn't raise Jun-ho or consider him a son. Still, there's not much to go on.

If In-ho were Il-nam's son, the implications would be severe depending on the strength of their relationship as adults and if they knew of the others' existence before In-ho entered the games. At worst, it would mean that Il-nam didn't provide his son the money to save his wife's life, and knowingly let him participate in the games. At best, it would mean that they reunited after In-ho joined, and won, the games in 2015.

Furthermore, Il-nam and In-ho give the same surname, Oh, in the games, but they don't share one in real life. Il-nam tells Gi-hun in the season one finale that he didn't lie about his name in the games, but as far as we know, In-ho is lying about his: In-ho's true last name, which he shares with his brother, is Hwang.

Ultimately, it's not impossible that In-ho is Il-nam's son, but the evidence is far from conclusive. The milk thing is weird, sure — but lactose intolerance does not a paternal relationship make. After that cliffhanger ending, we'll have to wait for season three to see if the show goes any further with this particular thread.

"Squid Game" is streaming on Netflix.

• 2025 is already an exciting year for television — and it's only just begun.
• Shows like "Stranger Things" and "Severance" will be back this year.
• BI's entertainment team is also excited about new series like "The Residence" and "Suits LA."

2025 is shaping up to be an exciting one in television.

Start off your new year with the return of "Severance," Apple TV+'s bizarre (complimentary) and wildly innovative workplace series about a group of people who have two completely discrete personas for work and their outside lives. You'll be able to pick up other returning favorites, like "The White Lotus" season three in the spring and the fifth and final season of "Stranger Things" later in the year.

There are a few exciting new series on the docket for 2025 this year like "The Residence," a White House whodunnit from Shondaland starring Uzo Aduba. If you're looking for something with a stronger sci-fi bent, FX's "Alien" franchise series "Alien: Earth" is set to hit screens later this year as well. Or, if you devoured the docuseries "The Curious Case of Natalia Grace," watch the story dramatized in Hulu's upcoming "Good American Family."

Here are our most anticipated television series of 2025, in order of premiere date.

"Severance," season 2

Release date: January 17 on Apple TV+

Watching the first season of "Severance" in early 2022 felt a bit like getting in on an extraordinary secret. This bizarre, endearing, and incredibly stylistic take on the soul-crushing office grind quickly yet quietly became one of the best genre series on television. Three years later, the show blessedly is not a hidden gem anymore, and "Severance" season two is coming in hotly anticipated.

The series stars Adam Scott as Mark, a man who decides to take a "severed" job after the death of his wife. The severance procedure bifurcates his personality into two discrete people: one who works his job at the inscrutable Lumon Industries, and one who lives life on the outside. In season one, he and his coworkers work to expose their plight as severed workers to the world, while simultaneously unraveling the myriad secrets of their workplace. — Palmer Haasch

"Paradise"

Release date: January 28 on Hulu

"This Is Us" creator Dan Fogelman and star Sterling K. Brown reunite on a new Hulu series. The mystery thriller focuses on Xavier Collins (Brown), the head of security to James Marsden's President Cal Bradford. Xavier finds Cal dead and is said to be the last person who saw the president alive, thrusting him into the middle of an apparent conspiracy.

The trailer is light on specific details, but according to the streamer the show is set "in a serene, wealthy community inhabited by some of the world's most prominent individuals," who are rattled by the president's murder and the ensuing investigation.

Brown was always a highlight of "This Is Us," so it's exciting to see him step into another lead role that appears to be very different from Randall Pearson.

"Yellowjackets," season 3

Release date: February 14 on Paramount+ with Showtime (and February 16 on Showtime)

"Yellowjackets" is a mish-mash of genres: part coming-of-age story, part survival drama, part black comedy, part mystery.

When it first premiered in 2021, it wasn't an instant hit. Rather, it steadily grew a passionate fan base as more and more viewers became invested in this tale of a group of teenage girls who became stranded in the Canadian wilderness in the 1990s — and the repercussions of that traumatic experience on the surviving women 25 years later.

Creators Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson managed to craft a wildly compelling story that drew equal interest to both halves of its cast: the talented rising stars who play the '90s versions of the girls (including breakouts like Ella Purnell and Sophie Thatcher), and the established powerhouse actors like Juliette Lewis, Melanie Lynskey, and Christina Ricci in the modern-day setting.

Season two answered a lot of questions (including arguably the biggest: Did they eat each other??) but ended on an unexpected death that left fans clamoring to know what would happen next. Luckily, there are still plenty of mysteries waiting to be solved. — CM

"The White Lotus," season 3

Release date: February 16 on HBO and Max

There's little information about season three of "The White Lotus." But Mike White's hit HBO anthology series, which racked up a total of 43 Emmy nominations from the first two seasons, has generated enough hype all on its own for the next installment.

Season three will focus on wealthy guests visiting the fictional White Lotus resort chain's Thailand location. And for the first time ever, the new season will feature a returning cast member: Natasha Rothwell, who played spa manager Belinda in season one. The star-studded cast also includes Blackpink member Lisa in her acting debut, "Fallout" star Walton Goggins, and "Gen V" actor Patrick Schwarzenegger — who told Business Insider that season three is "Absolutely fucking insane." — Olivia Singh

"Zero Day"

Release date: February 20 on Netflix

Robert De Niro on a Netflix drama? OK, sure, we're in.

"Zero Day" is a political thriller focusing on a global cyberattack, where De Niro plays a former president who comes out of retirement to help mitigate the crisis. The impressive ensemble cast also includes Lizzy Caplan as his daughter, Angela Bassett as the current president, and Dan Stevens as a loudmouth political TV host who antagonizes De Niro.

"Suits: LA"

Release date: February 23 on NBC and Peacock

"Suits" mania very suddenly and randomly swept over the nation when the 2010s USA Network drama saw a resurgence of interest on Netflix. Why? Who knows — chalk it up to one of the great mysteries of the algorithm.

In any event, it prompted the greenlighting of a spinoff series that shifts the action from a corporate firm in New York to an entertainment firm in Los Angeles. The new series centers on Stephen Amell's Ted Black, a former New York prosecutor who has reinvented himself out west.

Don't expect Meghan Markle to show up on it, but we can still hold out hope for other fan-favorite characters: Gabriel Macht's Harvey Specter is reportedly set for a three-episode arc, which hopefully means Donna Paulsen (Sarah Rafferty) isn't far behind. — CM

"Daredevil: Born Again"

Release date: March 4 on Disney+

The Marvel series will see Charlie Cox reprise his role as Matt Murdock, a blind lawyer by day, and a vicious vigilante by night. Because it's a continuation of the "Daredevil" Netflix series (which is exciting in itself) it'll also reunite Cox with Vincent D'Onofrio as Wilson Fisk, the criminal mastermind, Kingpin. Not only that but "Daredevil: Born Again" will add a harder, violent edge to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Hopefully Marvel chief Kevin Feige and the gang let the show stand on its own two bloody feet without forcing needless cameos for the sake of it. After all, a street-level story with relatable stakes is what the franchise needs right now amid all the chatter of future "Avengers" movies. — Eammon Jacobs

"Deli Boys"

Release date: March 6 on Hulu

"Deli Boys" (created by former Vice journalist Abdullah Saeed) follows the two wealthy Pakistani American sons of a convenience store magnate who learn after his death that he was secretly involved in a life of crime.

The polar opposite brothers are forced into that world, promising a unique take on the fish-out-of-water story coming to Hulu. — CM

"The Residence"

Release date: March 20 on Netflix

Market your series as a "Shondaland White House whodunnit," and you don't have to do too much more to convince me. After a murder at a state dinner, Detective Cordelia Cupp, played by Uzo Aduba, must attempt to solve the case. On-screen, she's joined by Giancarlo Esposito, Randall Park, Ken Marino, Edwina Findley, and a slate of others — including Kylie Minogue.

"Scandal" writer Paul William Davies serves as showrunner, with Shonda Rhimes and Betsy Beers executive producing. "The Residence" is based on the book of the same name by Kate Andersen Brower. — PH

"The Last of Us," season 2

Release date: April on HBO and Max

"The Last of Us" season one turned prestige gaming into prestige television, adapting Naughty Dog's fungal apocalypse thriller into an acclaimed series starring Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey. Season one ended on a tenuous high note: Joel (Pascal) chose to save Ellie (Ramsey), who is immune to the cordyceps fungus that turns people into violent infected, rather than allowing her death in pursuit of a cure.

"The Last of Us" season two will adapt at least part of "The Last of Us Part II," the sequel to the original video game. Without getting too much into spoilers, it's likely to be even more heartbreaking than season one. This season will also feature newcomers including Kaitlyn Dever, who will play a significant character named Abby, "Beef" star Young Mazino, and Jeffrey Wright, who will reprise his role from the game, Isaac. — PH

"Your Friends and Neighbors"

Release date: April 11 on Apple TV+

Apple TV+ has had no shortage of prestige drama attempts, from the Cate Blanchett series "Disclaimer" to Natalie Portman's "Lady in the Lake." Not all of them are very good (and a lot of them appear to come and go with little to no fanfare), and yet I still have enough faith in Jon Hamm and his ability to play complex antiheroes that I'm compelled to tune into "Your Friends & Neighbors."

Hamm plays Andrew "Coop" Cooper (Hamm), a recently divorced former hedge fund manager who's fired in disgrace. According to Apple, Coop, who lives in the wealthy Vestment Village, begins stealing from his neighbors' homes but ends up uncovering more secrets (and danger) than he bargained for.

The show also stars Amanda Peet and Olivia Munn, among others. And the streamer clearly has a lot of faith in it: They've already renewed it for a second season, months ahead of its premiere. — CM

"Hacks," season 4

Release date: (rumored) May on Max

The Emmy Award-winning "Hacks" is a series that only gets better with age, and its excellent third season set a high bar for whatever will come next. The series stars Jean Smart as Deborah Vance, a comedian who turns around her stale Vegas stand-up career into a true artistic reinvention with the help of young writer Ava Daniels, played by Hannah Einbinder.

Deborah and Ava's relationship has always been defined by an ever-growing co-dependence, the capacity to mutually wound each other, and somewhere in the mix, love and grudging respect. The season three finale put them at odds once again, setting up for what's sure to be a thrilling — and of course, extremely funny — fourth season. — PH

"Chad Powers"

Release date: Fall 2025 on Hulu

Glen Powell has been all over our movie screens for the last three years, and now he'll be all over our small screens.

Powell, one of the biggest male rising actors in Hollywood today, is on a movie star trajectory akin to his mentor (and "Top Gun: Maverick" costar) Tom Cruise. He has roots in TV, though ("Scream Queens," I will never forget you). The upcoming Hulu comedy, about a hotshot quarterback who torpedoes his college football career and disguises himself as Chad Powers to walk onto a Southern university's team, is a great venue for flexing his funny chops.

At the absolute least, the visual of Powell in those prosthetics and wig is already a hoot. — CM

"Stranger Things," season 5

Release date: TBD on Netflix

These days, it's hard to fathom that "Stranger Things" was one of the relatively early hits of the streaming age when it premiered in 2016. Close to a decade later, it's a cultural juggernaut that elevated the profile of its entire cast, from veteran actors to young stars. With one season left, it's finally time to close this chapter of life in Hawkins, Indiana.

"Stranger Things" season five will bring an end to Eleven's (Millie Bobby Brown) story, but past that, it will represent the true end of an era at Netflix. "Stranger Things" is one of the biggest series the streamer has ever released, but even if the show is ending, some talent like showrunners Matt and Ross Duffer and Brown, now a leading lady, are sticking around with other projects. — PH

"Wednesday," season 2

Release date: TBD on Netflix

"Wednesday" was a smash hit when it premiered on Netflix in 2022. Over two years later, it's still holding strong atop the streamer's list of its most-watched shows ever, with over 252 million views to date.

The supernatural teen dramedy's success is due in large part to the performance of Jenna Ortega as the titular Wednesday Addams, the sardonic, psychic teen who finds herself thrust into the center of a murder mystery when she's shipped off to a new boarding school.

The first season ended with a twist about one of Wednesday's two love interests, but Ortega has promised that "Wednesday" season two will lean more into horror and focus less on her character's romantic life. That's a very welcome tweak. — CM

"Black Mirror," season 7

Release date: TBD on Netflix

The long-running dystopian anthology series — where each episode is a stand-alone story of speculative fiction, with most set in a near-future world with advanced, often ethically troublesome technology — returns for its seventh outing later this year.

As with recent seasons, there are some big names lined up for the "Black Mirror" season seven cast, including Awkwafina, Issa Rae, Paul Giamatti, Billy Magnussen, and Tracee Ellis Ross. But perhaps most excitingly, for the first time in the series' history, there's going to be a story continuation: One of the six new episodes will be a sequel to "USS Callister," the Emmy-winning season four episode starring Cristin Milioti as a programmer who gets trapped in her incel boss' video game world. — CM

"You," season 5

Release date: TBD on Netflix

Obsessive stalker Joe Goldberg has somehow managed to evade capture or consequences in his yearslong killing spree that's spanned four seasons of television and multiple cities across the globe. He seemed to finally be at the end of the line in "You" season four, only to miraculously make it out with a seemingly clean slate yet again. The finale brought Joe full circle back to New York, and partnered with a woman who may or may not see him for who he truly is.

The fifth and final season of "You" will hopefully bring a satisfying conclusion to the drama that's managed to keep reinventing itself — and finding ways to creatively continue the story — long past where many assumed it'd surely end. — CM

"Squid Game," season 3

Release date: TBD on Netflix

"Squid Game" isn't only Netflix's biggest non-English-language series — it's also one of its biggest properties, period. The Korean-language series, created by showrunner Hwang Dong-hyuk, is a deeply tragic thriller with an instantly recognizable visual identity. Both of those factors helped it become not only a hit series, but also a true cultural phenomenon. "Squid Game" season two, which premiered in December, broke viewership records to become Netflix's biggest debut ever.

Even if you didn't watch "Squid Game," you know "Squid Game" — and with the show's third and final season on the way in 2025, you definitely should be catching up. — PH

"A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms"

Release date: TBD on HBO and Max

Given the wild success of "Game of Thrones," it makes sense that HBO would go all-in on the "Thrones" brand through a series of spinoffs. The first of those, "House of the Dragon," focuses on a bloody Targaryen succession war. The second, "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms," is about a knight and his young squire — Dunk and Egg, colloquially. Dunk is Ser Duncan the Tall, and Egg is Aegon Targaryen, a young member of the ruling family.

The series is based on the first installation of George R. R. Martin's "Tales of Dunk and Egg" novella series, titled "The Hedge Knight." HBO drama head Francesca Orsi told Deadline in 2023 that the show would ideally span three seasons, one for each existing novella. — PH

"Alien: Earth"

Release date: TBD on FX and Hulu

FX is expanding the "Alien" franchise with a new TV series that finally brings the unimaginable horrors of the Xenomorphs to Earth in the aptly titled "Alien: Earth."

The first teaser trailer didn't reveal much about the series, but it's helmed by "Legion" and "Fargo" creator Noah Hawley, which hopefully means that the series will have more to say than just sci-fi scares. It features the likes of "Justified" and "The Mandalorian" star Timothy Olyphant, "Andor" and "Black Mirror" actor Alex Lawther, and "Fargo" alumni David Rysdahl. Also in the cast are Essie Davis, Sydney Chandler, and Samuel Blenkin. — EJ

Untitled Rachel Sennott project

Release date: TBD on HBO and Max

Rachel Sennott has been a standout part of some of the best comedies of the last few years, including "Bottoms," "Shiva Baby," and the horror comedy "Bodies Bodies Bodies." The comedian is stepping up as HBO's new Lena Dunham (non-derogatory), helming a series that she's writing, executive producing, and starring in.

No details about its plot have been made available, but Sennott has proven herself to be imminently watchable, so we're certainly tuning in to see what she's got in store. — CM

"Good American Family"

Release date: TBD on Hulu

It's a tale as old as time: Where there's a viral true-crime story, a scripted dramatization (or five) is sure to follow. That's the case with "Good American Family" (not to be confused with the similarly named faith-based TV network Great American Family), which is loosely inspired by Natalia Grace Mans' story.

Natalia's saga is long and complex (enough to fill three seasons of the Investigation Discovery docuseries "The Curious Case of Natalia Grace" over the course of three years). The gist of it is that Natalia, a Ukrainian orphan with dwarfism, was adopted by Kristine and Michael Barnett, who eventually came to believe that their new daughter was actually a psychopathic adult posing as a child. (Yes, that is also generally the plot of the horror movie "Orphan," which wasn't based on Natalia's story).

Ellen Pompeo, in her first major starring role since stepping back from "Grey's Anatomy" as a series regular, stars as the girl's adoptive mother. It'll be interesting to see whether the scripted drama is more sympathetic to the Barnetts' side or Natalia's. — CM

"It: Welcome to Derry"

Release date: TBD on HBO and Max

"It Chapter 1" and "It Chapter 2," based on the Stephen King novel of the same name, were mega-hits at the box office when they came out in 2017 and 2019 respectively. Pennywise the Clown had previously terrorized audiences in the form of Tim Curry in a 1990 miniseries before Bill Skarsgard scarred a new generation when he took over the role. "Welcome to Derry" is the first time the story is getting the prequel treatment.

The show jumps back in time to explore an earlier community in Derry who came face to face with the monstrous creature. It features new characters not seen in the films, with only Skarsgard returning. — CM

"Outlander: Blood of My Blood"

Release date: TBD on Starz

The smash hit historical drama "Outlander" has captivated audiences (both readers of the book series it's based on and show-only fans) for over a decade since premiering in 2014.

Claire and Jamie Fraser's epic love story will come to an end with an eighth and final season. But the "Outlander" universe will live on with "Blood of My Blood," a prequel that rewinds the clock to show how Jamie's parents, and Claire's, wound up together.

If the prequel's cast has even a fraction of the chemistry "Outlander" leads Sam Heughan and Caitríona Balfe do, it'll be must-see TV for romance lovers. — CM

"Dying for Sex"

Release date: TBD on FX and Hulu

Michelle Williams, who previously won an Emmy and Golden Globe for her role in the FX limited series "Fosse/Verdon," returns to the network with "Dying For Sex." She plays Molly, an unhappily married woman who decides to leave her husband in order to explore her sexuality after being diagnosed with cancer.

Billed as a comedy-drama, it's based on the podcast of the same name by Nikki Boyer. Boyer, who's also an executive producer on the FX show, co-created her podcast with her friend — the real Molly, who actually did leave her own marriage after a breast cancer diagnosis. Jenny Slate plays Boyer on the show; Rob Delaney and Jay Duplass also star.

Beyond the compelling true story and excitement over the talented Williams' return to TV, "New Girl" creator Liz Meriwether also serves as a showrunner, promising whip-smart writing. — CM

"The Terror: Devil in Silver"

Release date: TBD on AMC and AMC+

The criminally underrated supernatural horror anthology series gathered a small but devoted fan base after the first season, based on Dan Simmons' 2007 novel of the same name, premiered in 2018.

That season told an extremely spooky fictionalized account of Captain Sir John Franklin's doomed Arctic expedition and featured a who's-who of British actors like Jared Harris and Tobias Menzies. The next season, subtitled "Infamy," debuted a year later and moved the horror to a Japanese internment camp in America during World War II, where the camp's inhabitants believe they're being tormented by an evil force.

AMC stayed mum on whether the show would continue for almost five years, until the February 2024 announcement that "The Terror: Devil in Silver" was coming. The upcoming six-episode season, based on Victor LaValle's novel of the same name, will star Dan Stevens (who's also an EP) as a working-class man wrongfully committed to a psychiatric hospital where he has to contend not only with the other patients and the doctors but a seemingly malevolent force that appears to live within the hospital's walls.

Stevens is a great choice for this brand of psychological horror. See also: "Legion." — CM

"All's Fair"

Release date: TBD on Hulu

Ryan Murphy regulars, assemble!

The prolific TV creator is fresh off a busy 2024 that included the premieres of four separate shows he produced, including "Grotesquerie" and the controversial "Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story." He doesn't appear to be taking it easy in 2025 either.

It's unclear whether he'll again match the sheer number of projects he debuted in 2024, but he definitely has at least one coming out: "All's Fair," a legal drama about an all-female law firm of divorce attorneys coming to Hulu. The cast includes a bunch of Murphy's go-tos, including his frequent collaborator Sarah Paulson, "Feud: Capote vs. the Swans" star Naomi Watts, "Grotesquerie" star Niecy Nash, and his most recent addition to the crew, aspiring real-life lawyer Kim Kardashian, who starred in "American Horror Story" season 12.

Kardashian was surprisingly good in "AHS," so it's intriguing to see what she'll do in "All's Fair," where she's reportedly playing the protagonist. — CM

"Unspeakable: The Murder of JonBenét Ramsey"

Release date: TBD on Paramount+

Few true crime cases have captivated the public as intensely and for as long as JonBenét Ramsey's unsolved murder. The six-year-old beauty queen was found dead in her family home the day after Christmas 1996, and her killer was never identified.

The long-cold case was recently covered in a Netflix docuseries, which led to a resurgence of interest (though plenty of true-crime enthusiasts have been carefully following the case for years). The story has been dramatized before, in a 2000 miniseries and multiple TV movies, but this is the first time it's getting what appears to be the prestige TV treatment.

Most intriguingly, the series will star Melissa McCarthy as Patsy Ramsey, JonBenét's mother. This will mark an interesting pivot for McCarthy, who's chiefly known for far more light-hearted roles in comedies like "Bridesmaids" and "Tammy." — CM

• In "The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: The Final Chapter," Natalia moves away from her adoptive parents.
• The DePaul family, who were interested in adopting Natalia when she was a child, took her in.
• Natalia now lives with the DePaul family in New York.

In "The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: The Final Chapter," Natalia Grace Mans leaves her adoptive parents to live with a new family — the DePauls.

In the second episode of the documentary series, which premiered on Investigation Discovery and Max on Monday, Nicole DePaul, 49, and her daughter Mackenzie, 19, travel to Nashville to pick Natalia up from church without her parents' knowledge. They then bring her to live with them in upstate New York where Nicole lives with her husband Vince DePaul, 51.

The DePauls are a family of little people, and Nicole and Natalia both have the same form of dwarfism, producer Shannon Evangelista told The Hollywood Reporter. They also have a connection dating back to Natalia's childhood, when the family considered adopting her.

Here's everything you need to know about the DePauls, and where Natalia lives now.

The DePaul family tried to adopt Natalia as a child

The DePauls were one of three families interested in adopting Natalia Grace in 2009. As part of that process, they met with Natalia at a museum and had her over to their home several times.

Natalia and Mackenzie got along well as children and bonded when Natalia visited for holidays. After Christmas, however, the adoption fell through and they weren't able to see each other again.

"Things just got really messy with the attorneys. It had nothing to do with Natalia. It was heartbreaking," Nicole said in "Natalia Speaks," the second installment of the series that aired in 2024.

Nicole says in a confessional in episode one of "The Final Chapter" that she still thought about the adoption not going through. She even kept a picture of Natalia and her daughter as kids, as well as Natalia's Christmas stocking.

"There's a lot of guilt because, well, maybe there was something we could have fought harder when we tried to adopt Natalia," she says in episode one of "The Final Chapter."

As the two previous seasons of "The Curious Case of Natalia Grace" recounted, after the DePauls' adoption attempt fell through, Natalia ultimately wound up being adopted by Kristine and Michael Barnett, the Indiana couple who later claimed she was really an adult posing as a child, legally re-aged her, and then left her on her own in an apartment when they moved away to Canada. Natalia went to live with Cynthia and Antwon Mans, another Indiana couple who had fostered and adopted multiple children, while the Barnetts were charged with neglect in relation to her abandonment (Michael was eventually acquitted, and the case against Kristine was dropped).

Nicole DePaul helped Natalia leave the Mans family

In "The Final Chapter," Natalia Grace's boyfriend Neil contacts Nicole on Natalia's behalf, asking her to help Natalia leave the Mans family, who had formally adopted her in 2023 after she'd lived with them for a decade. Though Nicole's husband, Vince, was hesitant about bringing Natalia into their home, Nicole agreed to help Natalia.

In episode two of "The Final Chapter," Nicole and Mackenzie pick Natalia up from her church without the Mans family's knowledge and bring her to live with them in upstate New York. Despite leaving her parents, Natalia's attachment to them led to some friction between herself and Nicole.

In the show, Nicole and Mackenzie also speak about the effect that Natalia being in their home had on the family. Nicole said in a confessional that she saw her daughter "a lot less" than she previously had, and Mackenzie said that Natalia's presence made the "environment kind of stressful."

Now, Shannon Evangelista, one of the docuseries' producers, says that the DePauls are Natalia's "No. 1 advocates." Nicole told People that she has no plans to adopt Natalia, who is now legally an adult, and though their relationship hasn't always been smooth, she trusts her.

"Did she probably do weird things in the past? Yeah," Nicole told People. "[But] when you take in a child, you take that child as your own. You don't just get rid of them when they don't fit into your puzzle."

Natalia says in "The Final Chapter" that while she regretted the manner in which she left her parents, she appreciated that living with the DePauls allowed her to "explore."

"Learning everything that I have about how to live with my dwarfism — it's been a great experience," she told People. "I love it. I mean, of course, I still miss my siblings and everything. But I love it. I feel free."

Nicole and Vince DePaul did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

"The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: The Final Chapter" will finish airing on Investigation Discovery and Max on January 7.

• Natalia Grace Mans speaks about her boyfriend Neil in "The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: The Final Chapter."
• Natalia and Neil met online, and he helped her leave her home with the Mans family.
• Neil is from the United Kingdom, and his identity is concealed in the docuseries.

"The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: The Final Chapter" recounts how Natalia Grace Mans ultimately left the Mans family to live with Nicole and Vince DePaul, a couple with dwarfism who previously tried to adopt her when she was a child.

She does so with the assistance of her boyfriend Neil, who lives in the UK and is not shown onscreen or fully identified in "The Final Chapter." In the docuseries, Nicole DePaul says Neil contacted her via social media and told her that Natalia needed help leaving the Mans family, who adopted her in 2023. As a result, Nicole and her daughter Mackenzie traveled to Nashville, where the Mans family had relocated, to pick her up and bring her to their home in New York.

Natalia's saga was first publicized in 2019, when it was reported that her first set of adoptive parents, Kristine and Michael Barnett, had moved away to Canada and left Natalia on her own in an apartment after coming to believe that the Ukrainian orphan was really an adult woman posing as a child. They alleged that Natalia was disturbed and had threatened their family, which Natalia has repeatedly denied.

Neil is a relatively new addition to the story that's been unfolding on the Investigation Discovery docuseries since the first of its three seasons premiered in 2023. He's an off-screen presence in "The Final Chapter," which premiered Monday, but Natalia, Nicole, and Natalia's adoptive parents, Cynthia and Antwon Mans, all speak about him. Here's everything we know about Neil.

Neil and Natalia met over social media, and their relationship prompted conflict with her adoptive parents

Neil and Natalia first came into contact via social media while she was living with Antwon and Cynthia Mans, she recalls in "The Final Chapter."

"At first it was just like a small message, and then I grew feelings," Natalia says in the series. "He claimed he grew feelings, and I just opened my heart. It felt really good."

In December 2023, Antwon and Cynthia called producers to say that they were "done" with Natalia and that she wanted to live alone. Producers traveled to Tennessee, but when they arrived, Antwon and Cynthia told them that they had "come to an understanding" with Natalia and she had decided to stay at home.

During an interview with producers at that time, Antwon and Cynthia said that Natalia had "trashed" them in messages and that Neil had framed them as an "enemy" who sought to "control" her.

"I think it's definitely important to put parameters in place with the internet so these things won't happen again," Antwon said during the interview. "Look, we gotta cut the internet off. We can't allow this to happen. It's just got to be cut."

Natalia said during the interview that she believed she was in love with Neil, "but it wasn't right" and she wasn't "thinking clearly." However, she eventually did decide to leave her adoptive family to live with the DePauls in New York.

Antwon and Cynthia Mans did not immediately respond to BI's requests for comment sent to their personal Facebook profiles, their family Facebook page, and an email listed on the Facebook page.

Neil contacted Nicole so she could help Natalia leave the Mans

Neil reached out to Nicole DePaul over social media to request that she help Natalia leave the Mans family. "The Final Chapter" executive producer Eric Evangelista says in a confessional that Neil also contacted producers to say that she needed to leave.

"It was like, out of the blue," Nicole said. "At first, I didn't even believe him. I didn't even know if he was legit, or if I should trust him."

Natalia was still able to stay in contact with Neil, who in turn relayed information to Nicole. Eventually, he put Natalia and Nicole into contact, and they coordinated a pick-up.

After Nicole and her daughter Mackenzie retrieved Natalia in Tennessee, Natalia was able to speak on the phone with Neil.

"I am so, so thankful you found me. I love you so much," Natalia told Neil.

Neil and Natalia finally met in person while she was living with the DePauls

Natalia continued her long-distance relationship with Neil while living with Nicole and Vince DePaul. Natalia told People she was in love, and that she and Neil had met in person.

Now, Natalia tells the publication that she hopes to have a family of her own one day.

"I'm a girl who loves kids and wants to get married and have children," she said. "But one of my biggest things is not making promises I can't keep. I've had too many promises that have been broken. I'm just ready to move on."

"The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: The Final Chapter" premieres on Investigation Discovery and Max on January 6.

• Warning: This post contains spoilers for the second "The Last of Us" game — and potentially season two.
• HBO released a season two teaser trailer that shows Kaitlyn Dever as Abby.
• It will cover at least some of 2020's sequel game and will air on HBO in 2025.

In 2023, HBO turned the narrative-driven video game "The Last of Us" into one of the year's biggest television hits.

Starring Bella Ramsey and Pedro Pascal, the show primarily takes place 20 years after the cordyceps fungus evolves to infect humans, generating hordes of aggressive creatures. Joel (Pascal), a smuggler whose daughter died during the initial outbreak, is tasked with escorting Ellie (Ramsey), an orphan who's seemingly immune to the fungus, across the country in hopes of developing a cure.

The show earned both Pascal and Ramsey nominations at the Golden Globes and Emmy Awards and turned them into household names. It also featured an award-winning performance from Nick Offerman, who stars alongside Murray Bartlett in the season's acclaimed third episode "Long, Long Time."

A second season of the HBO hit is on the way, and it's set to adapt at least part of the game "The Last of Us Part II." Here's everything we know about the new season.

Kirsten Acuna contributed to a previous version of this article, which was first published in January 2024.

'The Last of Us' season 2 will premiere in April 2025

A sizzle reel released in December 2023 confirmed that season two would be released in 2025, and the CEO of HBO Casey Bloys confirmed at the Warner Bros. Discovery Upfront presentation in May 2024 that the series would air on HBO and stream on Max.

On January 6, HBO released a minute-long teaser that announced season two will premiere in April 2025, although it did not confirm an exact airdate. The new footage gives fans a better look at Abby (Kaitlyn Dever) as she makes her way through a hospital.

It also includes shots of Ellie in distress, Joel looking troubled, and hordes of the infected.

There will likely be a time jump — and the game probably won't cover all of 'The Last of Us Part II'

In an interview with Josh Horowitz on the "Happy Sad Confused" podcast in February 2023, Ramsey said that while they were playing a 14-year-old Ellie in the first season of "The Last of Us," Ellie would be closer to their own age in season two.

"I'll be 20, probably by the time we shoot that, and I'll be playing 19," Ramsey said. "So yeah, I will be closer to my age."

Showrunner Craig Mazin also spoke about the possibility of a time jump with Collider, and said that there won't be any recasting as a result.

"Obviously, the time jump is important, to some extent," Mazin said. "It reflects the changing nature of Ellie's relationship with Joel, as she gets older."

While "TLOU" season one covered the events of the 2013 game, the second season will not cover all of its 2020 sequel.

Series co-creators Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann, who also created the game series, told GQ in March 2023 that the events of the second game will take place over "more than one season."

There are new cast members in season 2

In January 2024, HBO announced three major season two castings.

Dever will play Abby, the second protagonist of "The Last of Us Part II" and a playable character in the game. She's a member of the Fireflies and driven by her desire for revenge.

Isabela Merced was cast as Dina, Ellie's love interest and eventual traveling companion who she gets to know in the Jackson settlement.

And Young Mazino, a breakout star of the Netflix limited series "Beef," will play Jesse, Dina's ex and a community leader in Jackson.

In March 2024, Max announced four more additions to the cast. Danny Ramirez will play Manny, Ariela Barer will play Mel, Tati Gabrielle will play Nora, and Spencer Lord will play Owen. The four characters are friends of Abby's from the Seattle settlement. Catherine O'Hara of "Schitt's Creek" is also set to appear in the new season in an undisclosed guest role.

HBO also announced in May 2024 that Jeffrey Wright ("American Fiction") would reprise his role from the games and play Isaac, the leader of the Washington Liberation Front, in season two. Per Entertainment Weekly, HBO describes Isaac as "the quietly powerful leader of a large militia group who sought liberty but instead has become mired in an endless war against a surprisingly resourceful enemy."

Another major character in the sequel game is Lev, a transgender teen who escapes a cult.

In February 2023, Ian Alexander, who voiced and performed the character through motion capture, told Business Insider they would love to reprise their role on the live-action series.

At the time, Alexander hadn't had any conversations about the role.

HBO hasn't announced casting for the character and it's not yet known if Lev will appear in season two. After the game's initial release in 2020, the game's developer Naughty Dog received some backlash for its handling of Lev's story.

HBO released a season 2 teaser that shows Joel and Ellie going through it

On "The Last of Us" day in 2024— September 26, the date of the cordyceps outbreak in the original video game — HBO released a teaser trailer for season two.

The trailer gave the first look at some of the new additions to season two, including Dever as Abby, Merced as Dina, Mazino as Jesse, and Wright as Isaac.

In the teaser, Joel and Ellie appear to be living a somewhat peaceful life in Jackson, hinting at Ellie's relationship with Dina. But things obviously take a turn for the worse: There are plenty of infected, glimpses of likely antagonists, and a few shots of both Joel and Ellie in distress.

Which leads us to…

Fans are concerned Joel could die in season 2

"The Last of Us Part II" video game is controversial among fans because Joel is unexpectedly and brutally murdered by Abby toward the start of the sequel when his past catches up with him.

In addition to playing as Ellie, gamers are forced to play as Joel's killer leading up to and after his death in the sequel. As a result, some players harassed and threatened the developers, Druckmann, and voice actors for its story.

Will Joel die in 'The Last of Us' season two? It's likely

Joel's fate is the question on every fan's mind, since it's the major jumping-off point of the sequel game. Even Pascal has said his character's death is a possibility in season two.

"It wouldn't make sense to follow the first game so faithfully only to stray severely from the path," Pascal told Esquire in April 2023.

"If that does take place in the show, I don't know that I'm emotionally ready for it," he added.

However, Mazin told Entertainment Weekly in 2023 that fans can expect some changes from the sequel game in season two, saying, "It's going to be different, and it will be its own thing. It won't be exactly like the game."

Maybe that means there's a chance Joel could live, or at least make it to the end of season two, due to Pascal's immense popularity.

Since the second game became controversial, it's likely the show may flesh out Abby's character more before killing Joel off, if the show decides to go that route. But it would be difficult to envision season two straying from Joel's death since it's the key motivation for Ellie's path in the sequel game.

There will be more infected

In the game, players are constantly outmaneuvering and killing a large number of the people who have been infected and taken over by the cordyceps virus. Though the infected showed up in a few key scenes, they weren't a main fixture of season one, which placed a large emphasis on character relationships and world-building.

"It's quite possible that there will be a lot more infected later. And perhaps different kinds," Mazin said during a press conference for the finale in 2023.

On HBO's "The Last of Us" podcast in 2023, Mazin added that season two will likely further explore the idea of the Cordyceps hive mind and how they can be a major threat together.

"I think this next season, the interconnectivity of them, and the risk of stepping on the wrong thing, that stuff is going to be brought forward more for sure," Mazin said.

• Kylie Jenner and Timothée Chalamet still seem to be going strong. 
• The couple attended their second Golden Globe Awards together on Sunday.
• Here's a timeline of their relationship, from interacting at Paris Fashion Week to attending award shows.

In what is arguably the most unexpected celebrity coupling since Kim Kardashian and Pete Davidson, Kylie Jenner is dating Timothée Chalamet.

Reports first surfaced in April 2023 that the two were casually seeing each other. In the time since, more information has come to light about their rumored first meeting and sources have given details on the relationship, though neither Jenner nor Chalamet have confirmed it publicly.

Most recently, Chalamet and Jenner were spotted together at the 82nd Golden Globe Awards, held in Los Angeles in January 2025. 

Here's everything we know about their relationship so far, from when it may have started to the pair's secret taco dates.

Representatives for Chalamet and Jenner didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.

January 2023: Jenner and Chalamet meet during Paris Fashion Week

A video of Jenner and Chalamet from January that appeared to show them interacting during an event at Paris Fashion Week resurfaced in April, after the dating rumors began in full force. According to People, the video was taken at Jean Paul Gaultier's Paris Fashion Week show.

People reported that Jenner had again split from Travis Scott, the father of her two children, earlier in January, though the source told People it was "probably not the end" of Jenner and Scott's famously on-again, off-again relationship.

Chalamet, for his part, had most recently been linked to model Sarah Talabi in 2022 and actor Eiza González in 2020.

March 27, 2023: The two reportedly attend a dinner with Kendall Jenner and Kendall's rumored boyfriend Bad Bunny

Shortly before the Kymothée relationship rumors took the internet by storm, Page Six reported on March 27 that Jenner's sister Kendall and rapper Bad Bunny (who'd themselves been at the center of dating rumors for about a month at that point) were photographed out together leaving a club in West Hollywood, California.

The Page Six report mentioned in passing that Kendall and Bad Bunny had dinner "alongside other A-Listers — including her sister, Kylie Jenner, and Timothée Chalamet," among others. 

April 6, 2023: DeuxMoi posts about Jenner and Chalamet dating rumors

On April 6, pop-culture gossip curator DeuxMoi posted an anonymous fan submission claiming that "multiple sources" had told them that Chalamet "has a new girl... Kylie Jenner. ⚰️⚰️"

DeuxMoi soon followed that up with submissions from other readers who claimed they could confirm the news. One anonymous source told Deuxmoi they'd known about the pairing since Paris Fashion Week in January, indicating that the relationship may have started then.

The internet had a collective meltdown, with some expressing shock and horror at the unexpected pairing and others straight up refusing to believe that the two, who seem to run in very different social circles, had ever even met. 

April 7, 2023: Jenner and Chalamet eat tacos in a car together

According to photos from paparazzi agency Splash News reported on by Page Six and TMZ, Jenner and Chalamet had a "secret date night" at Tito's Tacos, a restaurant outside Los Angeles, that involved a kind of complicated car swap situation.

Page Six reported that Jenner picked Chalamet up in her car after he attended an art show. One of Jenner's security guards then apparently drove Chalamet's car, which followed Jenner's car, to Tito's Tacos, at which point Jenner's team hopped out and brought tacos back to the car, according to TMZ.

Jenner wasn't photographed during the reported date.

April 13, 2023: Jenner's car is seen at Chalamet's house

On April 13, TMZ published photos from paparazzi agency Backgrid showing a black car, which they identified as Jenner's black Range Rover SUV, in the driveway of a house, which they identified as Chalamet's Beverly Hills, California, estate. Other publications, including the Daily Mail and Page Six, reported on the same photos.

Page Six noted that the SUV had tinted windows and Jenner was never actually photographed inside the car, so it's unclear whether she was in it. The Daily Mail reported that the black SUV "arrived around 10 a.m. and left mere minutes later" followed by a "blacked out security Escalade."

Jenner famously collects luxury cars and she's shown a preference for Range Rovers in the past.

Representatives for Chalamet and Jenner didn't respond to requests for comment from TMZ, the Daily Mail, and Page Six at the time of the reports.

April 14-19, 2023: Sources say Jenner and Chalamet are dating, but just casually

Entertainment Tonight and People both separately reported on sources confirming the casual romance and giving more context for why Jenner and Chalamet were not going public.

On April 14, People reported that "a source close to 'The Kardashians' star" confirmed that Jenner and Chalamet "are hanging out and getting to know each other." (Representatives for Jenner and Chalamet didn't respond to People's request for comment at the time.)

Entertainment Tonight reported similar information from a source.

"They are keeping things casual at this point. It's not serious, but Kylie is enjoying hanging out with Timothée and seeing where it goes," said Entertainment Tonight's source in a story published April 17. "It's been really fun for her because it feels a lot different than her past relationships. It's new and exciting for Kylie and she's having a lot of fun."

The two both attended Coachella mid-month but avoided being photographed together, Page Six reported.

According to the Entertainment Tonight source, Jenner may have met Chalamet through her sister, Kendall, which tracks with their reported attendance at the March 27 dinner. "Timothée is also friends with Kendall, so it's been easy for Kylie to integrate him into her life," the source told Entertainment Tonight.

People reported on April 19 that a source close to Jenner said Jenner and Chalamet "hang out every week" and that Jenner is "having fun" and "wants to date without any pressure" after her on-and-off relationship with Travis Scott. The source also told People that the two had met "earlier this year at an event in Europe," which tracks with the viral video of the two from Paris Fashion Week in January.

May 1, 2023: Chalamet and Jenner don't make their big debut at the Met Gala; fans are bummed

Since the relationship reports broke, fans had been speculating that in true Kardashian-Jenner family style, the couple would make their big public debut in a splashy spectacle on the Met Gala red carpet.

Alas, that didn't happen. Jenner did attend the Met Gala, but she went solo, and Chalamet skipped the fashion event altogether.

May 29, 2023: A source tells People that Chalamet and Jenner are still casually dating, but it's still not serious

After weeks of relative silence on the Chalamet-Jenner front, a source confirmed to People that the reality star and the "Dune" actor are still enjoying each other's company and not putting labels on their relationship. According to People's source, Jenner's main priority is being a mom to 5-year-old Stormi and 15-month-old Aire.

A few days before People's report, Backgrid photos obtained by Page Six appeared to show the same black Range Rover (apparently Jenner's) from the April 13 sighting parked once again in the driveway of Chalamet's Beverly Hills home.

Sometime in May 2023: Jenner is finally seen leaving Chalamet's home

On June 1, Page Six reported that Jenner had been photographed leaving Chalamet's house for the first time. In the photos taken by Splash News, Jenner can be seen in the driver's seat of her black Range Rover, glancing at her phone before driving away from Chalamet's home.

Chalamet was photographed by the same paparazzo leaving in his own car shortly after Jenner departed.

September 4, 2023: Chalamet and Jenner make out at Beyoncé's Los Angeles concert

Footage obtained by TMZ shows the couple dancing, hugging, and kissing one another while taking in Beyoncé's Renaissance tour at Los Angeles' SoFi Stadium. In the background, Jenner's sister Kendall is also visible. 

This was the first time Chalamet and Jenner were actually seen interacting in public together. Another video of the two at the concert, obtained by PopCrave, shows Chalamet smoking a cigarette and chatting with Jenner. 

September 10, 2023: The pair are spotted out and about in New York 

Chalamet and Jenner were photographed together at a US Open match in September 2023. In photographs from the event, the two are shown taking in the match, whispering in each other's ears, and even sharing a quick kiss. 

October 17, 2023: Chalamet alludes to his relationship with Jenner in a GQ interview

While the "Dune" star avoided mentioning Jenner by name, or even confirming their relationship, he told GQ's Daniel Riley that the intense scrutiny around his potential relationship reminded him of a "South Park" episode satirizing Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, in which the couple travels around the world on a "Worldwide Privacy Tour" demanding space from the public eye. 

"Sometimes, people are going to be hella confused when you say you're trying to live a private life," Chalamet said in the interview. 

November 1, 2023: Chalamet and Jenner are spotted together at the Wall Street Journal Magazine's Innovator awards

Chalamet and Jenner sat together, and were photographed smiling and talking to one another at the ceremony. 

December 10, 2023: Jenner secretly attends the premiere of Chalamet's new film 'Wonka,' according to reports

According to a report published in People, Jenner and her mom Kris didn't walk the red carpet ahead of the Los Angeles premiere of "Wonka." Instead, they quietly entered the theater after the opening credits. 

January 2024: The couple make their Golden Globes debut together

December 2024: Jenner attended the 'A Complete Unknown' after-party, according to reports

E! News reported that Jenner attended the after-party for the premiere of "A Complete Unknown."  Citing an anonymous source, the publication reported that Chalamet was seen introducing Jenner to other members of the film's cast. 

January 2025: The couple attend the Golden Globes together again

During the ceremony, Jenner and Chalamet were also photographed with his "A Complete Unknown" costars Monica Barbaro and Elle Fanning.

• Jodie Foster, 62, has two sons named Kit and Charles.
• Her younger son, Kit, accompanied her to the 82nd annual Golden Globes.
• Foster married photographer Alexandra Hedison in 2014. 

Jodie Foster shouted out her family, including her two sons, during her Golden Globes acceptance speech on Sunday.

"Kit, my scientist son, and Charlie, my actor son starting his career, hopefully you understand the joy, such joy that comes from doing really hard, meaningful, good work," said Foster, who won best female actor in a limited series, anthology, or motion picture made for television for her role in the HBO series "True Detective: Night Country."

"So, my boys, I love you, and this, of course, is for you and the love of my life, Alex. Thank you forever," she continued. Her son, Kit, was in the audience.

While one of her kids is now following in her footsteps, Foster previously revealed that at one point, they didn't even know she was an actor. In fact, she actually told them she was a construction worker when they were younger.

Foster, 62, opened up about parenting during a January 2024 episode of "The View." Foster shares her two children with her former partner, Cydney Bernard: Charles "Charlie" Bernard Foster, 25, and Christopher "Kit" Bernard Foster, 22.

"I guess I just didn't want them to know me that way," Foster said. "I wanted them to know me as their mom and the person who went away to work and stuff."

She recalled one day when she brought her eldest son to set.

"I brought him to set one day and I bought him a little plastic tool belt and stuff," Foster said. "And I was like, 'Yeah, and this is this set and this set and this set.' And for a really long time, he thought I was a construction worker."

The Oscar-winner emerged as a Hollywood titan after having an illustrious career in the entertainment industry. After scoring her breakout role in the 1976 film "Taxi Driver," Foster appeared in several acclaimed films like "The Silence of the Lambs" and directed films like "Home for the Holidays" in 1995.

Even so, she's managed to remain relatively mum about her family. Here's a look at her wife and two children.

Foster's wife, Alexandra Hedison, is a photographer and former actor who appeared in "The L Word"

According to People, Hedison, 55, married Foster during an intimate ceremony in April 2014. Hedison is a photographer who often shares pictures of her work and artistic endeavors on Instagram. Hedison also directed the documentary "ALOK," which premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival and was executive produced by Foster.

Hedison, like her wife, is a jack of all trades. In addition to photography and directing, Hedison is a former actor who played Dylan Moreland on "The L Word" and appeared in other shows like "Melrose Place." Hedison's father is the late actor David Hedison, who appeared in the 1973 James Bond film "Live and Let Die."

Hedison also worked in home design. People reported that she appeared on a 2006 reality TV series called "Designing Blind." According to the Los Angeles Times, a home Hedison designed hit the market for $2.75 million in 2014.

Not much is known about Hedison's past relationships, but she dated television personality Ellen DeGeneres from 2000 to 2004, according to a 2004 report by The New York Times.

Foster and Hedison don't often make public appearances, but the couple has posed for certain red-carpet events, including the 2021 Cannes Film Festival.

Charles "Charlie" Bernard Foster is the eldest child of Foster and her former partner, Cydney Bernard

Entertainment Weekly and the Sun Sentinel reported that Foster gave birth to Charlie in July 1998 at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. According to HuffPost, she shares Charlie with her former longtime partner, Cydney Bernard, whom she dated for 15 years before the two split in 2008.

Foster said Charlie had a natural affinity for Hollywood life, even at a young age.

"[He'll say] 'I want to be in movies. Why can't you get me a job?' Then I say, 'You have to earn that. If you want to be an actor, you can start by doing a little theater.' Then he says, 'I'm not interested in that. I just want to be famous and see my face.'" she told More Magazine in 2007, per People.

Based on Foster's comments at the 2025 Golden Globes, Charlie appears to have chased his dreams. He attended Yale University, where he participated in several acting projects. In 2019 and 2021, he played Dr. Frank-N-Furter in a local "Rocky Horror Picture Show performance," according to the Yale College Arts website.

Christopher "Kit" Bernard Foster is her youngest child

Foster and Bernard welcomed their second child in September 2001, according to CBS News.

Unlike Charlie, Foster said Kit isn't interested in following in his mother's footsteps.

"I know the perils of having a parent involved in your art form are too great," Foster told The Guardian in July 2018. "My older son is getting more interested in acting now, and I'm glad he discovered it late. My younger son is really shy and I can promise you he will never be an actor."

In other interviews, Foster shared small tidbits about Kit, including Magic Radio in May 2016. During her appearance, Foster called Kit "a little sensitive" and said that she waited "many years" before she let him watch "The Silence of the Lambs."

According to his LinkedIn page, Foster's "scientist son" graduated from Princeton University with a BA in chemistry and now works as a research associate.

• Nikki Glaser hosted the 2025 Golden Globes. Compared to Jo Koy last year, her monologue killed it.
• Despite expressing worry over a Diddy joke in the press, Glaser went for it on stage.
• Glaser said that she ran her monologue many times in clubs before doing it on the Globes stage.

At last year's Golden Globes, comedian Jo Koy defended his poorly received opening monologue by saying that he only had 10 days to write it.

In 2025, his successor Nikki Glaser — who was also nominated for best performance in stand-up comedy on television — showed up prepared. She still took some risks onstage, though.

Glaser's monologue took shots at streamers like Paramount+ (which is streaming the awards show), Netflix, and Peacock, viral moments like the viral Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo "holding space" meme, and somewhat surprisingly, the rapper Sean "Diddy" Combs, who will stand trial in May on a sex-trafficking indictment. (Combs' attorneys said in a statement that he has "never sexually assaulted or trafficked anyone — woman, adult or minor.")

"That movie was more sexually charged than Diddy's credit card," Glaser said of the Zendaya-led film "Challengers," prompting laughter from the crowd.

"I'm sorry. I'm upset too," Glaser continued. "The afterparty's not gonna be as good this year, but we have to move on."

"Stanley Tucci 'freak off' just doesn't have the same ring to it. No baby oil this year, just lots of olive oil," she said, referencing the allegations of sex performances and baby oil usage found in Combs' indictment, and Tucci's proclivity toward Italian food.

Combs' attorneys did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent outside regular business hours.

Glaser ran through her monologue dozens of times in clubs ahead of the Globes. The New York Times reported that during one of those runs, Glaser expressed hesitation about telling a joke about Combs at the show despite it landing with the club audience.

"You promise you will still be hollering on your couch when it dies in the room? I don't think you will," Glaser told the audience after someone urged her to keep it in her monologue.

Glaser told the Times the following day that she felt it was "almost more important" that the jokes in her monologue land for the people in the room than audiences at home.

"I don't know if I'm savvy enough to watch a joke that bombs on TV and still go: That's still a good joke," Glaser said.

Luckily for Glaser, her joke about Combs — and later in the monologue, another crack about the possibility of other, yet-to-be-uncovered celebrity criminals in the room — landed with the in-person audience. The rest of her opening was a hit for Globes attendees and those on social media as well.

"Nikki Glaser is very very good at this," "Daily Show" host Jon Stewart wrote on X.

Here are the other most memorable moments from Glaser's monologue.

Glaser poked fun at streaming platforms like Paramount+

Glaser opened her monologue with a joke about the Globes being "Ozempic's biggest night." She quickly transitioned to poke fun at the Globes' own streaming host: Paramount+.

"If you're watching on CBS, hello. If you're watching on Paramount+, you have six days left to cancel your free trial," she said.

Later in her monologue, Glaser shouted out Eddie Redmayne's Golden Globe-nominated role in "The Day of the Jackal," which airs on the streaming service Peacock.

"It's about a top-secret, elite sniper that no one can find, 'cause he's on Peacock," Glaser said. "I think I've seen more actual peacocks in my life than shows on Peacock."

Glaser didn't spare Netflix, knocking its recommendation system by way of "Emilia Pérez."

"I think it is without a doubt the most audacious, groundbreaking film to ever autoplay after 'Is It Cake?'" she said. "Seriously."

Glaser brought Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, and Adam Sandler in on bits

Glaser also proved that she knew how to involve her audience.

The host referenced a viral meme from the "Wicked" press tour, when journalist Tracy Gilchrist informed stars Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande that people were "taking the lyrics of 'Defying Gravity' and really holding space with that, and feeling power in that." When Erivo became emotional while responding, Grande delicately held on to one of her fingers.

"I'm scared," Glaser said at one point during the monologue. "Ariana, hold my finger."

In response, Grande reached out to her, before grabbing Erivo's finger.

"Tonight, we celebrate the best of film, and hold space for television," Glaser continued.

Later in the monologue, Glaser honed in on Timothée Chalamet.

"Can I just say, you have the most gorgeous eyelashes on your upper lip," she remarked.

After praising Chalamet's ability to play "beloved eccentrics" like Bob Dylan and Willy Wonka, Glaser suggested that he take on a role as Adam Sandler next.

"Actually, your name sounds like something Adam Sandler would say," Glaser remarked, before launching into a Sandler impression and repeating Chalamet's name.

When Glaser called out to Sandler, who was sitting in the Golden Globes audience, she coaxed a "Chalamet" out of him as well.

Watch Glaser's full monologue below.

Watch the 2025 Golden Globes on Paramount+ with Showtime.

• Zendaya is an awards favorite this year for her role as Tashi Duncan in "Challengers."
• Her career began as a teenager, on Disney Channel titles like "Shake It Up" and "Frenemies."
• Zendaya has a "complicated relationship" with child acting but wouldn't change her career path.

"Challengers" star Zendaya says that she wouldn't change her career — but she does have a "complicated relationship" with child stardom.

The actor, who was nominated for a Golden Globe for her performance in "Challengers," joined fellow awards season contenders for The Hollywood Reporter's annual drama actress roundtable. The group, which also included Demi Moore, Mikey Madison, Zoe Saldaña, Tilda Swinton, and Angelina Jolie, spoke with each other about their iconic 2024 roles and careers.

Zendaya, 28, has been working since her teenage years, starring in Disney Channel shows and movies like "Shake It Up" and "Frenemies." Now, she says that she's working to cultivate hobbies — in her case, pottery and baking — outside of acting.

"I have a complicated relationship with the idea of child acting because I've seen it be detrimental to people," the actor told THR. "I'm so grateful that this is how it turned out. I wouldn't change it, but there are things that I wish I lived out privately, you know? Because you're figuring out who you are in front of the world."

Zendaya has previously spoken about growing up in the spotlight, telling Vogue Australia in 2020 that she navigated her transition into adulthood by maintaining a "clear vision" of her goals as well as a "very good sense of self."

"Challengers," which was directed by Luca Guadagnino and costars Josh O'Connor and Mike Faist, also gave Zendaya the opportunity to play an adult character in Tashi Duncan. Though not exclusively, many of her previous highly acclaimed roles in series like "Euphoria" or films like the "Spider-Man" franchise have featured her as a teenager, even well into adulthood.

"For so long I was playing a teenager, way past when I was one," she told THR. "Being able to play Rue [on HBO's 'Euphoria'] has been one of the greatest gifts of my life. But there comes a time when you've got to start playing your age and beyond. And it was a scary thing."

• Natalia Grace, an orphan accused of being an adult who posed as a child, is the focus of an ID docuseries.
• After her former adoptive parents abandoned her, she was taken in by the Mans family.
• Natalia recently confirmed she was no longer living with them, a year after the series' cliffhanger suggested they'd fallen out.

Days before the premiere of "The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: The Final Chapter," Natalia Grace Mans confirmed that she is no longer living with the Mans family.

The Investigation Discovery documentary series, released in three batches, explores the story of Natalia Grace, whose former adoptive parents, Michael and Kristine Barnett, said she was an adult posing as an orphaned Ukrainian child.

The first season, which aired in May 2023, gave an overview of Natalia Grace's story and covered the accusations against her. The Barnetts, who said they believed Natalia to be a 6-year-old Ukrainian orphan when they first adopted her in 2010, came to believe that Natalia was really an adult con artist. In the series, Michael alleged that Natalia had attempted to harm members of the family and said that a therapist had diagnosed her as a "sociopath," all accusations that Natalia denied.

Natalia has a rare form of dwarfism known as spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia. Though her Ukrainian birth certificate said she was born in 2003, in 2012, Michael and Kristine Barnett succeeded in legally changing Natalia's birth year to 1989.

That made Natalia an adult on paper, but she was still classified as a dependent due to her disability status. After leaving Natalia alone in an Indiana apartment and moving to Canada in 2013, the since-divorced couple faced charges of neglect in 2019. (Michael was acquitted in October 2022, and the charges against Kristine were dismissed in March 2023.)

"Natalia Speaks," the second season of the series, aired in January 2024 and featured extensive interviews with Natalia in which she denied the Barnetts' allegations of violent behavior and their claims that she faked her age. She also accused Kristine Barnett, who did not participate in the docuseries, of abusing her as a child. In a statement posted to Facebook in January 2024, Kristine said that Natalia "was not abused by anyone in my family."

The docuseries also featured Natalia's confrontation with Michael Barnett, who apologized to Natalia and alleged that Kristine had manipulated him.

In the years since her time with the Barnetts, Natalia found a new family in Cynthia and Antwon Mans, a religious couple who later adopted her. The second season of the docuseries presented their relationship as a loving one and a happy ending for Natalia, but a revelation in the last two minutes of the docuseries threw all that into doubt.

Now, ahead of the new episodes of the docuseries airing on January 6, Natalia has clarified where she stands with the Mans family.

How did Natalia Grace meet her new adoptive parents, Cynthia and Antwon Mans?

Both Antwon and Cynthia Mans featured heavily in the second part of the docuseries, "Natalia Speaks," with Antwon accompanying Natalia to receive DNA test results that appeared to determine that her true age is around 22 years old. He also sat in on her confrontation with her former adoptive father, Michael Barnett. Natalia praised the Mans family throughout the series and referred to them as her parents even before they legally adopted her.

Natalia previously testified in Michael Barnett's neglect trial that she came to live with the Mans family after meeting Cynthia Mans through a neighbor while she was living alone in Lafayette, Indiana, where the Barnetts had moved her in July 2013. At that time, Natalia said, she was 9 years old, though she was legally 23 years old due to the Barnetts changing her age.

Antwon and Cynthia, who had multiple other children living in their home when Natalia came to live with them, spoke highly of Natalia in the series. They said she didn't behave in their home in a way uncharacteristic of other children and certainly not the way the Barnetts said she acted with them. But the show did raise one specific incident: Genesis Mans, a child also living with the Mans family, recalled in an interview in episode five that Natalia bit her when she was a baby. Genesis said Natalia told her the incident occurred when Natalia was 10 (legally 24 years old).

"I would say she has been violent in a typical way like most kids do. You know, most kids fight, most kids argue, but nothing unusual to where there was just crazy unrest in that sort of way. There's nothing dangerous about Natalia at all, absolutely not," Bishop Antwon Mans said in an interview in episode five of "Natalia Speaks."

In episode six, Natalia said she remembered "having some behavior issues" when she first met the Mans, and she apologized for her early behavior.

"When Natalia first got with us, there would be moments that she would just be so broken, and just feel like, 'How do I deal with this?'" Cynthia Mans recounted in an interview in episode six.

"Natalia been with us all these years, and let me tell you, we have corrected Natalia, and she's never came at us with the knife or put thumbtacks up on our stairs, or tried to hurt our children," Cynthia continued, referencing allegations from the Barnetts.

Episode six of "Natalia Speaks" depicted Antwon and Cynthia Mans formally adopting Natalia, with both parents wearing t-shirts celebrating their status as adoptive parents.

"It has been a really long journey. I have always wondered if I would be able to find someone that would actually love me. But then I met my parents, and it's been different ever since. It's been a good different," Natalia said in an interview in episode six.

Documents shown in the episode indicated the adoption paperwork was filed in June 2023, about a decade after she began living with them.

The docuseries suggested Natalia Grace and the Mans family had a falling out

In the last two minutes of episode six of "Natalia Speaks," a black screen appears with text that reads, "Two weeks ago, and six months after Natalia's adoption, the producers got a shocking phone call."

Audio of Antwon and Cynthia's voices then plays over a shot zooming in on Natalia sitting on a porch.

"Something ain't right with Natalia," Antwon says. "This girl is tweakin'. I feel like she's the enemy in the house. And she said to us, we have held her hostage. Made us look like we're the enemy."

"Natalia is stabbing her family in the back over a complete lie," Cynthia says.

"She's done other things, too," Antwon continues. "But this was a new low. Natalia does not have emotions for nothing but herself. We're done. We're done with her."

Then the screen cuts to black with the text, "Natalia's story will continue."

Jason Sarlanis, president of crime and investigative content, linear and streaming at Discovery, told The Hollywood Reporter after the episode aired that producers initially believed that Natalia's story, despite being full of "twists and turns," had reached a positive conclusion.

"We genuinely thought Natalia had found a happy ending with her new family, so you can imagine we were all thoroughly shocked when that call came from the Mans," Sarlanis said.

"Our series was already finished and locked, but we instantly mobilized with our producers to ensure that this shocking development was included in our finale," Sarlanis told THR. "Our viewers are so invested in Natalia's case we felt our series needed to reflect the constantly shifting truth of her situation."

"One thing has always proven to be true with Natalia's story — nothing is ever what it seems."

Natalia still interacted with the Mans family on social media after the phone call, but things got messy

Despite the cliffhanger, Natalia appeared to still be on good terms with the Mans family on social media after their phone call to producers, which "The Final Chapter" states took place on December 1, 2023. She appeared in posts from the Mans family's social media accounts, including a Thanksgiving 2023 post on Instagram.

The family's TikTok account, which the Instagram page references, posted on December 26, 2023 that Natalia had launched her own TikTok account under the handle @natgrace20. The post bears several hashtags, including #MamaBabyIsGrowingUp, #MamasForEverBFF, #FamilyIsForever, and #GoFollowBabysPage. According to the timeline presented in the documentary series, the post was likely made after or around the same time as the phone call between the Mans family and the docuseries' producers.

One post on the @natgrace20 account, previously viewed by BI, was a video of a woman who appeared to be Natalia wishing her followers a happy 2024. A December 29, 2023 post on the account featured photos of Natalia and the Mans family.

"2023 was amazing but 2024 is gonna be awesome," the December 29, 2023 post's caption read, accompanied by the hashtags #newbeginnings, #fyp, and #family4ever. It also tagged the Mans family's account.

"i love you so much my forever baby," the Mans family account replied to the post.

"I love you mama," the Natalia account replied.

On January 5, 2024, after "Natalia Speaks" aired, the Instagram account appearing to belong to Natalia posted to let people know that she was safe. The post did not explicitly reference her relationship with the Mans family, nor the ending of the show.

"I am okay and doing well and thank you all for your support and prayers," read the caption. "I wish I could tell you more Abt the show but I signed an agreement with the show to keep things confidential for now. I will let you guys know when I can for sure, but just know I am okay. Love y'all! #safe #livingmybestlife."

Later posts indicated that things were more complicated. One February 2024 TikTok on the Mans family's account reads: "Life can be so hard when raising kids. I miss my daughter so much and I will never understand why things are like this."

Another February post on the Mans family's Facebook page said they and Natalia had "disagreements" but she was still their daughter and they didn't hate her. It also claimed that the audio from their phone call to producers had been edited, and did not reflect the "full audio" of the conversation.

A representative for ID did not immediately return BI's request for comment.

In a March 2024 TikTok video, Cynthia Mans said that Natalia was no longer active on their account, or any account, as she'd decided to leave social media. Another post later that month said Natalia no longer lived with the family and that she wasn't speaking to Cynthia anymore.

"I miss my baby so much," she said.

As of January 3, 2025, all posts on the @natgrace20 TikTok account had been deleted or set to private.

Previous requests for comment from BI sent to the Mans family's Instagram account and the Instagram account appearing to belong to Natalia in 2024 did not receive a response. Natalia's Instagram account was wiped as of January 3, 2025.

Natalia Grace confirmed in January 2025 that she's no longer living with the Mans family

In a People cover story published days before the premiere of "The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: The Final Chapter," Natalia said that she was living in New York with the DePaul family, who previously attempted to adopt her when she was a child.

Natalia told People that while she was living with the Mans family, she "learned how to be a mother," assisting in raising other children in the family. The publication reported that Antwon learned that Natalia was dating a man named Neil and removed access to her phone. People also reported that on the new episodes of the show, which have yet to be released, neighbors allege that Cynthia and Antwon Mans had physically abused Natalia while she lived with them.

Natalia would not confirm or deny those allegations to People.

Antwon and Cynthia Mans did not immediately respond to BI's requests for comment sent to their personal Facebook profiles, their family Facebook page, and an email listed on the Facebook page. They also did not respond to People magazine's requests for comment.

People reports that Neil, Natalia's boyfriend, contacted the DePaul family, and they organized a plan to help her leave the Mans family in the middle of the night. In December 2023, Nicole DePaul drove to Nashville, where the Mans were located, to pick up Natalia, as shown in a preview from the docuseries.

Natalia has lived with the DePaul family — Nicole, her husband Vince, and daughter Mackenzie, who all have dwarfism too — since then. Nicole told People that their relationship was typically smooth, though it had its difficulties.

"Did she probably do weird things in the past? Yeah," Nicole told People. "[But] when you take in a child, you take that child as your own. You don't just get rid of them when they don't fit into your puzzle."

Natalia told People that she informed her adoptive mother, Cynthia, that she wasn't "kidnapped or dead" once she left the Mans family. Now, she is preparing to one day live on her own by studying for the GED and learning how to drive. She also told People that she met Neil, her boyfriend, for the first time in person after leaving the Mans family.

"It's been a big learning curve for me. For the most part, I've made peace," she told People. "It is definitely a blessing to be alive today. And there's nothing I can do to change the past."

"The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: The Final Chapter" will premiere on January 6 on Max and Investigation Discovery.

• IMDb ranked the most popular movies released in 2024 using its own data.
• The top 10 included franchise hits like "Deadpool & Wolverine" and "Dune: Prophecy."
• It also featured some breakthrough originals, like "The Substance" and "Longlegs."

2024 was a huge year for film franchises, according to IMDb's end-of-year rankings — but few original works cut through the noise.

IMDb, the entertainment database, measures the popularity of titles throughout the year through its propriety MOVIEmeter metric, calculated through data like number of page visits for a specific title. In other words, the more people who click on "Deadpool & Wolverine's" IMDb page, the higher its MOVIEmeter score. The scores are only available through IMDb Pro, the platform's professional service, though IMDb maintains public rankings.

Last year, the most popular films on IMDb were overwhelmingly franchise titles like "Dune: Part Two," "Alien: Romulus," and "Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes." There were a few buzzy original titles in the mix, however, like "Longlegs," "The Substance," and "Civil War."

Here are the top 10 most popular films of 2024 according to IMDb, ranked.

10. "Longlegs"

IMDb Rating: 6.7/10

Synopsis: "In pursuit of a serial killer, an FBI agent uncovers a series of occult clues that she must solve to end his terrifying killing spree."

Where to stream: Available to rent or purchase digitally

9. "Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes"

IMDb Rating: 6.9/10

Synopsis: "Many years after the reign of Caesar, a young ape goes on a journey that will lead him to question everything he's been taught about the past and make choices that will define a future for apes and humans alike."

Where to stream: Hulu

8. "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice"

IMDb Rating: 6.7/10

Synopsis: "After a family tragedy, three generations of the Deetz family return home to Winter River. Still haunted by Beetlejuice, Lydia's life is turned upside down when her teenage daughter, Astrid, accidentally opens the portal to the Afterlife."

Where to stream: Max

7. "Civil War"

IMDb Rating: 7.0/10

Synopsis: "In a dystopian future, four journalists travel across the United States during a nationwide conflict. While trying to survive, they aim to reach the White House to interview the president before he is overthrown."

Where to stream: Max

6. "The Substance"

IMDb Rating: 7.4/10

Synopsis: "A fading celebrity takes a black-market drug: a cell-replicating substance that temporarily creates a younger, better version of herself."

Where to stream: Prime Video with MUBI

5. "Alien: Romulus"

IMDb Rating: 7.1/10

Synopsis: "While scavenging the deep ends of a derelict space station, a group of young space colonists come face to face with the most terrifying life form in the universe."

Where to stream: Hulu

4. "Joker: Folie à Deux"

IMDb Rating: 5.2/10

Synopsis: "Struggling with his dual identity, failed comedian Arthur Fleck meets the love of his life, Harley Quinn, while incarcerated at Arkham State Hospital."

Where to stream: Max

3. "Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga"

IMDb Rating: 7.5/10

Synopsis: "The origin story of renegade warrior Furiosa before her encounter and teamup with Mad Max."

Where to stream: Max

2. "Dune: Part Two"

IMDb Rating: 8.5/10

Synopsis: "Paul Atreides unites with the Fremen while on a warpath of revenge against the conspirators who destroyed his family. Facing a choice between the love of his life and the fate of the universe, he endeavors to prevent a terrible future."

Where to stream: Max

1. "Deadpool & Wolverine"

IMDb Rating: 7.6/10

Synopsis: "Deadpool is offered a place in the Marvel Cinematic Universe by the Time Variance Authority, but instead recruits a variant of Wolverine to save his universe from extinction."

Where to stream: Disney+

• "Wicked" has received some criticism for its use of backlighting, as well as its color grading.
• Director Jon M. Chu told BI that he thinks the film is "gorgeous."
• Chu said that he wanted the film to feel "natural" and lived-in.

"Wicked" director Jon M. Chu has heard criticisms of the movie's visuals, and he's brushing them off.

"I think the movie is absolutely gorgeous," Chu told Business Insider in a recent interview.

Chu's film, which adapts the first act of the Broadway musical, takes on the difficult task of bringing the world of Oz back to the big screen after the 1939 technicolor classic "The Wizard of Oz," and not everyone was impressed. Some online have criticized the film's color grading as well as its use of backlighting (where actors are lit from behind), particularly in the "Dancing Through Life" library sequence where sunlight is streaming through large circular windows.

"There's a color of the rainbow in every frame of this that evolves through the movie," he said.

"I love the aesthetic, and I love that it doesn't feel like we're on a back lot, that there's actually life, that there's environment, and that it's not perfect, that you see scratches and dust," Chu added.

Chu has championed the film's use of natural light, and backlighting, in previous press appearances. In a behind-the-scenes interview with Vanity Fair about the "Dancing Through Life" sequence, he said that production designer Nathan Crowley's library design allowed for natural light — something that he praised the film's director of photography, Alice Brooks, for taking advantage of.

"Things that people would be scared of, like backlighting, is actually what I love about her stuff," Chu told Vanity Fair.

The director told BI that he enjoyed "atmosphere" in film that called back to works like "ET" and "Searching for Bobby Fischer," which he called one of his favorite films. Ultimately, he wanted to put viewers "inside" the world of Oz.

"To me, it was like putting Oz in a world that was natural and beautiful, but didn't take away from the spectacular color and grand landscapes," he said.

Chu also told BI that he was heartened to see fans pick up on details in the film, like Ariana Grande's ad-libbed lines in "Popular," after seeing it in theaters. Now, with the film available to view at home (and part two on the way), he said was happy viewers would be able to watch deleted scenes from the film.

"This movie has been amazing because people have gotten so close to, and watched it, so many times that they're picking up on the things that we pick up in the edit room," Chu said. "I feel like they're all in the edit room with me, and now I get to show them all the secret footage."

"Wicked" is now available to purchase or rent on digital.

• BI rounded up the movies that got a 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes in 2024 with 25 reviews or more.
• Most of the films are fictional dramas centered on family dynamics and working-class characters.
• "All We Imagine as Light" received the Grand Prix award at the Cannes Film Festival.

Some of the year's top-rated movies are ones that may have flown under the radar.

Business Insider rounded up the titles that earned perfect Rotten Tomatoes scores this year with at least 25 reviews.

These include films that tackle serious subjects, from working-class struggles to coming-of-age challenges. But not all the top-reviewed movies are dramas. "LaRoy, Texas," a crime comedy starring Steve Zahn and John Magaro, also earned a 100% critics score.

All Rotten Tomatoes scores were current as of December 31, 2024, and are subject to change.

"All We Imagine as Light"

Number of reviews: 124

What it's about: "All We Imagine as Light," written and directed by Payal Kapadia, is set in Mumbai and follows Prabha (Kani Kusruti) and Anu (Divya Prabha), two nurses and roommates, and Parvaty (Chhaya Kadam), their coworker who's a cook at the hospital. The film explores the power of friendship among the three women as they navigate personal challenges, from affairs to eviction.

Why you should watch: Critics are enchanted by Kapadia's second feature film, calling it "dreamlike," "luminous," and a "sensual triumph." The movie feels like an ode to Mumbai, where the bustling city is captured so vibrantly that it becomes a character in the narrative, too.

"All We Imagine as Light" premiered at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival earlier this year, where it won the prestigious Grand Prix award.

Where to watch: In select theaters.

Watch the trailer for "All We Imagine as Light" here.

"Daughters"

Number of reviews: 65

What it's about: "Daughters" is a documentary from filmmakers Natalie Rae and Angela Patton about a group of girls getting ready for a dance with their incarcerated dads. For some of them, it will be the only physical contact that they have with their fathers while they serve their prison sentences.

Why you should watch: Critics called "Daughters" emotionally moving, providing a grounded view into what it's like having a family member in prison. Some praised the film for focusing on, and humanizing, its subjects.

"Daughters" earned two awards at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, where it premiered: festival favorite and audience choice: U.S. documentary competition.

Where to watch: Netflix

"Nowhere Special"

Number of reviews: 63

What it's about: "Nowhere Special" centers on John (James Norton), a 35-year-old window cleaner and single dad who is raising his 4-year-old son Michael (Daniel Lamont) after the kid's mom leaves following his birth. When John learns that he has a few months left to live, he becomes determined to prepare his son for his death and find a new family for him.

Why you should watch: Uberto Pasolini's drama, originally released in 2021 before getting a US theatrical release this year, is an understated and tender look at life and death. Critics say Norton's performance as a father dying of brain cancer is tear-inducing, and his young costar Lamont shows signs of a promising future as an actor. Despite its heartbreaking premise, "Nowhere Special" maintains a hopeful outlook.

Where to watch: Available to rent or buy on Prime Video and Apple TV+.

Watch the trailer for "Nowhere Special" here.

"Jim Henson Idea Man"

Number of reviews: 60

What it's about: This documentary, from Academy Award-winning director Ron Howard, follows Jim Henson's storied career, from the Muppets franchise to films like "The Dark Crystal" and "Labyrinth." The film includes footage from Henson's archives, as well as interviews with prior collaborators and family members.

Why you should watch: Critics praised the documentary as capturing Henson's spirit without sanitizing his life. Some wrote that while Howard takes a fairly straightforward biographical approach, it works well for Henson as a subject.

"Jim Henson Idea Man" premiered at the 77th Cannes Film Festival in the "Cannes Classics" section. It won five Emmy awards, including outstanding documentary or nonfiction special and outstanding motion design.

Where to watch: Disney+

"Sugarcane"

Number of reviews: 57

What it's about: Directed by Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie, "Sugarcane" follows the aftermath of unmarked graves being discovered near an Indian residential school in Canada that was run by the Catholic Church and closed in 1981. The film tracks a Williams Lake First Nation investigation into abuse and missing children at St. Joseph's mission.

Why you should watch: Critics praised the film as empathetic, sensitive, and in some cases, "devastating." Some praised the film for the way depicts the aftermath of tragedy and injustice.

The film won the U.S. documentary — directing award at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, where it premiered. It has also received documentary film awards at the Sarasota Film Festival, the San Francisco International Film Festival, and from the National Board of Review, among others.

Where to watch: Hulu, Disney+

"Girls Will Be Girls"

Number of reviews: 53

What it's about: The coming-of-age Indian film stars Preeti Panigrahi as Mira, a 16-year-old girl constrained by the rules of her boarding school and her strict mother when she develops a connection with a new student named Srinivas (Kesav Binoy Kiron) and expresses interest in exploring her sexuality and desires.

Why you should watch: Critics call "Girls Will Be Girls" a stellar debut for first-time feature filmmaker Shuchi Talati, who also wrote the script. Many agree that the movie tackles typical coming-of-age themes with a cultural specificity that makes "Girls Will Be Girls" stand out from the myriad of other existing films in the genre.

The protagonist's intimate journey is examined with sensitivity and quiet moments that let the cinematography and scene composition do all the talking."

"Girls Will Be Girls" earned the audience award in the world cinema dramatic category at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival.

Where to watch: Available to rent or buy on Prime Video.

Watch the trailer for "Girls Will Be Girls" here.

"No Other Land"

Number of reviews: 49

What it's about: Directed by Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham, and Rachel Szor, "No Other Land" is a documentary about Palestine and Israel. It follows the Israeli destruction of Palestinian homes and schools in Masafer Yatta, a group of West Bank villages that Adra calls home. The four directors hail from Palestine and Israel, and filmed over the course of four years.

Why you should watch: Critics described "No Other Land" as "essential," important, and emotionally affecting viewing.

The film has picked up dozens of film festival and critic awards, including the Berlinale documentary film award and Panorama audience award for best documentary film at the Berlin International Film Festival, and best documentary and non-fiction film awards from Los Angeles, Boston, and New York critics groups, among others.

Where to watch: "No Other Land" is available to purchase or rent in some regions, though it does not yet have distribution in the United States.

"I Am: Celine Dion"

Number of reviews: 46

What it's about: This documentary, directed by Irene Taylor, tracks Dion's diagnosis with stiff-person syndrome, a condition that causes the muscles to stiffen involuntarily. The documentary includes archival footage from Dion's storied career, and follows her through her diagnosis, treatment, and desire to return to the stage.

Why you should watch: Critics called the documentary "raw," doing justice to Dion's legendary career while humanizing her as as a subject. Adrian Horton of the Guardian called the film "unabashedly sentimental" and "deeply earnest."

Where to watch: Prime Video

"On Becoming a Guinea Fowl"

Number of reviews: 46

What it's about: The A24 dark comedy stars Susan Chardy as Shula, a woman who discovers her Uncle Fred's body on the road one night. With the dayslong funeral proceedings underway, she must confront the secrets of her middle-class Zambian family.

Why you should watch: Critics say the film is compelling and intriguing, with a script that deftly balances its serious subject material with moments of humor. Many have also praised Nyoni's sharp directing style and her exploration of the political, cultural, and social facets of Zambian life.

Where to watch: "On Becoming a Guinea Fowl" is currently not available to stream. It will be released in limited theaters on March 7.

Watch the trailer for "On Becoming a Guinea Fowl" here.

"Music By John Williams"

Number of reviews: 45

What it's about: Directed by Laurent Bouzereau, "Music By John Williams" examines the storied composer's career and work across multiple franchises. The film features interviews with people like Steven Spielberg, who worked with Williams on films like "Jaws" and "E.T.," and George Lucas, creator of "Star Wars" and "Indiana Jones."

Why you should watch: Critics wrote that the film was a fitting tribute to Williams and a lovely celebration of his work. Some praised the film's depiction of Williams' relationships with filmmakers, including Spielberg and Lucas.

"Music By John Williams" won the award for best music documentary at the Critics Choice Documentary Awards.

Where to watch: Disney+

Watch the trailer for "Music By John Williams" here.

"LaRoy, Texas"

Number of reviews: 42

What it's about: The comedy, written and directed by Shane Atkinson, stars Steve Zahn as a private detective named Skip and John Magaro as Ray, a man who becomes depressed after he learns that his wife is cheating on him. As Ray is about to shoot himself with a gun and end his life, his life takes a wild turn when he gets mistaken for a hitman and becomes involved in an assassination plan.

Why you should watch: Critics say that Atkinson's feature directorial debut is an entertaining thrill ride, toeing the line between believable absurdity and over-the-top shenanigans. The influence of and nods to the filmmaking brothers Joel and Ethan Coen are plentiful, and the movie is bolstered by a solid cast comprised of Magaro, Zahn, and Dylan Baker.

"LaRoy, Texas" won three major prizes at the 49th Deauville American Film Festival: the Grand Prize, the Audience Award, and the Critics Award.

Where to watch: Available to rent or buy on Prime Video and Apple TV+. Also available to stream on MGM+.

Watch the trailer for "LaRoy, Texas" here.

• Insider compiled 2024's top Netflix original movies based on critics' rankings from Rotten Tomatoes.
• The list includes titles with an 80% or higher score and at least 20 reviews.
• The top films included "Daughters," "Will & Harper," and "Hit Man."

This year's top Netflix original movies span genre and form, ranging from action flicks to documentaries to all-ages animated films.

You might remember "Hit Man," which helped cement Glen Powell's star status on the heels of "Anyone But You" and before the summer blockbuster "Twisters." Perhaps you caught the Academy Award-nominated "Society of the Snow" after it premiered on Netflix in January. Or maybe you were tuned for Anna Kendrick's directorial debut, "Woman of the Hour."

There are 21 Netflix films this year that boasted aggregated critic score on Rotten Tomatoes of over 80% — provided they had at least 20 reviews. Here's the full list, from lowest to highest score.

Note: All scores were current on the date of publication. In the event of a tied score, the movie with more reviews was ranked higher.

21. 'Ultraman: Rising'

Rotten Tomatoes score: 86%

Netflix synopsis: "For decades, his dad was Ultraman, maintaining balance between humans and kaiju-kind. Now it's Kenji's turn — and it's the hardest job he's ever had."

20. 'The Beautiful Game'

Rotten Tomatoes score: 88%

Netflix synopsis: "This heartwarming tale of football, friendship, and triumph against the odds stars Bill Nighy as the caring manager of England's Homeless World Cup team."

19. 'The Piano Lesson'

Rotten Tomatoes score: 89%

Netflix synopsis: "A fight over an heirloom piano stirs up ghosts of the past in this Denzel Washington-produced adaptation of August Wilson's Pulitzer Prize-winning play."

18. 'Martha'

Rotten Tomatoes score: 89%

Netflix synopsis: "From homemaker to lawbreaker, discover the story of America's original influencer and her comeback from the scandal that almost cost her everything."

17. 'Society of the Snow'

Rotten Tomatoes score: 90%

Netflix synopsis: "Nominated for a Golden Globe, this touching film about the 1972 airplane crash in the Andes 'hypnotizes with its spectacularity,' praises El Mundo."

16. 'The Shadow Strays'

Rotten Tomatoes score: 91%

Netflix synopsis: "Skilled in the art of killing, a young assassin defies her mentor to save a boy from a ruthless crime syndicate — and she'll destroy anyone in her path."

15. 'Joy'

Rotten Tomatoes score: 91%

Netflix synopsis: "Born in 1978, Louise Joy Brown was the world's first IVF baby. But who were the scientists that made her birth possible? This drama tells their story."

14. 'The Kitchen'

Rotten Tomatoes score: 91%

Netflix synopsis: "London, 2044. The gap between the rich and the poor is stretched to its limits. The Kitchen is one of the only social housing estates left."

13. 'The Imaginary'

Rotten Tomatoes score: 91%

Netflix synopsis: "Amanda and her imaginary friend Rudger go on thrilling make-believe adventures. but when Rudger finds himself alone, he faces a mysterious threat."

12. 'Woman of the Hour'

Rotten Tomatoes score: 91%

Netflix synopsis: "An aspiring Hollywood star matches with a sadistic serial killer on a dating game show in Anna Kendrick's 'tremendous directorial debut' (Screen Daily)."

11. 'Orion and the Dark'

Rotten Tomatoes score: 92%

Netflix synopsis: "Sean Charmatz's directorial debut about a boy who befriends the Dark is a 'marvelously told tale' that 'has fun with fear' (San Francisco Chronicle)."

10. 'Rez Ball'

Rotten Tomatoes score: 94%

Netflix synopsis: "They play fast, shoot fast and never stop. A high school basketball team defies the odds in this LeBron James-produced drama inspired by true events."

9. 'Hit Man'

Rotten Tomatoes score: 95%

Netflix synopsis: "A mild-mannered professor poses as a fake hit man in this comedy that's 'a blast of pure pleasure and one of the year's best films' (The Washington Post)."

8. 'Black Barbie'

Rotten Tomatoes score: 96%

Netflix synopsis: "From Shondaland comes this 'must see' (RogerEbert.com), 'magnificent' and 'simply spectacular' (Black Girl Nerds) documentary on the first Black Barbie."

7. 'Rebel Ridge'

Rotten Tomatoes score: 96%

Netflix synopsis: "A former Marine with a mysterious background uses his unique skills to pursue justice when small-town cops seize the cash he needs for his cousin's bail."

6. 'The Remarkable Life of Ibelin'

Rotten Tomatoes score: 97%

Netflix synopsis: "When the parents of a beloved World of Warcraft player announced his death, his guild members reached out ot them — and revealed his hidden life."

5. 'The Greatest Night in Pop'

Rotten Tomatoes score: 98%

Netflix synopsis: "Music stars met their idols, egos were tested, the clock was ticking — and history was made. A documentary on the night 'We Are the World' was recorded."

4. 'His Three Daughters'

Rotten Tomatoes score: 98%

Netflix synopsis: "A trio of estranged sisters reunite at their dying father's New York City apartment in this 'bitingly funny and disarmingly honest' drama (The Atlantic)."

3. 'Will & Harper'

Rotten Tomatoes score: 99%

Netflix synopsis: "When Will Ferrell's good friend Harper comes out as a trans woman, they take a road trip to bond and reintroduce Harper to the country as her true self."

2. 'Mountain Queen: The Summits of Lhaka Sherpa'

Rotten Tomatoes score: 100%

Netflix synopsis: "Bone-chilling winds. Dwindling oxygen. Avalanches. Lhakpa Sherpa makes a perilous, record-breaking summit of Mount Everest in this gripping documentary."

1. 'Daughters'

Rotten Tomatoes score: 100%

Netflix synopsis: 'This Sundance prize-winning documentary about a group of girls reuniting with their dads is 'an admirable, ennobling picture,' says Vulture."

• Netflix's 2025 slate of new TV shows includes the latest Harlan Coben thriller.
• The streamer will also release a true crime series about a controversial influencer.
• Here's a full list of all the confirmed new shows.

2024 was a big year for Netflix thanks to the likes of "Baby Reindeer," "3 Body Problem," and "Avatar: The Last Airbender" — and it looks like 2025 will be equally huge.

The streamer will release new chapters of beloved shows, including "Stranger Things" season five, "Wednesday" season two, " and "You" season five.

But there are also plenty of brand-new shows on the slate for 2025. Here are the ones that we're the most excited about.

'Missing You'

Netflix Synopsis: "Eleven years ago Detective Kat Donovan's fiancé Josh — the love of her life — disappeared and she's never heard from him since.

"Now, swiping profiles on a dating app, she suddenly sees his face and her world explodes all over again. Josh's reappearance will force her to dive back into the mystery surrounding her father's murder and uncover long-buried secrets from her past."

Release date: January 1

'American Primeval'

Netflix synopsis: "This is America…1857. Up is down, pain is everywhere, innocence and tranquility are losing the battle to hatred and fear. Peace is the shrinking minority, and very few possess grace — even fewer know compassion. There is no safe haven in these brutal lands, and only one goal matters: survival."

Release date: January 9

'Sakamoto Days'

Netflix synopsis: "Follow the action-packed story of legendary ex-hitman Taro Sakamoto, as he bands with comrades to face off against the looming threat of assassins to ensure a peaceful life with his beloved family. Sakamoto and company run wild in no-holds-barred, over-the-top battles that have stolen the spotlight and captivated audiences far and wide.

"In a world overrun by assassins like the special force 'The Order' from the Japanese Association of Assassins (JAA), and a mysterious individual called 'X (Slur)' targeting assassins, what is the true meaning of strength for Sakamoto?

"Get ready for non-stop assassin action as chaos ensues in the ordinary (and not-so-ordinary) life of Sakamoto and his comrades!"

Premiere date: January 11

'The Residence'

Netflix synopsis: "132 rooms. 157 suspects. One dead body. One wildly eccentric detective. One disastrous State Dinner. 'The Residence' is a screwball whodunnit set in the upstairs, downstairs, and backstairs of the White House, among the eclectic staff of the world's most famous mansion."

Premiere date: March 20

'Devil May Cry'

Netflix synopsis: "In this animated adaptation of the popular Capcom game and from the vision of Adi Shankar, sinister forces are at play to open the portal between the human and demon realms. In the middle of it all is Dante, an orphaned demon-hunter-for-hire, unaware that the fate of both worlds hangs around his neck."

Premiere date: April 2025

'Adolescence'

Netflix synopsis: "'Adolescence' tells the story of how a family's world is turned upside down when 13-year-old Jamie Miller (Owen Cooper) is arrested for the murder of a teenage girl who goes to his school.

"Stephen Graham will play Jamie's father and 'appropriate adult', Eddie Miller. Ashley Walters stars as Detective Inspector Luke Bascombe, and Erin Doherty is Briony Ariston, the clinical psychologist assigned to Jamie's case."

Premiere date: Date in 2025 TBD

'Apple Cider Vinegar'

Netflix synopsis: "Set at the birth of Instagram, 'Apple Cider Vinegar' follows two young women who set out to cure their life-threatening illnesses through health and wellness, influencing their global online communities along the way.

"All of which would be incredibly inspiring if it were all true. This is a true-ish story based on a lie, about the rise and fall of a wellness empire; the culture that built it up and the people who tore it down"

Premiere date: Date in 2025 TBD

'Department Q'

Netflix synopsis: "Department Q is an adaptation of the novels of the same name from Danish author, Jussi Adler-Olsen. Created by Scott Frank, the series revolves around Carl Morck, a former top-rated detective in Edinburgh assigned to a new cold case whilst wracked with guilt following an attack that left his partner paralyzed and another policeman dead."

Premiere date: Date in 2025 TBD

'Hostage'

Netflix synopsis: "When the British Prime Minister's husband is kidnapped and the visiting French President is blackmailed, the two political leaders both face unimaginable choices.

"Forced into a fierce rivalry where their political futures, and lives, might hang in the balance, can they work together to uncover the plot that threatens them both?"

Premiere date: Date in 2025 TBD

'The Leopard (Il Gattopardo)'

Netflix synopsis: "Based on what many consider to be one of the greatest Italian novels of all time, 'The Leopard' is a dazzlingly sensuous epic, set against the backdrop of revolution in 1860s Sicily.

"At its heart is Don Fabrizio Corbera, the Prince of Salina, who leads a life surrounded by beauty and privilege. But as Italy moves towards unification and the old aristocratic order is threatened, he realizes that his family's future is in jeopardy. New allegiances must be made, each one a threat to his principles.

"Eventually Don Fabrizio is faced with an impossible choice. He has the power to engineer a marriage, between the rich and beautiful Angelica and his nephew Tancredi, that could secure his family's legacy, but doing so he would break his favorite daughter, Concetta's heart.

"The series will be a modern exploration of timeless themes — power, love, and the cost of progress."

Premiere date: Date in 2025 TBD

'Leviathan'

Netflix synopsis: "In 1914, on the eve of war, a fugitive prince and a girl in disguise meet aboard a bioengineered airship, the HMS Leviathan, and change the course of history."

Premiere date: Date in 2025 TBD

'Running Point'

Netflix synopsis: "When a scandal forces her brother to resign, Isla Gordon (Kate Hudson) is appointed President of the Los Angeles Waves, one of the most storied professional basketball franchises, and her family business.

"Ambitious and often overlooked, Isla will have to prove to her skeptical brothers, the board, and the larger sports community that she was the right choice for the job, especially in the unpredictable, male-dominated world of sports."

Premiere date: Date in 2025 TBD

'Sirens'

Netflix synopsis: "Devon (Meghann Fahy) thinks her sister Simone (Milly Alcock) has a really creepy relationship with her new boss, the enigmatic socialite Michaela Kell (Julianne Moore). Michaela's cult-ish life of luxury is like a drug to Simone, and Devon has decided it's time for an intervention.

"When Devon tracks her sister down to say WTF, she has no idea what a formidable opponent Michaela will be. Told over the course of one explosive weekend at The Kells' lavish beach estate, Sirens is an incisive, sexy, and darkly funny exploration of women, power, and class."

Premiere date: Date in 2025 TBD

'Toxic Town'

Netflix synopsis: "Based on one of the UK's biggest environmental scandals, 'Toxic Town' is the story of the people at the heart of the Corby poisonings. Focusing on the mothers, who took on a David and Goliath battle for justice, the series traces through the years of their fight as a terrible truth comes to the surface."

Premiere date: Date in 2025 TBD

'Too Much'

Netflix synopsis: "Jessica is a New York workaholic in her mid-thirties, reeling from a broken relationship that she thought would last forever and slowly isolating everyone she knows. When every block in New York tells a story of her own bad behavior, the only solution is to take a job in London, where she plans to live a life of solitude like a Bronte sister.

"But when she meets Felix — who is less Hugh Grant in Notting Hill and more Hugh Grant's drunken roommate — she finds that their unusual connection is impossible to ignore, even as it creates more problems than it solves. Now they have to ask themselves: do Americans and Brits actually speak the same language?

"From the creator of 'Girls' and the producers of 'Love Actually, Too Much' is an ex-pat rom-com for the disillusioned who wonder if true love is still possible, but sincerely hope that it is."

Premiere date: Date in 2025 TBD

'The Undertow'

Netflix synopsis: "Jamie Dornan will play the roles of identical twins, Adam and Lee, whilst Mackenzie Davis will play Adam's wife Nicola. The series is based on the Nordisk Film Production AS television series Twin, created by Kristoffer Metcalfe."

Premiere date: Date in 2025 TBD

'The Witness'

Netflix synopsis: "When Rachel Nickell was murdered on Wimbledon Common in 1992, André became a single parent overnight. Putting his own grief to one side, he made his son Alex — the only eyewitness to the attack — the centre of his world.

"Navigating the unscrupulous media furore and the urgency of an increasingly desperate police investigation, his sole concern became the welfare of his traumatised son. This is the story of how a father and son moved through the aftermath of unimaginable tragedy, from darkness into light."

Premiere date: Date in 2025 TBD

• Monica Barbaro plays Joan Baez in "A Complete Unknown," which follows Bob Dylan's early career.
• Barbaro told BI that she and Timothée Chalamet, who plays Dylan, first met at a music rehearsal.
• Barbaro did vocal training to sing like Baez and duet with Chalamet's Dylan.

In "A Complete Unknown," Timothée Chalamet and Monica Barbaro inhabit two musical legends: Bob Dylan and Joan Baez. True to form, the actors first met on set at a music rehearsal.

The film, directed by James Mangold, stars Chalamet as a young Dylan during the early years of his career, from his 1962 debut self-titled album through his controversial pivot to electric instrumentation. It features many of Dylan's contemporaries from the era, including Baez (Barbaro), Pete Seeger (Edward Norton), and Johnny Cash (Boyd Holbrook).

The film's greatest strength is its music, much of which was recorded live on set. Not only does Chalamet perform live as Dylan, but he duets in-character with his collaborators. That led to the perfect meeting for the actors.

"We heard each other's voices in recording studio sessions, because I would sing duets to his voice," Barbaro told Business Insider. "The first time we met was a music rehearsal, and it was just the most beautiful experience to me."

Like Chalamet, Barbaro also did vocal training to play Baez in the film, working to emulate the singer's trilling vibrato while also researching Baez's life and career. The actor told BI that she knew the music was going to be "the biggest hill to climb," and she knew that Chalamet — who spent five years preparing to play Dylan — had been practicing. By the time they first met, she felt ready to hold her ground not only as an actor, but as a musician.

"Getting to play next to him and hear the harmonies of our voices and the accompaniment, so complementary of each other — that was a career highlight," Barbaro said.

"I'm so glad we waited until that point to meet each other and to work with each other," she continued. "It was more true to a Bob and Joan version of the meeting that we'd have these musical proficiencies, that we could collaborate and play together."

• Bob Dylan and Joan Baez are played by Timothée Chalamet and Monica Barbaro in "A Complete Unknown."
• The two folk singers met in the early '60s and quickly became close collaborators.
• They dated briefly in the '60s and continued to perform together over the years, despite friction.

James Mangold's new biopic, "A Complete Unknown," opens with 19-year-old Bob Dylan (Timothée Chalamet) arriving in New York City, essentially homeless yet armed with his guitar.

It's not long before viewers are introduced to 20-year-old Joan Baez (Monica Barbaro), an already-established performer in the Greenwich Village folk scene. In her first scene, Baez takes the stage at Gerde's Folk City and sings "House of the Rising Sun," the fourth track on her self-titled debut album, released in 1960.

"Joanie was at the forefront of a new dynamic in American music," Dylan recalled in the 2009 documentary "Joan Baez: How Sweet the Sound."

"She had a record out, circulating among the folk circles," he continued, "and everybody was listening to it, me included. I listened to it a lot."

In "A Complete Unknown," Baez's performance at Gerde's is followed by Dylan's. He sings "I Was Young When I Left Home," leaving the movie version of Baez awestruck.

The star-crossed encounter kicks off a fruitful collaboration and passionate romance, despite Dylan's existing relationship with Sylvia Russo (Elle Fanning).

In real life, however, Baez had gone to Gerde's specifically to see Dylan.

"Somebody said, 'Oh, you've gotta come down and hear this guy, he's terrific,'" Baez told Rolling Stone in 1983. "And so I went down with my very, very jealous boyfriend, and we saw this scruffy little pale-faced dirty human being get up in front of the crowd and start singing his 'Song to Woody.'"

"I, of course, internally went completely to shreds, 'cause it was so beautiful," she continued. "But I couldn't say anything, 'cause I was next to my very, very jealous boyfriend, who was watching me out of the corner of his eye and trying to mentally slaughter Dylan, I think. And then Bob came over and said, 'Uhhh, hi' — one of those eloquent greetings — and I just thought he was brilliant and superb and so on."

The movie depicts Dylan and Baez starting a sexual relationship after another chance encounter, when Baez stumbles upon Dylan performing "Masters of War" in a coffee shop. Notably, this takes place in the throes of the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962, when the world seemed on the brink of nuclear armageddon. After kissing at the coffee shop, the pair return to Dylan's apartment.

Again, this doesn't seem to be quite accurate. Dylan and Baez did meet again, but it would've been years before they began their ill-fated fling.

In real life, Baez was instrumental in introducing Dylan to a larger crowd

Dylan and Baez became an unofficial musical duo in the early '60s, encouraging each other to refine their songcraft (she as a singer, he as a writer) and regularly performing duets at Baez's concerts.

In the 2009 Baez doc, one friend described the pair as "quite a force at that time," adding, "I think she had a crush on him. I know he had a crush on her."

The details of Dylan's life can be difficult for historians to confirm, given his penchant for myth-making and obfuscation. (He even asked Mangold to include an inaccurate scene in "A Complete Unknown," according to actor Edward Norton, apparently just for kicks.) So, it's unclear exactly when Dylan and Baez's relationship became romantic.

When Rolling Stone asked Baez how long they'd been involved, she replied, "You mean what period of three months was it? Um, Bob and I spent some time together. I honestly don't know what the year was."

Baez wasn't interested in drugs, which she said caused her to feel disconnected from other musicians, including Dylan. She also wanted Dylan to be more politically active outside his music, leading to a rift between them.

In 1965, a few months before the famous Newport Film Festival that saw Dylan "go electric," he invited Baez to join him on tour in England — but neglected to invite her onstage for any show. This trip is scrubbed from the timeline in "A Complete Unknown," but by all accounts, it was the death blow to their relationship.

"I just sort of trotted around, wondering why Bob wouldn't invite me onstage, feeling very sorry for myself, getting very neurotic and not having the brains to leave and go home," Baez told Rolling Stone. "That would be the best way to describe that tour. It was sort of just wasted time."

Dylan also traced their split back to 1965 and, more specifically, the frenzy of his newfound fame.

"I was just trying to deal with the madness that had become my career, and unfortunately she got swept along, and I felt very bad about it," he said in the Baez doc. "I was sorry to see our relationship end."

"A Complete Unknown" depicts Dylan and Baez duetting at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival, but this didn't happen in real life; they were on the outs by then. (They did sing at the festival together in 1963 and 1964.)

Baez later said that Dylan broke her heart.

Even after their relationship deteriorated, their connection fueled their art

Many fans believe Baez inspired notable Dylan songs, like the iconic 1965 hit "Like a Rolling Stone" and 1966 song "Visions of Johanna," though he's never confirmed either theory.

In 1968, Baez released her ninth album, "Any Day Now," comprised entirely of Dylan songs. Her 1970 compilation album, "The First Ten Years," includes six Dylan covers, including her much-loved version of "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right." She also released the 1972 song "To Bobby" as an open letter to Dylan, begging him to engage with the protest movement.

A few years later, Baez wrote the heart-wrenching ballad "Diamonds & Rust," which was shaped by an emotional phone call with Dylan.

"Well you burst on the scene / Already a legend / The unwashed phenomenon / The original vagabond," she sings. "You strayed into my arms / And there you stayed / Temporarily lost at sea / The Madonna was yours for free."

Baez later described "Diamonds & Rust" as "the best song of my life."

"The really, really good stuff comes from down deep," she told Rolling Stone in 2017, "and that was how strongly I was affected by Bob in the relationship and everything. It'd be stupid to pretend otherwise."

"I love that song 'Diamonds & Rust,'" Dylan said in the 2009 documentary. "To be included in something that Joan had written — ooh. I mean, to this day, it still impresses me."

"Diamonds & Rust" was released in 1975 on Baez's album of the same name. Later that year, Dylan invited her to join the Rolling Thunder Revue tour alongside a wide cast of their contemporaries, including Joni Mitchell and the Byrds frontman Roger McGuinn.

In the Baez doc, Dylan said he remembers her as "completely in her element" during that time, while Baez characterized the tour as fun and carefree — a departure from her typical activities as a social activist. The experience seemed to mend a bridge between them, however temporarily.

Dylan and Baez performed a few more duets before cutting ties for good

The pair reunited at a 1982 Peace Week concert at the Rose Bowl in Los Angeles, performing a three-song set together: "With God On Our Side," a cover of Jimmy Buffett's "A Pirate Looks at Forty," and "Blowin' in the Wind," which Dylan had written shortly after they met.

Dylan's guest appearance at the anti-nuke event came as a shock to the crowd, given that he'd declined to denounce the Vietnam War and generally avoided political events.

The following year, when Rolling Stone asked Baez about Dylan's state of mind at the show, she demurred.

"I really have no idea. But I love singing with him," she replied. "He isn't in tune, the phrasing is nuts, and he always wants to do a song I've never heard before."

The magazine also asked if the couple would ever get back together, "when they're both 60 or something." Baez replied, "Spare us, please. Both of us."

In fact, the very next year, they reunited again for a 1984 European stadium tour with Carlos Santana.

Baez came to discover she'd only been added to the bill because the promoter thought it would boost sales. In her 1987 memoir, "And a Voice to Sing With," Baez said she wasn't treated as an equal performer and was largely ignored by Dylan backstage.

After a few haphazard duets in Germany, Dylan stopped inviting her to share the stage with him, so she decided to quit the tour. In her book, Baez described Dylan as tired and disoriented when she said goodbye in his dressing room. She told him their touring together didn't work out, and he said, "That's too bad." She also wrote that he ran his hand up her skirt.

"Goodbye, Bob," Baez wrote. "I thought maybe I shouldn't write all this stuff about you, but as it turns out, it's really about me anyway, isn't it? It won't affect you. The death of Elvis affected you. I didn't relate to that, either."

The two musicians haven't been seen together since. While they did cross paths at a 2010 White House event to celebrate civil rights-era music, Baez said she didn't try to greet him.

"The chances of him just walking past me would be too awful a scenario," Baez told Rolling Stone. "It would just bring up feelings that aren't necessary."

In 2015, Dylan praised Baez when he was named Person of the Year by MusiCares.

"I learned a lot of things from her," he said during his acceptance speech. "A woman with devastating honesty. And for her kind of love and devotion, I could never pay that back."

Last year, Baez told Variety that she was not in touch with Dylan, though she didn't harbor any resentment. "I may never see him again," she said, "and that's OK too."

• Gong Yoo returns in "Squid Game" season two as the recruiter.
• Creator Hwang Dong-hyuk told BI he wanted to explore the character's backstory and true nature.
• That true nature is pretty wild — and Gong embraces it in his performance.

Gong Yoo's ddakji-playing recruiter is blessedly back in "Squid Game" season two — and this time, his appearance is even more memorable.

Gong plays the recruiter, a well-dressed, frankly unfairly attractive man who approaches people and challenges them to a game of ddakji. If they win a round, he gives them money. If they lose, he slaps them. Win-win! After enough time, he'll invite them to participate in a game with a much larger prize pool, and much more severe consequences for losing.

He appears only briefly in season one to recruit Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) into the games. More memorably, he utterly trounces Gi-hun in ddakji, slapping him no less than ten times all while remaining perfectly pleasant and composed. It's enough to, if you're a true freak, make him want to slap you too.

Luckily for those of us who have been thinking about this scene for the past three years, there's a whole lot more Gong Yoo in season two.

"I got many, many requests, people asking me to tell us the backstory about the ddakji man," creator Hwang Dong-hyuk told Business Insider. "I also thought of him to be a very intriguing character, so I wanted to bring him back again in season two and give him is own narrative."

Warning: Spoilers ahead for season two, episode one of "Squid Game."

Gi-hun tracks down the recruiter as a means to an end

In season two, Gi-hun is a man on a mission: he wants to shut down the games, and to do so, he needs to pin down his first point of contact. That's ddakji guy, and Gi-hun enlists a veritable small army of foot soldiers to scour the Seoul subway system for people getting slapped. It's slow going until Gi-hun's former creditor Mr. Kim (Kim Pub-lae) and his associate Woo-seok (Jeon Seok-ho) actually manage to find him.

They pursue him from the subway, to a bakery, to a convenience store, to a park, and eventually to an alleyway. Unfortunately, Mr. Kim and Woo-seok are no match for six feet of bitch-slapping recruiter, and he captures them and forces them to play a game that leaves Mr. Kim dead.

When Gi-hun returns to the motel where he's taken up residence, he finds the recruiter waiting for him. During their conversation, the recruiter reveals his backstory: after getting brought into the game as a guard, he was given a gun. After killing a player who turned out to be his father, the recruiter realized that his calling was.... leading people to their violent deaths. Sure!

This time, the recruiter challenges Gi-hun not to ddakji, but a modified game of Russian Roulette that will inevitably leave one of them dead. Apparently, he's a man prone to absurd melodrama, because he queues up "Time To Say Goodbye" by Andrea Bocelli and Sarah Brightman to set the tone.

After trying to convince Gi-hun to acknowledge that he's a "piece of trash" like everyone else who ended up in the games, the recruiter ends up with the last bullet in the gun — and after Gi-hun calls him a dog, ddakji man pulls the trigger, ending his own life.

No more Mr. Nice Ddakji Guy

In season one, the recruiter was an entrancing figure because of the difference in his demeanor (perfect, poised) and actions (slapping the daylights out of people). This time, however, Hwang told BI that he wanted to not only reveal his backstory, but also, "what kind of state he is in as a human being."

The answer? One untethered to anything except his objectively wild and remarkably strong convictions. This is a man who does it all — harassing people already being crushed by debt, sentencing them to a death game, and murder — for the love of the game. It's not really clear why he believes people, like those he recruits into the games, are trash. On the flip side, it's incredibly clear that he's a sadist who will play any game he initiates to the end, even if he has to forfeit his own life.

Gong brings a charged energy to his sequences in episode one — particularly his confrontation with Gi-hun — that remains largely unmatched by the rest of the season. His physicality, whether it's getting up in another performer's space or spinning the barrel of a pistol, is unmatched.

"Gong Yoo is an actor who's mostly taken on very sweet characters," Hwang said. "He's never done something that's as crazy or insane as this one, so I was personally curious to see how he was going to portray the character as well."

In season one, it was clear that the recruiter was a tightly coiled spring. In season two, Hwang and Gong finally let him snap.

"Squid Game" season two is now streaming on Netflix.

• "Squid Game" is finally back, three years after its first season.
• Season two features some familiar faces, but also plenty of new characters.
• Here's a guide to the major characters in season two, and who plays them.

After a three year-long wait, "Squid Game" is finally back.

The Korean-language Netflix series takes place mostly within the confines of a killing game, in which the economically disadvantaged play children's games for money. To participate, they wager their lives.

The show is one of Netflix's biggest hits, prompting the streamer to invest not only in a second and third season from creator Hwang Dong-hyuk, but also in in-person experiences, a reality series, and a video game.

"Squid Game" season two stars Lee Jung-jae as Seong Gi-hun, the winner of the games on season one. Unfortunately, the nature of the show means that most characters from season one like Sae-byeok (Jung Ho-yeon) and Sang-woo (Park Hae-soo) aren't back in season two. While there are a few familiar faces, the majority of the cast are new.

Here's a guide to the major characters in "Squid Game" season two, and who plays them.

Warning: This post contains light spoilers for "Squid Game" season two.

Seong Gi-hun

Gi-hun is a veteran player of the games, and returns as player 456. In the three years since he emerged as the sole survivor of his cycle, he's used his fortune to search for the man who recruited him so he can find a way to shut the games down.

Seong Gi-hun is played by Lee Jung-jae.

Hwang In-ho / The Front Man

Toward the end of season one, Jun-ho discovered that his other brother, In-ho, was the Front Man in charge of the games. Initially, Jun-ho believed that In-ho may have been a player.

Lee Byung-hun plays In-ho.

The Recruiter

The recruiter is a tall, handsome man who recruits people into the games by challenging them to a game of ddakji.

Gong Yoo plays the recruiter.

Kang No-eul

No-eul is a young woman working at a theme park. Originally from North Korea, she hopes to locate her child and bring her to South Korea. Later, she's recruited into the games — not as a player, but as a soldier.

No-eul is played by Park Gyu-young.

Park Jung-bae

Jung-bae (Player 390) is Gi-hun's friend from outside the game — the same one with whom he gambled on horse races in the season one premiere. Unfortunately, this time they meeting inside the game.

Park Jung-bae is played by Lee Seo-hwan.

Hwang Jun-ho

Jun-ho is the detective who followed Gi-hun to the games in season one, infiltrating them by posing as a guard. He's the younger brother of Hwang In-ho, the Front Man. In-ho shot Jun-ho toward the end of season one, but he survived — and at the beginning of season two, he's working as a traffic cop.

Wi Ha-jun plays Hwang Jun-ho.

Mr. Kim

Mr. Kim, referred to as Kim Dae-pyo in the credits, is Gi-hun's former creditor. After winning the game, Gi-hun paid him back, and retained his services to help him find the recruiter.

Mr. Kim is played by Kim Pub-lae.

Woo-seok

Woo-seok is close to Mr. Kim. Now, both Mr. Kim and Woo-seok work for Gi-hun as part of his search for the recruiter.

Woo-seok is played by Jeon Seok-ho.

Dae-ho

Dae-ho (Player 388) is a young man who Gi-hun and Jung-bae befriend in the game. Like Jung-bae, he's also an ex-Marine.

Dae-ho is played by Kang Ha-neul.

Lee Myung-gi

Myung-gi (Player 333) previously worked as a cryptocurrency influencer. However, a poor recommendation led to him, and other players, losing a significant amount of money.

Myung-gi is played by Yim Si-wan.

Kim Jun-hee

Jun-hee (Player 222) is a young woman who entered the games to repay her debt, as a result of losing money on Myung-gi's recommendation. He's also her ex-boyfriend.

Jun-hee is played by Jo Yu-ri, who is a singer and former member of the K-pop group IZ*ONE.

Thanos

Thanos (Player 230) is a rapper who lost money after bying cryptocurrency on Myung-gi's recommendation. In the game, some people recognize him as a celebrity.

Thanos is played by Choi Seung-hyun, a musician also known by his stage name T.O.P.

Nam-gyu

Nam-gyu (Player 124) is one of Thanos' groupies in the games. Previously, he worked at a nightclub, where he first met Thanos.

He's played by Roh Jae-won.

Min-su

Min-su (Player 125) is one of the younger players in the game, and aligns with Thanos. He also befriends Se-mi, a cool young woman.

Min-su is played by Lee David, who described the character in a cast featurette as an "ordinary guy" who is "super timid."

Se-mi

Se-mi (Player 380) is a young woman who befriends Min-su in the games.

Se-mi is played by Won Ji-an, who described the character as "bold and determined."

Park Yong-sik

Yong-sik (Player 007) is a young man who joined the game to pay off his debt. Unfortunately, he also encounters his mother there.

Yong-sik is played by Yang Dong-geun.

Jang Geum-ja

Geum-ja (Player 149) is Yong-sik's mother. She joined the game to help her son pay off his debt.

Geum-ja is played by Kang Ae-sim.

Hyun-ju

Hyun-ju (Player 120) initially faces discrimination in the games because she is a trans woman. She's a former special forces soldier.

Hyun-ju is played by Park Sung-hoon.

Young-mi

Young-mi (Player 095) befriends Hyun-ju in the games, and refers to her as unnie — a term that younger women use to refer to older women they are close to.

Young-mi is played by Kim Si-eun.

Seon-nyeo

Seon-nyeo (Player 044) is a shaman who often behaves melodramatically and unpredictably in the games.

Seon-neyo is played by Chae Kook-hee.

Gyeong-seok

Gyeong-seok's (Player 256) daughter Na-yeon has cancer, and he joins the games to fund her expensive treatment.

Gyeong-seok is played by Lee Jin-uk.