• Two of Ruby Franke's kids participated in a new docuseries about her.
• The former vlogger was convicted of child abuse and sentenced to up to 30 years in prison.
• Shari Franke says she'll never speak to her mother again; Franke's son Chad still has love for her.

One of the most harrowing parts of "Devil in the Family," Hulu's new docuseries about the downfall of former mommy vlogger Ruby Franke, happens minutes before it ends.

Shari Franke, her eldest daughter, was an internet personality as a child alongside her five younger siblings Chad, Abby, Julie, Russell, and Eve, who were all featured on their mother's popular YouTube channel "8 Passengers." Shari participated in Hulu's series alongside her father, Kevin Franke, and her younger brother, Chad Franke.

In an interview near the end of the third and final episode, Shari reflects on her fractured current relationship with her mother as she watches old footage of herself as a child with her mother.

It's a dark moment for Shari. The now 21-year-old saw her family, presented for years as idyllic and perfect, crumble in the public eye.

Ruby Franke, who started her YouTube channel in 2015, was convicted on four counts of child abuse and sentenced to between four and 30 years in a Salt Lake City, Utah, prison. Before that, she'd become controversial in 2020 over her parenting style, which some viewers called abusive.

The true depth of her crimes was uncovered in 2023, when her younger son, one of the two kids she abused, escaped from the home of Franke's friend and collaborator Jodi Hildebrandt and told authorities he and his sister had been subjected to horrific abuse.

Here's where Ruby Franke's six kids are now, amid their mom's imprisonment.

Ruby Franke's 4 youngest kids are being kept out of the spotlight

Ruby and Kevin Franke's four youngest children are still minors. Though they were prominently featured in their mother's YouTube channel and on her Instagram for years — and even had "official" individual Instagram accounts managed by their parents — their identities were concealed in footage shown in the Hulu docuseries. The kids' faces were blurred out in old videos, and they weren't named.

In legal documentation related to Franke's trial and conviction viewed by Business Insider, the four youngest were also referred to by their first initials. The two youngest kids, "R." (Russell) and "E." (Eve), were 12 and 10 at the time of Franke's arrest and were the ones subjected to physical abuse.

The abuse stemmed from Franke and Hildebrandt's belief that they were possessed by the devil, and that their "deviance" needed to be addressed with harsh punishments. Those punishments, chronicled in Franke's detailed journal about the abuse made public by authorities during the trial, included withholding food for days, making them stand in the hot sun for hours, and having them run shoeless in the Utah desert.

As the docuseries recounts, the two middle sisters, Abby and Julie, did not appear to be physically harmed at the time Franke and Hildebrandt were arrested in August 2023. All four kids were taken into the custody of Utah's Department of Child and Family Services when Franke was arrested; their father, Kevin Franke, alleged in the docuseries that he had been pressured to leave the family home and cut off contact with all his children for over a year by his wife and Hildebrandt.

Kevin Franke's attorney told Today.com in September 2023 that he was "focused on doing what is best for his kids" and was "making an effort to rebuild and bridge these relationships." Kevin filed for divorce that year and has been seeking to regain custody of his four youngest children. It's unclear whether the kids are still in the custody of the state, in Kevin Franke's custody, or elsewhere, as the status of his guardianship case isn't publicly accessible.

As of a June 2024 filing in Kevin Franke's lawsuit against Hildebrandt, viewed by BI, all four kids were residing in separate homes while in the state's custody.

When reached via email, a representative for Utah's DCFS declined to comment further on specifics of the case or the whereabouts of the Franke children "in order to protect the integrity of the necessary working relationships with those we serve, and to respect the privacy of children and families."

Chad Franke still has love for Ruby Franke despite her crimes

Chad Franke is Kevin and Ruby Franke's second-eldest child and eldest son. He and his older sister Shari, who are now both adults, participated in the Hulu docuseries where they opened up about their family's vlogging career and their mother's abuse case.

In the docuseries, Shari and Chad recalled how the two of them were the most popular of the Franke siblings among viewers, remarking that photos with the two of them in the thumbnail tended to perform best on "8 Passengers." Chad in particular became something of an internet celebrity in his own right, and he said he played into the charming goofball character.

Kevin admitted in an interview for the docuseries that he was living vicariously through preteen Chad, who was much cooler and more confident than he ever was, and said he and his wife exploited that for monetary gain. At its peak, Kevin said they were making over $100,000 a month in YouTube revenue.

As a teen, Chad started to act out, culminating in his expulsion from school. At that point, the Frankes brought in Jodi Hildebrandt, a therapist referred by a family friend, to help keep Chad in line. He was sent to the Anasazi Foundation Wilderness Therapy Program, a troubled teen program.

In the docuseries, Chad said he didn't mind working with Hildebrandt at first, as she mostly focused on trying to get him to be more spiritual. He even grew to love her, despite her encouragement of Kevin and Ruby Franke's harsh punishments. It was Chad's revelation in a 2020 YouTube video that he'd had his room taken away and was made to sleep on a bean bag chair in the basement for seven months that kickstarted the backlash against the Franke family and precipitated their downfall.

Chad was ultimately kicked out of the family home by Franke and Hildebrandt, who'd moved in with them, when he was 17 for admitting to watching pornography in the house. He went to live in an apartment nearby and didn't have contact with his parents or siblings for a year. He recalled in the docuseries finding out about his mother's arrest when someone at his lifeguarding job saw it on the news and told him.

Initially, Chad still believed that his punishment and his siblings' treatment were appropriate and that Hildebrandt and Franke had been acting as "God's chosen people." It was only after his father finally realized they'd both been lied to and told Chad that he realized the extent of the abuse.

In the docuseries, Chad said it was "heartbreaking" seeing his mother on trial. He admitted that his feelings about her are complicated, though he believes she belongs in prison — at least for now.

"I miss a mother figure. I miss how she was when I was very young. But I think what she's going through is deserved," he said. "I don't think she should get out, at least until the kids, all the kids, turn 18 years old. But that doesn't mean I don't have love for her."

Chad now works as a real estate agent in Utah. He's also started his own influencing career, growing his personal following on Instagram and TikTok, where he posts videos with his girlfriend.

Shari Franke says she'll never speak to Ruby Franke again and is lobbying against family vlogging

In the docuseries, Shari and Chad recalled how their mother grew her following by forcing all the kids to constantly create content for the channel, which began when Shari was a preteen. Shari managed to break away before the situation deteriorated, leaving the family home to attend Brigham Young University in 2020; Shari says Franke kicked her out of her room two weeks before she left for college in order to move Hildebrandt in.

She recalled being immediately suspicious of Hildebrandt and found negative reviews of her online that said she'd destroyed other families and even had her license revoked. Shari told her mother, but Franke didn't listen. Ultimately, Franke cut Shari off after Shari refused to stop contacting her father Kevin and brother Chad from college.

In the docuseries, Shari and a family friend who was her former teacher recalled going to the Franke home to confront Franke, who was unmoved even as Shari cried and begged Franke not to cut her off. From that point, Shari didn't have contact with her family, but neighbors would keep her updated on the situation with her siblings amid their father's absence.

In 2022, they alerted Shari that Franke appeared to be gone for hours at a time, leaving the younger kids home alone. Shari placed a call to the Springville Police Station in September 2022 asking for a welfare check; a case opened by the DCFS was eventually closed because according to documentation previously viewed by BI, there was no evidence of wrongdoing.

Shari addressed cutting ties with her family on a podcast in 2023, months before Franke's arrest, saying that they'd left her "spiritually drained." When Franke and Hildebrandt were arrested that August, Shari reacted to the news on Instagram, sharing a photo of a police car with the word: "Finally."

"Today has been a big day," Shari said in another post. "Me and my family are so glad justice is being served. We've been trying to tell the police and CPS for years about this, and so glad they finally decided to step up."

She also appealed to her followers and former "8 Passengers" fans to help her crowdsource "questionable or concerning" video evidence against Franke and ConneXions, the controversial group started by Hildebrandt that Franke had joined, shortly after the arrest.

Today, Shari is an outspoken critic of family vlogging, testifying at an October 2024 Utah Senate committee hearing in favor of laws to protect child influencers. In her speech, she called herself a "victim of family vlogging" and said "there is no such thing as a moral or ethical family vlogger."

"If I could go back and do it all again, I'd rather have an empty bank account now and not have my childhood plastered all over the internet," Shari said. "No amount of money I received has made what I've experienced worth it."

She also published a memoir, "The House of My Mother," in January ahead of the Hulu docuseries, about her family life with Franke.

"Devil in the Family: The Fall of Ruby Franke" is streaming on Hulu.

• "Anora" director Sean Baker made history at the Oscars on Sunday.
• He won each of his four nominations, including the biggest prize of the night, best picture.
• The indie filmmaker previously told BI he doesn't try to make his films more palatable to studios.

If you didn't know Sean Baker's name before Sunday night, you definitely do now.

The director made history at the 97th Academy Awards on Sunday, becoming the first filmmaker to win four Oscars in one night for the same film. (Walt Disney won four Oscars in 1953, but for four separate films; Bong Joon Ho won four in 2020 for "Parasite," but one was for best international feature, which is technically awarded to the country, not the filmmaker.)

"Anora," a dramedy about a young stripper who impulsively marries the son of a Russian oligarch, snagged Baker statues for best director, best original screenplay, best editing, and best picture. The film's lead, Mikey Madison, also picked up a surprise win, beating out frontrunner Demi Moore in the best actress category.

Though Baker was relatively unknown to the general public until now, the buzzy indie filmmaker didn't come out of nowhere. I spoke to Baker in October, months before "Anora" would sweep the Oscars, about his body of work and the state of moviemaking.

Sean Baker's movies are critically acclaimed, but were largely ignored by major awards bodies before 'Anora'

After graduating from New York University's filmmaking program in 1998, the New Jersey-born Baker quickly found his niche by focusing on marginalized communities. Half of his features, including "Anora," are specifically about sex workers.

But making his work more palatable and marketable to a wider audience was never on the agenda.

"I was always shooting myself in my foot. I was always doing something that would make my film probably not accessible to the mainstream," Baker said, citing his inclusion of an unsimulated sex scene in 2012's "Starlet," a movie about porn stars, as an example.

Before "Anora," Baker's most successful film in terms of awards recognition was "The Florida Project," his 2017 slice-of-life drama about a 6-year-old girl and her unemployed single mom living out of a budget motel in Kissimmee, Florida, just outside Walt Disney World. As with "Anora" and most of his movies, Baker pulled quadruple duty, directing, writing, producing, and editing.

Though largely regarded as Baker's best work to date, outside of awards from critics' organizations, Baker didn't earn any statuettes for it — only star Willem Dafoe clinched an Oscar nomination for his supporting role as the motel's owner.

Given his track record with flying under the radar, Baker told BI last fall that he was stunned that "Anora" had broken through to mainstream acclaim.

"I thought it was going to be extremely divisive, quite honestly," he said.

Baker is an outspoken supporter of independent film and theatrical releases

Baker made four speeches at the Oscars, thanking his team, his cast, the film's distributor Neon, his fellow producers (including his wife, Samantha Quan), and the sex workers who have opened up their world to him over the years. He also took the opportunity during his best director win to zoom out and give an impassioned plea to support the theatrical experience.

"Watching a film in the theater with an audience is an experience. We can laugh together, cry together, and, in a time in which the world can feel very divided, this is more important than ever," Baker said, adding that the experience is "under threat" with theaters, particularly independently owned ones, closing down at unprecedented rates.

"If we don't reverse this trend, we'll be losing a vital part of our culture," he said.

Amid ever-shrinking theatrical release windows, Baker implored filmmakers to keep making films with the big screen experience in mind and asked distributors to focus on theatrical releases.

It's something he also touched on during his wins at both the Directors and Producers Guild Awards in February, where he asked his fellow filmmakers to demand 90-day windows for their films to play in theaters. (IndieWire reported that in 2024, the average theatrical window was a mere 32 days across 85 wide-released movies, dropping off over 13% from the previous year.)

Baker has openly criticized Hollywood's risk-averse tendency to bet on blockbusters and IP-driven films over original dramas. That criticism hasn't always come across well, as when Baker told the Associated Press last year that he missed "mature films for adults" that didn't have explosions or superheroes or weren't genre films.

Some took his lament to be a dig at superhero movies and horror films. Baker clarified his stance to BI and bemoaned coming across as "snotty" in that soundbite.

"I didn't in any way mean to be slamming those films. I actually love action films — it's why I went to NYU, to make the next 'Die Hard' or 'RoboCop,'" he told BI. "What I was trying to say is I wish studios were still making other films."

Baker pointed out that it makes sense why studios prioritize those films, knowing that they'll perform better financially. "Genre films essentially are the films that are keeping theaters alive, and therefore I cherish them, and I am so happy they're there," he said. "But I just would love more variety — dramas and dramedies and just everyday human stories."

He maintained that these explosion-less films are just as cinematic, and just as important to see on the big screen surrounded by a crowd of fellow film lovers. "Anora" was Baker's proof of concept: "I want 'Anora' to be something that is better in a theater with a crowd on the big screen."

That "Anora" has been embraced in this way is a huge win for indie filmmaking, one that should serve as a clue to studios that these movies are worth the marketing effort — it's the director's most financially successful film to date, netting over $40 million worldwide on a $6 million budget.

"I'm just trying to make the best film possible," Baker told BI. "When something is too commercial, there's a reason why. It's often watered down in order to reach the widest audience possible. And therefore, it is not as perhaps provocative or edgy, because it needs to be pretty vanilla to reach everybody."

The 97th Academy Awards may have been a fairytale ending for Baker as a filmmaker, but perhaps it will also be the fairy godmother the indies need.

Closing out his acceptance speech for best picture, Baker put it plainly.

"I want to thank the Academy for recognizing a truly independent film. This film was made on the blood, sweat, and tears of incredible indie artists. And long live independent film."

• Several actors were left out of the 2025 Oscars In Memoriam segment.
• Fans are particularly upset that Michelle Trachtenberg and Tony Todd were snubbed.
• People are always left out because of limited space and who chooses the In Memoriam list.

It's that time of year again — time to be mad about the people left off of the In Memoriam segment at the Oscars.

Without fail, the annual montage that pays tribute to Hollywood's fallen courts controversy. As only a few minutes of the hourslong ceremony, there are always names missing from the list; it's simply impossible to include everyone with a film credit who has died.

This year was no exception, and viewers were particularly angry about a few of them. Most noteworthy was the omission of Michelle Trachtenberg. The 39-year-old "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" star, who had her breakout film role as a child actor in "Harriet the Spy," died on Wednesday.

While you might think the recency of her death simply means the In Memoriam editors didn't have time to add her, that's not the case. Gene Hackman, whose death was announced after Trachtenberg's, was prominently featured in the closing moments of the montage and spotlighted in the introduction by his friend and costar Morgan Freeman.

Several other noteworthy actors were excluded from this year's In Memoriam, including "Candyman" actor Tony Todd, "Beverly Hills 90210" and "Heathers" star Shannen Doherty, "Titanic" and "Lord of the Rings" star Bernard Hill, and "Black Christmas" and the 1968 "Romeo and Juliet" star Olivia Hussey.

How the Academy decides who gets into the In Memoriam segment

There's no simple formula for determining whether someone makes it into the Oscars In Memoriam tribute. The montage includes a mix of on-screen talent, writers and directors, and below-the-line folks, meaning there's no shortage of potential honorees to choose from.

So, how does the list get curated? As it turns out, the executive producers of the awards show aren't the ones who have that task. According to The Hollywood Reporter, it's the job of a secret executive committee which is composed of members from all 19 of the Academy's branches.

Michael Schulman, an Academy Awards expert who wrote the book "Oscar Wars," told THR that the composition of the committee is also a reason why a recognizable actor like Shannen Doherty may have been passed over in favor of a less commonly known cinematographer. Being prominent specifically in film (not TV or another medium) is also a factor, albeit a very subjective one.

A source close to the Academy told THR that people who have won Oscars or a Governors Award have priority, then those who have won the Academy's Scientific and Technical Awards. Nominees for those awards are in the next tier for consideration.

• Conan O'Brien hosted the Oscars on Sunday.
• It was the comedian's first time hosting the Academy Awards.
• In his monologue, he made fun of best actress nominee Karla Sofía Gascón, who was in the audience.

Hosting the Oscars is a famously difficult gig. But Conan O'Brien didn't play it safe in his 2025 Oscars monologue, bringing up one of the biggest controversies of awards season: "Emilia Pérez" star Karla Sofía Gascón's old social media posts.

O'Brien set up the joke by saying that the titular character in "Anora," one of the Oscar-nominated films, uses the F-word "479 times" in the movie. "That's three more than the record set by Karla Sofía Gascón's publicist," the comedian said.

The audience responded with shocked laughter before O'Brien pointed out that Gascón, who was nominated for best actress for her role in "Emilia Pérez," was present in the audience. Gascón was a good sport, laughing along as the camera cut to her.

"And Karla, if you are gonna tweet about the Oscars, remember my name is Jimmy Kimmel," O'Brien joked, referencing the four-time Oscars host.

Gascón faced backlash when old tweets re-emerged on X (formerly Twitter) in late January after she suggested fans of another best actress Oscar competitor, "I'm Still Here" star Fernanda Torres, were attempting to tear her down. The posts contained offensive remarks about everything from Muslims and George Floyd to Miley Cyrus.

Gascón apologized for her "erroneous" past opinions and deleted her X account. After posting several statements defending herself on Instagram and speaking out in an interview about the controversy, she largely stepped out of the spotlight during the remainder of awards season, keeping a low profile until Oscar night.

Conan O'Brien's Oscars monologue also poked fun at 'The Substance,' Timothée Chalamet's yellow suit, and AI

The 97th Academy Awards started off with a movie montage in tribute to Los Angeles after the devastating wildfires, followed by a trio of musical numbers: first, "Wicked" star Ariana Grande sang "Over the Rainbow," then her costar Cynthia Erivo performed "Home" from "The Wiz." Then the two transitioned into "Defying Gravity" from their hit movie musical.

After the performances, O'Brien finally showed up — emerging from Demi Moore's split-open back in a pre-taped skit spoofing her film "The Substance." He joked that he lost his car keys back in Moore's inert body.

In the monologue after the Gascón joke, O'Brien went on to assure the audience that no AI was used in the making of the Oscars, a subtle jab at the controversies "The Brutalist" and "Emilia Pérez" faced for their use of the technology. He also poked fun at the long runtime of "The Brutalist," saying "I didn't want it to end, and luckily, it didn't."

O'Brien next turned his attention to Timothée Chalamet, who was nominated for playing Bob Dylan in the biopic "A Complete Unknown." Chalamet, who was seated in the audience next to his girlfriend Kylie Jenner, turned up to the awards show in a butter yellow leather suit. O'Brien complimented the look and joked that the hue assured that the actor wouldn't be getting hit by any cars.

O'Brien packed in no shortage of jokes during the monologue, vowing that he wouldn't waste any time and cause the ceremony (which famously almost always runs late) to go past its scheduled end time. He then ended by launching into a brief musical number of his own, with lyrics that were all about not wasting our time.

During the song, O'Brien threw it to the sand worm from "Dune 2" playing "Chopsticks" on the piano — and who could possibly argue that was a waste of time?

Watch the full monologue below.

Stream the 97th Academy Awards live on Hulu.

• Find out how to watch the Oscars this weekend.
• New shows like "Running Point" and "Toxic Town" also premiered.
• Hulu's new Ruby Franke docuseries dives deep into the harrowing case.

Hollywood's biggest night is this weekend.

The Oscars are airing on Sunday, which will bring one of the messiest awards seasons in recent memory to a close.

Over on the TV front, there are new Netflix shows like "Toxic Town" and "Running Point" out this week, as well as the season premiere of "Survivor."

Some of 2024's best movies, like "Nickel Boys," "Strange Darling," and "September 5," are now streaming too.

Here's a complete rundown of all the best movies, shows, and documentaries to stream this weekend, broken down by what kind of entertainment you're looking for.

For an emotional drama, watch "Nickel Boys."

RaMell Ross' historical drama, based on Colson Whitehead's book of the same name, was one of 2024's most underrated films. It's about two young Black boys in 1960s Florida who are sent to an abusive reform school.

The performances are astounding — particularly Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor as the devoted grandmother of one of the boys, Elwood — and Ross' unique first-person POV shooting style is incredibly effective.

Streaming on: MGM+

If you like sports comedies, try "Running Point."

Kate Hudson plays a basketball heiress loosely based on LA Lakers owner Jeanie Buss in "Running Point," a new comedy from Mindy Kaling.

Streaming on: Netflix

True crime fans should check out "Devil in the Family: The Fall of Ruby Franke."

A new three-part docuseries shines a light on the disturbing story of Ruby Franke, the former mom vlogger who was convicted of abusing her children alongside Jodi Hildebrandt, a therapist she'd hired to help her son.

Be forewarned: This story isn't for the faint of heart. The series includes firsthand accounts, video footage, and interviews with two of Franke's kids and her estranged husband,

Streaming on: Hulu

Christopher Reeve fans will love "Will Reeve: Finding My Father."

The beloved "Superman" actor's youngest son retraces his dad's steps in this new ABC special. Will Reeves, now an ABC News correspondent, visits the places his father did while working on a nature documentary — Christopher Reeve's final project before the riding accident that left him paralyzed.

Streaming on: Hulu

For a fictionalized true story drama, watch "Toxic Town."

The true crime drama "Toxic Town" tells the story of children in a British town who were born with disabilities after being poisoned by unchecked toxic waste from steelworks. "Doctor Who" star Jodie Whittaker plays Susan McIntyre, a real mother who fought for justice for her son Connor, who'd been born with limb differences.

Streaming on: Netflix

Horror fans should see "Strange Darling."

If you haven't already seen this one, stop what you're doing and go stream it ASAP.

"Strange Darling" is an inventive and well-acted thriller from JT Mollner, starring Willa Fitzgerald and Kyle Gallner as two people in a cat-and-mouse game that isn't at all what it initially appears. It wasn't just one of the best horror movies of 2024; it was one of my favorite movies last year, period.

Streaming on: Paramount+

The Academy Awards air this weekend.

This Sunday, Conan O'Brien will host the 97th Academy Awards. We'll find out whether "Anora" star Mikey Madison will clinch a best actress win over "The Substance" star Demi Moore, and whether "Emilia Perez" might still get best picture despite its controversies.

Streaming on: Hulu

"Survivor" is back for a new season.

The long-running competition series premiered its 48th (!) season this week. Catch the new episode of "Survivor" on streaming if you missed it airing on CBS.

Streaming on: Paramount+

For a thriller based on a true story, watch "September 5."

"September 5" focuses on the Munich massacre of 1972 during that year's Summer Olympics, and specifically the ABC Sports news team that covered the incident.

Streaming on: Paramount+

"The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim" is an anime fantasy film based on J. R. R. Tolkien's characters.

This "Lord of the Rings" prequel is set hundreds of years before the events of the Peter Jackson film trilogy and the "Hobbit" movies. It tells the story of legendary Rohan king Helm Hammerhand, voiced by "Succession" star Brian Cox.

Streaming on: Max

• "8 Passengers" mom vlogger Ruby Franke is the subject of a new Hulu docuseries.
• The former influencer was convicted of abusing her children and sentenced to prison.
• Here's what to know about her case, where she is now, and what happened to her marriage and kids.

The darkest side of family vlogging is at the heart of Hulu's new docuseries "Devil in the Family: The Fall of Ruby Franke."

The three-part series focuses on Ruby Franke, who created the popular, now defunct "8 Passengers" YouTube channel. Franke posted videos with her husband, Kevin Franke, and their six children, Shari, Chad, Abby, Julie, Russell, and Eve, and became wildly successful as a mom influencer.

However, the public turned on Franke over revelations about her parenting style, with many of her followers calling Franke's form of "discipline" abusive. But Franke doubled down rather than apologizing and trying to win back her fans.

Ultimately, she and Jodi Hildebrandt, a therapist she'd hired to work with her family, were convicted of abusing Franke's children and sentenced to prison.

The new docuseries features firsthand accounts from Kevin Franke and the two oldest Franke children.

Here's what to know about the case and where Ruby Franke is now.

Who is Ruby Franke? The once-beloved mom vlogger became controversial for her parenting methods

Franke lived with her family in Springville, Utah, where they were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, also known as the Mormon church. As Kevin Franke recalls in interviews for the new Hulu series, the two first met in August 2000 and were married by December 28.

By 2015, the couple had six children and Franke had started a YouTube channel chronicling their lives. She called it "8 Passengers" — a reference to the family of 8 traveling through life — and posted videos showing interactions between her kids, cooking for her family, and homeschooling her oldest son, Chad.

The Franke family's first popular video was of one of their kids climbing out of her crib, but soon vlogging became a big income source for them. At its peak, Kevin Franke said in the docuseries, they were bringing in over $100,000 a month just from YouTube revenue.

The idyllic family life presented on Franke's page was incongruous with reality, and cracks began to show in 2020, when Chad said in a video — shown in the docuseries — that he was made to sleep on a beanbag in the basement for seven months as punishment. Amid backlash, Franke removed the video. In an interview at the time, Ruby and Kevin Franke defended their actions and pushed back on child abuse accusations.

The family recounts in the docuseries that around the same time, Chad had been expelled from school. The Frankes brought in a therapist, Jodi Hildebrandt, who a family friend recommended to help Chad.

Hildebrandt's harsh methods appeared to work, and Chad said in the docuseries that he straightened out under her care. From then on, Hildebrandt became entangled with the family: "I learned to love her and trust her," Chad said in the series.

At the same time, Franke's punishments became more extreme. In the docuseries, Chad Franke says his mother would spank and whip him with a belt. In a separate interview, Franke's oldest daughter Shari recalled helping Chad clean blood off the walls after one particularly brutal beating.

As Franke's family recalls in the docuseries, she believed it was her religious calling to help parents save their children and ensure they go to heaven. She and her husband got involved in ConneXions, Hildebrandt's business, and Franke ultimately became a counselor there and Hildebrandt's second in command.

Franke pivoted away from the "8 Passengers" account, which is now defunct, and created a new Instagram and podcast called "Moms of Truth" with Hildebrandt. In it, the two shared parenting "wisdom" and espoused the value of harsh punishments. In one video shown in the docuseries, Franke admitted she "loves principles more than my children."

Ruby and Kevin Franke's relationship began to deteriorate as she grew closer with Hildebrandt, with Kevin alleging that he was asked to leave the family home at the same time a then 17-year-old Chad was kicked out for viewing pornography. Shari, then a college student living at Brigham Young University, also said in the docuseries that she was cut off by her mother and told not to contact anyone in the family.

Ruby Franke's arrest, child abuse conviction, and sentencing

In the docuseries, Franke's neighbors recall becoming concerned about the welfare of her four youngest kids after Kevin left the home, alleging the Franke kids were left alone for hours at a time. They shared their concerns with Shari Franke, who called the Springville Police Station in September 2022 to request a welfare check on her siblings, Business Insider previously reported.

A case was opened with the state's Department of Children and Family Services, but it was eventually closed when they couldn't find any witnesses of physical abuse.

The situation finally came to a head in August 2023, over a year after Franke had asked Kevin and Chad to leave their home and cut off Shari.

According to a witness statement shared by the Santa Clara-Ivins Police Department, on August 30, Franke's youngest son escaped Hildebrandt's home in St. George, Utah, about four hours from the Frankes' Springville home. He asked a neighbor to take him to the police station. The boy was emaciated and had duct tape around his ankles.

The boy — whose name, along with the names of the other Franke minor children, was concealed to protect his privacy — said that his youngest sister was also at Hildebrandt's house but that he hadn't seen her in person for over a month.

Police recovered the girl from Hildebrandt's home and found the other two children at the home of Franke's friends near the family's Springville house. They also recovered a detailed journal Franke had kept in which she recounted the abuse. In the journal, Franke wrote about her belief that her two youngest children were possessed by the deviil and the methods she and Hildebrandt had undertaken to correct their "deviant" behavior, including starving the kids under the guise of "fasting," making them stand in the hot sun barefoot for hours, and having them run in the desert.

Both Franke and Hildebrandt were arrested on aggravated child abuse charges that day, according to Washington County Jail booking documents.

Per a press release from the Washington County Attorney's Office, both women were charged with six counts of aggravated child abuse each on September 1, 2023. In December, they each pleaded guilty to four counts as part of a plea agreement. They were sentenced in February 2024 to serve four consecutive sentences of between one and 15 years each — a total sentence of at least four years, but as many as 30 years, with the precise length of the term to be determined by the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole.

The Board didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

In a statement at her sentencing, Franke acknowledged harming her kids, calling the officers who had rescued them "angels." She also pointed the finger at Hildebrandt, saying she had been "led to believe that this world is an evil place."

"My charges are just, they offer safety to my family, accountability to the public, and they did show mercy to me," she said.

Franke is incarcerated at the Utah State Correctional Facility in Salt Lake City, according to the Utah Department of Corrections. She is scheduled for a hearing with the parole board in December 2026.

In January 2025, a former ConneXions client who attended couples therapy with Hildebrandt sued her, Franke, and ConneXions for fraud and racketeering. The suit, viewed by BI, claims that Franke, Hildebrandt, and other ConneXions employees, both "known and unknown," manipulated "vulnerable individuals" like the plaintiff into paying exorbitant fees for their "fraudulent services." The complaint demands monetary relief for damages.

In the latest filing, on February 28, the judge granted the motion to extend the defendants' time to file an answer to the complaint. Hildebrandt, Franke, and ConneXions now have until March 19, 2025, to respond to the complaint.

The lawyer representing Hildebrandt, Franke, and ConneXions didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

Ruby Franke's husband filed for divorce and has been fighting to regain custody of their 4 youngest kids

Kevin filed for divorce from his wife in November 2023; as of February 2025, he told People it is not yet finalized.

The couple's two oldest kids, Chad and Shari, are adults and living on their own. The four youngest Franke children are minors and have been in DCFS custody in Utah since Franke was arrested in August 2023. Kevin's lawyer, Randy Kester, told People that as of April 2024, they were still in the custody of the state but that he had been fighting to get them back.

As of February 2025, it's unclear whether the younger kids are still in DCFS custody, living with their father, or living elsewhere. A representative for Utah's DCFS said via email that the department "affirms law enforcement reports of our involvement in the Franke case." They declined to comment further on specifics of the case or the whereabouts of the Franke children "in order to protect the integrity of the necessary working relationships with those we serve, and to respect the privacy of children and families."

Kester, Kevin's attorney, didn't immediately reply to a request for comment regarding the status of the custody case.

In her statement during her sentencing, Franke called Kevin the love of her life and called the ending of their marriage a "tragedy."

Franke also addressed her children directly.

"To my babies; my six little chicks — you are a part of me," she said. "I was so disoriented that I believed dark was light and right was wrong. I would do anything in this world for you. My willingness to sacrifice all for you was masterfully manipulated into something very ugly. I took from you all that was soft, and safe, and good."

How Ruby Franke's parents and siblings reacted

Two of Franke's sisters, Julie Deru and Bonnie Hoellein, are also vloggers. In September 2023, each shared videos saying that they were not aware of her actions. They recalled how, in 2020, Franke abruptly cut off her family when she started working with Hildebrandt.

KUTV reported that Franke's parents and brother said in statements to the court at her February sentencing hearing that she had radically changed after employing Hildebrandt to help Chad and referred to her as "brainwashed." Her parents wrote that they'd only had "brief communications" with Franke the last several years.

"She was delusional. She was so deeply brainwashed we could not recognize her," they wrote. They also asked the judge to show Franke mercy in sentencing and expressed their hope that she would repair her relationships with her kids.

Franke and Hildebrandt's lawyers didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

"Devil in the Family: The Fall of Ruby Franke" is streaming on Hulu.

• Oscar nominee Mikey Madison says getting cast in "Anora" marked a turning point in her life.
• Madison and Baker spoke to BI about how she landed the title role playing the feisty sex worker.
• Baker also recalled what it was like to be on set for Madison's infamous scream during the home invasion scene.

To an outsider, Mikey Madison's ascendance to Hollywood It Girl might seem sudden. But for the 25-year-old actor, the road to mainstream acclaim and an Oscar nomination has felt like a long, slow climb.

"It's funny, I have to say it doesn't feel rapid at all," Madison told Business Insider. "I mean, I've been acting for almost 10 years now, and at times it's been so incredibly slow."

Before her Oscar-nominated leading role in Sean Baker's "Anora," Madison had a small but dedicated fanbase, thanks to her breakthrough role playing Pamela Adlon's eldest daughter in the FX series "Better Things" and scene-stealing appearances as a Manson follower in Quentin Tarantino's "Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood" and a particularly sassy Ghostface in the 2022 "Scream" sequel.

Playing the titular sex worker in "Anora" catapulted Madison — and Baker, a longtime indie darling virtually unrecognized on the awards circuit prior to this year — into the mainstream conversation.

When BI spoke to Madison in October, just before the film's theatrical release, the actor was coming to terms with the fact that the project she had deeply immersed herself in would now be released for public consumption.

"I was very in my character's mindset. I wasn't necessarily thinking from an audience's perspective of this is going to possibly be in movie theaters and things like that," Madison said. "I was just focused on telling the story. And I'm glad that I was, because I wouldn't have wanted to have that in my head."

Madison's laser focus on her craft is part of what compelled Baker to cast her in his movie. The filmmaker was so captivated by Madison after seeing her in "Scream" that he immediately met with her, pitched her his general idea for "Anora," and then offered to write the part for her if she agreed to do it.

"I didn't have a word on paper yet. I started writing after she accepted," Baker told BI.

"He's told me he liked how I scream," Madison recalled of her initial conversations with Baker. "I think also it was just an intensity that he was interested in."

For Madison, saying yes, even without a script, was a no-brainer — she'd long admired Baker's work and counts "Tangerine" as one of her favorite films. She was particularly attracted to Baker's penchant for bringing morally grey characters to life in vivid color.

"Those are the characters that I love to play: Nobody is just good. Nobody is just bad. It's somewhere in between," Madison said.

"I've dreamed of working with a filmmaker like Sean for my entire career as an actress," she added.

Indeed, Anora is a deeply complex character, one who's frequently inscrutable even in the film's Rorschach test of an ending. One of Madison's biggest scenes, and the crux of the film, is a home invasion sequence in which Anora is restrained and held captive by the handlers of her new husband Vanya, the wayward son of a Russian oligarch, after they arrive to bust up the pair's ill-fated marriage.

The scene, shot in real time, involved many hours of Madison emitting an ear-piercing scream.

"That scream was bone-chilling, and it echoed throughout the entire mansion. And you had members of the crew working in other places of the house, and they didn't know what was going on," Baker told BI. "And to tell you the truth, it was actually quite disturbing for a lot of people. They had to cover their ears after a while, because it was so intense."

"I think she told me after maybe a few hours, 'I'm going to lose my voice if I keep going on like this,'" he said.

That quite literally full-throated commitment to the role, which also required twerking and shadowing real sex workers to learn the ins and outs of stripping, has paid off. Madison was nominated by most of the major awards organizations for her work in "Anora," winning the lead actress category in several of them, including the BAFTAs and the Independent Spirit Awards.

Most Oscar season pundits anticipate the trophy on Hollywood's biggest night will go to either Madison or Demi Moore for "The Substance." But whether she wins or loses, Madison knows that the movie — and Baker — have changed her life forever.

"'Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood' was my sort of introduction into the film world. It reminded me of why I wanted to be an actress," Madison said. "But I do feel that Sean seeing me and seeing any potential, or whatever it was that he saw, and giving me this opportunity to play a character like Anora — I think that that's been a huge turning point in my life."

• Michelle Trachtenberg was found dead on Wednesday morning. She was 39.
• She began her acting career as a child star and is best known for "Buffy" and "Harriet the Spy."
• Trachtenberg's famous friends and former costars paid tribute to the actor.

After Michelle Trachtenberg's death on Wednesday morning, celebrities and fans are paying tribute.

The NYPD told Business Insider that Trachtenberg had been found dead in a luxury apartment in Manhattan near Central Park. No cause of death has been given, and authorities said they're not treating the death as suspicious.

Trachtenberg, who began acting in commercials at age 3, had a decadeslong career in Hollywood, appearing in memorable films like "Harriet the Spy" and "EuroTrip" and TV series like "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Gossip Girl."

As the news of her death spread, her famous friends and former costars shared their reactions and heartfelt messages online.

Sarah Michelle Gellar referenced "Buffy" in a tribute to Trachtenberg.

Trachtenberg joined "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" as Buffy's sister, Dawn Summers, in season five. Her former on-screen sister Sarah Michelle Gellar, with whom she remained close, paid tribute to Trachtenberg in a touching post that paraphrased Buffy's famous speech to Dawn from the show's emotional fifth season finale.

"'Michelle, listen to me. Listen. I love you. I will always love you. The hardest thing in this world, is to live in it. I will be brave. I will live… for you,'" Gellar wrote.

Rosie O'Donnell said she wished she could've helped Trachtenberg.

In a statement to Us Weekly, Rosie O'Donnell, who played the beloved nanny of Trachtenberg's character in her 1996 film debut "Harriet the Spy," called the younger actor's death "heartbreaking."

"I loved her very much. She struggled the last few years. I wish I could have helped," O'Donnell told the publication.

Alyson Hannigan said her thoughts are with Trachtenberg's family and friends.

Alyson Hannigan, who played Willow Rosenberg in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," shared a series of photos of herself and Trachtenberg on Instagram.

"I am deeply saddened by the news of Michelle's passing. She brought a loving energy to the set of Buffy. My thoughts are with Michelle's family and friends," Hannigan wrote in her caption.

Emma Caulfield shared a throwback photo of herself and Trachtenberg.

"I'm so sorry your bright light died so young," Emma Caufield, who played Anya on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," wrote in her Instagram story caption. "Our Buffy family lost a little sister today... Rest in peace lovely Mish Mish. You were loved."

James Marsters shared a heartfelt message about Trachtenberg.

James Marsters, who played Spike in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," worked closely with Trachtenberg from the time she joined the series as a teen in 2000.

"My heart is heavy today. We have lost a beautiful soul. Michelle was fiercely intelligent, howlingly funny, and a very talented person," the actor wrote on Instagram. "She died much too young, and leaves behind scores of people who knew and loved her."

"My heart goes out to her family who are good people, and are suffering the greatest loss anyone could bear. I hope everyone can give them space to heal in this most difficult time. Godspeed Michelle. You are missed," Marsters added.

David Boreanaz sent prayers to Trachtenberg's family.

David Boreanaz played the vampire Angel, Buffy Summers's longtime love interest, on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." He was a series regular on the first three seasons of the show before departing for his own spinoff.

Michelle Branch shared a photo of Trachtenberg with broken heart emojis.

Michelle Branch was a musical guest star on the sixth season of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer."

Blake Lively posted a lengthy tribute to Trachtenberg.

Blake Lively, who played Serena van der Woodsen in The CW teen drama "Gossip Girl," shared a photo of herself and Trachtenberg from the show on her Instagram story. Trachtenberg played fan-favorite antagonist Georgina Sparks in the show.

"This was the first day I met Michelle. She was electricity. You knew when she entered a room because the vibration changed. Everything she did, she did 200%," Lively wrote in her caption.

The "It Ends With Us" actor also recounted how Trachtenberg would always have "yummy caramel smelling lip gloss" on because "she didn't just want to sparkle on camera, she liked creating a nice experience for anyone who was in her orbit, even down to the subtle smell of her lipgloss because she cared about the sweet details."

Lively then called Trachtenberg "a kind person, through and through."

"Hold those you love and have loved dear. The world lost a deeply sensitive and good person in Michelle. May her work and her huge heart be remembered by those who were lucky enough to experience her fire," Lively wrote.

Ed Westwick shared a photo of Trachtenberg as her "Gossip Girl" character.

Ed Westwick played reformed bad boy Chuck Bass throughout all six seasons of "Gossip Girl."

"So sad to hear of the passing of @MichelleTrachtenberg," he wrote in his Instagram story. "Sending prayers."

Chace Crawford shared photos of himself and Trachtenberg over the years.

Chace Crawford played Nate Archibald on "Gossip Girl."

"Michelle was one of a kind. I remember her coming on set for the first time and just absolutely owning it. She was a force of nature and just so so unapologetically funny and magnetic.. remembering those years with a big smile. Just a terrible loss. Love you," Crawford wrote in his Instagram caption.

Shawn Ashmore called Trachtenberg an incredible person.

Shawn Ashmore and Trachtenberg dated in the 2000s. In his post about her death, he called it an "incredible loss."

"Incredibly sad to hear about Michelle's passing. She was an incredible person and I will always remember the years we spent together fondly," he wrote. "She was loving, quirky and would never pass up a law and order SVU marathon:) My condolences to her mother Lana and sister Irene!"

Kim Cattrall shared a throwback photo of her and Trachtenberg.

Kim Cattrall and Trachtenberg acted together in the movie "Ice Princess" in 2005.

"Rest in peace sweet Michelle 💔" Cattrall captioned the post.

Mara Wilson mourned the loss of her childhood friend.

Fellow child star Mara Wilson posted a photo of Trachtenberg on her Instagram story.

"My heart is breaking for my childhood friend. Your memory will be a blessing Michelle," Wilson wrote in her caption.

Christy Carlson Romano said she and Trachtenberg "grew up in NY audition rooms" together.

"My heart aches for Michelle Trachtenberg. We grew up in NY audition rooms together and our moms were friends. We reconnected in LA during our messy young Hollywood era. It was like no time passed. Her sassiness always made me laugh," Christy Carlson Romano wrote on her Instagram story.

The actor said she "wished" they had stayed in touch.

"I never got to tell her that years before we reconnected I wrote and recorded this song for her movie 'Ice Princess.' It never made the cut, but every time I thought of her it would go through my mind and now it will forever. Rest in peace," she wrote.

Kate Beckinsale said her heart "aches" for Trachtenberg's mother.

Kate Beckinsale posted an old paparazzi photo of herself and Trachtenberg on her Instagram story.

"What a terrible shock and loss, my god. My heart aches for your mama. Fly safe little bird," Beckinsale wrote in her caption.

• Michelle Trachtenberg has died, an NYPD spokesperson confirmed to Business Insider.
• The 39-year-old actor was known for roles in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Gossip Girl."
• She made her film debut as a child actor in 1996, playing the title role in "Harriet the Spy."

Michelle Trachtenberg has died at age 39.

A spokesperson for the New York Police Department told Business Insider that Trachtenberg was found dead at One Columbus Place, a luxury high-rise apartment complex near Central Park in Manhattan. Police had responded to a 911 call at about 8:01 a.m. and found Trachtenberg unconscious and unresponsive. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

The New York Post and ABC earlier reported the news, citing police sources.

According to the authorities, the death is not being treated as suspicious. A cause of death hasn't been determined.

A representative for Trachtenberg didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

The former child actor was best known for her roles in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," "Harriet the Spy," and "Gossip Girl."

Born on October 11, 1985, Trachtenberg began her career as a child actor at age 3. She started off in commercials, with her first on-screen appearance in an ad for Wisk detergent.

After bit parts in the second season of "Law & Order" and "Clarissa Explains It All," Trachtenberg landed her first regular role as Nona F. Mecklenberg in the second season of "The Adventures of Pete & Pete," appearing on the show from 1994 to 1996. She also appeared on the soap opera "All My Children."

Trachtenberg's breakthrough came when she was cast as the title character in "Harriet the Spy," which marked her feature film debut. Her performance as the titular 11-year-old aspiring sleuth won Trachtenberg a Young Artist Award for best leading performance in a feature film.

As a young teen, Trachtenberg returned to the small screen with "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," in which she played Dawn Summers, the younger sister of the title character played by Sarah Michelle Gellar.

Trachtenberg's character was introduced in the show's fifth season and quickly became a pivotal part of the teen supernatural drama, earning her a Teen Choice Award nomination for choice TV sidekick in 2001 and maintaining a main role through the series finale in 2003. For many fans, Dawn Summers remains the role for which they know Trachtenberg best.

However, her time on the popular show was not without its difficulty.

In 2021, Trachtenberg said there had been a rule that series creator Joss Whedon wasn't allowed to be in a room alone with her. She made the claim, which Whedon later denied in a New York Magazine interview, amid reports of Whedon's alleged history of abusive on-set behavior from other former "Buffy" stars like Charisma Carpenter.

Trachtenberg remained close with several of her "Buffy" costars, including her former on-screen sister, Gellar. In January, she posted a throwback photo of herself with Gellar in honor of Woman Crush Wednesday. "Slay all day! Always loved this twinning photo of us!" she captioned the picture.

After "Buffy" concluded, Trachtenberg continued to appear on TV and in film throughout the 2000s, with recurring roles in the series "Six Feet Under," "Weeds," and "Robot Chicken" and memorable appearances in movies like "Ice Princess," "EuroTrip," and "17 Again."

In 2008, Trachtenberg landed her second career-defining role, as conniving rich girl Georgina Sparks in The CW series "Gossip Girl."

Trachtenberg's Georgina appeared in a recurring capacity through each of the series' six seasons, quickly becoming a fan-favorite as she battled for supremacy against Leighton Meester's Blair Waldorf.

The actor called Georgina, which earned her another Teen Choice Award nomination for choice TV villain in 2012, one of her favorite roles and relished playing a villain. "It's definitely a lot more fun than playing the good girl. I love the reaction you get. I never understood why some actors don't want to play villains or evil characters," she told Seventeen magazine in 2009.

In 2022 and 2023, she returned as Georgina in the second season of the "Gossip Girl" sequel series on Max. It was her last credited on-screen appearance.

Additional reporting by Natalie Musumeci.

• "The Monkey" is about a cursed wind-up monkey toy that causes someone to die whenever it's played.
• The movie from filmmaker Osgood Perkins is based on a Stephen King story of the same name.
• It's markedly different from the original story, with a much larger scale and more chaotic ending.

If you read Stephen King's 1980 short story "The Monkey" and went into Osgood Perkins' new movie "The Monkey" expecting basically the same thing, I have some bad news for you.

Perkins' absurdist horror-comedy actually takes very little from King's original work, beyond the lead characters' names and the conceit of a cursed monkey toy reappearing in two adult brothers' lives to once again cause chaos decades after they threw it into a dry well.

The thin connection makes sense: The filmmaker, who also wrote and directed 2024 breakout horror hit "Longlegs," told Business Insider that he read the story a few times before setting out to write his script and then didn't refer back to it again.

Instead, Perkins has made the story his own, adding multiple thematic layers to tell a story about fatherhood and generational trauma.

That ethos is laid out from the very first moments of the movie, when our hero Hal says in a voiceover: "I don't know if every father passes some secret horror to his kids, but mine did."

Here's what happens in "The Monkey," including how it ends, how it's different from the original story, and what that pale horseman represents.

'The Monkey' is part 'Final Destination,' part parable about fatherhood

"The Monkey" is jam-packed with gory (and increasingly outlandish) death scenes, as every time the monkey is wound up and bangs its drum, another person dies.

The catch, in the lore of both the short story and the film, is that the person who winds up the monkey can't be its victim. But that person also can't control the monkey and instruct it on who to kill. It's completely random — "like life," as the inscription on the monkey's box reads when Hal and Bill Shelburn (both played here by "The White Lotus" star Theo James) find it.

The monkey once belonged to the twins' absent father (Adam Scott in a very brief, funny cameo), a pilot who brought it home from his travels before ditching his family for good. In short order, we see the monkey kill the shopkeeper their dad desperately tried to return the toy to, Bill and Hal's babysitter, and their mother, Lois (Tatiana Maslany).

Hal is secretly responsible for their mother's death, having wound up the monkey once he had a sense of its power in an attempt to have it kill Bill, who had been bullying him at school.

The first third of the movie focuses on Bill and Hal's upbringing and early traumas, including the death of their Uncle Chip (played by Perkins himself) in a freak wild-horse stampede on a camping trip after he and their aunt Ida have taken custody of the orphaned boys. Chip's death finally prompts the brothers to drop the monkey down into a dry well to escape it — a gambit that seemingly works, at least until the point where the film picks up 25 years later.

In the present, an adult Hal works at a grocery store and has no relationship with Bill. Hal also has no relationship with his son Petey, opting to stay far away from the teenager, seeing him only once a year, in order to spare him the same type of trauma he experienced.

Just in time for Hal and Petey's annual visit, Bill calls Hal to inform him that Aunt Ida died in a freak accident (it involves fire, a bucket, and a mailbox), which means the monkey has finally returned. Hal road-trips to Ida's house with a clueless Petey, convinced by Bill to find the monkey to make sure it doesn't fall into the wrong hands. All the while, the monkey continues to kill; a realtor selling Ida's house informs Hal that another local in town has died every day since Ida's death in a variety of ridiculous manners, including a lawnmower accident and a cobra attack on a golf course. (The realtor herself promptly gets killed by shotgun blast after one falls from the closet in Ida's house and discharges.)

Hal soon discovers the monkey's current handler is none other than Bill, who secretly knew Hal was responsible for their mom's death and had plotted for years to find the monkey again and use it to take revenge on his brother. The film then switches to Bill's point of view, rewinding back to the moment the boys threw the monkey down the well. Bill started getting signs of the monkey's reemergence in 2016 — the year of the monkey — and employed a local kid named Ricky to find it for him.

Ricky found it at Ida's estate sale after her death and brought it to Bill, who wound it up repeatedly to lure Hal to him. Bill's goal is to get Petey to keep turning the key until the monkey kills Hal, so that Petey will be responsible for Hal's death the way Hal was responsible for their mother's.

'The Monkey' ending (and the Pale Rider), explained

The original Stephen King tale ends with Hal and his young son, Petey (who's only 9, not a teenager, in the story), narrowly surviving their mission to sink the cursed monkey in a lake. There's far less bloodshed (except for the hundreds of dead fish the waterlogged monkey claims as its victims), and it ends on a relatively happy note. The monkey is defeated! They're rid of it! Not too many people died!

The ending of the movie is in some ways similar — Hal and Petey both still live — but focuses more on the adversarial dynamic between Hal and Bill. One of the key changes Perkins made to the story was making Hal and Bill twins, and not just brothers as they were in the story, and also making Bill the villain who's coming after Hal for revenge.

In the movie, Ricky, who brought Bill the monkey, wears his own deadbeat dad's police uniform to take Hal and Petey at gunpoint to Bill's hideout, an abandoned hotel he's fitted with more deadly "Home Alone"-style booby traps. Ricky, who's become obsessed with the monkey because it reminds him of his absent father, forces Petey to go into the hotel to find the monkey and bring it back to him.

Unfortunately for Ricky, Bill finds Petey first and prompts him to wind up the monkey, which kills Ricky (via a swarm of wasps down the throat) next. Hal then enters the hotel and Bill becomes furious when he realizes the monkey once again didn't kill his brother. He attempts to force the monkey to drum without winding the key, which causes the monkey to go berserk, drumming uncontrollably and setting off a series of disasters around town — a plane with skydivers crashes into a nearby church, with skydiving newlyweds falling through the ceiling of Bill's hideout.

Inside Bill's hotel, he, Hal, and Petey are still unharmed. Hal and Bill finally hash out their differences and reconcile — only for the monkey to suddenly drum once more and set off a chain reaction that ends up cannonballing Lois' bowling ball into Bill's head, crushing his skull.

With Bill now dead, a not-overly-perturbed Hal and Petey leave town in their car, passing by all of the dead or dying people affected by the monkey's rampage. They resolve to keep the monkey with them, to ensure the key isn't turned again by anyone: "We keep it close. We accept that it's ours and hold on tight," Hal tells Petey.

As they wait at an intersection, a ghostly man on a pale horse passes by and gives them a knowing nod. Perkins confirmed to BI that the Pale Rider is a representation of death and how death is depicted as the fourth and final of the four horsemen of the apocalypse in the bible's Book of Revelation.

Perkins expected the studio and producers to push back on his inclusion of the Pale Rider, thinking that the general audience wouldn't get such a literary reference. But instead, he was pleasantly surprised.

"Conversely, everybody was like, that's a weird thing we got to put in that people are going to either get or not get," Perkins said.

"And in any case, it's visual and it's sort of poetic and magical," he added. "And I just kind of felt like by the time we got to that point in the movie, it's so patently kind of surreal and absurd, I might as well really press the button."

The ending of "The Monkey" is surprisingly hopeful, with Hal suggesting to Petey that they go dancing — something that his mother Lois loved to do with Bill and Hall when they were kids. It's a far cry from the far more bleak ending of "Longlegs," but Perkins knows exactly what he wants audiences to feel when the credits roll on "The Monkey."

"I think it's the same thing that everybody's supposed to feel when they walk away from any horror movie," he says, "which is, 'Look at me, I'm still alive!'"

"The Monkey" is in theaters now.

• FBI agent Loretta Bush participated in Netflix's new docuseries "American Murder: Gabby Petito."
• Bush's appearance on the docuseries went viral when she got visibly choked up talking about her job.
• Viewers, and particularly lesbian viewers, were immediately captivated by Bush. Here's what to know.

Netflix's latest true-crime docuseries "American Murder: Gabby Petito" digs deeper into the story of the 22-year-old aspiring travel influencer who was killed by her fiancé, Brian Laundrie, while on a cross-country road trip in 2021.

As the many true crime fans who have long followed the Petito case know, it's a bleak and upsetting story. But viewers have already found light in the darkest of places: by thirsting after FBI agent Loretta Bush, who was featured in the doc.

Bush works out of the bureau's Tampa division, which covers 18 counties in central and southwest Florida, including where Petito and Laundrie lived with Laundrie's parents in North Port, Florida. She appears toward the end of the second episode of the three-part series, at the point when Petito's 2021 disappearance in Wyoming became a federal investigation.

The first shot of Bush instantly establishes that she's, quite frankly, cool as hell: She strides across the screen wearing black sunglasses with her badge on her hip and tattooed arms visible. The first words out of her mouth are about how she takes her job in law enforcement very seriously and how important it is to her to get closure for victims' families.

If the dozens of thirsty TikTok videos and hundreds of comments on them are any indication, it was love at first sight for many viewers. Bush is the subject of fancam edits set to Ethel Cain's "Crush" and Usher's "Hey Daddy (Daddy's Home)," where commenters are talking about getting lost in her blue eyes and how they hope she doesn't end up getting fired by Elon Musk and DOGE.

"I felt so bad falling in love with Loretta while watching this sad documentary but OH MY GAWD 🥵 😍," one commenter wrote.

There's a whole subgenre of self-identified straight women who joke that they're now questioning their sexuality because of their attraction to Bush.

Some are also campaigning for Bush to get her own Netflix show. About what? Anything, really; her newfound legion of fans just wants to see more of her.

It's not all about physical attraction. Many of the comments also reference a moment near the end of the docuseries in which Bush gets visibly choked up talking about her work on missing persons cases and how many of them remain unsolved despite the outsized attention to Petito's case in particular.

"This story is unique, but I will tell you that there are so many other people out there missing and they are important too. My work is important. Victims' lives are important," Bush says in her final appearance in the docuseries.

Bush herself doesn't appear to have publicly available social media profiles, at least not any that her dedicated fans have been able to track down.

Several commenters on TikTok have identified themselves as friends of Bush's in real life. They say that Bush isn't on social media but that she's aware of her newfound viral fame and they've been sharing all the videos with her. They also said that Bush is married. (Netflix declined Business Insider's requests for comment for more information on Bush.)

Another person who knows about Bush's TikTok fame agrees that she's a gem: Petito's father, Joe Petito.

"I told her that she is a TikTok sensation. 😎😎😎 She really is such an amazing person. We love her," Joe Petito commented on a video about Bush.

• "Love Is Blind" season eight features singles from the Twin Cities area.
• Mason and Meg shared a connection in the pods but didn't get engaged on the show.
• A new teaser for the rest of the season shows they may have gotten back together.

Warning: Major spoilers ahead for the first nine episodes of "Love Is Blind" season eight.

"Love Is Blind" is a Netflix series that has resulted in at least a few marriages — but not everyone meets their beloved.

The show's eighth season features singles from the Twin Cities area, bringing the franchise back to the heartland of the United States. Since it first launched in 2020, Netflix has spun off "Love Is Blind" into multiple international franchises and a key part of its unscripted series business.

This season, five couples make it out of the pods and on to their engagement trip. In a twist, a few couples from the pods — including 33-year-old cinematographer Mason and 31-year-old oncology nurse Meg — decide not to get engaged. At the beginning of episode six, the two seemingly split up.

Because they didn't get engaged, Meg and Mason don't feature in the three new episodes that aired this week, which focused on the couples' getaway and meeting each others' families back home. However, the new teaser at the end of episode nine shows that they'll be back this season, and heavily hints that their relationship may not have ended for good.

Mason's multiple connections affect his relationship with Meg

Mason and Meg hit it off on their first date in the pods. Mason, however, has another connection with 28-year-old artist Madison, who in turn is also dating 29-year-old commercial real estate broker Alex in the pods.

In episode two, Mason continues to bond with both Meg and Madison. In that episode, Meg learns about Mason's connection with Madison and starts to worry about their connection. Meanwhile, in episode three, Madison continues to bond with Alex — and without naming names, Mason essentially tells Alex that Madison is his top pick, not Meg.

Things start to come to a head later in that episode when Madison and Mason talk about the fact that they're both dating other people. During that date, Madison tells him that Meg is focused solely on Mason.

On their following date in episode four, Mason tells Madison that he's committed to her. She asks if he feels like she put an ultimatum on him, which he denies, and then thanks him for telling her. Later, outside the pods, Madison says that Mason is her number two. On a date with Alex later in the episode, Madison says that she intends to pursue a relationship with him. In episode five, she breaks up with Mason.

Later, in episode five, Mason tells Meg that he "validated Madison," but it ultimately "did not feel right."

"I clearly said it to the wrong person," he says.

Meg, however, is skeptical and asks Mason if he's now choosing her by default because Madison dumped him for Alex. In response, he tells her that she was always his first choice.

Their date continues in episode six. Mason reiterates his feelings, but Meg says that she won't be able to shake the doubt that he chose her because Madison became unavailable. She ends her relationship with Mason amicably, wishing him well.

"I feel a lot of regret," Mason says in a confessional. "I should never have validated Madison over Meg, and that's something that I'm gonna have to live with."

Ultimately, Madison and Alex don't get engaged in the pods either, after having a disagreement over Madison's breakup with Mason.

Meg and Mason don't appear to follow each other on Instagram

As of the season eight premiere, Meg and Mason don't seem to follow each other on Instagram. Mason also doesn't appear to follow Madison or Alex. Meg doesn't appear to follow Madison, nor vice versa.

Both Meg and Mason have posted about the new season on social media. Mason even poked fun at getting dumped by Madison over a plate of pancakes.

Despite not getting engaged, Mason and Meg's time on the show doesn't appear to be over. In a teaser for the next batch of episodes shown at the end of episode nine, Meg and Mason reunite with other participants in a pod squad meet-up — and crucially, they seem to arrive together.

"The second I got my phone, I was like, 'How's Mason?'" Meg recounts.

"He's a huge liar," Madison, now with bright pink hair, emotionally says. It's unclear if she's replying directly to Meg in the context of that conversation, or referring to someone else since she doesn't say Mason's name.

They're also not divulging anything about their current relationship status in interviews with press, though what they have said doesn't rule out a reunion.

When reflecting on the love triangle and her "Love Is Blind" experience, Meg told Glamour that she's "very happy with how life has transpired since the show ended."

Mason, for his part, told Vulture that Meg was "the clear person" for him and that he knew all along the two were "super, super compatible." He even compared their romance to the movie "Moulin Rouge," calling their relationship "the perfect love story that should have been, but ends in tragedy."

Dramatic? A bit. But it's also very much the kind of thing a guy who was still trying to make amends to his current girlfriend for his treatment of her might say.

Meg also seems to be (maybe inadvertently) dropping some unsubtle hints on social media. Most tellingly, she liked (and then unliked) a comment on one of her posts where someone said they wanted Meg and Mason to be the "Zack and Bliss" of this season.

Zack and Bliss are the fan-favorite season four couple who got engaged post-pods after Zach initially proposed to another contestant instead of her. They ultimately married in the season finale, and went on to have a child together.

At this point, it's impossible to tell for certain whether Meg and Mason got back together outside the pods. We'll just need to tune into the next batch of episodes and hear them explain what happened during the pod meetup.

The first nine episodes of "Love Is Blind" season eight are now streaming on Netflix.

• "1923" and "Reacher" both returned for new seasons this week.
• Movies that came out in 2024, like "Sonic the Hedgehog 3" and "Nosferatu," are now streaming.
• True-crime fans can check out Netflix's new docuseries about Gabby Petito's death.

We're officially closing in on the end of awards season.

The Screen Actors Guild Awards are streaming on Netflix this week, and there are new streaming options for viewers prepping for the Oscars.

New to streaming is the 2024 Oscar-nominated "Nosferatu" remake, which got a nod for special effects makeup artist David White's stunning work on Count Orlok (plus three other nominations).

Another 2024 theatrical release, "Sonic the Hedgehog 3," has also made its way to streaming.

On the TV side, "Reacher" and "Yellowstone" prequel "1923" both returned for new seasons, while new series like "A Thousand Blows" and "Suits LA" made their debut.

Here's a complete rundown of all the best movies, shows, and documentaries to stream this weekend, broken down by what kind of entertainment you're looking for.

"Reacher" is back.

The popular action crime series, starring Alan Ritchson as a former US Army veteran turned vigilante, returned for its third season.

Streaming on: Prime Video

For more action thriller vibes, you can check out "Elevation."

The postapocalyptic tale takes place in a world where apex predators called Reapers have forced humanity to live in small communities 8,000 feet or higher above sea level to stay safe.

"Captain America: Brave New World" star Anthony Mackie plays a widowed dad trying to save his son's life.

Streaming on: Max

For something family-friendly, stream "Sonic the Hedgehog 3."

The third installment of the surprise hit film franchise based on the video-game series sees Jim Carrey play dual roles — the returning villain Ivo Robotnik and Robotnik's grandfather, Gerald.

Streaming on: Paramount+

Fans of true-crime can stream "American Murder: Gabby Petito."

The new docuseries explores the 2021 death of Gabby Petito, a 22-year-old aspiring influencer who vanished while on a road trip with her fiancé, Brian Laundrie.

Streaming on: Netflix

Try "Zero Day" if you want a show you can speed through.

The new drama, with headlining stars Robert de Niro, Lizzy Caplan, Angela Bassett, and Dan Stevens, is Netflix's latest entry into the prestige TV game.

The political thriller is a quick watch with only six episodes.

Streaming on: Netflix

The SAG Awards are on this weekend.

The 2025 awards season has been a messy one, and it'll finally end with the Academy Awards on March 2.

The SAG Awards, although less prestigious than the Oscars, are the last major awards show that might indicate who the frontrunners are before Hollywood's biggest night.

Streaming on: Netflix

"A Thousand Blows" is a drama inspired by a true story.

The new series from the creator of "Peaky Blinders" focuses on the gritty bare-knuckle boxing scene in London's East End in the 1880s. It's also inspired by a true story.

Streaming on: Hulu

Horror fans can finally stream "Nosferatu" at home.

Robert Eggers' reimagining of the horror classic stars Lily-Rose Depp as the tormented Ellen Hutter, Nicholas Hoult as her devoted husband Thomas, and Bill Skarsgård as Count Orlok — the titular nosferatu who's obsessed with having her.

(Bonus: Tubi has the original "Nosferatu.")

Streaming on: Peacock

"1923" returns this weekend.

The "Yellowstone" prequel, starring Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren, returns for its second season on Sunday.

Streaming on: Paramount+

The "Suits" spinoff is also premiering.

Stephen Amell stars in "Suits LA," a show set within the same universe as the USA Network hit "Suits."

We'll keep tuning in, at least until Gabriel Macht's eventual appearance as fan-favorite Harvey Spector from the original series.

Streaming on: Peacock

• Gabby Petito disappeared while on a cross-country road trip with her fiancé, Brian Laundrie.
• After Laundrie returned home without Petito, he and his parents did not cooperate with police.
• Petito's remains were found, and Laundrie then died by suicide. Her parents have sued his parents over the death.

The disappearance of Gabby Petito gripped the world in 2021. Now, it's the focus of a new Netflix docuseries.

Petito, a 22-year-old New York native and aspiring vlogger who had set off on a cross-country road trip to build a career as a Van Life influencer, was reported missing by her parents after they hadn't heard from her.

Petito's parents also hadn't heard from their daughter's fiancé, Brian Laundrie, who was on the trip with her. Unbeknownst to them, Laundrie had returned home to Florida with their van — but without Petito.

Suspicion quickly fell on Laundrie, who refused to cooperate with police. He ultimately vanished as well, days before Petito's remains were uncovered in Wyoming. Laundrie's body was ultimately found in a Florida nature reserve near his parents' home.

According to the FBI, Laundrie's notebook, in which he took responsibility for Petito's death, was found near his remains.

Though the perpetrator himself was dead, the case didn't end there. Netflix's three-part docuseries "American Murder: Gabby Petito" explores the allegations that Laundrie's parents, Roberta and Christopher Laundrie, knew he killed Petito and kept silent to protect their son.

The Laundries have denied the claims.

Here's what happened to Laundrie's parents after the couple's deaths, according to BI's previous reporting.

Gabby Petito was killed while on a road trip with her fiancé Brian Laundrie

Petito and Laundrie started dating in 2019 and later moved to North Port, Florida, to live near Laundrie's family. The two got engaged in July 2020 and set off on a cross-country road trip in their 2012 Ford Transit van in July 2021.

On August 12, 2021, Petito called her parents after getting into a physical altercation with Laundrie in Moab, Utah, where the police were called by a witness who reported a man slapping a girl. The police officers didn't pursue charges against either, instead advising Laundrie to check into a hotel to separate from Petito for the night.

Police bodycam footage from the Moab incident showed a distraught and crying Petito interacting with the officers.

Petito's last Instagram post was shared on August 25, 2021. Her family continued receiving texts from Petito's phone number until August 30. However, as the Netflix docuseries notes, authorities and Petito's family later came to believe that those were messages sent by Laundrie from Petito's recovered phone after he had already killed her in order to cover up the crime.

Petito's mother, Nichole Schmidt, became alarmed when her daughter, who'd meticulously posted updates about the trip on her Instagram account and regularly called home, stopped responding to her. After failing to get her on the phone, Schmidt finally reported Petito missing on September 11.

The Suffolk County Police Department, where Petito lived, coordinated with the North Port, Florida authorities, where Petito and Laundrie had been living with Laundrie's parents, in their initial investigation. They ultimately recovered the van at Laundrie's parents' residence. They learned Laundrie had also returned home without his fiancée, prompting immediate suspicion.

Brian Laundrie's parents refused to speak with authorities, the press, or Gabby Petito's family

A North Port police spokesperson previously told Business Insider that their officer had made "an attempt to talk with Brian, and his family declined to make him available," instead telling them to speak with their attorney.

Laundrie's lawyer made several public statements to the press throughout the search for Petito, maintaining that Laundrie and his parents would not speak to the authorities, even as Petito's parents pleaded for their help at news conferences for their missing daughter.

Laundrie's family informed North Port police on September 17 that they hadn't seen Laundrie since he left for a solo hiking trip at Carlton Reserve near their home several days earlier. Two days after that, Petito's remains were found in the Bridger-Teton National Forest in Wyoming. A coroner later determined Petito's cause of death to be strangulation.

A federal arrest warrant for Laundrie was issued on September 22, and the Laundrie family's attorney told the press that his parents didn't know where he was amid speculation that they were concealing his location, which they denied.

Skeletal remains were found on October 20 after his parents joined search efforts. It was quickly confirmed to be Laundrie's. His cause of death was ruled a suicide in November 2021.

Laundrie took responsibility for Petito's death in a notebook found near the remains, according to authorities. As shown in the docuseries, Laundrie claimed that he'd found Petito injured and ended her suffering, a story that was inconsistent with the autopsy report on her cause of death.

Brian Laundrie's parents were sued over Gabby Petito's death but didn't face criminal charges

As the Netflix docuseries notes, no criminal charges were filed against the Laundries, despite the Petito family's attorney saying that prosecutors had at one point been considering whether to charge "additional individuals" in Petito's disappearance and killing.

Petito's family filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against Brian Laundrie's estate in 2022 in Sarasota County, Florida, where the Laundries live. In November 2022, a judge ordered Laundrie's estate to pay $3 million to Petito's estate. The Petito family's attorney said in a statement at the time that any recovered money would go to the Gabby Petito Foundation established in their daughter's honor.

As of February 2025, the family's lawyer told BI via email that the $3 million hadn't been paid, as the value of Laundrie's estate was "minimal."

Petito's parents filed a separate suit against Laundrie's parents and their attorney, Steve Bertolino, for emotional distress. The suit alleged that the three knew Petito was dead before her body was found and that they'd intentionally inflicted emotional distress on Petito's family by withholding information and issuing public statements that gave them "false hope" that Petito might still be found alive.

In a statement to BI at the time, Bertolino denied the allegations and maintained that the Laundries had no legal obligation to speak to the authorities or Petito's parents during the search for Petito.

According to a statement from Petito's parents shared by their attorney, the suit was settled in February 2024 "after a long day of mediation" for an undisclosed sum.

"All parties reluctantly agreed in order to avoid further legal expenses and prolonged personal conflict," the statement read.

"Our hope is to close this chapter of our lives to allow us to move on and continue to honor the legacy of our beautiful daughter, Gabby," it continued.

In a 2023 deposition for the civil case, viewed by BI, Roberta Laundrie maintained that she didn't know Petito was dead until the news reports that her body had been recovered on September 19, 2021.

Christopher Laundrie said in a 2023 deposition for the case that Brian had called him and told him "Gabby's gone" and that he might need a lawyer. He said he hadn't known what that meant exactly, even though he subsequently retained Bertolino on his son's behalf before Brian had returned to Florida. Roberta Laundrie also addressed the phone call in her deposition and said she didn't think "Gabby's gone" had meant she was dead.

The Laundries weren't the only ones to face legal action in connection with Petito's death. The Petitos also filed a $50 million lawsuit against the Moab police department, which alleged that officers were negligent in their handling of the domestic violence incident in Moab and that Petito's death a few weeks later could have been prevented if they had taken action then.

A judge dismissed that case in November 2024. At the time, Petito's parents indicated they planned to appeal. Their lawyer, in that matter, didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from BI.

The Laundrie family didn't participate in interviews for the Netflix docuseries and declined to comment to the producers through their lawyer.

Lawyers for Roberta and Christopher Laundrie, and Stephen Bertolino didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from BI. The lawyer who represented Nichole Schmidt and Joe Petito in their suits against Laundrie's estate and his parents declined to comment.

"American Murder: Gabby Petito" is now streaming on Netflix.

• Alia Shawkat won't get another appearance in "Severance" season two.
• She told BI she was a huge fan of the show before briefly joining the cast.
• Shawkat appeared in the first episode as a new Lumon employee on Mark's team.

We're halfway through the new season of "Severance," and if you were hoping for a certain guest star's return, we have some bad news for you.

Business Insider spoke to Alia Shawkat on the red carpet for her movie "Atropia" at the Sundance Film Festival in January. Shawkat addressed her appearance in the "Severance" season two premiere and whether fans can expect to ever see her character again.

The short answer is no — not as far as Shawkat is aware.

"I'm only in the first episode," she confirmed.

"Unless they shot something without me knowing," she joked.

"Severance" follows employees of the fictional Lumon Industries who have agreed to be "severed." The procedure keeps the employee's work memories separate from their non-work memories, effectively creating split personalities that exist inside and outside the office building — "innies" and "outies."

Shawkat was one of several big names to appear in the second season of the breakout Apple TV+ hit, including "Game of Thrones" star Gwendoline Christie, "Nurse Jackie" star Merritt Wever, and Keanu Reeves, who had an uncredited role as the voice of the Lumon building.

In the season premiere, Shawkat plays Gwendolyn Y., an innie who joins the Macrodata Refinement team (MDR) that Mark S. (Adam Scott) runs. Gwendolyn is one of several new employees who suddenly show up at Lumon, having replaced Mark's friends and coworkers Dylan G. (Zach Cherry), Helly R. (Britt Lower), and Irving B. (John Turturro) after the group managed to remotely awaken their innies in the outside world, an incident dubbed the "Macrodat Uprising."

Mark, desperate to get his friends back, sabotages his new team as a distraction to reach the mysterious Lumon board and demand their return. It works, and Gwendolyn and the other newbies aren't seen again (at least as of episode six, which aired Friday).

Shawkat's casting, announced in October 2022, generated excitement among viewers. Even though her appearance was effectively a cameo, Shawkat loved her brief time on the set. She praised the show and said she was a big fan even before her guest spot.

"I love being a part of that world," she told BI. "It's fun to be a part of something that's so specific and unique. And as an actor, you hope you get lucky enough to be in those worlds."

New episodes of "Severance" season two are released weekly on Fridays on Apple TV+.

• The first teaser for "Good American Family" was released this week.
• The new Hulu show is based on the true story of Ukrainian orphan Natalia Grace Barnett.
• Ellen Pompeo plays Kristine Barnett, Natalia Grace's adoptive mother, who said the girl was really an adult.

The true story behind the upcoming Hulu show "Good American Family" proves that reality can be stranger than fiction.

The streamer released the first trailer for the series this week, which quickly accumulated over 2.5 million views on YouTube.

The clip centers on Kristine Barnett (Ellen Pompeo), a mom and wife living a seemingly idyllic life who receives a call from an adoption agency that a Ukrainian orphan needs a home — a little girl named Natalia Grace.

Mark Duplass plays Kristine's husband, Michael Barnett, and Imogen Faith Reid plays Natalia Grace.

Here's what you need to know about the real people the show is based on and the complicated true story behind it.

Natalia Grace's adoptive parents said she was an adult posing as a child

Natalia Grace's story was first publicized in 2019 after her adoptive parents were charged with neglect, which they denied.

Kristine and Michael Barnett, an Indiana couple who have since divorced, adopted Natalia in 2010. At the time, they were told that the girl, who has a form of dwarfism, was 6 years old.

The Barnetts said they came to believe that Natalia, who they said had menstrual periods and pubic hair, was really a grown woman with a mental illness. Kristine Barnett said that Natalia terrorized their family, trying to kill them and pouring bleach into her coffee.

The Barnetts successfully petitioned the court to change Natalia's legal age from 8 to 22 in 2012, making her a legal adult. They then put Natalia up in an apartment in Lafayette, Indiana, in 2013 and moved their family to Canada.

Natalia, who has always maintained she was a child, was left to fend for herself for years. She ended up in the care of Cynthia and Antwon Mans, another couple with multiple adopted children.

After a yearslong investigation, the Barnetts were charged with neglect. Michael was acquitted of the charges in October 2022, and the charges against Kristine were dismissed in March 2023.

Natalia Grace's story was told in a multi-season docuseries

The description for "Good American Family" notes that the fictionalized drama is "inspired by multiple stories, perspectives, threats, interpretations, and accusations."

The convoluted saga was previously unpacked in a docuseries, "The Curious Case of Natalia Grace," which aired for three seasons on Investigation Discovery from 2023 to 2025. The series focused on the perspectives of several key people involved in the story.

The first installment told the backstory of the case and largely focused on Michael Barnett's perspective and the Barnetts' argument that Natalia was an adult. Natalia didn't participate in that installment but was the central focus of a follow-up, dubbed "The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: Natalia Speaks," in 2024.

"Natalia Speaks" presented the story from her perspective, saying Kristine Barnett had been abusive to her and had concocted the story (which had eerie similarities to the plot of the 2009 horror movie "Orphan") in order to get rid of her. It even featured a confrontation between Natalia and Michael, who apologized to his former adoptive daughter for his actions and said he'd also been abused by Kristine.

The second installment appeared to end happily, with Natalia getting closure from Michael Barnett, taking a DNA test to determine her true age, and being formally adopted by the Mans family. However, the shocking ending of "Natalia Speaks" included a phone call that implied Natalia was at odds with the Mans family as well.

The "Final Chapter," an additional four episodes released in January 2025, followed Natalia's friction with Cynthia and Antwon Mans. She left them to live with Nicole and Vince DePaul, a couple with dwarfism who'd previously tried to adopt Natalia before the Barnetts did. Nicole DePaul accused Cynthia and Antwon Mans of stealing Natalia's money, which the Mans family has denied.

Today, Natalia is still living with the DePaul family, has a long-distance boyfriend in the UK named Neil, and apparently is estranged from the Manses, who remain her legal parents.

Kristine Barnett has maintained in public social media posts that Natalia was an adult all along, calling her former adoptive daughter a "sociopath," and has denied abuse allegations.

"Good American Family" will premiere on March 19 on Hulu.

• Beloved shows like "The White Lotus" and "Yellowjackets" are back this week.
• Netflix has a new season of "Love Is Blind" and a new original rom-com.
• Movies like "Flow" and "Sly Lives!" are now streaming, too.

Lots of buzzy new and returning shows are out this week.

"Yellowjackets" and "The White Lotus" are each back for a third season, while the eighth (!) season of "Love Is Blind" arrives just in time for Valentine's Day.

There are also several movies available, both new originals (like Netflix's frothy "La Dolce Villa") and theatrical releases (like the horror hit "Longlegs" and the Oscar-nominated "Flow") making their streaming debuts.

Here's a complete rundown of all the best movies, shows, and documentaries to stream this weekend, broken down by what kind of entertainment you're looking for.

Music fans should watch "Sly Lives!"

Questlove, who won acclaim for his 2021 directorial debut "Summer of Soul," focuses his second documentary feature on the groundbreaking funk band Sly & The Family Stone. "Sly Lives! (aka The Burden of Black Genius)" details the band's legacy in the music industry, featuring interviews from Andre 3000, Chaka Khan, Q-Tip, and Clive Davis, among others.

Streaming on: Hulu

And for Broadway lovers, there's "Waitress: The Musical."

The Tony-nominated Broadway show, based on the 2007 film of the same name, features songs composed by Sara Bareilles. The filmed version of "Waitress: The Musical" features Bareilles as Jenna, a small-town waitress stuck in an abusive marriage.

Streaming on: Max

For something family-friendly, watch "Flow."

The Oscar-nominated animated movie — Latvia's entry in the best international feature category — follows a cat (dubbed simply "Cat") who embarks on an epic journey after its home is destroyed by a devastating flood.

Streaming on: Max

"Yellowjackets" returns this week.

Yes, the teen Yellowjackets are still stranded in the wilderness when season three returns — and no, we're not much closer to figuring out what, exactly, is going on there and if it's something definitively supernatural.

The present-day portion of the story, meanwhile, picks up after the unexpected death of adult Natalie (Juliette Lewis) in the season two finale.

Streaming on: Paramount+ with Showtime

So does "The White Lotus."

HBO's hit satirical anthology series returns for its third season, this time following guests and employees at the Thailand property of the fictional White Lotus resort chain.

Streaming on: Max

And another new season of "Love Is Blind" is here.

The eighth season of "Love Is Blind" follows singles in Minneapolis looking for love. Five couples leave the pods engaged, but as per usual it's not likely all five will make it to the altar.

The first six episodes (featuring the entire blind-dating pod portion of the "dating experiment" and the first episode of the couples' getaway trip) are out now.

Streaming on: Netflix

"Cobra Kai" aired its final episodes.

The series finale of the "Karate Kid" spinoff/reboot aired this week, bringing the redemption arc of Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) to its conclusion. But fear not: the ending of "Cobra Kai" season six, part three won't spell the end of the franchise, which is getting a new movie in May.

Streaming on: Netflix

Looking for something light and romantic? Check out "La Dolce Villa."

Netflix's latest original rom-com centers on a businessman (Scott Foley) who unexpectedly finds love after he travels to Italy to stop his daughter from restoring a dilapidated villa.

Totally how most of these 1-euro home renovations go!

Streaming on: Netflix

Or "Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy."

Bridget Jones' story, which kicked off with the first film in 2001, finally comes to an end with the fourth installment. "Mad About the Boy" finds a widowed Bridget (Renée Zellweger), now a mom to two kids, torn between two new love interests several years after the death of Mark Darcy (Colin Firth).

Streaming on: Peacock

Excellent news for horror lovers: "Longlegs" is finally streaming.

The indie release from filmmaker Osgood Perkins was one of the biggest (and most successful) movies of 2024 — largely thanks to Neon's brilliant marketing campaign that built up anticipation through cryptic teasers and a mysterious billboard with a phone number that led callers to pre-recorded messages from Nicolas Cage's Longlegs, the film's enigmatic villain.

Go watch and and then come back here for a rundown of the "Longlegs" ending.

Streaming on: Hulu

• Devin is the last man to propose on "Love Is Blind" season eight.
• He struggles to choose between Virginia and Brittany in the first half of the season.
• Here is what we know about Devin and Virginia's relationship status.

Warning: Spoilers ahead for the first twelve episodes of "Love Is Blind" season eight.

Devin proposes to Virginia in episode six of "Love Is Blind" season eight after being caught in a love triangle. For now, fans are left guessing if their different political views and drama around a prenup may come between them.

In the new season of Netflix's hit dating show, Devin, a 29-year-old director of a youth sports company and a high school basketball coach, connects with two women in the isolated pods: Brittany, a 35-year-old partnership executive, and Virginia, a 34-year-old healthcare recruiter.

Devin struggles to choose between the two until episode four, when Brittany reveals that she has dated women. He tells her he needs time to process this information, which Brittany doesn't appreciate.

During their next pod date in episode five, Brittany and Devin agree to stop dating, so he focuses on Virginia. Devin is the last man to propose in the pods.

In last week's episodes, the couple has a great time on their honeymoon, but when they return, Virginia drops a bombshell: She wants a prenup.

Devin is initially unsure but seems to agree after their conversation. Then, in episode 11, he falters again when Virginia gives him the prenup to sign, and they get into a minor dispute.

In episode 12, Devin says he's happy to sign after having a lawyer and family member look at the document.

Their political views are also a sore point. In episode 10, Virginia grills Devin to determine whether they are on the same page regarding abortion and other topics.

Devin says he doesn't have a strong political stance, but his family votes "conservative," while Virginia says that she and her family normally vote Democrat.

The two conflicts could be weighing on the couple's minds when they come to the altar in next week's episodes.

Devin doesn't follow Virginia or Brittany on Instagram

Before the season finale, it is hard to tell on social media who is still dating, as "Love Is Blind" participants withhold this information to prevent spoilers.

Ahead of the series' release, Virginia and Devin did not follow each other on Instagram, unlike other couples from the season. But Virginia is now following Devin and many of her castmates on Instagram. Devin is still not following any of his castmates on Instagram or TikTok.

Both contestants have shared pictures and clips on Instagram from the show, similar to the other engaged castmates. However, neither of them have been tagged in or liked each other's posts.

This could indicate that Virginia and Devin had split, or it could be a red herring. Some of the most successful "Love Is Blind" couples, like Garrett and Taylor from season seven, also weren't mutuals as the season aired.

As for Brittany, she is following Devin but he doesn't follow her back.

Fans will have to wait until the finale airs in March for confirmation of Devin and Virginia's relationship status.

The first twelve episodes of "Love Is Blind" season eight are now streaming on Netflix.

• Check out new shows like "Apple Cider Vinegar" and "The Z-Suite" this weekend.
• Movies like "Kinda Pregnant" and "We Live in Time" are also streaming.
• Plus find out how to stream the Super Bowl.

If you love fictionalized dramas about shocking true (or at least partly true) stories, you're in luck: Netflix has released yet another one this week.

"Apple Cider Vinegar" dramatizes the story of a popular wellness influencer who told her followers she had brain cancer. The only problem? It was a complete lie.

There are also other new and returning shows to stream this weekend, like Tubi's workplace comedy "The Z-Suite" and the premiere of "The Kardashians" season six.

Looking for a movie to watch instead? There's the new Netflix original rom-com "Kinda Pregnant," and two 2024 theatrical releases finally getting their streaming debut: "Piece by Piece" and "We Live in Time."

Here's a complete rundown of all the best movies, shows, and documentaries to stream this weekend, broken down by what kind of entertainment you're into.

For a true-ish story, watch "Apple Cider Vinegar."

Netflix's latest fictionalized drama is about Belle Gibson, a real-life wellness blogger who built an empire off of the lie she had cancer. Kaitlyn Dever (who'll next appear in "The Last of Us" season two) stars as Gibson.

Streaming on: Netflix

Love workplace comedies? Check out "The Z-Suite."

"Gilmore Girls" star Lauren Graham leads this new workplace comedy, playing an ad agency exec who's "canceled" and then replaced by her company's Gen Z social media team.

Streaming on: Tubi

You might have heard about a little thing called the Super Bowl.

The Eagles and the Chiefs are facing off on Sunday. Kendrick Lamar, who is fresh off a glut of Grammy wins, is set for the halftime show.

Streaming on: Tubi

History buffs can check out Kevin Costner's new show.

Off the success of Kevin Costner's 2022 docuseries "Yellowstone: One-Fifty," about the history of the national park, he's reteamed with Fox Nation for another, similarly themed unscripted series.

In "Yellowstone to Yosemite with Kevin Costner," the actor, who executive produced this three-parter in addition to hosting it, traces the 1903 Yosemite expedition undertaken by then-president Theodore Roosevelt and the naturalist John Muir.

If you love history or awe-inspiring landscapes, this one's for you.

Streaming on: Fox Nation

Reality TV fans can tune into "The Kardashians" premiere.

The sixth season of the KarJenner clan's rebooted reality show picks up with Kim Kardashian heading to the White House, Khloé reuniting with her ex-husband Lamar Odom, and Kourtney turning 45.

Streaming on: Hulu

Want a rom-com? Stream "Kinda Pregnant."

Amy Schumer plays a woman who fakes being pregnant after becoming jealous of her expecting best friend. When she meets a new love interest, she's forced to keep up the ruse.

Streaming on: Netflix

"Invincible" returned this week.

The acclaimed adult animated superhero show, following Steven Yeun's superhero Mark Grayson (aka Invincible), is back for its third season.

Streaming on: Prime Video

Looking for a good cry? "We Live in Time" is now streaming.

The heartfelt, and surprisingly funny, drama focuses on Almut (Florence Pugh) and Tobias (Andrew Garfield), a young couple who are tested when Almut is diagnosed with cancer. An unconventional love story, "We Live in Time" is told in a unique non-linear format.

Streaming on: Max

"Piece by Piece" is a must for music lovers.

Why make a straightforward musician biopic when you can make one where the subject is an anthropomorphized CGI chimp or, in the case of "Piece by Piece," made out of Legos? The 2024 film tells the life story of Pharrell Williams through Lego animation.

Streaming on: Peacock

• "Jurassic World Rebirth" will effectively be a franchise reset.
• David Koepp, who wrote "Jurassic Park" and "The Lost World: Jurassic Park," returned for the 2025 sequel.
• Koepp told BI he was excited to "start over" and introduce new characters.

"A new era is born." That's the tagline for the upcoming "Jurassic World Rebirth." It's also the ethos for the film's thematic reset.

Universal released the film's first full trailer Wednesday, which introduces brand new characters in the saga and sets the stage for the multibillion-dollar franchise's reset after the poorly reviewed "Jurassic World Dominion."

The movie also marks the return of screenwriter David Koepp, who wrote the first two movies in the franchise created by Michael Crichton: the 1993 original "Jurassic Park" and its 1997 sequel "The Lost World: Jurassic Park," both directed by Steven Spielberg.

Koepp told Business Insider he was elated to revisit the beloved franchise and was eager to start from scratch after the conclusion of the second trilogy led by Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard.

"The chance to start over in terms of tweaking the tone a little bit maybe, and bringing in all new characters, that was really exciting," Koepp said.

He said the goal was "to recapture a spirit and tone" of the first two films in the franchise.

"Those first two movies were some of my favorite writing experiences ever," Koepp said. "It's just a great, fun sandbox to play in."

"Rebirth" follows paleontologist Henry Loomis (Jonathan Bailey), covert operations expert Zora Bennett (Scarlett Johansson), and team leader Duncan Kincaid (Mahershala Ali) on a dangerous mission to the research facility for the original Jurassic Park, where they must retrieve DNA from the three biggest dinosaurs — creatures that were "too dangerous" for the original park — for medical research.

Koepp worked to integrate his deep love and knowledge of Crichton's books and the original franchise into the new movie, previously teasing that "Rebirth" would have a sequence from the original Crichton book he'd had to scrap from the original movies. There are also more explicit links to the first movie: Bailey told Vanity Fair that his character has a connection to Sam Neill's Dr. Alan Grant.

Koepp told BI that although "Rebirth" is an original story and is not based on the plots of any Crichton novel, he reread both of Crichton's "Jurassic Park" novels before writing and incorporated "a number of things" from them.

"There's so many little treasures in it," Koepp said of Crichton's "Jurassic Park" books. "It's 800 pages of great moments and great research and just really wonderful ideas."

Though little else is known about the film so far, Koepp is enthusiastic about the end result. "I'm delighted about it," he said. "I haven't seen it yet, but I can't wait."

"Jurassic World Rebirth" will be in theaters on July 2.