The Rabbit Hole Oct 2023
Heart's heavy, but here's some content to get you through this season.
Hi everyone. I blinked and it’s nearly two months until the end of 2023. My heart feels very heavy writing this post given everything happening in the world, especially in Palestine. As a mom to an eight month old but also as just a human being, it’s been incredibly hard to watch what’s unfolding in Gaza, but I also know how important it is for all of us to bear witness, to keep our attention focused and alive.
If you follow me on Instagram where I’ve been the most vocal about my beliefs, my viewpoints are quite clear. I'm choosing to instead use this space to give you a break, while naming that that is a privilege so many do not have.
To be very honest, it’s been hard for me to feel inspired by much lately: the SAG-AFTRA strike, while now over for writers, is still ongoing for actors, and I realized that part of the joy I have watching shows and films is also hearing from the creators and makers and their process. As much as I love the end result, the journey is always the most interesting part to me, and man, do I miss the interviews, the long-form podcasts, the BTS stories!
That being said, October has given me some good content to munch on, so sharing my top 3 recommendations below:
Recommendation #1: Lessons in Chemistry (Apple +)
One of my favorite books of the year, Lessons in Chemistry, is now a limited series on Apple +. I’m often wary of such adaptations, and believe it never lives up to the original piece. The show just premiered a few weeks ago, but so far, it’s already as good if not better than the book (please don’t kill me later if this turns out not to be true). Lessons in Chemistry is set in the 1950s & 60s and is the story of Elizabeth Zott, a brilliant chemist, who is constrained by societal expectations of women. She eventually reluctantly stars in her own cooking show that becomes a feminist anthem for houseswives across America. The book was funny, sad, raw, and true, and the show has captured this magic, starring Brie Larson as Zott. There are some small changes — for instance, Zott’s neighbor Harriet is not just a housewife in the tv adaptation, but a black activist during the civil rights movement, which adds a dimension to the story that is welcome. We’re only three episodes in, but it’s already a show that’s made me laugh and cry and clutch my chest after, wishing for more.
Recommendation #2 Flora and Son (Apple +)
If you liked the musical film Once, you’ll love writer-director John Carney’s new film Flora and Son, starring Eve Hewson (who was in the Irish series Bad Sisters and is also Bono’s real-life daughter!). Eve’s Flora is entirely unlikeable, not a great mom to her 14 year old son Max, and is someone with very little direction or ambition in her life. She starts taking guitar lessons online with a teacher (played by Joseph Gordon Levitt), and starts to tap into a creative side she never knew she had. You first think the film is a story about Flora finding herself, but it’s also, at its heart, a story about mother and son. I cried in the last song of the film, which was so beautiful (I was going to paste it below, but that would ruin the film for you, and I really want you to watch it!).
Recommendation #3: Loki (Disney +)
I am a massive Marvel fan. But like many Marvel fans, I have been exhausted by the Marvel universe as of late — I just can’t keep up, and honestly, who cares about some of these random characters?! Not me.
Loki’s Season 1 was a very big exception. Not only did I live for the Tom Hiddleston-Owen Wilson pairing on screen, but the show felt so singular and charming and funny. It was an important piece of Phase 5 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and yet it felt safely contained in its own world. It is, by far, my favorite iteration in this phase.
Season 2 premiered a few weeks ago, and is already a lot of fun. Do you have to be a Marvel fan to watch and understand what’s going on? Somewhat. But if you want an explainer on Loki, I’ve shared a good 9-minute one below:
Until next month, friends!
Kals
So excited to start the new Loki!