Choosing Your Next Obsession

For the past year, It's safe to say we have been watching a lot of films, reading a lot of books and binging many shows - so while we're waiting for lockdown restrictions to be lifted here are some recommendations from yours truly: If you love this, you'll be just as obsessed with this.

1. Young Adult (2011) & Fleabag (TV Series 2016–2019)

Young Adult sees a divorced writer from the Midwest return to her hometown to reconnect with an old flame, who’s now married with a family. While Fleabag is adapted from the award-winning play about a young woman trying to cope with life in London whilst coming to terms with a recent tragedy

My recommendation: With terrific writing from award-winning screenwriters (Diablo Cody and Phoebe Waller-Bridge) these productions tackle times in our lives that rarely gets addressed. With a brilliant balance of humour and drama, both protagonists have their own coming of age arcs, learning how to process trauma and essentially start healing. The dialogue is well-crafted and it's refreshing to see female roles written with complexity and depth.

2. Twilight Saga (2008-2012) and The Vampire Diaries (2009-2017)

In Twilight, Bella Swan moves to a small town in the Pacific Northwest, she falls in love with Edward Cullen, a mysterious classmate who reveals himself to be a 108-year-old vampire. Similar in Vampire Diaries, the lives, loves, dangers and disasters in the town, Mystic Falls, Virginia. Creatures of unspeakable horror lurk beneath this town as a teenage girl is suddenly torn between two vampire brothers.

My recommendation: With both books being based on pop culture book series set in the 90s and early 2000s - these adaptations were the standpoint of many people's adolescent years. Nostalgia aside, these options offers romance, drama and fantasy for pure escapism. Both are very similar, mortal human torn between ridiculously attractive supernatural love interests - so it does fall into melodramatic tropes at times. However, the Vampire Diaries does show its cast growing into adulthood throughout its eight season run and the five Twilight films have a solid creative team with its screenwriter and directors behind it. Like I said, this is some good escapism romance that has been updated from its source material and something to sink your teeth into!

3. Pride and Prejudice (2005) and Lost in Austen (2008)

In the Jane Austen classic, sparks fly when spirited Elizabeth Bennet meets single, rich, and proud Mr. Darcy. But Mr. Darcy reluctantly finds himself falling in love with a woman beneath his class. Can each overcome their own pride and prejudice? Which serves as the inspiration for Lost in Austen where Amanda, an ardent Jane Austen fan, lives in present day London with her boyfriend Michael, until she finds she's swapped places with Austen's fictional creation Elizabeth Bennet.

My recommendation: While Jane Austen's literally masterpiece has been adapted many, many times throughout film and television history - director Joe Wright and screenwriter Deborah Moggach's interpretation was my first time seeing Elizabeth and Darcy visualised on screen. Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen have spellbinding chemistry and this adaptation captures both the romance and heart of this story. Guy Andrews' refreshing modern take embodies that same heart, with witty diaologue and interesting diversions from the plot - Amanda basically lives every book lover's dream. Both are light easy watches, paying tribute to a classic literature masterpiece.

4. Joker (2019) and The Boys (2019-)

Todd Phillips' twist on the classic villain, follows mentally troubled comedian Arthur Fleck is disregarded and mistreated by society. He then embarks on a downward spiral of revolution and bloody crime. This path brings him face-to-face with his alter-ego: the Joker. And the Boys follows a group of vigilantes set out to take down corrupt superheroes who abuse their superpowers.

My recommendation: For years, heroes and villains have been just that. Both of these productions flip that notion on its head and rewrite these character tropes. This provides a deeper and more layered look at a character's psyche and explores the darker side of the comic book universe.

5. His Dark Materials (2019-) and Emerald City (2016)

This Philip Pullman adaptation sees a young girl destined to liberate her world from the grip of the Magisterium which represses people's ties to magic and their animal spirits known as daemons. And a much under-rated dark reimaging of Wizard of Oz.

My recommendation: The His Dark Materials was a much beloved series and I can honestly say this adaptation really captures the essence of the books - from acting to writing, this production stays true to the source material. One key difference from book to screen, the two protagonists (played by Dafne Keen and Amir Wilson) are older than their book counterparts, but due to the mature nature of the book its a logical casting decision. Speaking of casting, this show has done incredible with its cast - from Ruth Wilson to James McAvoy, this show rarely put a foot wrong. It'll be bittersweet when the third and final season airs. As for Emerald City, although it had a short TV run, it really did great at bringing an adult interpretation to Oz and its characters - Adria Arjona was terrific as a modern day Dorothy Gale and it was absolutely criminal it did not get renewed... but it is still worth the watch!