With midterm season in full swing, Hopkins students are back on the grind. But despite our best efforts to be productive, we always end up back on that beautiful but deadly black hole of time: Netflix. Here are three soon-to-be-released Netflix originals to keep an eye out for over the next month.
Attention fans of Riverdale, there is a new Netflix original series arriving on Oct. 26, and it only takes a short trip across Sweetwater River to get there. Greendale (yes, Riverdale’s neighbor) will be the home of The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, a dark coming-of-age story that reimagines the adventures of your favorite teenage witch, Sabrina Spellman. The series will revive all the favorites: dreamboat Harvey Kinkle (Ross Lynch — a throwback to Austin and Ally for those young enough), aunts Hilda and Zelda Spellman (Lucy Davis and Miranda Otto) and of course Sabrina’s feline companion Salem.
The teenage witch herself will be played by Kiernan Shipka who is best known for her role as Sally Draper in Mad Men. But this rendition of Sabrina will be nothing like the 90s sitcom you know and love. In staple Riverdale fashion, The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina will reveal what hides in the shadows of the characters you only think you know.
Being only half-witch, Sabrina’s life is divided; her school life, a bright world complete with young love, and her home life, a dark and (literally) demonic place of supernatural secrets. The series kicks off with her fast-approaching 16th birthday, where she must choose between her two halves by pledging allegiance to the Dark Lord. While battling this internal struggle, she must also battle the many supernatural enemies that threaten Greendale. Average girl by day, supernatural slayer by night? It is hard not to imagine this series as some sort of Buffy-Riverdale-Exorcist mashup.
For those comfortable with being uncomfortable, your favorite adult-cartoon is back for round two on Oct. 5. Big Mouth, whose first season premiered this time last year, is a crude and comedic show about puberty, following the lives of a group of seventh graders. Unlike most shows, Big Mouth is not afraid to show you the disgusting and humiliating details of puberty, all while giving their viewers a good albeit awkward laugh.
This season you can expect an even wider array of puberty problems our protagonists will face. You can look forward to new cast additions including Gina Rodriguez (Jane from Jane the Virgin) who plays Gina, a girl on Missy and Jessi’s soccer team, and David Thewlis (Lupin from Harry Potter) as The Shame Wizard — arch nemesis of the Hormone Monster.
While definitely a hilarious watch, Big Mouth is not everyone’s cup of tea. The sex-ed-class-in-disguise can easily slip over the thin line between funny and awkward leaving you, the viewer, with a feeling of discomfort not too dissimilar from puberty itself.
If a series feels too “high commitment” for you, catch the upcoming Netflix original film The Kindergarten Teacher on Oct. 12 instead. The Kindergarten Teacher tells the story of Lisa Spinelli (Maggie Gyllenhaal), a 40-year-old kindergarten teacher whose only break from her stagnant life is a night poetry class until she finds a 5-year-old prodigy in her class. Obsessed with his gift for poetry, Lisa goes to extreme (and illegal) lengths to encourage his muse. Whether Lisa is attempting escape from her mundane life or has a genuine interest in the boy’s talent, there is something unsettling about the relationship between the two. The Kindergarten Teacher may look like just another slice of life drama, but even the trailer leaves you with the strange and disturbing aftertaste of a thriller you won’t want to miss.
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