Netflix’s May Lineup: From Judy Blume Reimagined to ABBA’s 50th Anniversary

It’s smorgasbord month for May’s Netflix programming. See a reimagining of a frequently attacked (by sexual prudes calling themselves concerned parents) Judy Blume classic. Catch a slice of period Americana from George Lucas and see a restoration of Steven Spielberg’s first feature film. Take in new seasons of an animated science fiction/horror anthology featuring the occasional robot or the Korean reality game show pitting such smart people as a champion Go player or a high school science prodigy against each other. For those desiring something light, there’s a new documentary about the band whose songs make up the backbone of the musical “Mamma Mia.”

Whether you’re in the mood for dark side of sports documentaries or a transplanted Scandi-noir series, this is a great month to check out Netflix.

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American Graffiti–George Lucas directed and partially wrote this slice of 1962 Americana set in Modesto, California.  It may be the last night of summer vacation, but for a quartet of high school age teens it will be a highly eventful evening.  Friends Curt (Richard Dreyfuss) and Steve (Ron Howard) are heading east to start college, but Curt is having second thoughts.  An obsession with a beautiful blonde woman and an encounter with the greaser gang known as The Pharoahs makes the night more “interesting” for Curt.  Unpopular Terry tries to impress the rebellious Debbie with a car he’s safeguarding.  Drag-racing king John Milner gets challenged for his crown by the aggressive Bob Falfa (Harrison Ford).

The Four Seasons–Tina Fey helms a series adaptation of Alan Alda’s 1981 romantic comedy.  Six long time friends who have paired off into three couples regularly get together for seasonal getaways.  But this particular weekend getaway is anything but peaceful when one of the couples reveals they’re getting divorced.  The repercussions of that pending divorce wind up affecting the other friends and their relationships among each other.  The cast includes Fey, Will Forte, Colman Domingo, and Steve Carrell.

Mid90s–Jonah Hill’s directorial debut is a semi-autobiographical look at 1990s Los Angeles skate culture.  13-year-old Stevie lives at home with single mother Dabney and abusive older brother Ian.  A sighting of a group of skateboarders hanging out at the Motor Avenue Skateshop eventually leads to Stevie joining the group despite his lack of boarding experience.  The boy wants to emulate the group’s daredevil attitude and nonconformist behavior.  Over the next few weeks, Stevie will smoke pot, have his first sexual experience, and face his self-harming tendencies.

Past Lives–Celine Song’s acclaimed romantic drama spans a 24-year period in the lives of two people.  In 1999, Na Young and Hae Sung are classmates in South Korea on the verge of developing feelings for one another.  However, Na Young’s family emigrates to Canada and the two classmates lose touch with each other.  In 2011, Na Young has changed her name to Nora and is now in New York City pursuing a writing career.  Hae Sung has done his military service and is heading for China.  In 2023, Hae Sung travels to New York City to visit Nora.  But by this time, she’s married to fellow writer Arthur Zaturansky.  What shape can Nora and Hae Sung’s relationship take now?

The Sugarland Express–Steven Spielberg made his feature directing debut with this crime comedy based on a true story.  When the married small-time crooks known as the Poplins (aka Lou-Jean (Goldie Hawn) and Clovis) lose their baby to Texas’ foster care system, they’re determined to get their child back no matter how many laws they have to break.  What follows is a jailbreak, an attempt to finesse Texas foster care procedures, and a hostage situation with a highway patrolman.  The police may be mounting a massive dragnet for them, but the criminal family becomes unlikely folk heroes.  Now restored in 4K for the film’s 50th anniversary.

May 6

The Devil’s Plan Season 2–It’s the return of this Korean reality show where 14 celebrity players live together for a week and compete in games of wit, strategy, and wisdom for a $370,000 prize.  The title for this season is “Death Room,” so named for a particular competition room in the Middle Ages monastery-like set’s Prison Section.  In addition, some of the games created for this season were devised in collaboration with some of the applicants who didn’t get selected for the show.  The diverse cast includes a Go player who defeated an AI Go player, an actress with a science high school degree, and a professional poker player and music producer.   

UNTOLD: Shooting Guards–It’s the return of Netflix’s sports documentary series about legendary unsavory events in the world of sports.  This film recounts the notorious 2009 locker room incident between Washington Wizards guards Gilbert Arenas and Javaris Crittenton.  Arenas was once considered an NBA elite scorer with an All Star career ahead of him.  But he also didn’t know the difference between pranking and going too far.  A locker room gambling dispute would result in Arenas and Crittenton drawing guns on each other…and wound up seriously damaging if not destroying each man’s professional sports career.     

May 8

Forever–Mara Brock Akil (“Stamped From The Beginning”) helms this reimagination of the titular Judy Blume novel.   Keisha Clark and Justin Edwards are two Los Angeles highschoolers who become each other’s first love after meeting at a New Year’s Eve party.  Keisha thinks their love will be forever especially after she loses her virginity to Justin.  But during a summer separated from each other, Keisha develops feelings for another boy.  Now she questions both her love for Justin and even what she means by a forever love.

The Haunted Apartment: “Miss K”–In this Indonesian horror tale, Alma and her sister Mia move to Surabaya following their mother’s death.  Alma gets a job managing the Sasmaya Apartments, but discovers a building oddity: the 6th floor is mysteriously sealed.  When the sisters have to enter Apartment 610, they learn the hard way why the entire floor was sealed.   Anybody who enters that particular apartment is fated to die within four days at sunset.  

May 9

Nonnas–Vince Vaughn stars in this heartwarming dramedy based on a true story.  Jody “Joe” Scaravella (Vaughn) feels stuck in his dead-end MTA job.  When his beloved mother dies, he has an idea to honor her memory.  Both Scaravella’s late mother and grandmother cultivated in him a love of food.  Using the money he inherits from his mother and the help of best friend Bruno (Joe Manganiello), he opens up the local Italian joint Enoteca Maria.  However, this Staten Island establishment will only be staffed by nonnas (grandmothers) who will cook nostalgic Italian recipes.  Playing the titular grandmothers are Susan Sarandon, Talia Shire, Brenda Vaccaro, and Lorraine Bracco.

May 11

ABBA: Against The Odds–Would you believe it’s been 50 years since ABBA’s unexpected win at the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest with their song “Waterloo?”  Who could have expected that win would launch them to world-wide fame?  The band’s behind the scenes drama (e.g. marital tensions, a failed US tour, and an image as a “kitsch” band) may not be the stuff of tabloid fodder.  But regardless of ABBA’s highs and lows, what has always shone through over the years has been the group’s very real talent for creating catchy earworms.  And yes, ABBA’s greatest hits will be heard throughout the film.

May 12

Tastefully Yours–Han Boem-Woo and Mo Yeon-Joo have feelings about food that are polar opposites.  Han may be the heir of a large food company and runs a Seoul fine dining restaurant, yet he cares nothing about taste.  Mo is a chef who runs an anonymous one-table restaurant way out in the sticks, yet she’s crazy about taste.  Somehow, these two people wind up working together to run a small Jeonju restaurant, and even fall in love with each other.

May 13

UNTOLD: The Liver King—Brian Johnson aka The Liver King publicly claimed he ate about a pound of raw liver daily.  He would build both an impressive set of muscles and a nearly 3 million follower Instagram account.  But his broadcast workouts and daily meals would omit the ugly truth that the muscles he displayed wasn’t the product of his so-called ancestral lifestyle, but resulted from frequent use of steroids.  Yet that wouldn’t be the craziest part of Johnson’s story.

May 14 

Garbo: Where Did You Go?–Lorna Tucker’s documentary about Golden Age of Hollywood legend Greta Garbo starts off with the mystery of why the actress disappeared from the limelight at the height of her Hollywood fame in 1941.  In investigating Garbo’s life, the viewer will be treated not only to vintage Garbo movie clips but also readings by Noomi Rapace from the actress’ personal letters and recorded phone conversations.  But the big draw of the film will probably be reflections on Garbo’s life from a group of Swedish commentators.   

Smile–Therapist Rose Cotter doesn’t initially believe a patient’s story of a death curse involving an invisible entity that manifests as weirdly smiling people…until the patient commits suicide in front of her.  But a series of hallucinations soon convinces the therapist that the curse is very real.  However, Cotter’s loved ones now think she’s becoming mentally unbalanced and a danger to herself.  Can the desperate therapist find the cause of this curse, one which has sparked a chain of suicides?

May 15

Bet–This live-action adaptation of the manga and anime “Kakegurui” (“Gambling School” in English) is set at a prestigious academy for wealthy students.  Here, a student’s place in the school’s social hierarchy depends on their gambling skills.  Enter the mysterious Japanese transfer student Yumeko.  She’s come on a mission of revenge and has a prowess at gambling that may result in the school’s status quo getting overturned.  But the powerful Student Council has no intention of letting Yumeko succeed in her quest.

Love, Death, + Robots Season 4–It’s the return of the adult animated horror, science fiction and comedy shorts series presented by Tim Miller (“Deadpool”) and David Fincher (“Mindhunter”).  This year’s crop of stories include a Red Hot Chili Peppers concert where the band is recreated as string puppets, a world domination-seeking cat who’s introduced to the Internet, and a priest taking a beach walk with a squid-like robot.

Secrets We Keep (aka The Reserve)–In an affluent Copenhagen neighborhood, a Filipino au pair named Ruby disappears, yet the police consider her disappearance a low priority.  Neighbor Cecile and her au pair Angel suspect a crime may have been committed.  They join forces with newly minted police investigator Aicha and start learning about the power structures and privileges among the other households in the neighborhood.  But what will Cecile do when it turns out her own family is somehow connected to Ruby’s increasingly sinister disappearance?

May 16

Football Parents–In this Dutch comedy series, newcomer Levi wants to take part in a children’s amateur football team.  His mother Lilian isn’t so sure as the children’s overenthusiastic parents, led by the overbearing Marenka, see nothing wrong in actively interfering with their kids’ attempts to just have fun.  However, when Levi becomes friends with the very eccentric Vito (aka Marenka’s son), Lilian has no choice but to regularly put up with people she’d much rather prefer to keep at a distance.

Instant Family–Married couple Pete (Mark Wahlberg) and Ellie (Rose Byrne) Wagner decide to adopt a foster child.  They think they’ve found The One in teenage Lizzie, but adopting her also means adopting Lizzie’s younger siblings Juan and Lita.  Eventually agreeing to adopt all three children means Pete and Ellie must deal with their new kids’ quirks, such as a tendency to throw tantrums or resentment at being under parental supervision.  However, thanks to such incidents as an accidental nail gun shooting and therapeutic kitchen demolition, these adults and foster kids might actually cohere into a family.

The Quilters–This award-winning short documentary takes viewers to the maximum-security Missouri prison known as South Central Correctional Center.  In the prison’s sewing room, the men here design and sew beautiful personalized quilts for the birthdays of foster children.  The film follows both these prisoners’ daily struggles as well as the collective creation of several quilts from initial design to completion.

May 20

UNTOLD: The Fall Of Favre–NFL quarterback Brett Favre’s success on the football field became so legendary, he was elected to the Hall Of Fame.  However, way too many people looked the other way regarding reports of Favre’s unsavory off the field misbehavior.  From Favre’s 2008 lewd texting of former “Gameday” host Jenn Sterger to his involvement in a Mississippi $8 million welfare funds scandal, who was responsible for reining the football star in?

May 22

Sirens–When down-on-her-luck Devon (Meghann Fahy) pays a visit to younger sister Simone (Milly Alcock), the latter seems to have it made.  Simone’s working for Michaela Kell (Julianne Moore), the wife of billionaire Peter Kell (Kevin Bacon).  The Kells may be hosting a Labor Day Weekend getaway for their rich society friends on their island home.  But is Michaela secretly leading a girl cult?  And has Simone drank too much of her boss’ Kool-Aid?

May 23

Fear Street: Prom Queen–This new adaptation of a novel from R.L. Stine’s “Fear Street” series takes viewers back to 1988.  It’s prom season at Shadyside High, and the school’s It Girls are competing for the Prom Queen crown.  However, this campaign’s going into unexpected territory thanks in part to a gutsy outsider putting herself into the running.  But that’s nothing compared to the mysterious disappearances of some of the other prom queen candidates, possibly at the hands of a mysterious ax murderer.

May 24

Our Unwritten Seoul–Yoo Mi Ji and Yoo Mi Rae are twin sisters who lead completely different lives.  When they switch identities, the two sisters hope to find real love and even the true meaning of life.  For Yoo Mi Ji, an unexpected reconnection with former classmate Lee Ho Su might provide the answers she seeks. Both of them carry emotional scars they’ve never shared with anyone, and each may find in the other the one true emotional refuge they seek

The Wild Robot—In this acclaimed animated film, a storm at sea results in ROZZUM robot Unit 7134 washing ashore on a forested Oregon island wilderness.  Despite learning to communicate with animals, Roz (Lupita Nyong’o) is treated by the local wildlife as a monster, an impression not helped by her accidental crushing of a goose nest.  Eventually, Roz creates a found family with the fox Fink (Pedro Pascal) and the orphaned barnacle gosling Brightbill.  Can Roz get back in touch with her makers at Universal Dynamics?  Equally importantly, should she do so?

May 26

Cold Case: The Tylenol Murders–This documentary recounts a notorious 1982 crime that changed American society.  A person or persons unknown had laced Tylenol capsules with cyanide.  At least seven people in the Chicago area died after swallowing those poisoned capsules.  The resulting nation-wide panic led to the development of tamper-proof packaging.  To date, the culprit(s) behind the poisonings have not been found.  

May 29

Department Q–Scott Frank (“The Queen’s Gambit”) helms this adaptation of Jussi Adler-Olsen’s Scandi-noir novel series, which moves the original’s setting from Copenhagen to modern-day Edinburgh.  Guilt-ridden police detective Carl Morck (Matthew Goode) is in the career doghouse after a violent incident leaves his partner paralyzed and a policeman dead.  He winds up being tasked with setting up the cold case investigation unit known as Department Q.  However, this basement-based unit is actually a police PR exercise intended as a dumping ground for the police force’s misfits and mavericks.  What the higher-ups such as Chief Superintendent Moira don’t expect is that Morck’s own impressive detective abilities will soon get reawakened.

May 30

A Widow’s Game–This Spanish thriller begins in August 2017 in a Valencia parking garage.  A man is found fatally stabbed to death seven times.  What’s initially believed to be a crime of passion takes an unexpected turn, with the prime suspect being the victim’s young and apparently sweet widow Maje…who’d been married to the victim for less than a year.  Based on the real-life “Black Widow Of Patraix” case.