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I couldn't help but think the buildup for this film was too massive in an underwhelming 2024 at the cinema, and I wound up feeling validated in that thought. RaMell Ross is clearly a daring director, even if his choices of aspect ratio and first person POV left me cold from the outset. It feels like a better story could've been fashioned together without everything noisy that distracted from the original Colson Whitehead novel. This clear homage to Malick works more as a piece of art than a coherent movie. But even then, Nickel Boys doesn't stand up to similarly themed projects in recent years like The Last Black Man in San Francisco in 2019 or even Sing Sing, which was also released last year.

Shark is an original dark humor short film trilogy from Nash Edgerton, previously of Mr. In-Between fame. The shorts are all based around absurd, yet somehow plausible relationship-gone-wrong scenarios. I can't recommend it any higher, so if you have access to Hulu and a half hour to spare, please allow yourself some unforeseen hilarity.

Be forewarned: Devs is not for everyone.

If you're incapable of processing a show conceptually rather than literally, it's not for you. If you're too impatient and cannot wait until a show is complete to judge it, it's not for you. If you're not willing to put your phone down to watch this show, it's not for you. I could go on, but I think you understand what I'm saying by now.

Alex Garland is a visionary. His work takes big concepts and intermingles them with tried tropes to produce a unique form of entertainment. Devs was an example of that approach being further honed. Garland executed his idea for this show to perfection.

I've seen and heard so much criticism about the acting performances in Devs -- particularly directed toward Sonoya Mizuno -- but I thought the actors, and the characters Garland created for them, were spectacular. I'll grant you that most of the characters were (intentionally) low-key, but I staunchly believe that approach served the story very well. Mizuno, who has now worked with Garland three times, was a wild card. And she needed to be, all the way up until the end. My feeling is that most of the harsh Mizuno criticism is simply because she doesn't fit the typical idea of a leading lady, because I'm convinced she delivered the performance Garland hired her for.

Nonetheless, I think Devs was brilliant. Conceptually, it kept challenging the viewer throughout, and Garland's cheeky multi-trope plan paid off biggest in just the right moments. Visually, the David Lynch homages -- from Blue Velvet to Dune in one scene -- in the final episode alone were mesmerizing. It all worked and meshed together to surpass Ex Machina as Alex Garland's best work to date.

But I do look forward to so much more.