Life is filled with mysteries. Does art imitate life or does life imitate art? Sometime both scenarios happen, and it’s captured on film.
It’s easy to find programs with a mysterious element even if they are not technically mysteries.
This month some of the films and television programs I selected aren’t traditional mysteries, but I appreciate the subtle ways life’s mysteries are featured - Family dynamics, love, loss, forgiveness, power, and betrayal sometimes hide in plain sight.
I hope you enjoy and appreciate our May 2025 selections!
Long Bright River – Mickey (Amanda Seyfried) is a single mom and patrol officer in Philadelphia. Mickey and her younger sister Kacey (Ashleigh Cummings) were raised by their maternal grandfather Gee (John Doman) after the death of their addict parents. Kacey becomes an addict and a sex worker. Mickey becomes a cop like her grandfather. When homeless women and sex workers begin dying mysteriously, Mickey doesn’t believe their deaths are accidental overdoses. She worries her sister Kacey could meet the same fate. Mickey’s superiors try to shut down her investigation, so Mickey enlists the help of her former partner Truman (Nicholas Pinnock) who is o medical leave after being shot. Is someone in the department involved? What Mickey discovers hits close to home when her child’s father becomes a suspect. Lots of twists and turns and a little heartbreak in this incredibly well-acted drama. Available on Peacock.
Grosse Point Garden Society – this new show is fast paced, snarky, and fun. Somebody dies and gets buried in the flower beds tended by the garden society, but who dies and how do so many members of the club become involved in burying the body? No one knows and what makes it so fun is that there are so many people doing dirty deeds that could get them whacked and buried six feet under. Great cast – Alice (Anna Sophia Robb), Brett (Ben Rappaport), Catherine (Aja Naomi ing), Birdie (Melissa Fumero), Patty (Nancy Travis), Tucker (Jocko Sims), Doug (Alexander Hodge, Ford (Felix Wolfe), Gary (Saamer Usmani), and Connor (Josh Ventura). Available on NBC
A Beautiful Life is a film from Denmark. Elliott (played by Danish pop star Christopher Lund Nissen) is a fisherman with little money. He was orphaned at a young age. His most trusted friend Oliver (Sebastian Jessen) recognizes that Elliott is an incredibly talented singer/songwriter. He persuades Elliott to perform with him at local clubs hoping to piggyback off of Elliott’s talents. When a record producer hears the duo, she immediately recognizes that Elliott is the more talented performer and will only work with him. She assigns him to her daughter, a young and upcoming producer. What will Oliver do now that Elliott is succeeding without him? How will Elliott react to his success? These are some of life’s little mysteries. Christopher Lund Nissen is a talented performer with an amazing voice and a powerful stage presence. Available on Netflix.
Kodachrome – Matt (Jason Sudeikis) is a struggling recording executive floundering after a painful divorce. His estranged father Benjamin (Ed Harris) is a famous photographer with a dying wish. Benjamin wants to have several rolls of Kodachrome film he took, but misplaced until recently, developed before the last studio in America stops developing Kodachrome films. He wants Matt to make the trip with him and his nurse Zooey (Elizabeth Olsen). If Matt does not agree, he will be disinherited. During their road trip you begin to understand why Matt and his father are estranged. His father is sometimes cruel, but brutally honest. Zooey is the buffer between them. Will they make it on time? What pictures are on those rolls of film? Will father and son reconcile? Three powerful performances by three gifted actors. Available on Netflix.
The Bondsman – Hub Halloran (Kevin Bacon) is a bondsman who is murdered while trying to apprehend two fugitives. When he dies, he goes to Hell only to be sent back to Earth to chase down demons who have escaped from Hell. Why was he sent to Hell? It’s a mystery he must figure out. What are these escaped demons planning? Another mystery. His mother, Beth (Kitty Grant), his ex-wife Maryanne (Jennnifer Nettles), and his son Cade (Maxwell Jenkins) become his assistants while Maryanne’s son to be ex-boyfriend, Lucky (Damon Herriman) tries to send Hub back to Hell and get Maryanne back. It has the fun and gore of Supernatural and what can I say, it has Kevin Bacon, and he occasionally sings with Nettles and Jenkins. Available on Amazon Prime.
Landman -Billy Bob Thornton, Ali Larter, Demi Moore, Andy Garcia, Colin Feore, and Jon Hamm. Now that I have you attention, Tommy Norris (Thornton) is a petroleum landman and an Operations VP at an oil company. It’s set in West Texas at an oil field. He deals with family issues, a cartel, and his money hungry bosses who constantly want more oil and care little for the safety of their workers. Available on Paramount +
Mobland – a British crime drama with an all-star cast, Pierce Brosnan, Tom Hardy, and Helen Mirren. Harry (Hardy) is a fixer for the Harrigans, a London crime family led by Conrad (Brosnan) and his wife Maeve (Mirren). The family enters into a conflict with the Stevenson family, and Harry must use his skills to prevent an all-out war between the two crime families. Available on Paramount+
Nowhere Boy – I fell in love with this biopic of the early life of John Lennon. John (Aaron Tayor-Johnson) has been raised by his Aunt Mimi (Kristin Scott Thomas) since he was five. He thinks his parents deserted him. He is an independent-minded teenager with a love for music. Mimi tries to reign him in because she doesn’t want him to be like his parents. She relents and allows John to have a guitar if he keeps his grades up. John immediately forms a band, The Quarrymen with his classmates.
When John is 15 he learns his mother Julia (Anne-Marie Duff) has lived nearby with her new partner and their daughters for his entire life. John makes contact and tries to reconnect with his mom. She teaches him to play the guitar and encourages his musical efforts, but John can’t seem to let go of his anger. He also can’t get anyone too tell him about his father or how he came to live with Mimi.
When a young Paul McCartney (Thomas Brodie) joins the group, he and John begin harmonizing and writing songs. Paul’s mother died when he was young. Both boys can relate to that feeling of loss because of growing up without a mother. Paul doesn’t have John’s anger issues which threaten to derail the band.
There are times when you don’t like John very much and times when he moves you to tears. While some of the details of his early life have been exaggerated, most of them are factual. It explains so much about the enigma known as John Lennon. Available on Pluto TV, Sling TV, Fandango at Home, Amazon Prime Video, PLEX, and Freevee for free.
Adolescence is a psychological drama about a 13-year-old boy Jamie (Owen Cooper) who is accused of killing his classmate Katie Leonard ( Emilia Holliday). Jamie is arrested and detained while investigators comb though his social media posts and examine his views about girls and women in a testosterone fueled manosphere. His family deals with the backlash from the close-knit community. Did he commit the murder? If so, why? You’ll need to watch this critically acclaimed series to find out. Available on Netflix.
Happy Face is a true crime drama based on the experiences of Melissa Moore the daughter of Keith Hunter Jepperson, the Happy Face Killer. Annaleigh Ashford is Melissa and Dennis Quaid is Jepperson. Melissa who works on a true crime television show has not shared with her children or her coworkers who her father is. Jepperson calls into the show and offers to reveal the identity and location of another victim if Melissa will meet with him at the prison. Jepperson begins an elaborate game of cat and mouse. Melissa decides to play along in hopes of discovering the identity of the victim and bringing closure to the family. Available on Paramount+ with a subscription; on YouTube (Primetime subscription). On Hulu, fubo TV, Sling TV, Amazon Prime Video, and YouTube TV with premium subscriptions