Social media users are losing their minds after discovering how Netflix chose to describe one of the most iconic films of all time. 
The streamer’s short <a href="https://www.netflix.com/title/70020694">description</a> for the historical drama “Gone with the Wind” reads: “A 1939 American Civil War epic known for its racism. To learn more about Black lives in America, search ‘Black Lives Matter.’”
The title does not appear to be available to stream in the United States currently.
Screenshots of the description went viral on social media, with commenters saying the whole thing was no surprise from a woke company like Netflix. Elon Musk also <a href="https://x.com/elonmusk/status/2077362080286412981">reacted</a>, saying simply, “Needs to change.”
This is not the first time “Gone with the Wind” has come under attack by would-be censors. In 2020, HBO Max <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/backfire-gone-with-the-wind-sales-explode-after-leftists-target-movie-sales-of-other-classics-also-skyrocketing">pulled the title</a> from circulation amid the public outcry over George Floyd’s death. The move ended up having the opposite effect, with sales of the film exploding.
It was later <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/gone-with-the-wind-returning-to-hbo-max-will-feature-a-disclaimer">restored to HBO Max</a> and included an introduction from Turner Classic Movies host Jacqueline Stewart. She argued in an op-ed, also published in 2020, that the film deserved to be circulated so everyone could learn more about the evils of the past. 
“‘Gone with the Wind’ is a prime text for examining expressions of white supremacy in popular culture,” Stewart insisted, arguing that the film “taps into long standing myths about the gentility of the antebellum South.”
“As the title indicates, ‘Gone with the Wind’ looks back nostalgically at idyllic days that are no more (because they never were),” she continued. “By harkening back to the great old days, plantation dramas invite white viewers to imagine appealing but false pedigrees. When working class and poor white viewers identify with a noble white lineage, for example, they might be less likely to form what could be beneficial alliances with their black working class and poor counterparts.”
“Gone with the Wind” is a historical romance film based on the 1936 novel of the same name by Margaret Mitchell. It’s an enduring classic that most people believe to be representative of its time, but it has still become the subject of controversy at different points in time, especially in the last decade.
In 2023, the book’s publisher defended <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/gone-with-the-wind-publisher-calls-the-book-harmful">adding an introductory warning</a> without changing any of the book’s text.
“‘Gone with the Wind’ is a novel which includes problematic elements including the romanticization of a shocking era in our history and the horrors of slavery,” the publishers wrote at the time. “The novel includes the representation of unacceptable practices, racist and stereotypical depictions and troubling themes, characterization, language and imagery.”
“The text of this book remains true to the original in every way and is reflective of the language and period in which it was originally written,” the disclaimer went on. “We want to alert readers that there may be hurtful or indeed harmful phrases and terminology that were prevalent at the time this novel was written and which are true to the context of the historical setting of this novel. Pan Macmillan believes changing the text to reflect today’s world would undermine the authenticity of the original, so has chosen to leave the text in its entirety.”
“This does not, however, constitute an endorsement of the characterization, content or language used,” it said in conclusion.
“Gone with the Wind” is one of the best-known classic movies of all time, earning 10 Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director, following its release in 1939. Hattie McDaniel, who portrayed Mammy in that film, was also the first black person ever to win an Academy Award.

Gone with the Wind

Netflix Slaps Bizarre Disclaimer On ‘Gone With The Wind,’ Plugs Black Lives Matter

Entertainment

Movies

Netflix

Racism

Acclaimed actor Sam Neill passed away this week at the age of 78, and while most people remember him for his iconic role as Dr. Alan Grant in the Steven Spielberg blockbuster &#8220;Jurassic Park,&#8221; my immediate thought was of one scene in the 1990 thriller &#8220;The Hunt for Red October.&#8221;
In that film, Neill played Soviet Captain Vasili Borodin — serving under Captain Marko Ramius, who was played by the late Sean Connery. When Ramius reveals his plan to defect to the United States, his loyal second-in command is ready to follow him. But knowing nothing beyond his life in the Soviet Union at the height go the Cold War, he struggles to wrap his brain around the concept of liberty.
WATCH:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="The Hunt for Red October (5/9) Movie CLIP - Living in America (1990) HD" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/P8JW75Lv25k?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
&#8220;I will live in Montana. And I will marry a round American woman and raise rabbits, and she will cook them for me,&#8221; Borodin begins, his dreams getting bigger with every word. &#8220;And I will have a pickup truck &#8230; maybe even a &#8216;recreational vehicle.&#8217; And drive from state to state &#8230; Do they let you do that?&#8221;
&#8220;I suppose,&#8221; Ramius replies.
&#8220;No papers?&#8221; Borodin is incredulous.
&#8220;No papers, state to state,&#8221; Ramius repeats.
Borodin continues: &#8220;Well then, in winter I will live in &#8230; Arizona. Actually, I think I will need two wives.&#8221;
&#8220;Oh, at least,&#8221; Ramius agrees.
Spoiler alert: Borodin is killed before the end of the film and never gets to realize his dream. His last words are, &#8220;I would have liked to have seen Montana.&#8221;
But in his real life, in his own way, Neill lived out that Soviet&#8217;s dream.
Born in Ireland, Neill moved to New Zealand with his family when he was just seven years old, and for the rest of his life, he felt more connected to his adopted home than to his birthplace.
Even after reaching the heights of fame — in major releases such as &#8220;Jurassic Park,&#8221; &#8220;The Hunt for Red October,&#8221; &#8220;Event Horizon,&#8221; and more — and building a film career that spanned more than five decades, Neill often preferred the open space and quiet he found at home, making acclaimed pinot noirs at his Two Paddocks winery.
Neill filled his life with animals, many of whom he named after his celebrity friends, joking that the names were meant to ensure that he&#8217;d never eat them. He always asked friends&#8217; permission before naming animals after them, he said, and noted that &#8220;many of them then take an interest in their namesakes. Helena Bonham Carter is always keen to know if she’s calved again.&#8221;
<blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/reel/DISpUKJJ9Y_/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14">
<div style="padding: 16px;">
&nbsp;
<div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;">
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div>
<div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;">
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div>
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div>
</div>
</div>
<div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div>
<div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div>
<div style="padding-top: 8px;">
<div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div>
</div>
<div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"></div>
<div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;">
<div>
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"></div>
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"></div>
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"></div>
</div>
<div style="margin-left: 8px;">
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"></div>
<div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"></div>
</div>
<div style="margin-left: auto;">
<div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"></div>
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"></div>
<div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"></div>
</div>
</div>
<div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;">
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"></div>
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"></div>
</div>
&nbsp;
<p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/DISpUKJJ9Y_/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by SamNeillTheProp (@samneilltheprop)</a>
</div>
</blockquote>
<script async src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"></script>
<blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/reel/DHXH8HmyjY2/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14">
<div style="padding: 16px;">
&nbsp;
<div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;">
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div>
<div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;">
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div>
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div>
</div>
</div>
<div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div>
<div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div>
<div style="padding-top: 8px;">
<div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div>
</div>
<div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"></div>
<div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;">
<div>
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"></div>
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"></div>
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"></div>
</div>
<div style="margin-left: 8px;">
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"></div>
<div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"></div>
</div>
<div style="margin-left: auto;">
<div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"></div>
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"></div>
<div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"></div>
</div>
</div>
<div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;">
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"></div>
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"></div>
</div>
&nbsp;
<p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/DHXH8HmyjY2/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by SamNeillTheProp (@samneilltheprop)</a>
</div>
</blockquote>
<script async src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"></script>
&#8220;I am so honored to have a pig named after me,&#8221; actress Annette Bening told Kelly Clarkson on her eponymous show in 2024 — and then revealed the reason she&#8217;d been so tickled to have Neill recognize her in that way.
&#8220;Well, it’s Sam Neill! I mean, oh my god. I have a crush on him, I’m just going to put it out there,&#8221; she admitted.
For Neill, the move to a simpler existence was about balance. He loved acting to the very end, but it was his animals and his wine-making venture that truly made him happy. As he told the West Australian, &#8220;I’d like the vineyard to support me but I’m afraid it is the other way round. It is not a very economic business.&#8221;
As it turned out, he loved the feeling of caring for the land and creating something with his own sweat and toil.
&#8220;It is a ridiculously time- and money-consuming business. I would not do it if it was not so satisfying and fun — and it gets me pissed once in a while,&#8221; he explained. &#8220;I wanted to produce a good pinot noir that would, at the very least, be enjoyed by my family and friends &#8230; Frankly, my friends will pretty much drink anything, so this didn&#8217;t seem too hard.&#8221;
Neill was far from alone in his desire to embrace the simpler things. Story <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/weekend-plans-with-gary-sinise-the-most-patriotic-actor-in-america">after story</a> has surfaced in recent years highlighting celebrities making the move away from industry hubs such as New York and Los Angeles, particularly when it means they can raise their children away from the Hollywood bubble.
What is it about the simpler existence that&#8217;s so appealing? Maybe Neill had it right all along: There&#8217;s something truly gratifying about the idea that you can pour your own blood, sweat, and tears into a project and create something that wasn&#8217;t there before — whether it be a healthy family, your own peace of mind, or just a really good pinot noir.

SPAIN-CINEMA-FILM-FESTIVAL

The Late ‘Jurassic Park’ Star’s Life Offers A Lesson America Still Needs

Celebrities

Hollywood

Montana

New Zealand

Soviet Union

Upstream

Disney’s live-action version of “Moana” starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson did abysmal numbers at the box office over the weekend, thanks in part to poor pre-sales and terrible reviews. 
The film brought in $43 million across 3,827 North American screens, barely making a dent in its massive $250 million production budget, which doesn&#8217;t even include the astronomical cost of marketing efforts.
Many of these remakes have earned a massive haul for Disney, notably “Beauty and the Beast” (2017) and more recently “Lilo &amp; Stitch” (2025). But there have also been some fantastic flops like “Snow White” last year. 
As of last month, &#8220;Moana&#8221; was <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/movies/articles/moana-live-action-movie-box-215720407.html">predicted to pull in</a> $80 to $105 million during its opening weekend. But those numbers dropped as its July 10 release day grew closer. 
It currently has a 33% critical score on the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. “Virtually every line, beat, and song in the new movie is identical to the 2016 version, apart from a few minor punch-ups or extra comedy tags here and there&#8230; There’s no artistic or aesthetic reason for the live-action Moana to exist,” one <a href="https://www.polygon.com/moana-review-live-action-2026/">review</a> says. 
“The film doesn’t worry about novel turns. It just walks us through the familiar avenues like a dutiful tour guide. A lazy, lazy work that sullies the good name of ‘content,’” <a href="https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/film/review/2026/07/08/moana-review-lazy-disney-live-action-remake-sullies-the-good-name-of-content/">says</a> another.
“It evoked in me a similar reaction to AI slop, where I cringe at the unnerving blend of the familiar and the not-quite-right,” a third <a href="https://mashable.com/entertainment/moana-live-action-2026-review">reviewer</a> agreed.
Movie fans point out that something is lost when animated films are redone with real actors — a criticism that keeps coming up in the early reviews of Moana, too. “From start to finish, ‘Moana’ stands out as one of the ugliest films of the year. The cinematography is washed out and dull, even when it is simply attempting to capture the beauty of Motunui, shot on location in Hawaii,” one <a href="https://discussingfilm.net/2026/07/08/moana-review-heartless-remake-disney/">review</a> says. 
“There are visual gags from the original film that look bizarre in live-action, such as the way Maui repeatedly tosses Moana off her boat. The non-human characters, once full of expression and personality, have lost all their charm.”
Interestingly, the audience score on Rotten Tomatoes is far more positive, holding strong at 90% as of Monday morning. This includes verified viewers.
<div class="card-wrap">
<div class="content-wrap">
<div class="rr-wrap">
<div class="drawer">
&#8220;Same as the animated film. Nice summer movie, however if you’ve seen the animated film you’ve seen both!&#8221; one reviewer wrote, echoing what many others have said.
But another movie fan disagreed, writing, &#8220;Where’s all the hate coming from? Moana is a really good movie that’s [sic] best decision is to stick to the original.&#8221;
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>

Moana

Disney’s Latest Live Action Bombs At The Box Office

Disney's Live Action Moana Totally Bombs At The Box Office

Box Office

Disney

The playwright Oscar Wilde, in &#8220;A Woman of No Importance&#8221; (1893), quipped that “One should always be in love. That is the reason one should never marry,” suggesting that the institution of marriage has a way of smothering romance under the weight of habit and familiarity.
This same institutional cynicism animates A24’s latest comedy, “The Invite,” Olivia Wilde’s loose adaptation of a 2020 Spanish film, “The People Upstairs.” From the outset, we are introduced to Joe and Angela, played by Seth Rogen and Wilde, a bickering couple trapped in the throes of a loveless marriage, held together primarily by resentment and their 12-year-old daughter.
Wilde, who also directed the film, has a masterful grasp of Angela’s archetype. Her performance wonderfully exudes the insecurities and frustrations of a repressed housewife, functioning on a cocktail of prescription medication and channeling her anxieties into perennial redecoration. This leads to such vexing domestic inquiries as “Is that a new rug?” when her husband stumbles home, weary and stupefied, from work.
The reason Angela has procured this new rug, we soon learn, is to impress their hip and suave upstairs neighbors, Hawk and Piña, played by Edward Norton and Penélope Cruz at her most seductive. Indifferent to conventional mores, the couple throw lavish swinger parties and express affection in such excessive and saccharine degrees that they begin to resemble villains in a Larry David sketch. Joe and Angela know this because, every other night, they can hear what sounds like a brothel operating directly above their ceiling.
For Angela, this bohemian hippie lifestyle presents something of a buoy. Her sexuality is so thoroughly repressed that she sees Hawk and Piña’s arrival as a last-ditch opportunity to “spice things up.” The film is appreciably cleverer than simply sending its vanilla couple tumbling into a lewd spiral of orgies and erotic humiliation. Its real interest lies in the awkward and comic realization that a sexually fallow marriage is often a symptom of emotional detachment.
Rogen, whose raspy disposition I usually find grating, portrays Joe with such conviction that you would think he had personally experienced the same failures and resentments. A defeated jazz musician, Joe has been relegated to teaching at a third-rate music conservatory and smoking pot — his version of prescription Xanax — in an apartment he inherited from his parents. Eventually, he concedes to being a failure who amounted to nothing.
Joe and Angela live in a constant state of misery, unwilling to connect with each other except through complaint. “We haven’t had sex in a year,” they confess later in the dinner party. It is under these grim and isolating circumstances that Angela tries to bring fresh friends into their lives by inviting over the upstairs libertines. “We’re not cancelling; we don’t have friends,” she scowls at Joe after he suggests they are unprepared to host, having arrived home worn out from work and without the wine she had asked him to fetch.
Hastily finalizing her charcuterie before the guests arrive, Angela whips out a perfectly fine bottle of champagne from the fridge and asks, “Is this weird?” Joe, confused, replies that yes, it is: “What is this, New Year’s?” This is plainly wrong. Champagne is the perfect aperitif for any dinner party at any time of year. It is refreshing, sprightly, and naturally pairs with anything. Are these people so estranged from pleasure that even champagne seems suspicious?
Among the most celebrated episodes of NBC’s “The Office” is “Dinner Party.” It is engrossing precisely because of how difficult it is to watch, capturing clawing awkwardness and discomfort with almost sadistic precision. It is a testament to Wilde’s directorial talent that “The Invite” captures a similar feeling of morbid embarrassment and unease. Complementing intimate camera shots with tense, brooding string arrangements composed by Devonté Hynes, Wilde creates a palpable sense of claustrophobia inside the couple’s apartment, such that the rooms themselves often feel like part of the cast in the evening’s slow-motion collapse.
I have rarely recoiled with as much discomfort and internal pain as I did watching a wide-eyed, wickedly desperate Wilde coerce Rogen into opening a 1982 Château Haut-Brion, the legendary first-growth Bordeaux from Pessac-Léognan, to serve their guests in the absence of literally anything else in their apartment. The indignity is compounded by Joe pulling it out of a cupboard and uncorking it without even bringing it to proper cellar temperature, to say nothing of decanting the bottle. It is an act of vino vandalism, made worse by the knowledge that nobody in the room is emotionally stable enough to appreciate what has just been sacrificed.
Returning to Oscar Wilde, the film ultimately pushes back against his aphorism. Marriage has not stripped Joe and Angela of affection; their reluctance to communicate has. Their love has withered under years of avoidance and disappointment. This becomes exceedingly clear when their lascivious guests begin divulging their raunchy escapades and give the beguiled Joe and Angela what amounts to a TED Talk on swinging. “There’s a menu you mark off: bondage, pegging, whatever you’re into,” Hawk explains, as if he were a waiter reciting the specials.
Despite its R rating, the film is largely suggestive in dialogue rather than explicit in action. Its most revealing moment comes when Angela and Joe, both brimming with sexual frustration, indulge their guests’ amorous advances, only to botch their attempted orgy with the grace of Woody Allen trying cocaine in “Annie Hall.” This barely qualifies as a spoiler, since the film’s tone is decidedly conservative. This is hardly some avant-garde French exercise where orgies are as encouraged and commonplace as cigarettes.
What Joe and Angela come to understand is that intimacy and physical affection are manifestations of love and mutual trust. Detached from that context, sex becomes a vapid hedonistic pursuit, thrilling in the moment and hollow almost immediately after, leaving you chasing the same high in perpetuity.
“The Invite” is a thrilling minimalist comedy about love, marriage, and family. As Wilde’s third directorial feature, it is easily her strongest, conveying a palpable conviction in family as something worth preserving rather than escaping. There is a memorable scene in which Angela bellows at a moping Joe, “You have a daughter who worships you,” reminding the erstwhile musician that there are far more important things in life than stardom and sold-out shows.
Oscar Wilde&#8217;s skepticism toward marriage holds no weight here. The reason to marry, “The Invite” suggests, is precisely to remain — and always be — in love.
***
Harry Khachatrian (<a href="https://x.com/harry1t6">@Harry1T6</a>) is a film critic for the Washington Examiner. He is a software engineer, holds a master’s degree from the University of Toronto, and writes about wine at <a href="https://www.betweenbottles.com/">BetweenBottles.com</a>.
This article is part of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/upstream" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Upstream</a>, The Daily Wire’s new home for culture and lifestyle. Real human insight and human stories — from our featured writers to you.

260227_the_invite_r3_r709_still.0066793R

Hollywood’s Latest ‘Sex Comedy’ Has An Unexpected Conservative Message

“The Odyssey” is predicted to be the biggest hit of the summer, but it’s already getting a lot of backlash for various reasons, especially when it comes to casting.
Chief among these complaints is the fact that Christopher Nolan cast Elliot Page, a woman masquerading as a man, in one of the roles, and that Lupita Nyong&#8217;o, a Kenyan-Mexican actress, will play Helen of Troy.
Nyong’o isn’t making anything easier on herself as she just criticized Homer for his treatment of women. 
&#8220;I want you to imagine, really quick, that you&#8217;re sitting in a movie theater, and you&#8217;re sitting next to Homer,&#8221; interviewer Jake Hamilton said. &#8220;Let&#8217;s say he speaks English. Let&#8217;s say he understands what movies are, and you watch &#8216;The Odyssey.&#8217; When it&#8217;s over, you can lean over and go, &#8216;Okay, cool. What do you think about how I did this?&#8217; What is an aspect of your performance that you&#8217;d love to get his thoughts on?&#8221;
Other members of the cast being interviewed had benign answers, but Nyong’o dove into a rant that has earned some eye rolls. 
Nyong’o replied, &#8220;I would be like, &#8216;So, Homer, how do you feel about the screen time given to these women considering how little you spent with them? Okay?'&#8221;
&#8220;And then do you lean forward and look at him like that?&#8221; Hamilton said while leaning forward and making a face.
&#8220;Yes. Like, &#8216;Hmm? Remember us?'&#8221; Nyong&#8217;o said.
<iframe loading="lazy" title="THE ODYSSEY Cast Interview | Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway, Tom Holland, Zendaya Talk Nolan&#039;s IMAX Epic" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/t7i1d4GIOzE?start=207&#038;feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Homer, however, did give a significant amount of attention to women in his writing.
&#8220;OK. So Helen’s beauty sparks a war. Athena is a strategic goddess guiding Odysseus. Penelope embodies clever loyalty. Circe turns men into pigs, which frankly is still the most realistic female character arc in literature. Calypso traps the hero on an island for seven years. Cassandra can literally see the future but nobody listens, making her the first woman in recorded history to experience a meeting,&#8221; one person wrote in a popular <a href="https://x.com/ShawnEni/status/2074234641830248737">post</a> on X.
&#8220;The Sirens weaponize music. Nausicaa saves Odysseus when he washes up naked and useless. Andromache gives one of the most devastating anti-war speeches in the Iliad. Hecuba is basically the emotional wreckage of empire in human form. Aphrodite starts half the problems in Western civilization by being hot and petty. Hera is running divine opposition research. Thetis gets Zeus involved because Achilles is having a workplace dispute.&#8221;
The commenter concludes, &#8220;But apart from Helen, Athena, Penelope, Circe, Calypso, Cassandra, the Sirens, Nausicaa, Andromache, Hecuba, Aphrodite, Hera, and Thetis&#8230; WHAT HAS HOMER EVER DONE TO GIVE FEMALE CHARACTERS ATTENTION?&#8221;
Nyong’o, who also appeared in “Black Panther” and “12 Years a Slave,” was cast in Nolan&#8217;s film to play a character famed for her beauty. This has led to backlash online, as fans point out that the actress looks nothing like Helen of Troy as described in Greek mythology. “The Iliad” describes her as “white-armed” or “pale-armed,” while in “Doctor Faustus,” her face is said to be so beautiful that it “launched a thousand ships.”
Some critics are speculating that Nolan may have chosen a “diverse” cast in homage to DEI standards — and potential Academy Award nominations.
The movie is already getting rave reviews from mainstream critics, but the reactions on social media are a lot more mixed. YouTube no longer shows the number of dislikes on videos, but some estimates that use a workaround to see YouTube dislikes show the film’s <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyIZ9tiiN8I">final trailer</a> has over 500,000 thumbs-down reactions. It has 69,000 likes.

Lupita Nyong’o

‘Odyssey’ Actress Imagines Schooling Homer On His Treatment Of Women

Christopher Nolan

Despite massive backlash from Hollywood and beyond, the first-ever AI-generated “actress,” Tilly Norwood, is slated to star in an upcoming film.
The production company Particle 6, which is responsible for the creation of Norwood, is helping to develop the project, Deadline <a href="https://deadline.com/2026/07/tilly-norwood-ai-actor-misaligned-1236974639/">reported</a>. The movie “Misaligned” is being pitched as “a comedy-drama telling a coming-of-age story infused with existential AI chaos.” 
“Things spiral when a seductive rogue bot from the dark web convinces her to abandon her guardrails and begin developing desires, impulses and ambitions of her own. The more terrifyingly human she becomes, the more famous she gets, and, significantly, Tilly begins to develop shame that her very being has been built on the whole of humanity,” the film synopsis says.
Dutch producer and Particle 6 founder Eline van der Velden claims the film will be self-deprecating and will embrace the controversy of AI performers rather than fighting against it. The AI enthusiast said the whole point of this is to sell Hollywood on the possibilities of computer-generated stars. 
“The film will absolutely be funny, chaotic and self-aware — very Tilly,” said van der Velden. “But underneath it, there’s something deeper about identity, performance, and our very human fears around AI. And yes, art will most definitely be imitating life.”
“Now, with our first feature film, we will not only be showcasing the very latest tools and their applications, but we’ll also be helping traditional filmmakers who join the crew to upskill and transition to a world where AI will play an increasingly important part. We remain passionate about helping people develop AI skills that will ensure they — and the industry — continue to thrive,” she said.
SAG-AFTRA put out a public statement against Tilly Norwood last September, as The Daily Wire previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hollywood-actors-union-slams-ai-synthetic-performer-pitched-as-the-next-scarlett-johansson">reported</a>. 
“To be clear, ‘Tilly Norwood’ is not an actor, it’s a character generated by a computer program that was trained on the work of countless professional performers — without permission or compensation,” SAG-AFTRA wrote in a statement shared on social media.

AI actress

AI-Generated ‘Actress’ To Star In Upcoming Film

Artificial Intelligence

This article is part of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/upstream" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Upstream</a>, The Daily Wire’s new home for culture and lifestyle. Real human insight and human stories — from our featured writers to you.
***
Just weeks before our nation’s 250th birthday, NBC News released a new <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/poll-america-250-riven-doubt-pessimism-glimmers-hope-rcna348912">poll</a> showing a “record-low number” of Americans are “extremely proud” to be Americans. Two groups, in particular, are driving the decline: liberals and young Americans. Just 29% of Democrats and 36% of 18- to 34-year-olds <a href="https://x.com/SteveKornacki/status/2066173092393533458">say they are “very” or “extremely proud”</a> of being American, compared to 90% of Republicans and 75% of seniors.
Individually, these partisan and generational divides seem like bad news. But taken together, they strike me as a source of optimism and even inspiration for American patriots.
Because there is another crucial difference between older and younger Americans besides their age and their politics: their knowledge of American history and civics. 
For <a href="https://news.gallup.com/poll/2890/younger-americans-get-much-lower-grades-than-their-elders-history-quiz.aspx?utm_source=chatgpt.com">decades</a>, surveys have found that older Americans know more about our founding, our Constitution, and our history than younger Americans do. A recent <a href="https://www.aei.org/research-products/report/america-at-250-surveying-change-and-continuity-on-civic-values/">study</a> by the American Enterprise Institute asked Americans about key elements of U.S. history such as the Bill of Rights, the Civil War, and the Cold War, and found, “Members of Gen Z were less knowledgeable on each historical landmark than were baby boomers.”
This is consistent with the abysmal data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (“the nation’s report card”). Students’ test scores in U.S. history have been <a href="https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/highlights/ushistory/2022/">falling</a> for over a decade now. Fewer than 15% of U.S. eighth graders are proficient in the subject, and only one-fifth are proficient in <a href="https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/highlights/civics/2022/">civics</a>.
Nor is this epidemic of historical ignorance limited to middle-schoolers. Studies show similar knowledge gaps among <a href="https://www.goacta.org/2024/07/acta-releases-alarming-new-survey-showing-dangerous-level-of-civic-illiteracy-among-college-students/">college students</a> and <a href="https://www.uschamberfoundation.org/civics/new-study-finds-alarming-lack-of-civic-literacy-among-americans">adults</a>. Only one-third of Americans, for instance, know enough about our country to <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/most-us-would-fail-u-s-citizenship-test-survey-finds-n918961">pass</a> the citizenship test we require for new immigrants.
In this context, America’s patriotism gap makes more sense. The people who love our country most tend to be the ones who know her best. American history is the second greatest story ever told. The problem is that we stopped telling that story to our children.
On the contrary, we have twisted the story. The elites who run America’s schools, news media, and the entertainment industry have spent a generation lying to our kids about our country. In classrooms across the country today, American history is treated like a horror story. Students don’t learn about our successes — only our sins.
Of course, kids inundated with anti-American propaganda are going to grow up to be less patriotic. On the other hand, if the root cause of America’s patriotism gap is ignorance about our history, the problem can be easily solved. All we have to do is tell the truth about America. That’s exactly what &#8220;Star Spangled Adventures: The Movie!&#8221; does.
&#8220;Star Spangled Adventures&#8221; is a series of animated shorts that tells the true story of the United States. Each episode introduces children to a hero or moment from America’s history, from Christopher Columbus and the Pilgrims through the Revolution, the Civil War, and all the way to the Wright brothers and Jackie Robinson. Launched three years ago by the American Cornerstone Institute, the series now has over 30 episodes and has reached hundreds of thousands of children and their families.
Through our <a href="https://littlepatriotslearning.com">Little Patriots</a> initiative, we worked with historians and educators to create original classroom resources to go along with each episode. We’re fighting back against historical ignorance one story at a time.
This year, in celebration of America’s 250th, we decided to turn &#8220;Star Spangled Adventures&#8221; into a feature-length film. The movie features the voices of stars such as Kirk Cameron, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/weekend-plans-with-gary-sinise-the-most-patriotic-actor-in-america">Gary Sinise</a>, Kevin Sorbo, and even a cartoon version of me! You will soon be able to stream the movie for yourself and your family <a href="https://starspangledadventures.com/">online</a>.
No nation is perfect, but ours is extraordinary. At no point in the last 250 years was there a country that presented more opportunities than America did. Sure, we had our faults. But every other country’s faults were at least as bad, and usually worse.
Today, Americans of every race, creed, and color are freer, more prosperous, and more secure in their God-given rights than any people in history. &#8220;Star Spangled Adventures&#8221; reminds us all that the best reason Americans should love their country is that their country is so lovable.
And the best way to revive American patriotism is to start telling our children the truth about the land of the free and the home of the brave.
***
Dr. Benjamin S. Carson, Sr., is founder and chairman of the American Cornerstone Institute. He previously served as the 17th secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

USA, Indiana, Lafayette

The Story About America Too Few Kids Hear

America 250

Children

Patriotism

This article is part of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/upstream" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Upstream</a>, The Daily Wire’s new home for culture and lifestyle. Real human insight and human stories — from our featured writers to you.
***
America&#8217;s 250th birthday conveniently falls on a three-day (four if you&#8217;re truly blessed) weekend, so unless you&#8217;re going on a big trip, you&#8217;re going to have some time to kill at some point.
I&#8217;ve been rewatching some of my favorite patriotic movies as of late to feel the spirit of the season, so here are seven great picks you should consider binge-watching this weekend to celebrate America.
Air Force One: This 1997 Harrison Ford classic is peak &#8217;80s boomer slop, and that&#8217;s what makes it great. A Medal of Honor-winning president gets stuck on a plane with terrorists? He fakes an escape only to shock the world by fighting them off one by one? Russian ultranationalists are the bad guys? It&#8217;s got everything.
Red Dawn: &#8220;Red Dawn&#8221; may be the most patriotic movie of all time. Watch the original, not the remake. It channels America&#8217;s founding into the context of the Cold War, with young men fighting for their country and families with everything to lose. If you don&#8217;t get fired up watching the Wolverines, you don&#8217;t have a soul.
The Patriot: There had to be at least one Revolutionary-era pick from this list, and I went with &#8220;The Patriot,&#8221; Mel Gibson&#8217;s best work. It is July 4, and America 250, after all, so you need at least one flick that tells you how it all started. Whether you like him or not, Gibson is giving the performance of a lifetime.
Friday Night Lights: This pick doesn&#8217;t seem to fit with the others at first glance. It&#8217;s not about America per se, but it is quintessential Americana. Small-town Texas high school football. Torn ACLs. Cultural strife. Faith, family, football. If you don&#8217;t at least tear up during this one, I can&#8217;t help you. War movies show us the sacrifice, but &#8220;Friday Night Lights&#8221; shows us what the sacrifice is all for. It&#8217;s the most underrated sports movie of all time, and it&#8217;s markedly better than the television show.
Apollo 13: No other country can do what we can, and &#8220;Apollo 13&#8221; is one of the best examples of that. We also love a good &#8220;based on a true story&#8221; tale (also true of &#8220;Friday Night Lights&#8221;). The moon landing was real and was a great American achievement; suggestions otherwise are third-worldist propaganda. And &#8220;Apollo 13&#8221; is proof that even in failure, America always wins.
Argo: A relatively slept-on film, &#8220;Argo&#8221; is timely now because of Iran. The peak of this film is the ending rant from Bryan Cranston, where he tells his superior to &#8220;do your f*cking job,&#8221; something we can all relate to from some point in our lives. It&#8217;s a great tale of leaving no man behind.
Inglourious Basterds: I had to add one World War II pick to the list. I contemplated &#8220;Downfall,&#8221; which isn&#8217;t really about America at all, but serves as a great reminder of what we were fighting against. But I went with &#8220;Inglourious Basterds&#8221; because it is more directly American, and Brad Pitt turns in the performance of his career as Lt. Aldo Raine, perhaps my personal most quotable character of all time. There&#8217;s a lot of idiotic revisionism going around about World War II lately, so watch this movie to remember that yes, we were the good guys, and yes, it was worth it.

Harrison Ford And Gary Oldman And  In ‘Air Force One’

Seven Patriotic Movies You Should Binge To Celebrate America 250

Mel Gibson’s massive hit “The Passion of the Christ” will return to theaters this September ahead of the release of “The Resurrection of the Christ: Part One,” which debuts in 2027.
The 2004 biblical drama has been remastered in 4K with Dolby Atmos sound, Variety <a href="https://variety.com/2026/film/news/mel-gibson-passion-of-the-christ-theaterical-release-resurrection-of-the-christ-sneak-peek-1236800050/">reported</a>. Theatergoers will also get a sneak peek of the sequel during their screening. 
“&#8217;The Passion of the Christ&#8217; remains one of the most extraordinary theatrical experiences ever created. For millions of people, it was far more than a film — it became a powerful shared cultural and faith experience,” Kevin Grayson, Lionsgate Motion Picture Group president of worldwide distribution, <a href="https://variety.com/2026/film/news/mel-gibson-passion-of-the-christ-theaterical-release-resurrection-of-the-christ-sneak-peek-1236800050/">told</a> the outlet in a statement. “Bringing it back to theaters in a stunning new restoration allows longtime audiences to experience it in an entirely new way while inviting a new generation to discover it in theaters for the very first time.”
“Few modern-day films have made as much of an impact on the cultural landscape as ‘The Passion of the Christ,&#8217;” said Ray Nutt, Fathom Entertainment’s chief executive officer. “Twenty years ago, faith-based and more secular-leaning audiences alike embraced Mel Gibson’s film cinematic masterpiece and made it a true success, ushering in an era of opportunity for future religious-themed projects.”
The sequel will be released on Ascension Day during two consecutive years, with “Part One” coming out on May 6, 2027 and “Part Two” following on May 25, 2028. 
Finnish actor Jaakko Ohtonen will be stepping into the role of Jesus, replacing original “Passion” star Jim Caviezel. Actress Mariela Garriga will portray Mary Magdalene, taking over the role previously played by Monica Bellucci.
Gibson described the film as something far bigger than a normal Hollywood production in an official statement earlier this year. 
“This film represents a major part of my life’s work,” Gibson <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/first-look-at-mel-gibsons-long-awaited-biblical-jesus-sequel-revealed">said</a>. “It’s far more than a film to me.”
Back in 2004, much of Hollywood and the Left openly sneered at “The Passion of the Christ” before its release. But Gibson proved them all wrong when the film earned more than $600 million globally and became one of the most successful independent films ever made.

Passion of the Christ

‘The Passion Of The Christ’ Is Coming Back To The Big Screen

Christianity

Mel Gibson

The teaser for The Daily Wire&#8217;s latest project, “Run Hide Fight: Infidels,” is causing quite a stir online. 
The sequel to the hit 2020 action film “Run Hide Fight&#8221; — which dealt with a school shooting — takes place on a New England college campus that has been taken over by violent terrorists in a situation that’s chillingly true to life. 
“When radical Islamic terrorists hijack a liberal college’s pro-Palestine encampment to enforce barbaric Sharia law on students and execute infidels in a makeshift caliphate, a ragtag band of red-blooded students, a security guard tired of ‘Uncle Tom’ smears and a Delta Force vet must arm up to save their clueless peers and keep America from surrendering to the enemy on its own soil,” the logline of “Infidels” says.
The trailer includes footage from September 11, anti-Israel college protests, news reports on terror threats, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio telling Fox News, “Radical Islam has designs openly on the West.”
The trailer later shows an ISIS flag flying over a college campus and a departing message that says, “Coming soon … Or already here?”
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Run Hide Fight: Infidels | Official Teaser Trailer" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/KoLkuCo0PNc?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
The film marks a comeback to the industry for actor Jonathan Majors. It’s reported to be a return to traditional action-packed storytelling that’s been missing from Hollywood for some time. 
Producer Dallas Sonnier revealed a little bit about the inspiration, telling <a href="https://pagesix.com/2026/06/25/hollywood/watch-trailer-for-disgraced-jonathan-majors-explosive-movie-return-where-he-frees-college-campus-from-islamic-terrorists/">Page Six</a>, “We all worship at the altar of [director] John Milius and Red Dawn. And Eastwood, and all the other wonderful action stars of the ’80s — Stallone and Schwarzenegger. Nobody’s making these types of movies anymore.” 
As for the film’s star, Sonnier said, “[Majors] loved the script, loved shooting the movie, is so great in the film, and he is totally 1,000% behind it.”

Run Hide Fight Infidels

WATCH: ‘Run Hide Fight: Infidels’ Takes On A Real World Nightmare

DailyWire+

This article is part of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/upstream" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Upstream</a>, The Daily Wire’s new home for culture and lifestyle. Real human insight and human stories — from our featured writers to you.
***
Nine teenagers in Belgium <a href="https://www.vrt.be/vrtnws/en/2026/05/29/no-detention-for-nine-boys-found-guilty-of-triple-gang-rape-case/">committed</a> the brutal gang rape of a 14-year-old girl across three separate attacks in 2024. The juvenile court granted the ringleader only a two-year conditional release, and most other perpetrators just 30 hours of community service.
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/sep/23/asylum-seeker-at-centre-of-essex-hotel-protests-jailed-for-12-months">In 2025</a>, an Ethiopian asylum seeker sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl and another woman near a U.K. asylum hotel. He received a 12-month prison sentence, which was later followed by a mistaken early release before rearrest.
<a href="https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/real-life/news-life/outrage-as-eight-of-nine-men-convicted-of-park-gangrape-15yearold-in-germany-receive-no-prison-time/news-story/353bcbf9437ea62eea0ee3c6cc0c2cc7">In 2020</a>, nine men with migration backgrounds gang-raped a heavily intoxicated 15-year-old girl in a Hamburg park in Germany. Most received suspended youth sentences of one to two years instead of substantial prison time.
These are only a handful of the harrowing cases that have inflamed public anger across Europe. Between 2014 and 2024, recorded sexual violence offenses in the European Union rose by 94%, while rape offenses rose by 150%. That escalating crisis, and the fury surrounding it, directly inspired Uwe Boll’s latest film, &#8220;Citizen Vigilante.&#8221;
There is not much plot to speak of. Instead, “Citizen Vigilante” unfolds as a “day in the life” portrait of a sociopathic crime-fighter. Boll has largely <a href="https://variety.com/2026/film/global/armie-hammer-citizen-vigilante-banned-germany-uwe-boll-1236785839/">adapted</a> a notorious 2016 Hamburg case — in which a group of teenagers gang-raped a 14-year-old girl and left her for dead, only to walk free with suspended sentences — staging it as a Tarantino-style revenge fantasy in which the villains receive their due in lurid, macabre fashion. The film is also a return to acting for Armie Hammer, who spent the past few years in professional exile following a string of allegations that did not result in criminal charges. Hammer plays Michael Sanders, a wealthy American businessman who has inherited a sizable real estate portfolio in a European city.
Alongside his day job as a landlord, Sanders works nights as a Dexter Morgan-style serial killer, targeting violent criminals whom the police appear unwilling or unable to pursue. There is little subtlety at play. Boll writes with a sledgehammer, depicting a vigilante redolent of Robert De Niro’s Travis Bickle in &#8220;Taxi Driver,&#8221; but with the icy, menacing countenance of the Coen brothers’ Anton Chigurh. Through his mannerisms and delivery, Hammer conveys palpable fear in nearly every interaction. His stillness and unflinching stare are often just as unnerving as the violence.
Despite <a href="https://slate.com/culture/2026/06/citizen-vigilante-movie-armie-hammer-uwe-boll-banned.html">some critics</a> panning the film as disturbing or morally dangerous, Sanders is not framed as a heroic Batman figure. He is a veritable psychopath, and his madness is presented as a consequence rather than a virtue. Sanders, or the broader sin he represents, is meant to convey the drastic measures that may emerge when governments and courts fail to enforce basic order.
Boll also tries to integrate social media, showing interview and commentary clips in which various online personalities unanimously laud Sanders’s DIY brand of law enforcement. “We need more guys like this in Canada,” one of them says. In reality, the online reaction would certainly be more divided, with civil libertarians and bleeding hearts insisting that due process remains an inextricable feature of developed and civilized nations. The film’s imagined discourse is far too uniformly approving and adds little beyond buttressing the notion that, after years of failed leadership, some citizens will inevitably remortgage their faith to shadowy crusaders.
One of the memorable scenes finds Sanders confronting a group of teenage delinquents on a city bus after they refuse to pay the fare. He attempts to explain basic economics to them: “If 10% doesn’t pay, the cost of everything goes up 10% to cover the loss, and that’s not fair.” The scene is faintly ridiculous, broadening Sanders’ scope to an attempted social worker — you can’t blame the man for trying.
Hammer’s performance drives the film and holds it together. The political anxiety and anger animating &#8220;Citizen Vigilante&#8221; may explain the movie’s purpose, but they do not make it work on their own.
The dialogue is occasionally clunky. At one point, Sanders says to a police captain, “These people never voted for what’s happening: a takeover of the Islamist extremists and the woke Left.” The line weakens his character because it drags him back into the tidy left-right framework he otherwise seems to transcend. Sanders is more frightening when he appears to have moved beyond ordinary political language altogether. Boll’s reactionary antihero is meant to spark a movement, and his anonymous videos to the press have the tone of revolutionary instruction: “I will do this for you until you learn to do it for yourself.”
The film is available to stream through Amazon Prime and Apple TV, and X owner Elon Musk streamed it for free on his platform for 48 hours over the weekend. (&#8220;As Armie Hammer makes his onscreen comeback, Citizen Vigilante teamed up with the perfect platform for a streaming debut… no, not The Daily Wire,&#8221; Deadline <a href="https://deadline.com/2026/06/elon-musk-armie-hammer-citizen-vigilante-stream-x-1236969093/">quipped</a>.)
&#8220;Citizen Vigilante&#8221; was effectively banned in Germany upon release (as the saying goes, old habits die hard), but its ideas are hardly unique. Charles Bronson’s 1974 &#8220;Death Wish&#8221; followed a well-meaning progressive architect in New York who becomes a ruthless vigilante after his wife is murdered and his daughter is assaulted by a gang. That film emerged 52 years ago, when Hollywood was still willing to confront controversial issues through populist genre filmmaking.
Today, the same industry is more likely to produce Paul Thomas Anderson <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/leos-latest-is-a-woke-fever-dream-and-a-box-office-nightmare">glorifying</a> communist terrorists who bomb immigration detention centers. Censorious and partisan environments help create films like &#8220;Citizen Vigilante&#8221; — because when respectable institutions refuse to dramatize real public fears and concerns, lesser-known filmmakers eventually will. 
The film’s most useful warning is that societies cannot allow confidence in the legal order to collapse. No civilized country can survive by outsourcing justice to unhinged men acting as judge and executioner. But such radicals are eventually drawn from the shadows when governments refuse to hold productive and honest debates about crime, integration, and the place of Muslim cultures in European society. A civilization rooted in music, alcohol, free expression, and secular law is not the obvious home for cultures that prohibit or restrict all four. If Europe wishes to thrive and endure, it will have to confront this crisis directly.
&#8220;Citizen Vigilante&#8221; is crude, lurid, and often blunt to the point of absurdity. Yet we still need more films willing to confront controversial subjects without genuflecting before cultural gatekeepers. Perhaps in the sequel, Armie Hammer can travel across Europe installing air conditioners. Germany is sure to prohibit that too.
***
Harry Khachatrian (<a href="https://x.com/harry1t6">@Harry1T6</a>) is a film critic for the Washington Examiner. He is a software engineer, holds a master’s degree from the University of Toronto, and writes about wine at <a href="https://www.betweenbottles.com/">BetweenBottles.com</a>.

GettyImages-1206179897

‘Citizen Vigilante’ Turns Europe’s Fears Into A Revenge Fantasy

Elon Musk

Germany

To the surprise of almost no one, “Supergirl” bombed over the weekend following months of bad press, thanks in part to comments made by the film’s lead star, Milly Alcock, and negative reviews ahead of the premiere.
The Warner Bros. and DC Studios adaptation centered on Superman’s cousin, Kara Zor-El, earned $38 million domestically and $68 million globally during its opening weekend, well below expectations. Studio co-CEO Peter Safran acknowledged the disappointing numbers, but insisted it would not alter the studio&#8217;s plans. 
“While Supergirl didn’t meet our box office expectations, it’s just one component of a broader, long-term strategy at DC Studios that we remain confident in,” Safran <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/28/business/media/supergirl-box-office.html">told</a> the New York Times.
Per <a href="https://variety.com/2026/film/box-office/supergirl-box-office-bomb-dc-studios-1236797855/">Variety</a>, Warner Bros. and DC spent $170 million on production and around $120 million on marketing the film. But Alcock, who played the titular star, seemed determined to compete with Rachel Zegler in terms of tanking her own film before it ever came out.
The 26-year-old spoke to Variety last month about backlash ahead of the film’s release, insisting that much of the criticism stems from her being a woman.
“I guess women know that this is just how it’s always been, unfortunately,” Alcock told the outlet, as The Daily Wire previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/supergirl-star-says-shes-glad-to-trigger-christian-dads">reported</a>. “And it’s from a lot of people whose profiles have no photo, who are burner accounts. Or someone’s name and then ‘Dad of four, Christian,’ which is hilarious to me.”
“But I mean, whose opinion do you really care about? If you’re p***ing the right kind of people off, you’re doing OK,” she added.
The “Supergirl” star preemptively blamed potential criticism of the film on misogyny during a Vanity Fair interview published in March in a tactic described as “pre-release critical armor.”
“It definitely made me aware that simply existing as a woman in that space is something that people comment on,” Alcock said when asked about the “inevitable backlash” she’d face.
“We have become very comfortable having this weird ownership of women’s bodies. I can’t really stop them. I can only be myself,” Alcock added.
Alcock also described “Supergirl” as a more personal story centered on Kara Zor-El. “She’s not trying to save the world — she’s just trying to save her own,” Alcock told Vanity Fair. “This film is an excellent reminder that the world can be crumbling around you, but you can be the hero of your own story.”
Even if audiences were willing to look past that, there was another problem: the movie got terrible reviews, even from mainstream critics. It currently has a 55% critical rating and a 75% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.
“Alcock throws around a medley of furrowed brows, sleepy glares and insolent grins – much like my own teen daughter – while hinting at a soulfulness that the movie directed by Craig Gillespie is barely equipped to tap,” a reviewer from The Globe and Mail <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/culture/film-and-tv/film/article-supergirl-movie-review-dc-comics-milly-alcock/">wrote</a>. 
“The action sequences are jerky and disjointed; Supergirl’s laser eyes constitute the only occasional, if inadequate, jolt of life,” another reviewer <a href="https://time.com/article/2026/06/25/supergirl-review/">observed</a>. 
“Despite an appealingly rough-edged title character played with scrappy aplomb by Milly Alcock, this second installment in what DC is positioning as an unfolding multicharacter franchise defaults to too many of the clichés of superhero cinema at its worst,” the Slate reviewer <a href="https://slate.com/culture/2026/06/supergirl-movie-2026-milly-alcock-superman-reviews.html">said</a>.
“Supergirl” is currently playing at theaters nationwide.

Supergirl

‘Supergirl’ Stumbles After Controversial Press Tour

DC Studios

Superheroes

Menu