As you may have guessed from my other posts, I really love recs. I also love sharing the things that I’m enjoying…I sometimes forget to talk about them regularly since I no longer have an entertainment site to write for. But I’ve been thinking more about changing that a bit and incorporating it here (we’ll see…) But that being said, I’d love to tell y’all about a few things I’ve been enjoying recently.
CULT OF THE LAMB
I know this game is being talked about by loads of people but it truly lives up to the hype. It’s a very dark game, similar to Moonlighter. You fight in dungeons against the evil bishops and their mighty minions while leading an ever-growing cult of worshippers. It’s so stylistically adorable that you sometimes forget the ritualistic sacrifices and killing that goes on regularly throughout the game. I put a ridiculous number of hours into the game in the first few days, but I’ve since slowed down, not wanting it to be over. Highly recommend.
MARVEL’S WEREWOLF BY NIGHT
I couldn’t do an end-of-October post without including at least one spooky thing! I went into this with a low bar, not sure what to expect…and I think it’s one of my fave things Marvel has done in a long time. It’s such a fun, dark and spooky adventure featuring one of my fave lesser-used characters, Elsa Bloodstone. The whole aesthetic of the short was so fun and campy! It made me really excited for the possibility of more standalones like this in the future—stuff that doesn’t require previous knowledge of Marvel or the MCU to enjoy.
THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN
I was lucky enough to see a screening this week and really enjoyed this dark comedy. If you’re familiar with Martin McDonagh’s work (In Bruges, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri), this is definitely in line with what you might expect from him. Although that being said, it’s more akin to In Bruges with its witty and sharp dialogue and a quirky story to go along with it. Colin Farrell is great as “nice guy” Pádraic who is confusingly at odds with his best friend, Colm, played by Brendan Gleeson. The two work together wonderfully and if you’re again familiar with In Bruges, you’ll enjoy seeing them bounce off each other here too. Barry Keoghan is fantastic as the Inisherin dunce, Dominic too.
I suspect it’ll have some trouble finding ground with a more mainstream audience and I don’t know that it’s quite as charming as In Bruges but it’s definitely worth checking out.
“PREACHER’S DAUGHTER” BY ETHEL CAIN
I heard about this album from someone on TikTok who was talking about surprising albums of the year. They spoke about it really fondly and it got me curious. I played the first track and was immediately on board, listening to the whole thing from start to finish. I haven’t been captivated by an album entirely since Phoebe Bridger’s “Punisher” and this was just what I was looking for. Haunting vocals that bridge a gap between pop and alternative folk—I’d call it a marriage of Phoebe Bridgers and Florence + the Machine, but that could be because I’ve been listening to a lot of those both, respectively.