The past week’s pop culture news recap on a Tuesday? Well, we had to make room for our Deep Water ticket giveaway to kick off this week. So today’s your chance instead to get up to speed with recent standout film, series and gaming stories.
Lifestyle
Starting with local news first, it looks like ICON, South Africa’s longest-running comic and tabletop gaming convention is receiving two regional events this year.
A resurgent ICON Durban is back for a second year, with dates set for the weekend of 3-4 October. Three ICON Durbans (AKA ICON By the Sea) took place before COVID. Meanwhile, a first ever ICON Cape Town is making its debut on 18-19 July at Edgemead Community Hall. Many vendors have already been announced, and attendees can expect board games, TCGs, artists, D&D sessions, lucky draws and food trucks.
There’s been no indication whether the ICON mother event in Joburg will be taking place this year. However, after a disastrous last-minute venue change in 2025, ICON JHB may be taking a break. Guess we’ll see.
Series
We’re still not really sure how we feel about Netflix’s live-action adaptation of beloved Nickelodeon cartoon Avatar: The Last Airbender. Then again, it doesn’t really matter what we think because the streamer is trundling ahead with a flesh-and-blood take on all three seasons.
Next up is Season 2, premiering on 25 June. Just like the animated series, in S2, titular character Aang sets out to learn earthbending, which leads him and his friends to the despotic Earth Kingdom, and blind bending prodigy Toph Beifong (Miya Cech). Meanwhile, with Zuko failing in his mission to capture the Avatar, Fire Lord Ozai dispatches his powerful but unhinged daughter Princess Azula (Elizabeth Yu) to complete the task.
Reaction was mixed to the first trailer for upcoming DC Studios series Lanterns, which puts a gritty True Detective-esque spin on the Green Lantern comics. Teaser 2, below, is a bit more intriguing, and also introduces more superheroic flavour previously downplayed.
If you need a plot reminder, in Lanterns, jaded former test pilot Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler), Earth’s first Green Lantern, must train up new fellow Lantern Jon Stewart (Aaron Pierre). While investigating a murder in remote Nebraska, these space cops uncover dark mysteries with an extra-terrestrial link.
Lanterns premieres 16 August on HBO Max.
Film
Following the Ryan Gosling-starring Drive, it feels like the work of Nicolas Winding Refn, which includes Only God Forgives and The Neon Demon, has become very much an acquired taste. Which brings us to the filmmaker’s first movie in a decade, Her Private Hell, which just premiered out of competition at the Cannes Film Festival.
Cannes debuts typically mean niche, arty appeal, and Her Private Hell certainly looks like it ticks that box. The official synopsis of this sci-fi thriller: When a mysterious mist engulfs a futuristic metropolis, unleashing a deadly and elusive entity, a troubled young woman searches for her father. Her quest collides with an American GI on a harrowing odyssey to rescue his daughter from Hell.
What really caught our attention, though, is that Yellowjackets and Companion’s Sophie Thatcher stars, and we love her.
Her Private Hell hits cinemas from 24 July.
Still on the topic of movies that made their Cannes debut, Hope looks to be Korea’s answer to Godzilla Minus One, in that this sci-fi actioner came out of nowhere to wow festival attendees.
We’re talking six-minute standing ovation for this 160-minute tale which takes the form of a near nonstop chase when police chief Bum-seok (Hwang Jung- min) and officer Sung-ae (Hoyeon) are called to find a mysterious creature that has wreaked havoc on the remote South Korea village of Hope Harbor. Meanwhile, a group of hunters, including Sung- ki (Zo In-Sung) set out to track the beast and find themselves hunted instead. However, perceptions are misleading, leading to tragedy and a fracturing of reality.
With Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander reportedly playing aliens in the film, Hope comes to cinemas at some point in the Northern Hemisphere autumn.
Another promising movie to premiere at this year’s Cannes was Victorian Psycho. Longlegs’ Maika Monroe stars in this period horror movie (with a dash of black comedy) based on the novel of the same name – and boy does it look entertainingly crazy. Governess Winifred Notty arrives at a remote estate to dutifully tutor her charges, but the longer she remains, the more she finds herself giving into her dark appetites.
Victorian Psycho comes to cinemas in Q3 of this year.
Another Cannes Film Festival (the 79th) has come and gone. The iconic festival is always a useful indicator of future “arty” award season front runners, though, and that means Oscar watchers should make time to catch Fjord, the drama that scooped Cannes’ most prestigious award: the Palme d’or.
It’s the second time that writer-director Cristian Mungiu has secured that specific accolade. Fjord, starring Sebastian Stan and Renate Reinsve, explores what happens when a mixed Romanian and Norwegian couple move to the wife’s home town with their children. Their outsider status, and different approach to child rearing, mires them in controversy.
Cannes’ second most prestigious award is the Grand Prix, and that went to exiled Russian director Andrey Zvyagintsev for Minotaur. This political thriller is a reworking of Claude Chabrol’s erotic 1969 film The Unfaithful Wife, but updated to 2022 Russia, and the start of Putin’s war on Ukraine. Minotaur centres on a struggling business executive who learns that his wife is cheating on him.
The full 2026 Cannes Film Festival winners’ list can be found here.
One final piece of movie news. Here’s your first official look at Mel Gibson’s looooooong awaited The Passion of Christ follow-up. Now starring Jaakko Ohtonen as Jesus Christ – after all, The Passion was filmed 22 years ago – The Resurrection of The Christ will release theatrically as two movies. Part One arrives in cinemas on 6 May 2027. Part Two is lined up for 25 May 2028.
Gaming
Maybe it’s due to the success of the Silent Hill 2 remake (and f), plus all that Resident Evil love in recent years, but survival horror seems to be enjoying a resurgence. Especially from indie developers. Just this week, three upcoming games crossed our radar.
First up is Remothered: Red Nun’s Legacy, the third game in the Remothered trilogy from Stormind Games. Mother Susan, desperate to find her missing daughter Agata after 13 months of failed investigations, follows a clue to a decaying manor house. Red Nun’s Legacy promises to blend classic survival horror, stealth, and psychological horror, while delving into the story of the series’ iconic Red Nun figure. Out of interest, Silent Hill composer Akira Yamaoka is responsible for the score here, while Firewatch’s Cissy Jones and Lady Dimitrescu herself, Maggie Robertson, head up the voice cast.
Remothered: Red Nun’s Legacy is coming to PC and all current-gen consoles.
Also going the cinematic horror route is Indonesian made Agni: Village of Calamity, which draws on regional slasher movie tropes, as well as gaming’s classic survival horror titles.
The synopsis: Play as Agni, a police investigator from a secret Agency, driven by regret, who disobeys the rules, as she searches for her missing partner inside the remote, forbidden village of Desa Purba. On this rogue mission, Agni descends deeper into violence, obsession, and psychological collapse as the guilt drives her towards the edge of what the human mind can live through.
From Separuh Interactive and Wired Productions, Agni: Village of Calamity will be playable on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series consoles.
Finally, there’s PC exclusive The Cabin Game, coming to Steam Early Access “soon”.
Appearing like a mix of Blue Prince and Inscryption, Twisted Corridor’s game can be played solo or in co-op, with up to four participants. The premise is simple: you’re trapped in a cabin, and your only means of escape is playing the cards before you, which have the ability to reshape your surroundings. However, every hand is different, meaning every escape attempt will be stuffed full of twists and murderous chaos.