The It List: 'Kinds of Kindness' questions reality, Federer doc shows tennis star's 'Twelve Final Days,' Jessica Alba returns to the big screen in 'Trigger Warning'
Plus, Gracie Abrams cements her pop star status with her 2nd album.
Hello, friends! I'm Kelsey, your guide to all things pop culture for Yahoo Entertainment, and this is the It List, our weekly rundown of what's new and notable. This week, my culturally savvy colleagues recommended a slew of upcoming releases to watch, stream, listen to, read and binge. I’ll walk you through my favorites.
What to watch
🎥 Federer documentary gives a legend a proper send-off
When: Federer: Twelve Final Days starts streaming on Prime Video June 20.
What to know: The documentary, which consists of home video footage never intended for public viewing, follows the period between Federer’s retirement announcement and his final competitive tournament.
Director Asif Kapadia added 30 minutes of archival footage and interviews with former players to turn it into a feature film.
Entertainment reporter Taryn Ryder told me that we’ll learn more about the bromance of tennis’ “Big Four” — Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray.
Why I’ll be watching: The movie Challengers changed my life, and I’ve been seeing tenniscore looks all over social media. I suppose it’s time to get acquainted with real-life tennis players!
🎥 Trigger Warning reignites Jessica Alba’s film career
When: Trigger Warning starts streaming on Netflix June 21.
What to know: Jessica Alba stars as a Special Forces commando who faces off with gang members after she returns home to take over her father’s bar.
"I was going through grieving my grandfather, who was a father figure in my life, and it was a pretty cathartic experience because my character was going through grieving her father," Alba told Entertainment Tonight.
Entertainment reporter David Artavia told me it’s been a while since we’ve seen Alba “sink her teeth into such a strong, complicated character.” In fact, it’s her first movie in five years.
Why I’ll be watching: I’m here for the Alba-ssaince!
🎥 Kinds of Kindness delivers shock and awe
When: Kinds of Kindness is in select theaters June 21 and “kind of everywhere” June 28.
What to know: The film is a “triptych fable” that tells three distinct stories about characters seeking control.
Director Yorgos Lanthimos is known for his bizarre movies like Poor Things and The Favourite.
The cast is stacked: Emma Stone, Jesse Plemons, Willem Dafoe, Margaret Qualley, Hong Chau, Joe Alwyn and Mamoudou Athie embody three different roles across the nearly three-hour film.
“Kinds of Kindness opens with Eurythmics' 'Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This),' and its verse, to me, basically previews the plot of the movie without the viewer even knowing it,” entertainment editor Alexis Shaw told me. She’s right.
Why I’ll be watching: You better believe I’ve already seen it, but I’ll be headed back to the theater to decode any plot points I missed. To quote Alexis, it’s “a puzzle to be figured out.”
🎥 Lily Gladstone leads Fancy Dance to the big screen
When: Fancy Dance opens in select theaters June 21 and streams globally on Apple TV+ June 28.
What to know: Lily Gladstone stars as a woman taking care of her niece while searching for her own missing sister and preparing for an upcoming tribal gathering.
The Oscar nominee told CBS News it’s the “most important” role of her career.
“Forget the white-savior narrative: Fancy Dance brings visibility to the 'Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women' crisis, as well as struggles that modern Native Americans face today — all through the lens of Indigenous filmmakers and stars,” editor-writer Laura Clark told me after watching the film.
Why I’ll be watching: If you’re not on the Gladstone hype train yet, you’re running late. It’s not slowing down any time soon!
What to listen to
🎧 Budding pop star Gracie Abrams releases her sophomore album
When: The Secret of Us is out June 21.
What to know: You may have been introduced to Abrams as a Grammy nominee for Best New Artist or as one of Taylor Swift’s “Eras Tour” openers.
With her sophomore effort, she is establishing herself as a pop star with singles already trending on TikTok.
Abrams told Billboard that she co-wrote her forthcoming song “Us” with Swift, who she calls her childhood hero.
“She has big sad, moody girl vibes, and that’s how I’m trying to be,” entertainment reporter Neia Balao told me. I must agree.
Why I’ll be listening: Her single “Close to You” is already one of my most played songs of the year — if you’ve ever been so overcome with emotion that you had to dance around your room, you’ll get it too.
We’ll be back next week with our latest picks. Want more recommendations? Check out our guides to the best in summer entertainment.
Are there other things you’re excited about? Let us know in the comments below.
