Kathryn Reklis
Dinosaurs, tigers, and pop ballads
Amid the puzzles of life, there is still pleasure in learning and listening.
The Good Place, a prime-time sitcom full of ethical theory
The comedy series doesn’t feel didactic—despite the fact that it features actual moral philosophy lessons.
The weight mother! bears
Darren Aronofsky's title character is the divine feminine, Mary, and Spirit; she's a little bit Gaia and a whole lot of the Feminine Principle.
Logan Lucky's criminals and why we root for them
In Ocean's 11, the thieves' sheer coolness reeled us in. It's a harder sell when the heroes day-drink themselves to sleep.
The myth of white innocence in Detroit
Kathryn Bigelow's film lays bare our assumptions about guilt and race.
Speaking truth to power in Beatriz at Dinner and Fargo
The characters Beatriz and Gloria model resistance against powerful, immoral blowhards.
The Leftovers and the end of meaning
In three seasons, the show offered many different perspectives on how faith is made, formed, and lost.
Why I find The Handmaid's Tale surprisingly comforting
Resistance might not achieve its outer aims. Nevertheless, its inner life persists.
Red-state noir, blue-state noir
In both S-Town and Big Little Lies, there’s human depravity everywhere.
White moral infantilism and some help avoiding it
Several recent films and shows portray people of color with a complexity that James Baldwin once assumed was impossible for pop culture.
How Paterson sidesteps the clichés embraced by La La Land
Escapism can be delightful. But artistic creation also uses the fodder of daily life.
Robots of the West
Westworld’s claim is that memory leads to consciousness, which leads to violence.
What's outside the photograph's frame?
In a gallery or on Instagram, a camera's lens poses ethical questions.
Saving Annville
Preacher has enough violence to satisfy a small planet of adolescent boys. It also has church budget meetings.
The People v. reality
If we are looking for the moment that precipitated our fall into the media blitz that is our common life, we might consider the O. J. trial.
Theological horror
Few Americans may believe in witches—or in a Puritan God. Yet The Witch explores human impulses that are still with us.
Real intimacy
This year, the Oscars honored three films that are poignant meditations on a person's agency in falling and staying in love.
Out of sync
Rectify is unlike any series I've watched. Its slow burn reveals the viewer as well as the characters in the story.
We’re all geeks now
It could have been any academic conference—except that Catwoman was on my left and a fully dressed hobbit was on my right.