A Gripping ‘Disclaimer,’ ‘Pachinko’ Finale, Romantic ‘Lonely Planet,’ ‘Simpsons’ Halloween Short

Disclaimer

“Beware of narrative and form,” we’re told at the start of Oscar-winning director Alfonso Cuarón’s (Gravity, Roma) intoxicating drama about memory, secrets and retribution, adapting Renée Knight’s best-seller. Opening with two chapters, the mystery begins when acclaimed documentary filmmaker Catherine Ravenscroft (a sublime Cate Blanchett), lauded as “a beacon of truth,” is rocked when she is sent a self-published novel whose disclaimer reads, “Any resemblance to persons living or dead is not a coincidence.” She realizes she’s the main character in a story that exposes a dark and repressed chapter from her past that threatens to destroy her reputation, her family and career. Kevin Kline costars as the unlikely engineer of her misfortune, a grizzled avenger whose grief is cloaked in the façade of a befuddled old gentleman. Throughout, Cuarón plays with perspective and multiple points of view, challenging our own perception of truth and fiction.

Pachinko

“Why do some people in the world manage to survive while others do not?” marvels the elderly Sunja (Yuh-jung Youn) as the acclaimed historical drama based on Min Jin Lee’s novel ends its second season. Back in the 1950s, the younger Sunja (Minha Kim) bids a fond yet bittersweet farewell to her beloved elder son Noa (Kang Tae Joo) as he proudly leaves his Korean family in Osaka to go to university, where his eyes will be opened to an unpleasant and long-buried truth that changes the family forever. As the older Sunja reflects years later, “We were all fools to think the past could be forgotten.”

Lonely Planet

Traveling to exotic Morocco for a writer’s retreat, novelist Katherine (Laura Dern) muses, “The point of travel is to show us the tiny place we occupy in the world.” New horizons can also lead to romantic possibilities, as writer-director Susannah Grant’s romantic drama suggests when Katherine meets and is drawn to the younger Owen (Liam Hemsworth), who’s traveling with his girlfriend but can’t stop thinking about this alluring stranger. Sounds like the stuff of a great romantic beach read.

The Simpsons

The latest Simpsons short created for Disney’s streamer is a Halloween special that pairs enduring bad guy Sideshow Bob (voiced by Kelsey Grammer) with some of the most memorably infamous Disney villains in pop-culture history. Please let Cruella de Vil be among them.

INSIDE FRIDAY TV:

• Latinos in Hollywood: Owning Our Destiny (8/7c, ABC): In honor of Hispanic and Latin American Heritage Month, ABC News salutes creative talents in front of and behind the camera who’ve championed representation in the media and entertainment. John Quiñones hosts, with the special spotlighting the careers of Rita Moreno, Edward James Olmos, Eva Longoria, Will Trent’s Ramón Rodrígeuz, Gina Torres, Eugenio Derbez and many more.
• Joan (9/8c, The CW): Moved to Fridays after one week, the British crime drama finds Joan (Sophie Turner) considering her future in crime while in Spain with her new admirer, Boisie (Frank Dillane).
• True Crime Watch: On Dateline NBC (9/8c), Keith Morrison reports on the investigation into a mother’s murder in Texas that leads to a false confession and the exposure of a deadly romance. ABC’s 20/20 (9/8c) digs into a love triangle that ended in grisly murder.
• Curious Caterer: Forbidden Fruit (9/8c, Hallmark Mystery): Nikki DeLoach returns as caterer Goldy Berry, whose gig at a VIP concert coincides with her first date with Detective Tom Schultz (Andrew Walker), but inevitably the event turns into a crime scene.
• Next at the Kennedy Center (10/9c, PBS): Grammy-winning band Snarky Puppy invites musical stars from Spain, Mexico and Guatemala to join them on stage for a tribute to Afro-Peruvian legend Susana Baca, who became ill after signing on as a guest performer.
• Three Women (10/9c, Starz): The series flashes back to when Gia (Shailene Woodley), struggling with loss and her uncompleted book about female desire, moves to Indiana and bonds with Lina (Betty Gilpin). Preceded by the second episode of Fat Joe Talks (9/8c), with OG Power star Omari Hardwick as his guest.

ON THE STREAM:

• RuPaul’s Drag Race Global All Stars (streaming on Paramount+): Are the five remaining queens homesick? RuPaul challenges them to create funky tourist ads for their homeland, with Ts Madison as the guest judge.
• The Last of the Sea Women (streaming on Apple TV+): An evocative documentary profiles a group of elderly women warriors, the “haenyeo” divers of South Korea, who for generations have descended to the ocean floor without oxygen to harvest seafood. Now they’re fighting to preserve the ocean and their way of life.
• La Maison (streaming on Apple TV+): The irresistibly soapy French-language fashion drama finds Poloma (Zita Hanrot), new creative director of the LADU house, enjoying the spotlight — until a social-media backlash brings her an unwelcome reality check.
• Spellbound (streaming on Hulu): In the second season of the YA fantasy drama, Paris Opera Ballet School student and secret witch Cece Parker Jones (Hailey Melody Romain) goes to war with a new student who turns out to be a Mystic. Imagine the dance-off.
• Mr. Crocket (streaming on Hulu): Grey’s Anatomy alum Jerrika Hinton stars in a horror thriller as a mom who takes action when a sinister children’s show host, Mr. Crocket (Elvis Nolasco), snatches her son through the TV set. This is obviously not Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.
• Daddy’s Head (streaming on Shudder): More horror in director Benjamin Barfoot’s chiller, which weaves terror through grief when a young boy and his stepmother are haunted by a creature resembling his dead father.
• God. Family. Football. (streaming on Fox Nation): The inspirational sports docuseries moves from Freevee, following the fortunes of football coach and pastor Denny Duron and his team at Shreveport, Louisiana’s Evangel Christian Academy.
• Greenwood Rising: The Rise of Black Wall Street (streaming on Fawesome): The free streamer presents its first original film, a docudrama starring Darius McCrary (Family Matters) as Oklahoma entrepreneur O.W. Gurley, who transformed the Greenwood District of Tulsa into a thriving African American community.