PREVIEW: Hunting Party (2026 Film) - Starring Mark Wingett

Preview by Jon Donnis

British thrillers have always had a knack for peeling back the surface of authority, and Hunting Party leans straight into that tradition with a premise that feels both timely and quietly unnerving. Set against the imposing backdrop of a secluded country estate, the film introduces a world where those entrusted with upholding the law begin to reshape it in their own image. What starts as a whispered frustration with a failing justice system soon spirals into something far more dangerous, as a hidden circle of judges abandon restraint and embrace a brutal, ritualistic form of punishment.

At the centre of it all is Eve Campbell, an MI5 agent already carrying the weight of a damaged reputation. Her investigation pulls her into a tightening web of secrets, where every answer only deepens the sense that something is profoundly wrong. The film pairs her perspective with the escalating plight of Jay Doherty and his father Danny, who find themselves caught in a nightmare after being framed for a crime they did not commit. Their story adds urgency and emotional stakes, grounding the wider conspiracy in something immediate and human. Meanwhile, the Hardin family stands as a chilling embodiment of power unchecked, their estate becoming both playground and prison.

There is a deliberate tension running through the setup, one that suggests Hunting Party is less interested in simple thrills and more concerned with the uneasy space between justice and vengeance. The idea of authority figures acting as judge, jury and executioner carries an obvious weight, and the film appears keen to explore how easily that line can blur. With a cast drawn from across British film and television, and a director already familiar with morally complex storytelling, the stage is set for a thriller that aims to be as thought provoking as it is intense. Often fiction mirrors reality, and in the UK right now, it feels very apt. Hunting Party arrives on digital platforms on 11 May courtesy of Miracle Media, inviting viewers into a game where survival is uncertain and the rules are written by those who believe they are beyond them.

Apple TV - https://apple.co/4eMqFx9

Why Watching Movies Abroad Is Getting Harder, and the Workaround Millions of Travelers Already Use

You packed your bags. You landed. You opened Netflix. And suddenly half your watchlist is gone.

Sound familiar? It happens to millions of people every single year. Streaming geo-blocking is not a glitch, it's a feature. A deliberate, carefully engineered wall between you and the content you're paying for.

Source: https://www.pexels.com/photo/5082566/

The Invisible Wall: What Is Streaming Geo-Blocking?

When you travel abroad, streaming platforms detect your IP address and match it to a country. If that country doesn't have the licensing rights to a specific show or movie, you simply can't watch it. It doesn't matter that you've had a subscription for five years. The rights are regional, and that's final.

The scale of this problem is staggering. A 2023 analysis found that Netflix's US library contains over 5,800 titles, while many European catalogs hover around 2,500 to 3,500. That's a gap of thousands of titles, vanishing the moment your flight lands.

Why Content Access Abroad Has Gotten Stricter

It used to be more relaxed. Platforms weren't great at detecting location mismatches, and travelers could often access home libraries without issue. That changed fast.

Studios and broadcasters have pushed hard for tighter enforcement, threatening to pull licensing deals from platforms that allow regional leakage. So Netflix, Disney+, HBO Max, and others invested heavily in detection systems. The goal: make sure you only watch what your region is licensed to show.

The Human Cost of These Restrictions

Imagine finishing a TV series at home, then traveling for work for three weeks, only to find the next episode is blocked in the country you're in. Or a family abroad trying to watch local news channels from their home country to stay connected. Or students on exchange programs trying to access educational streaming services they're subscribed to.

This isn't a luxury problem. For many people, access to home libraries is about staying connected to culture, language, and community. The restrictions don't just limit entertainment, they cut people off.

VPNs: A Security Tool That Also Unlocks the Web

Before we talk about using a VPN to stream content, it's worth stepping back. VPNs, Virtual Private Networks, exist primarily as a cybersecurity tool. They encrypt your internet connection, shield your data from surveillance, and protect you on public Wi-Fi networks in airports, hotels, and cafés.

But they also change your virtual location. When you connect through a VPN server in your home country, websites and streaming services see that server's IP address instead of your actual one. That's why a VPN has become the go-to method for millions of travelers who want to access home libraries and bypass regional restrictions. For Smart TV users specifically, setting up a proper Android TV VPN solution like VeePN makes the whole process seamless. No manual configuration, just a few taps and your TV behaves as if it never left home.

How Many People Actually Use VPNs While Traveling?

The numbers are hard to ignore. According to a 2024 report by Global Web Index, roughly 1 in 3 internet users worldwide has used a VPN in the past month. Usage spikes noticeably among frequent travelers and expats.

In regions with stricter internet censorship, parts of Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Central Asia, VPN usage can exceed 40% of the online population. People aren't just using them to stream movies. They're using them to overcome internet censorship and reach websites that are entirely blocked in certain countries.

What "Changing Your Virtual Location" Actually Means

When you connect to a VPN server in, say, Germany or the US, your traffic routes through that server. To the outside world, you appear to be browsing from that location. Streaming apps see a German or American IP. They serve you the corresponding library.

It's not magic, it's basic network routing. But it's remarkably effective. Most premium VPNs maintain large server networks specifically optimized to stream content securely and without buffering.

Why Free VPNs Usually Aren't Enough

There's a tempting shortcut: free VPNs. They exist, they work sometimes, and they cost nothing. But the tradeoffs are significant.

Free VPN providers often cap bandwidth, log user data, show ads, or sell usage data to third parties. Speed is usually throttled to the point where video becomes unwatchable. And they tend to be the first ones detected and blocked by streaming platforms.

Choosing the Right Tool for the Right Device

Not every VPN works the same on every device. A solution that works perfectly on your laptop may be clunky or unavailable on your Smart TV or phone.

For laptop users who do a lot of browsing, a browser-level option can be a quick, lightweight fix. For example, an extension for Chrome can unblock streaming apps and overseas content directly within the browser. This is especially useful for students or remote workers dealing with access issues in university networks or restrictive corporate environments.

The Practical Reality: What Travelers Actually Do

Most seasoned travelers set up their VPN before they leave home. It's easier to configure when you're not in a rush at a foreign hotel. They choose a server in their home country, test it with their streaming apps, and then leave it running in the background.

The experience, once set up, is essentially invisible. You just watch Netflix overseas the same way you always have. No pop-ups, no error messages, no missing titles.

Is It Legal?

This question comes up constantly, and the answer is more nuanced than most people expect. In the vast majority of countries, using a VPN is entirely legal. It's a tool, like any other privacy software.

However, streaming platforms do include language in their terms of service discouraging or prohibiting circumventing geographic restrictions. Whether a platform will cancel your account over VPN use is a different question, most don't, and enforcement is rare. But it's worth knowing the distinction: legal to use, technically against some platforms' terms.

The Bigger Picture: Why This Won't Go Away

Streaming geo-blocking is a product of a fragmented global licensing market that was built long before the internet existed. TV rights were sold country by country, territory by territory. Platforms are now stuck navigating hundreds of different contracts just to show one movie worldwide.

Until the licensing model fundamentally changes, which would require studios, broadcasters, distributors, and governments to agree on something, these regional walls will stay up. And until they do, travelers will keep looking for ways to maintain subscription access from wherever they happen to be.

REVIEW: No Ordinary Heist (2026 Film) - Starring Eddie Marsan and Éanna Hardwicke

Review by Jon Donnis

Colin McIvor’s No Ordinary Heist leans into its roots with quiet confidence, drawing from the Northern Bank robbery without ever feeling chained to it. Co-written with Aisling Corristine, the film settles into Belfast in 2004 and quickly makes clear that this is not about spectacle. It is about pressure. The kind that builds slowly, sits in the room, and never quite leaves.

At the centre are two men who would rather not share a conversation, let alone a crisis. Eddie Marsan’s Richard Murray is all tight control and simmering frustration, while Éanna Hardwicke’s Barry McKenna moves through life with a kind of careless energy that borders on self-destruction. Their relationship starts off brittle and only becomes more complicated once their families are dragged into a tiger kidnapping. With Richard’s wife and Barry’s mother held hostage, the pair are forced into an uneasy partnership that never quite settles into trust.

What stands out most is how deliberately the film handles tension. There is no rush to get anywhere. Instead, it lingers in small, telling details. A cigarette burning down to the filter. A glance that lasts a second too long. A silence that says more than any line of dialogue. These moments accumulate, and before long the atmosphere feels thick enough to cut. McIvor’s direction keeps things grounded, resisting the urge to overplay the drama. It works in the film’s favour. The stakes feel real because they are treated as such.

The performances carry much of that weight. Marsan is reliably excellent, bringing a kind of brittle authority to Richard that hints at deeper insecurity. Hardwicke, though, is the one who leaves the stronger impression. His Barry is unpredictable in a way that keeps the audience slightly off balance. One minute he is reckless and frustrating, the next he shows flashes of vulnerability that make you reconsider him entirely. Their back and forth gives the film its pulse. You believe the resentment, but you also sense the strange bond forming under pressure.

There is also a strong undercurrent of social tension running through the story. Workplace hierarchies, old grudges, and the lingering divisions of a place still finding its footing all feed into the narrative. It adds texture without ever feeling forced. The heist itself becomes almost secondary at times, overshadowed by the human dynamics that drive it forward.

That said, the film is not without its drawbacks. Anyone familiar with the real events may find the plot a touch overcomplicated. In reality, the situation was more direct, and the film’s added twists can feel like embellishment for the sake of drama. It is understandable from a storytelling perspective, but it does slightly undercut the authenticity the film works so hard to establish elsewhere.

There is also the question of accessibility. The dialogue leans heavily into local accents, which adds to the realism but may prove challenging for some viewers. If you are not used to it, subtitles might become essential, and that can affect how easily you settle into the rhythm of the film.

Even with those issues, No Ordinary Heist remains an engaging watch. Its relatively tight running time keeps things moving without overstaying its welcome, and the balance between tension and character work is handled with care. It never feels bloated or self-indulgent.

In the end, this is a film that succeeds because it keeps its focus narrow. It does not chase grand statements or flashy set pieces. Instead, it builds a story out of distrust, fear, and reluctant cooperation. The result is something that feels both intimate and quietly gripping.

No Ordinary Heist lands as a strong, character driven thriller with enough edge to keep you invested throughout. An easy 8.5 out of 10.

Out Now on Digital

Apple TV - https://apple.co/419iyTB

PREVIEW: The Testament of Ann Lee (2026 Film) - Stars Amanda Seyfried

Images Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2025 Searchlight Pictures All Rights Reserved.

Preview by Jon Donnis

Searchlight Pictures is preparing to bring something a little different to streaming this May, with The Testament of Ann Lee arriving on Disney+ on 13 May. At its centre is a figure many viewers may not know, yet one whose story seems to carry a surprising amount of weight.

Directed and written by Mona Fastvold, the film places Amanda Seyfried in the role of Ann Lee, the spiritual leader of the Shakers. She is portrayed as a determined and unconventional force, someone who pushes against the expectations of her time while advocating for gender and social equality. Fastvold herself has described Lee as a “wild feminist religious leader”, a striking phrase that hints at the tone the film is aiming for. It is not just a period piece, but an attempt to reframe a life that history has largely left in the margins.

The structure leans heavily on music, with reimagined Shaker hymns woven throughout the narrative. These are not simply decorative touches. They act as both emotional anchors and storytelling devices, reflecting Lee’s inner life while guiding the audience through her journey. It gives the film a slightly unusual rhythm, somewhere between traditional drama and something more lyrical.

Alongside Seyfried, the cast brings in Thomasin McKenzie, Lewis Pullman, and Stacy Martin, each adding to what appears to be a tightly focused ensemble. The film has already made a mark on the festival circuit, collecting awards and drawing nominations, including recognition for Seyfried’s performance at the Golden Globes. That early reception suggests a film that resonates strongly, even if it sits outside the mainstream.

Critics have responded well so far, with an 86 percent Certified Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The praise tends to circle around its bold storytelling and the strength of its performances, both of which seem central to its appeal. There is a sense that this is a film willing to take risks in how it presents its subject, rather than smoothing it into something more familiar.

At its core, The Testament of Ann Lee tells the story of a woman striving to build a better society, driven by belief and conviction. It explores both the ecstasy and the strain of that pursuit, capturing the tension between idealism and reality. As it moves to Disney+, it feels positioned as a thoughtful, character driven release that may well linger with viewers after it ends.

On Disney+ on 13 May

REVIEW: Kraken (2026 Film) - Directed by Pål Øie

Review By Jon Donnis

Pål Øie’s Kraken arrives with a premise that feels instantly promising. A remote Norwegian fjord, a scientific experiment gone wrong, and something ancient stirring beneath the surface. It is a strong foundation, and for a while the film leans into that sense of quiet unease rather well. The opening stretch, centred on marine biologist Johanne and her work at a fish farm in Vangsnes, builds intrigue through small details and strange occurrences. There is a clear effort to ground the story before unleashing chaos, and it works. The fjord itself becomes a character, vast and unknowable, and the cinematography makes full use of Norway’s natural beauty. Wide shots of still water and towering landscapes create a calm that you just know will not last.

The central idea, a sonic device designed to deal with lice infestations in farmed salmon accidentally awakening something monstrous, is genuinely compelling. It blends environmental themes with classic creature feature storytelling in a way that feels fresh. When the Kraken finally makes its presence felt, the film finds its rhythm. These moments carry weight and scale, hinting at something enormous lurking beneath the surface. The creature itself is basically a giant octopus type thing and this is where the film is at its most exciting. There is a real sense that something powerful has been disturbed, and those sequences give the film the jolt of energy it needs.

That said, the cracks start to show once the narrative pushes beyond its setup. The film never quite escapes the limitations of its budget, and it becomes noticeable. Some of the visual effects feel inconsistent, and at times oddly artificial, which pulls you out of the experience. It is especially frustrating because the concept deserves better visual support. There is also a lingering sense that the audience is always one step ahead of the characters. The film reveals too much too early, leaving little room for tension to build naturally. Instead of discovery, it often feels like waiting for the characters to catch up.

Character work is another weak point. Johanne is a solid lead in concept, but the script does not give her or the supporting cast enough depth to fully engage. Relationships feel underdeveloped, and key decisions lack emotional weight. A few plot holes do not help either, especially when the story begins to rely on characters acting in ways that serve the plot rather than feeling believable. It is a shame, because the cast itself is capable, but they are not given enough to work with.

At just under 90 minutes, the film moves at a decent pace and never truly drags. It remains watchable throughout, even when it stumbles. There is always that core idea keeping things afloat, along with the occasional striking visual of the fjord and the glimpses of the creature beneath it.

Kraken should have been something stronger. The story is there, the setting is perfect, and the initial setup draws you in. The execution, though, never quite matches that promise. It is an enjoyable enough watch, but one that leaves you thinking about what it could have been with a bit more polish and care.

I score Kraken 6 out of 10

Out On Digital - https://apple.co/4ulJOKV