Contributor: Paul Asay

Paul Asay has been part of the Plugged In staff since 2007, watching and reviewing roughly 15 quintillion movies and television shows. He’s written for a number of other publications, too, including Time, The Washington Post and Christianity Today. The author of several books, Paul loves to find spirituality in unexpected places, including popular entertainment, and he loves all things superhero. His vices include James Bond films, Mountain Dew and terrible B-grade movies. He’s married, has two children and a neurotic dog, runs marathons on occasion and hopes to someday own his own tuxedo. Feel free to follow him on Twitter @AsayPaul.

Frozen II

Frozen II is not a slam-dunk, take-the-whole-fam movie for everyone.

Read more

MacGyver

CBS rescued an old show from a trash bin, gave it a younger protagonist, infused it with content issues and wrapped the whole works in duct tape.

Read more

Jojo Rabbit

There’s a beauty that shines through this dramedy’s inherent darkness and dysfunction.

Read more

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

Many a movie will make you laugh or cry or think. But very few make you want to be a better person.

Read more

Katy Keene

Another Riverdale spinoff. Another teen-centric CW show. Another disaster.

Read more

The Sinner

USA’s provocative mystery drama is drawing many viewers, but it’s also an extraordinarily problematic show.

Read more

Doctor Sleep

Doctor Sleep doesn’t just want to scare you: It wants to shock and even sicken you.

Read more

Messiah

The titular character in this Netflix show claims to be the second coming. But the show itself is both provocative and problematic.

Read more

Under the Dome

Stephen King isn’t known for restraint in his novels. So we shouldn’t be surprised that a TV show based on one has its fair share of sex and severed limbs.

Read more

The Good Place

Discerning families may wish The Good Place was a lot better than it actually is.

Read more

Motherless Brooklyn

Motherless Brooklyn aspires to be a retro-noir thriller along the lines of 1974’s Chinatown.

Read more

Parasite

Whatever warmth and hope we find here is buried under seriously troubling behavior.

Read more

The Outsider

The Outsider feels different from many other HBO shows. But it’s hard to argue that it’s an improvement.

Read more

Dracula (2020)

Netflix’s Dracula is an abominable blend of the grotesque and the silly—a miniseries with R-rated horrors and an infintile sense of self.

Read more

The Feed

Imagine, plugging the whole internet directly into your brain. What could possibly go wrong?

Read more