Weekend Watchlist | Twisted Picks

This week’s streaming recommendations will leave you shocked, duped, stooped and surprised. Check out our twisted picks:

Parasite (Hulu) // Diana Velasquez, Senior Staff Writer

Though “Parasite” was the awards sweeper of 2019, it feels like eons since the film was last at the front of everyone’s minds. But this dark comedy drama film by South Korean Bong Joon-Ho didn’t win the Academy Award for Best Picture for nothing — this movie will have you absolutely in shock and awe.

“Parasite” is about the Kims, a working class family in Seoul who lie and scheme their way into the employment of an upper-class family, the Parks, in order to take advantage of their privileges. The movie is a masterclass of social and class commentary, but it’s also just plain hilarious and mind-boggling. Without spoiling too much, the first half of the movie makes a gut-busting spectacle as the Kim family runs circles around the oblivious Park family, before quickly changing tone in the second half with a twist that’ll have you staring open-mouthed at the TV screen.

Fleabag (Amazon Prime) // Megan Williams, Digital Manager

Phoebe Waller Bridge is both the star and showrunner of “Fleabag,” one of the most daring shows in recent years. Fleabag, a quick-witted, foul-mouthed woman who frequently breaks the fourth wall, spends most of her life looking for hookups. While her obsession with sex is originally played for laughs, its comedy quickly devolves into grave discomfort — the audience’s idea of who Fleabag is, and how sex impacts her life, changes every episode. Fleabag’s frequent asides to the audience, once full of funny looks and one-liners, become interspersed with choppy, confused memories of something she does not want us to see. It’s a weird and wonderful experiment in pushing against the fourth wall with a heartbreaking, painful twist in the Season 1 finale.

Hannibal (Netflix) // Charlie Taylor, Contributing Editor

It will come as no surprise to audiences to learn that Hannibal Lecter, the titular character of “Hannibal,” is a serial killer who cannibalizes his victims. Instead, the show’s twists come as it explores Lecter’s tumultuous, ever-changing relationship with FBI investigator Will Graham. Gifted with incredible empathy, Graham can put himself directly in the mindset of serial killers in order to retrace their thinking and bring them to justice — but his gift often does him more harm than good. Set before the events of “The Silence of the Lambs,” “Hannibal” places Lecter in the precarious position of FBI confidante, hired to ensure the traumatizing nature of Graham’s job won’t destroy his mental health. But the show soon reveals that Lecter is hiding the severity of his patient’s trauma from both Graham himself and the FBI. The twists come as the audience learns the extent of Lecter’s manipulation, and as the nature of the pair’s relationship begins to drastically change over the course of the second season.

WandaVision (Disney+) // Rachel Bachy, For The Pitt News

Fans of Marvel’s Cinematic Universe have come to expect a level of showmanship which comes from epic CGI, super-powered male leads and their strong-willed feminine counterparts. WandaVision, new to Disney+, turns this dynamic on its head. Set within a sitcom, this first iteration of MCU’s phase four on Disney+ leaves fans dazed, confused and altogether entertained. Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) takes center stage alongside Vision (Paul Bettany). Together, this unlikely couple strives to fit into their new life in the suburban town of Westview, but as their neighbors begin to question their arrival, Wanda and Vision struggle to recall a life outside of suburbia. Traveling through the decades of television in each episode, WandaVision toes the line between quaintly familiar and eerily unnerving. While Disney+ has only released two episodes so far, fans are on the edge of their seat to see what is in store. With a new episode released each Friday, we are all left wondering: who’s doing this to you, Wanda?