Long before “soft life,” mutual aid, and divine feminine energy became trending hashtags, a woman in the 18th century was already building a radically different way of living — one rooted in equality, safety, shared labor, and spiritual belonging. Her name was Ann Lee. And The Testament of Ann Lee isn’t just telling her story — it’s quietly challenging the systems we still live inside today.
New York City is fully in holiday mode, and the festive energy isn’t slowing down anytime soon. From cozy, candlelit restaurants and seasonal pop-ups to bustling holiday markets and iconic winter experiences, the city is offering endless ways to celebrate. Whether you’re planning a last-minute outing, hosting visitors, or looking ahead to New Year’s Eve, there’s no shortage of things to do — including where to eat, where to shop, and where to celebrate the iconic ball drop as the year comes to a close.
Hell’s Kitchen welcomes opening of new Coffee Project New York location!
Pluto TV’s Holidays Are Brutal collection offered fans a fresh escape from over-sugared holiday programming with a lineup of beloved blockbusters and action-packed film franchises — from “Charlie’s Angels” and “Rush Hour’ to “The Expendables” and “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.”
“When I studied at NYU, when I went to NYU film, the first thing they tell you is the hardest thing in film is animals and children,” director Sarah Goher told the audience at a screening of her debut feature Happy Birthday at the IFC Center.
However, being a mother herself helped her overcome this particular challenge.
“As someone who has two children, I’m very grateful I had those two children before I made this film because it just taught me so much about kids,” she said. “Like, if you really prepare kids and you really earn their trust and you really prepare them for what’s to come, they won’t just give you a hundred percent, they could give you a hundred and fifty percent.”
Happy Birthday, Egypt’s nomination for the 98th Academy Awards in 2026, follows eight-year-old Toha, a child maid for a wealthy Cairo family who forms a special bond with her employer’s daughter, Nelly. Having never celebrated her own birthday, Toha becomes determined to ensure Nelly has a perfect party, secretly hoping to experience the joy she’s never known. As Toha’s relationship with Nelly’s mother, Laila, begins to transcend typical employer-servant boundaries, deep-rooted social hierarchies are threatened, forcing the young girl to confront the realities of class division in modern Egypt.
These realities, however, are communicated in the film through soft whispers.
“At some point, two European sales companies, low-key suggested I add more violence to the film,” Goher explained, “I think they were expecting kind of like Parasite, perhaps I would have something that was much more of a ‘big bang,’ a message about class and about division. And I didn’t for two reasons.”
“I didn’t feel that was true to the reality,” she continued, ”I think there’s a lot more nuance to the reality of these situations. And I feel that at the end of the day, I also want to make a film that I’m not trying to get into a European festival, I’m not trying to sell this to the West.”
“I want a film that when I show this to people in my family, to friends who think that this is okay or who don’t want to acknowledge that there’s something wrong with this kind of situation, the invisibility of certain people in society, that it actually gets to them.”
As it turns out, despite the best efforts of child labor laws, this story resonates with audiences around the world. Happy Birthday is very much a film that pushes back against the notion of giving kids a “better life” via servitude in higher class communities.
“I’ve shown this film to lots of audiences. I get people from India, Honduras, Latin America, Mexico, um, even in Spain, which surprised me. This situation happens,” Goher shared with the audience. “Now, by law, child labor is forbidden in Egypt. But there are kids who exist in this [invisible] limbo under the false pretense of goodwill.”
Still, it was important to Goher that Doha Ramadan (Toha), who the director discovered on the streets of Cairo, didn’t just see her character as a servant.
“The other thing is, when I was directing her, I never told her you’re playing a maid because I didn’t want her to project that,” she explained. “I felt like her prerogative was if I’m this little girl, and this is what I saw with the actual girl who inspired the character, she wants to see herself as a child first.”
“And she would come up with suggestions and be like, ‘Sarah, what if I blah blah blah blah blah,’ or ‘why don’t we blah blah blah blah blah?’ And I would let her do what she felt curious about because I started to find myself like while I was shooting the film, it doesn’t matter what, you know, all the kind of ambitious directing stuff you want to do.”
Since wrapping Happy Birthday, Goher also shared how she stays in touch with Ramadan.
“I didn’t want to be one of those filmmakers who plucks a kid out of obscurity, puts them in front of the camera, and then forgets about them,” Goher shared, “And I’ve seen this happen, and it’s very unfortunate. I’ve been to her school, she does go to a school, it’s not a good school. So I got her a private tutor who, since June of 2024, until now, he teaches her three times a week, and now she can read and write really well.”
“There’s not a lot of outreach for the arts in these communities, so I enrolled her at Cairo Opera House’s Youth Talent Center. So she was doing music, and she hated the singing part, so she’s just doing ballet. So she’s been doing that since June of 2024.”
Happy Birthday, which received several honors at the Tribeca Festival, is Egypt’s submission for the 98th Academy Awards for Best International Feature Film.
Netflix rolled out a Western-themed red carpet at the Tudum Theater on December 3 to celebrate the premiere of The Abandons, drawing cast members Lena Headey, Gillian Anderson, Lucas Till, Nick Robinson, Diana Silvers, Lamar Johnson, Michael Greyeyes, Natalia del Riego, Aisling Franciosi, and more. The screening had the warm, buzzing energy of a reunion—cowboy camp veterans greeting each other in gowns and boots as they stepped into the world of the show once again. The series, created by Kurt Sutter, is set in Washington Territory in 1854 and follows two opposing matriarchs whose families clash over land, secrets, and survival on the edge of American lawlessness.
On the carpet, Diana Silvers spoke with real warmth about the physical transformation required for the role. “My horse Rusty was the greatest gift ever,” she said, adding that cowboy camp quickly became a highlight rather than a hurdle. “It was honestly the two best weeks of my life. We learned how to lasso, how to steer wagons, how to cut cows.” She described her character as “tough, brave, misunderstood,” and joked that while she didn’t take anything from set, “I wanted to take Rusty… but I guess I need season two for that.”
Lucas Till echoed the consensus that cowboy camp bonded the cast deeply. “There was a time when we were all in this pen separating cows from each other, and after two weeks we were able to do it seamlessly,” he said. Speaking about his character, Till explained, “He’s the middle child, but the eldest doesn’t look like he’ll be able to take up the reins of the family business, so that’s where I step in. My mom is one tough cookie.” He noted a subtle jealousy his character feels toward Nick Robinson’s, describing it as a desire to befriend him complicated by a romance that “is not going to work out the way he hopes.” Filming was physically demanding — “You’re using muscles you’ve never used before” — but he called the job “one of my favorites of all time.”
Natalia del Riego, wearing what she called an “art piece” of a gown, said riding became central to her process. “It forced me to be in the present,” she said. “My character is really one with her horse.” Del Riego admitted to taking Lilla Belle’s knife home as a keepsake: “She goes nowhere without it.” She emphasized the character’s backstory — losing her family at 8 years old — noting, “There’s a Lilla Belle before the murder of her family and a Lilla Belle after,” and described the show overall as “betrayal, drama, and love,” with “heart-racing” tension throughout.
Aisling Franciosi described cowboy camp as “so much fun,” adding, “Our wranglers were amazing — so professional, so kind, so encouraging.” She was struck by the detail of the constructed town, recalling a recreated period candy shop: “All the sweets were exactly what they would have had in that time. They really went above and beyond.” While her character adored those sweets on screen, Franciosi admitted she was the only one eating them between takes.
Executive producer Stephen Surjik reflected on the show’s thematic DNA and its ties to Kurt Sutter’s earlier work. “It’s complex character work where you have many people relating to each other in very coherent ways,” he said. Drawing a parallel to Sons of Anarchy, he remarked, “Whether it’s motorcycles or horses, you have a sociological phenomenon: big groups battling for territory.” Surjik emphasized that the stakes are philosophical as much as material: “It’s not as simple as wanting land. There’s dignity involved.”
Toby Hemingway spoke with enthusiasm about the Calgary shoot. “You didn’t have to pretend too much when you’re on your horse with your cowboy hat in this beautiful place,” he said. Cowboy camp, though brief for him, became something he loved: “It turned out to be one of my favorite things.” He also noted the surreal experience of working with Gillian Anderson after growing up watching her, calling the entire production “my favorite thing I’ve ever done — and this time I really mean it.”
Gillian Anderson described her character as a sharp departure from previous roles. “She’s ruthless, and she feels like she has a righteous pursuit,” Anderson said. “She believes she’s doing good for America and is focused on the bigger picture.” It is, she noted, her first time playing a true villain. She praised Lena Headey’s performance as the opposing matriarch, saying, “I was so impressed with her and what she brought to every scene. We have some fair showdowns.”
Hannah Forest Briand recounted her first days on set as “surreal,” explaining that working alongside Anderson and Headey made it difficult to act naturally. “You stop making jokes because you’re nervous,” she said, though she appreciated Anderson laughing at every tentative attempt. Initially auditioning for a different role, Briand ultimately joined the show as Jenny, Anderson’s maid, and said, “As a queer person, having the queer community behind me cheering me on has meant everything.”
Writer Sarah McCarron described watching the actors embody her scripts as “chills-inducing.” She explained that early casting discussions became instantly clear once Headey and Anderson were attached: “When casting not only honors your vision but elevates it in ways you couldn’t imagine, that’s the dream.” She laughed when asked if the two actresses could ever swap roles, replying, “That’s the True West version… maybe next season.”
Lena Headey dismissed the idea of ever playing Anderson’s character. “Van Ness is manipulative, ruthless,” she said. “Mine is more wholesome, earthy, grounded.” She added that she enjoyed the physicality of her role, noting simply, “I got to fist fight, which was fun.”
The Abandons premieres December 4, 2025, on Netflix with seven episodes. The series stars Lena Headey, Gillian Anderson, Nick Robinson, Diana Silvers, Lamar Johnson, Natalia del Riego, Lucas Till, Aisling Franciosi, Toby Hemingway, Michael Greyeyes, Ryan Hurst, Katelyn Wells, Clayton Cardenas, Elle-Maija Tailfeathers, Brían F. O’Byrne, Marc Menchaca, Patton Oswalt, Michael Ornstein, Jonathan Koensgen, Jack Doolan, Michiel Huisman, Haig Sutherland, and Sarah White, with Kurt Sutter serving as creator.
When the lights dim on the runways of New York Fashion Week (NYFW), the real party starts, and this year, Danielle Guizio and Casamigos delivered a soirée that was pure perfection. Teaming up for Guizio’s annual after-party, the duo transformed a buzzy venue into the most coveted spot to celebrate a successful season.
The guest list did not disappoint. Attendees including Anwar Hadid, Landon Barker, Atiana De La Hoya, Gabriel Moses, Tessa Brooks, Emira D’Spain, Aiden Cullen, Jov Khan, and Jack Goldberg, among many others, were spotted mingling, dancing, and enjoying the tequila cocktails.
Casamigos curated two specialty cocktails for the night: the bright and refreshing Casa Paloma and the classic Casamigos Margarita. To match Guizio’s ability to balance playfully feminine vibes with a rebellious edge, the true star of the bar was a show-stopping teddy bear ice luge serving tequila shots.
From the first sip to the last dance, the Danielle Guizio and Casamigos after-party proved that fashion and fun are the perfect pairing.
The Knockturnal had the pleasure of attending the premiere of Duster, Max’s compelling new original drama series created by J.J. Abrams and LaToya Morgan, held at Universal Studios. The series is set in the dangerous Southwest of the 1970s. The story follows Jim Ellis (Josh Holloway), an experienced getaway driver working for a rising criminal empire. But everything begins to change for Jim with the arrival of Nina Hayes (Rachel Hilson). Nina is a relentless federal agent and determined to prove herself, she sets her sights on bringing Jim Ellis and his accomplices down. Audiences will be taken on a ride through this eight-part series as the danger and suspense unfolds.
Universal Studios hosted an exclusive after party featuring themed cocktails titled “The Mad Raoul” and “Full Throttle Fashioned”. Guests enjoyed classic appetizers from the Southwest such as short rib, chicken sliders, and street corn. The appetizers were followed by desserts such as pineapple cake and peanut butter brownies. Guests mingled and danced along to music from the 1970s under colorful lighting, which elevated the atmosphere of the outdoor party. Finally, guests enjoyed an opportunity to take a photo with the 1970s red Dodge Charger from the show! The premiere was a wonderful experience for the guests and we look forward to seeing what happens next in Duster!
Summer is looking up with a vibrant collection of both new and classic rooftop bars popping up around New York City.
Ahead of the release of her self-titled album, singer-songwriter Kasey Tyndall celebrated alongside fans, friends, and family at Hill Country Barbecue Market in New York City.
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