Karthik Shankar - Thrillist

Karthik Shankar

Karthik Shankar’s Recent Articles

rrr, bheem and rama

Jun 10

'RRR' Is the Blockbuster of the Summer, but Mind Its Dicey Politics

Western audiences are eating up the thrilling Indian epic, but are missing the film's modern political context.

ragnarok netflix

Feb 7, 2020

Netflix's Superpowered 'Ragnarok' Is a Classic Teen Show Mixed with Norse Mythology

Ragnarok, a new Norweigian Netflix series about a teenager discovering his divine superpowered destiny (and has nothing to do with the Marvel movies), opens with the beats of M83’s "Midnight City," the 2011 song whose music video featured superpowered adolescents breaking out of the facility they are confined in.

tell me who i am

Oct 23, 2019

Netflix's 'Tell Me Who I Am' Tells the Devastating True Story of Twin Brothers' Secret Past

"What is normal, really?

Sep 27, 2019

Netflix's 'Disenchantment' Finds Its Groove in a Great Season 2 That Ends on a Huge Cliffhanger

When Disenchantment premiered last August on Netflix, my initial excitement about Matt Groening's latest project dissipated after five episodes.

Sep 10, 2019

The Hot Teens of Netflix's 'Élite' Can't Save Its Disappointingly Rocky Second Season

The uber-privileged teens of Spain's Las Encinas high school are back and as hormonally driven, debauched, and scheming as ever.

Jul 18, 2019

Netflix's 'The Last Czars' Is a Bold but Flawed Docudrama About the End of Russian Royalty

In 1925 Berlin, a man approaches a hospitalized woman who apparently suffers from retrograde amnesia.

Jul 2, 2019

Netflix's Supernatural Teen Drama 'Jinn' Is Like a Middle Eastern 'Twilight'

Preternaturally attractive teenagers and ancient powers collide in Jinn, the first Arabic-language series to premiere on Netflix.

Jun 19, 2019

Netflix's 'Leila' Never Becomes the Sharp Political Dystopian Series It Wants to Be

A family is huddled around the television.