my spring 2025 watch & read list 🌿🌷🦋
films, tv, and books for this upcoming spring!
hi darlings!
thursday, march 20th, ushered in spring and the season 2 finale of severance. what a day, what a finale! the changing of the seasons brought my allergies to the forefront, but also pure excitement and joy for later sunsets, warmer weather, and fun plans on my calendar.
while my newsletter has been more personal essays the last few months, spring’s arrival had me thinking about my old watch lists. writing these quarterly check-ins makes me sit down and take a moment to think about the upcoming media i’ve been looking forward to. so, without further ado, here’s my spring 2025 watch & read list!
please note: this post gets cut off on email, so read it in your browser or app!
films, new & coming this spring
holland (2025)
director: mimi cave, screenplay by: andrew sodroski // starring: nicole kidman, gael garcía bernal, matthew macfadyen, rachel sennott, jude hill
release date: march 27, 2025 (available on amazon prime)
a close friend of mine went to an early screening of holland last week and said she had a lot of fun! it’s twisty with a stellar cast. and i’m looking forward to see how mimi cave continues to build out her filmography.
death of a unicorn (2025)
director & screenplay by: alex scharfman // starring: jenna ortega, paul rudd, will poulter, téa leoni, richard e. grant
release date: march 28, 2025
i’ve been looking forward to a24’s death of a unicorn since the cast was announced in 2023. it’s such a curious premise — i cant wait to see paul rudd and jenna ortega play opposite each other as father and daughter!
the wedding banquet (2025)
director: andrew ahn, screenplay by: andrew ahn, james schamus // starring: bowen yang, lily gladstone, kelly marie tran, han gi-chan, joan chen, youn yuh-jung
release date: april 18, 2025
this sundance release looks so joyful and fun! i loved andrew ahn’s direction in fire island (2022) and the cast just looks like they had such an incredible time making the film. i think i’ll watch the original ahead of this release!
a nice indian boy (2024)
director: roshan sethi, screenplay by: eric randall // starring: karan soni, jonathan groff, sunita mani
release date: april 4, 2025
the word i keep coming back to about a nice indian boy is “heartfelt.” the trailer looks adorable, just sweet and like a fantastic queer romance movie. plus i love when we get jonathan groff on our screens!
warfare (2025)
director & screenplay by: ray mendoza, alex garland // starring: d'pharaoh woon-a-tai, will poulter, kit connor, michael gandolfini, joseph quinn, charles melton
release date: april 11, 2025
to my shock, i really enjoyed civil war (2024) when i saw it in theaters last year. frankly, i’m intrigued to see what ray mendoza and alex garland say in warfare, especially knowing it follows ray’s lived experiences. and i’m really excited to see d’pharaoh woon-a-tai lead a film!
honorable mentions: the legend of ochi, the luckiest man in america (hi, hello man of the hour, walton goggins!), the friend, and friendship.
tv shows, new & coming this spring
the studio, season 1
created by: seth rogen, evan goldberg, peter huyck, alex gregory, frida perez // starring: seth rogen, catherine o'hara, ike barinholtz, chase sui wonders, kathryn hahn
maybe the studio will be a little too inside baseball, maybe it’ll be a great watch. time will tell, but i’ll be tuning in! the first two episodes come out this week, so we’ll know shortly!
season starts: wednesday, march 26
where to watch: apple tv+
hacks, season 4
created & showrun by: lucia aniello, paul w. downs, jen statsky // starring: jean smart, hannah einbinder, carl clemons-hopkins, megan stalter, paul w. downs
i absolutely loved where they left our cast at the end of hacks season 3! god, what a season finale. i’ve been patiently waiting to see where it leads us in season 4, how ava will use agency and power over deborah, and how their toxic, co-dependent dynamics will continue to develop.
season starts: thursday, april 10
where to watch: max
created by: tina fey, lang fisher, tracey wigfield // starring: tina fey, steve carell, colman domingo, erika henningsen, kerri kenney-silver, will forte, marco calvani
this netflix miniseries is an adaptation of the 1981 film of the same name starring alan alda and carol burnett, among other icons. the teaser dropped earlier this week — give it a watch if you haven’t seen it yet!
season releases: thursday, may 1
where to watch: netflix
mid-century modern, season 1
created by: max mutchnick, david kohan // starring: nathan lane, matt bomer, linda lavin, nathan lee graham
the premise of mid-century modern sounds perfect to me: “three gay men of a certain age decide to live together in palm springs, where the wealthiest of the three lives with his mother.” the show sounds charming, and i’m especially intrigued to see how the writing staff continue because linda passed away at the end of 2024. i think the show will be a nice weekly watch.
season starts: friday, march 28
where to watch: hulu
created by: elizabeth meriwether, kim rosenstock // starring: michelle williams, jenny slate
dying for sex is an upcoming miniseries based off a podcast of the same name. the premise: “a woman diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer ends her 15 year marriage in order to explore herself and her sexuality before her death.” heavy shit, i can’t wait!
season premieres: friday, april 4
where to watch: fx
books, new & coming this spring!
audition by katie kitamura
release date: april 8, 2025
katie kitamura is a fascinating journalist and art critic! at the end of 2024, i read multiple lists for books to keep an eye out for in 2025, and audition showed up multiple times. for the princeton alumni weekly magazine, she said she considered this book to be in dialogue with her two previous novels, a separation and intimacies. i love when authors can pull together their literary worlds in this way.
great big beautiful life by emily henry
release date: april 22, 2025
i enjoy picking up emily henry books and reading them by the beach. i expect this new title to be among those joyful springtime memories!
the emperor of gladness by ocean vuong
release date: may 13, 2025
i feel quite embarrassed admitting this, but i haven’t been able to bring myself to finish ocean’s debut novel on earth were briefly gorgeous yet. i keep getting trapped in my own grief too much while reading. this spring, i’m hoping to sit outside and enjoy the sun shining on me as i read ocean’s pages in both his older title and his new book.
atmosphere by taylor jenkins reid
release date: june 3, 2025
i am a huuuuuuge taylor jenkins reid fan, and my favorite book of her’s is the seven husbands of evelyn hugo. i’ve read it multiple times, i love the interweaving stories between evelyn and the dual protagonist, monique. but i really adore all of her historical fiction tales. atmosphere is a romance that takes place during the space shuttle program in the 1980s; i really think taylor will write a beautiful love story in that backdrop. it’ll probably also have some devastating loss. time will tell what taylor writes!
the catch by yrsa daley-ward
release date: june 3, 2025
yrsa daley-ward’s the catch is the inaugural novel in the well-read black girl books series and it’s her debut novel. the story follows twins who lost their mother as children, and revolves around themes of motherhood and identity. as an adult, one of the twins, clara, sees a woman that looks just like their mother, but the woman has no children and hasn’t aged a day. it sounds so curious to me, and motherhood / the choice to be a mother is a topic i think about a lot. i’m really looking forward to the release of the catch.
springtime ‘25 is my new playlist i’ll be adding to all spring — you can find it here!
here’s to a beautiful springtime ahead!
x, your pal al 👒🌷
these are so cute!! have you watched daisy jones and the six (taylor jenkins reid)?