New films, series, seasons and documentaries are coming to Netflix Middle East this month, from the much-anticipated Stranger Things 4: Volume 1 to South Korean series The Sound of Magic.
There's something for all ages, including the children, as Boss Baby brings a new season to family screens, while thriller lovers can look forward to another instalment of Spanish favourite Who Killed Sara?.
True crime buffs will also enjoy Cyber Hell: Exposing an Internet Horror, which documents efforts to take down a network of online chat rooms focused on sex crimes, as well as The Photographer: Murder in Pinamar, about a photojournalist's death that shook Argentina.
Here's what's new on Netflix this month.
'Hold Your Breath: The Ice Dive'
Release date: May 3
Genre: Documentary
Language: English
This documentary follows Finnish freediver Johanna Nordblad as she attempts to set a world record for distance travelled under ice with one breath.
'The Sound of Magic'
Release date: May 6
Genre: Fantasy musical drama
Language: Korean
This new South Korean series, a fantasy musical drama, is based on Ha Il-kwon's webtoon Annarasumanara, on streaming platform Naver. Directed by Kim Sung-yoon, it tells the story of a magician living in an abandoned theme park who makes troubles disappear, and hope reappear, for a disenchanted teen enduring harsh realities.
'Welcome to Eden'
Release date: May 6
Genre: Thriller
Language: Spanish
A Spanish thriller, Welcome to Eden follows Zoa and four other young people who attend an exclusive party on a secret island. Although, what begins as a bit of fun ends up in dangerous territory as the supposed paradise is not what the group expects, and secrets and entrapments await.
'The Lincoln Lawyer'
Release date: May 13
Genre: Crime drama
Language: English
This new Netflix Original series is based on the bestselling novels by Michael Connelly and follows scrappy Los Angeles defence lawyer Mickey Haller (played by Manuel Garcia-Rulfo), who does legal work out of his Lincoln Town Car. When a colleague is murdered and leaves his job to Haller, the titular character is plunged into a conspiracy that all seems to revolve around one high-profile murder case. It also stars Neve Campbell.
'Bling Empire', season 2
Genre: Reality television
Language: English
Get set for a new instalment of wildly wealthy Asian and Asian-American fun-seekers who go all out with parties, glamour and drama in Los Angeles. This season there are new loves, new friends and plenty of new drama.
'Senior Year'
Release date: May 13
Genre: Comedy
Language: English
Rebel Wilson stars in this new film about a cheerleading stunt gone wrong, landing the star in a 20-year coma. When she wakes up aged 37, she's ready to live out her high school dream: becoming prom queen. So she goes back to school, only to find it's changed a bit since 2002.
'Vampire in the Garden'
Release date: May 16
Genre: Anime
Language: Japanese
Anime lovers will enjoy this new series from Wit Studio that charts a fateful meeting between a human and vampire queen that might just change the world. In the divided future, two girls want to do the forbidden: the human wants to play violin, while the vampire wants to see what the rest of the planet has to offer.
'Who Killed Sara?', season 3
Release date: May 18
Genre: Thriller
Language: Spanish
This is the third and final season of Spanish thriller Who Killed Sara? And as enemies become allies the truth is finally exposed. After being framed for his sister's murder, Alex is fixated on solving the mystery: what happened to Sara and who is the real culprit?
'Cyber Hell: Exposing an Internet Horror'
Release date: May 18
Genre: True crime
Language: Korean
This new documentary uncovers the 2019 chat room atrocities that shocked South Korea. An online network run rampant with sex crimes and abuse, with teenage victims, until a hunt to take down its operators took place.
'The Photographer: Murder in Pinamar'
Release date: May 19
Genre: True crime
Language: Spanish
This documentary examines the death of photojournalist Jose Luis Cabezas, whose murder rocked Argentina, exposing a political and financial conspiracy. It's the latest work from Argentinian filmmaker Alejandro Hartmann, who was also behind documetanry Carmel: Who Killed Maria Marta.
'The Boss Baby: Back in the Crib'
Release date: May 19
Genre: Family animation
Language: English
This spin-off series picks up where the second Boss Baby film, Family Business, left off, as Nicole Byer (Nailed It!) does the voice of a tiny chief executive. Adult Ted Templeton Jr uses Tina's magical formula to turn himself back into the Boss Baby, but taking over BabyCorp is anything but child's play, as they say.
'Love, Death & Robots', volume 3
Release date: May 20
Genre: Animation
Language: English
A third instalment of the Emmy-winning animated anthology series Love, Death & Robots returns, executive-produced by Tim Miller (Deadpool) and David Fincher (Mindhunter). Uncanny worlds and twisted delights await, as stories span horror, science fiction and fantasy, all with that signature wit and innovation.
'Stranger Things 4: Volume 1'
Release date: May 27
Genre: Horror
Language: English
There's plenty to anticipate as darkness returns to Hawkins in time for spring break, triggering new terror, fresh memories and the threat of war. The creators have said this is the darkest season of Stranger Things yet.
The first volume is scheduled to be released on May 27, with the second part coming on July 1.
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
LILO & STITCH
Starring: Sydney Elizebeth Agudong, Maia Kealoha, Chris Sanders
Director: Dean Fleischer Camp
Rating: 4.5/5
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
Ticket prices
General admission Dh295 (under-three free)
Buy a four-person Family & Friends ticket and pay for only three tickets, so the fourth family member is free
Buy tickets at: wbworldabudhabi.com/en/tickets
THE SPECS
Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
Transmission: seven-speed dual clutch
Power: 710bhp
Torque: 770Nm
Speed: 0-100km/h 2.9 seconds
Top Speed: 340km/h
Price: Dh1,000,885
On sale: now
SPEC SHEET
Display: 10.9" Liquid Retina IPS, 2360 x 1640, 264ppi, wide colour, True Tone, Apple Pencil support
Chip: Apple M1, 8-core CPU, 8-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine
Memory: 64/256GB storage; 8GB RAM
Main camera: 12MP wide, f/1.8, Smart HDR
Video: 4K @ 25/25/30/60fps, full HD @ 25/30/60fps, slo-mo @ 120/240fps
Front camera: 12MP ultra-wide, f/2.4, Smart HDR, Centre Stage; full HD @ 25/30/60fps
Audio: Stereo speakers
Biometrics: Touch ID
I/O: USB-C, smart connector (for folio/keyboard)
Battery: Up to 10 hours on Wi-Fi; up to 9 hours on cellular
Finish: Space grey, starlight, pink, purple, blue
Price: Wi-Fi – Dh2,499 (64GB) / Dh3,099 (256GB); cellular – Dh3,099 (64GB) / Dh3,699 (256GB)
Paris Can Wait
Dir: Eleanor Coppola
Starring: Alec Baldwin, Diane Lane, Arnaud Viard
Two stars
HIJRA
Starring: Lamar Faden, Khairiah Nathmy, Nawaf Al-Dhufairy
Director: Shahad Ameen
Rating: 3/5
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THE SPECS
Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbocharged V12 petrol engine
Power: 420kW
Torque: 780Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh1,350,000
On sale: Available for preorder now
Uefa Nations League: How it works
The Uefa Nations League, introduced last year, has reached its final stage, to be played over five days in northern Portugal. The format of its closing tournament is compact, spread over two semi-finals, with the first, Portugal versus Switzerland in Porto on Wednesday evening, and the second, England against the Netherlands, in Guimaraes, on Thursday.
The winners of each semi will then meet at Porto’s Dragao stadium on Sunday, with the losing semi-finalists contesting a third-place play-off in Guimaraes earlier that day.
Qualifying for the final stage was via League A of the inaugural Nations League, in which the top 12 European countries according to Uefa's co-efficient seeding system were divided into four groups, the teams playing each other twice between September and November. Portugal, who finished above Italy and Poland, successfully bid to host the finals.
Common OCD symptoms and how they manifest
Checking: the obsession or thoughts focus on some harm coming from things not being as they should, which usually centre around the theme of safety. For example, the obsession is “the building will burn down”, therefore the compulsion is checking that the oven is switched off.
Contamination: the obsession is focused on the presence of germs, dirt or harmful bacteria and how this will impact the person and/or their loved ones. For example, the obsession is “the floor is dirty; me and my family will get sick and die”, the compulsion is repetitive cleaning.
Orderliness: the obsession is a fear of sitting with uncomfortable feelings, or to prevent harm coming to oneself or others. Objectively there appears to be no logical link between the obsession and compulsion. For example,” I won’t feel right if the jars aren’t lined up” or “harm will come to my family if I don’t line up all the jars”, so the compulsion is therefore lining up the jars.
Intrusive thoughts: the intrusive thought is usually highly distressing and repetitive. Common examples may include thoughts of perpetrating violence towards others, harming others, or questions over one’s character or deeds, usually in conflict with the person’s true values. An example would be: “I think I might hurt my family”, which in turn leads to the compulsion of avoiding social gatherings.
Hoarding: the intrusive thought is the overvaluing of objects or possessions, while the compulsion is stashing or hoarding these items and refusing to let them go. For example, “this newspaper may come in useful one day”, therefore, the compulsion is hoarding newspapers instead of discarding them the next day.
Source: Dr Robert Chandler, clinical psychologist at Lighthouse Arabia
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Kandahar%20
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Ric%20Roman%20Waugh%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%C2%A0%3C%2Fstrong%3EGerard%20Butler%2C%20Navid%20Negahban%2C%20Ali%20Fazal%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202.5%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
All the Money in the World
Director: Ridley Scott
Starring: Charlie Plummer, Mark Wahlberg, Michelle Williams, Christopher Plummer
Four stars
EU Russia
The EU imports 90 per cent of the natural gas used to generate electricity, heat homes and supply industry, with Russia supplying almost 40 per cent of EU gas and a quarter of its oil.
Farage on Muslim Brotherhood
Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister.
"We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know.
“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”
It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.
Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.
GIANT REVIEW
Starring: Amir El-Masry, Pierce Brosnan
Director: Athale
Rating: 4/5
Paris%20Agreement
%3Cp%3EArticle%2014%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E1.%20%5BThe%20Cop%5D%20shall%20periodically%20take%20stock%20of%20the%20implementation%20of%20this%20Agreement%20to%20assess%20the%20collective%20progress%20towards%20achieving%20the%20purpose%20of%20this%20Agreement%20and%20its%20long-term%20goals%20(referred%20to%20as%20the%20%22global%20stocktake%22)%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E2.%20%5BThe%20Cop%5D%20shall%20undertake%20its%20first%20global%20stocktake%20in%202023%20and%20every%20five%20years%20thereafter%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
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