What do you want to watch tonight?
Each title says who it's good for, and who it isn't. Tap what you want tonight, or say no to one and why.
Closest to Monarch: Legacy of Monsters first
Neon Genesis Evangelion 1995
Anime
At the turn of the century, the Angels returned to Earth, seeking to wipe out humanity in an apocalyptic fury. Devastated, mankind's last remnants moved underground to wait for the day when the Angels would come back to finish the job. Fifteen years later, that day has come... but this time, humanity is ready to fight back with terrifying bio-mechanical weapons known as the Evangelions. Watch as Shinji, Rei, Asuka and the rest of the mysterious shadow agency Nerv battle to save earth from total annihilation.
The sides of Neon Genesis Evangelion
- A boy ordered by his father to pilot a giant robot
- Angels attacking Tokyo-3
- A final two episodes inside his head
Good for you if
- you like a series that leaves you with more questions than answers.
- you care more about the pilots' minds than the robot fights.
- you like an ending that goes somewhere no one expected.
Bad for you if
- you can't take depression and self-loathing on screen.
- you don't watch anime.
About: depression · fathers and sons · loneliness
Pacific Rim: The Black 2021
Series
Two siblings - an idealistic teenage boy and his naive younger sister - are forced to pilot an abandoned Jaeger across a hostile landscape in a desperate attempt to find their missing parents.
The sides of Pacific Rim: The Black
- A brother and sister piloting a Jaeger
- An Australia overrun by kaiju
- A search for missing parents
Good for you if
- you like giant robots fighting giant monsters.
- you like the scale of a Jaeger crossing a ruined continent.
- you like two kids staying alive in hostile land.
Bad for you if
- you don't watch animated series.
- you can't stand monsters killing people on screen.
About: siblings · courage · abandonment
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood 2009
Anime
Disregard for alchemy’s laws ripped half of Edward Elric’s limbs from his body and left his brother Alphonse’s soul clinging to a suit of armor. To restore what was lost, the brothers seek the Philosopher’s Stone. Enemies and allies – the corrupt military, the Homunculi, and foreign alchemists – will alter the Elric brothers course, but their purpose will remain unchanged and their bond unbreakable.
The sides of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
- Two brothers who paid for alchemy with their bodies
- A soul bound to a suit of armor
- A conspiracy inside the army
Good for you if
- you like a world where alchemy has strict laws and a price.
- you like two brothers who never give up on each other.
- you want fights against Homunculi that keep raising the stakes.
Bad for you if
- you don't watch anime.
- you can't commit to sixty-four episodes.
About: brotherhood · sacrifice · power
Jupiter's Legacy 2021
Series
As the world's first generation of superheroes (who received their powers in the 1930s) become the revered elder guard in the present, their superpowered children struggle to live up to the legendary feats of their parents.
The sides of Jupiter's Legacy
- Aging superheroes and their grown children
- Flashbacks to how they got their powers in the 1930s
- A code that forbids killing villains
Good for you if
- you like superheroes arguing about parenting as much as fighting villains.
- you like superpowered fights with real damage.
- you like flashbacks to the Great Depression and how it all began.
Bad for you if
- you can't stand bloody superhero fights.
- you want light, feel-good superheroes.
About: legacy · fathers and children · duty
The Haunting of Hill House 2018
Series
Flashing between past and present, a fractured family confronts haunting memories of their old home and the terrifying events that drove them from it.
The sides of The Haunting of Hill House
- Five siblings and the house they fled
- A night their father never explained
- Ghosts hiding in the background of shots
Good for you if
- you want ghosts you only spot in the corner of the frame.
- you like a horror story that is really about brothers and sisters.
- you like a reveal that makes you rethink the first episode.
Bad for you if
- you can't take grief, addiction and suicide on screen.
- you need horror that moves fast. This one lingers on memories.
About: grief · family · memory
Interstellar 2014
Film
On a dying Earth, a former NASA pilot leaves his two children behind to travel through a wormhole and look for a planet humans can live on.
The sides of Interstellar
- The father and the daughter
- The science you can believe
- The organ and the silence
- The loneliness out there
Good for you if
- goodbyes hit you harder than explosions.
- you like wormholes, black holes and a planet where one hour costs years.
- you want to feel very small in your seat.
Bad for you if
- you'd rather not think about relativity and time stretching to follow a plot.
- big speeches about love make you roll your eyes.
- nearly three hours is too much for one evening.
About: time · sacrifice · home · the people left behind
Dark 2017
Series
A missing child sets four families on a frantic hunt for answers as they unearth a mind-bending mystery that spans three generations.
The sides of Dark
- A puzzle across time
- A small town with a buried secret
- Fate against free will
- Four families, one knot
- Grey rain and a heavy score
Good for you if
- you like a family tree you need to draw on paper.
- you like a cold, patient mystery.
- you like a series you understand better the second time.
Bad for you if
- you need some hope. In Winden, families lose their children, then everything else.
- you won't read subtitles. It's in German (a dub exists).
About: time · fate · family
Hulk 2003
Film
Bruce Banner, a genetics researcher with a tragic past, suffers massive radiation exposure in his laboratory that causes him to transform into a raging green monster when he gets angry.
The sides of Hulk
- A scientist who turns green with rage
- A father behind his son's past
- Split screens like comic panels
Good for you if
- you like a superhero film about repressed memories and anger.
- you like Ang Lee's split screens that look like comic book panels.
- you like a dark story between a son and his father.
Bad for you if
- you need momentum. Banner doesn't turn green until well into the film.
- you find two hours and twenty minutes too long for a superhero film.
About: anger · fathers and sons · trauma
Revolution 2012
Series
One day, electricity just stopped working and the world was suddenly thrust back into the dark ages. Now, 15 years later, a young woman's life is dramatically changed when a local militia arrives and kills her father, who mysteriously—and unbeknownst to her—had something to do with the blackout. An unlikely group sets out off on a daring journey to find answers about the past in the hopes of reclaiming the future.
The sides of Revolution
- A world where electricity stopped working
- A militia ruling what is left of America
- A sword-fighting uncle and his niece on the road
Good for you if
- you like Charlie and her uncle Miles on the road to find her kidnapped brother.
- you like sword fights and crossbows in the ruins of America.
- you want to know who switched the power off, and why.
Bad for you if
- you need a story with a real ending, and this one stops after two seasons.
- you need the science behind a global blackout to hold up.
About: family · survival · power
Godzilla 2014
Film
Ford Brody, a Navy bomb expert, has just reunited with his family in San Francisco when he is forced to go to Japan to help his estranged father, Joe. Soon, both men are swept up in an escalating crisis when an ancient alpha predator arises from the sea to combat malevolent adversaries that threaten the survival of humanity. The creatures leave colossal destruction in their wake, as they make their way toward their final battleground: San Francisco.
The sides of Godzilla
- Monsters waking up
- A city hit by a tsunami
- Godzilla glimpsed through smoke
Good for you if
- you like a monster shown at true scale.
- you like a slow build before the big reveal.
- you like soldiers diving through red smoke into a ruined city.
Bad for you if
- you want a character drama. This is a disaster film, seen from the ground.
- you want some fun with your monsters. This one plays it dead serious.
About: nature · hubris · survival
Taken 2002
Series
The show takes place from 1944 to 2002 and follows the lives of three families: the Crawfords, who seek to cover up the Roswell crash and the existence of aliens; the Keys, who are subject to frequent experimentation by the aliens; and the Clarkes, who sheltered one of the surviving aliens from the crash.
The sides of Taken
- The Roswell crash and its cover-up
- Three families across sixty years
- A girl born from alien experiments
Good for you if
- you like an alien conspiracy unfolding over decades.
- you like a saga told through three families and their children.
- you like American history from the 1940s to 2002 seen through UFOs.
Bad for you if
- ten feature-length episodes is too much for you.
- you want alien battles, not a slow family saga.
About: secrets · heredity · conspiracy
Godzilla Singular Point 2021
Anime
Brought together by a mysterious song, a grad student and an engineer lead the fight against an unimaginable force that may spell doom for the world.
The sides of Godzilla Singular Point
- A grad student and an engineer
- A mysterious song heard across the world
- Kaiju tied to a puzzle about time
Good for you if
- you like a kaiju story built on quantum physics and riddles.
- you like Jet Jaguar, a homemade robot, brawling with kaiju in the streets.
- you like scientists in Japan and India piecing together a global threat.
Bad for you if
- you don't watch anime.
- you can't follow long scientific talk about time and dimensions.
About: science · the end of the world · time
Stranger Things 2016
Series
When a young boy vanishes, a small town uncovers a mystery involving secret experiments, terrifying supernatural forces, and one strange little girl.
The sides of Stranger Things
- The eighties
- A gang of friends
- Monsters and real fear
- A family you choose
Good for you if
- you love the 1980s: bikes, walkie-talkies, arcade games.
- you like a monster hunt in a small town.
- you like a gang of kids who never leave a friend behind.
Bad for you if
- creatures and gore are too scary for you or the kids.
- five long seasons is more than you want to start.
About: friendship · growing up · the unknown
Arrival 2016
Film
Taking place after alien crafts land around the world, an expert linguist is recruited by the military to determine whether they come in peace or are a threat.
The sides of Arrival
- The grief underneath the sci-fi
- Aliens that are truly alien
- Understanding as the plot
- Time that doesn't run straight
Good for you if
- you like a film that quietly breaks you at the end.
- you like patient scenes where people try to understand each other.
- you like aliens treated as a real problem of language and science.
Bad for you if
- you want an alien invasion with battles. There are none.
- you'd rather not work to follow a story. Louise's memories only fall into place in the last act.
About: language · grief · time · choice
Attack on Titan 2013
Anime
100 years ago, the last remnants of humanity were forced to retreat behind the towering walls of a fortified city to escape the massive, man-eating Titans that roamed the land outside their fortress. Only the members of the Scouting Legion dared to stray beyond the safety of the walls – but even those brave warriors seldom returned alive. Those within the city clung to the illusion of a peaceful existence until the day that dream was shattered, and their slim chance at survival was reduced to one horrifying choice: kill – or be devoured!
The sides of Attack on Titan
- Survival against impossible odds
- Twists that flip who the enemy is
- War, freedom and what it costs
Good for you if
- you like humanity trapped behind walls with giants outside.
- you like a story that turns everything upside down halfway.
- you can take a dark, brutal war story.
Bad for you if
- giants eating people ruin it for you.
- you don't watch anime.
About: freedom · war · revenge
Thunderbolts* 2025
Film
After finding themselves ensnared in a death trap, seven disillusioned castoffs must embark on a dangerous mission that will force them to confront the darkest corners of their pasts.
The sides of Thunderbolts*
- A team of failed assassins and castoffs
- Yelena Belova and her father
- A man with godlike power and a dark void
Good for you if
- you like misfits who are nobody's idea of heroes.
- you like Florence Pugh carrying a superhero film on her own sadness.
- you like Marvel fights with a rough, close-up feel.
Bad for you if
- you'd rather your superhero film not dwell on depression and loneliness.
- you roll your eyes at big talks about not being alone.
About: loneliness · depression · second chances
Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone 2007
Anime
After the Second Impact, Tokyo-3 is being attacked by giant monsters called Angels that seek to eradicate humankind. The child Shinji’s objective is to fight the Angels by piloting one of the mysterious Evangelion mecha units. A remake of the first six episodes of GAINAX’s famous 1996 anime series. The film was retitled “Evangelion: 1.01” for its DVD release and “Evangelion: 1.11” for a release with additional scenes.
The sides of Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone
- A boy told to pilot a giant machine
- Angels attacking a rebuilt Tokyo
- A father who only wants a pilot
Good for you if
- you want a purple giant fighting monsters over a city that folds away.
- you like a world with its own rules nobody stops to explain.
- you want a frightened fourteen year old more than the battle.
Bad for you if
- you don't watch animated films.
- you won't read subtitles for a Japanese film.
About: fathers and sons · duty · loneliness

Terra Nova 2011
Series
In the year 2149, the world is dying. The planet is overdeveloped and overcrowded, with the majority of plant and animal life extinct. The future of mankind is in jeopardy, and its only hope for survival is in the distant past. An ordinary family goes on an extraordinary journey back in time to prehistoric Earth as a part of a massive expedition to save the human race.
The sides of Terra Nova
- A family sent 85 million years back in time
- A colony fenced off from dinosaurs
- A father who broke the two-child law
Good for you if
- you like a colony holding its ground against dinosaurs.
- you like the Shannons rebuilding their life together.
- you like a prehistoric jungle full of creatures.
Bad for you if
- you need time travel that makes scientific sense.
- you can't stand a single season that ends on open questions.
About: second chances · family · survival
Colony 2016
Series
In the near future a family must make difficult decisions as they balance staying together with trying to survive. They live in Los Angeles, which has been occupied by a force of outside intruders. While some people have chosen to collaborate with the authorities and benefit from the new order, others have rebelled — and suffer the consequences.
The sides of Colony
- Los Angeles behind walls, occupied by outsiders
- A father working for the new order
- A mother secretly in the resistance
Good for you if
- you like a couple keeping secrets from each other under occupation.
- you care about the Bowmans trying to stay together.
- you like the choice between collaborating and resisting.
Bad for you if
- you need closure. The series stops on a cliffhanger after three seasons.
- you need hope, and life under occupation stays grim.
About: collaboration · resistance · family
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire 2024
Film
Following their explosive showdown, Godzilla and Kong must reunite against a colossal undiscovered threat hidden within our world, challenging their very existence – and our own.
The sides of Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire
- Kong exploring the Hollow Earth
- Godzilla sleeping in the Colosseum
- A tyrant ape ruling enslaved apes
Good for you if
- you want two giant monsters teaming up from Egypt to Rio.
- you like titans throwing each other through cities.
- you want a fun monster night with nothing heavy.
Bad for you if
- you need human characters you really care about.
- you need a story that respects science.
About: belonging · tyranny · alliance