Arts & Entertainment – Winnipeg Free Press

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The Mandalorian (Pedro Pascal) and Grogu in The Mandalorian

Celebrate May 4 with series from Star Wars universe

Jen Zoratti 5 minute read 2:00 AM CDT

May the Fourth be with you.

Today is Star Wars Day and, to celebrate this unofficial holiday — and the upcoming theatrical release of The Mandalorian and Grogu later this month — we thought we’d take a little dig into other stories from the Star Wars universe beyond the core three trilogies: the original (Episodes IV-VI, 1977 to 1983), the prequel (Episodes I-III, 1999 to 2005) and the sequel (Episodes VII-IX, 2015 to 2019). And yes, we know about Andor, but we’re keeping this to the pew-pew-pew Star Wars, not political drama Star Wars.

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● The Mandalorian (2019-2023)

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Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni have ended their ‘It Ends With Us’ dispute in a settlement

Michael R. Sisak And Larry Neumeister, The Associated Press 5 minute read Preview

Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni have ended their ‘It Ends With Us’ dispute in a settlement

Michael R. Sisak And Larry Neumeister, The Associated Press 5 minute read Updated: 5:21 PM CDT

NEW YORK (AP) — Actors Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni agreed Monday to end their legal feud over the acrimonious production of their 2024 film “It Ends With Us,” averting a trial that threatened to further tarnish their reputations and expose the dark side of Hollywood moviemaking.

The costars turned courtroom adversaries settled the civil case two weeks before they were to go to trial in New York on Lively’s claims that Baldoni conspired with publicists to preemptively destroy her reputation after she privately accused him of sexually harassing her on the movie set.

“Raising awareness, and making a meaningful impact in the lives of domestic violence survivors — and all survivors — is a goal that we stand behind," Lively and Baldoni said in a joint statement issued through their lawyers.

"It is our sincere hope that this brings closure and allows all involved to move forward constructively and in peace, including a respectful environment online."

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Updated: 5:21 PM CDT

Blake Lively appears at the SNL50: The Anniversary Special at Rockefeller Plaza in New York on Feb. 16, 2025, left, and Justin Baldoni appears at a special screening of

Stars on Ice skaters embrace high fashion with designer dresses

Laurie Nealin 5 minute read Preview

Stars on Ice skaters embrace high fashion with designer dresses

Laurie Nealin 5 minute read 4:29 PM CDT

If anyone knows how to make a statement, it’s Canadian Olympian Deanna Stellato-Dudek.

Not only did the 42-year-old make history in February as the oldest female figure skater to compete at the Olympic Games in almost a century, Oscar de la Renta dressed her for the occasion — in Milan, Italy, one of the great fashion capitals of the world.

“I think a partnership between haute couture and figure skating is a match made in heaven,” says Stellato-Dudek, who won three Canadian titles and the 2024 world championship with pairs partner Maxime Deschamps.

Her collaboration with the New York fashion house marked the luxury brand’s first foray into figure skating costume design.

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4:29 PM CDT

Justin Tang/The Canadian Press
Deanna Stellato-Dudek performs at 2026 Canadian National Skating Championships in a couture costume by Oscar de la Renta.

Demi Moore, Chloé Zhao, Stellan Skarsgård among Cannes Film Festival jurors

Jake Coyle, The Associated Press 2 minute read Preview

Demi Moore, Chloé Zhao, Stellan Skarsgård among Cannes Film Festival jurors

Jake Coyle, The Associated Press 2 minute read Updated: 1:39 PM CDT

Demi Moore, Chloé Zhao and Stellan Skarsgård are among the jurors who will decide the Palme d'Or at this year's Cannes Film Festival, organizers announced Monday.

Just about a week before the 79th Cannes begins May 12, organizers unveiled the nine-member jury that will deliberate on the films in competition at the annual French Riviera festival. As already announced, South Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook is president of the jury.

Along with him, Moore, Zhao and Skarsgård, the jurors are: Irish-Ethiopian actor Ruth Negga, Belgian director and screenwriter Laura Wandel, Chilean director and screenwriter Diego Céspedes, Ivorian American actor Isaach De Bankolé and Scottish screenwriter Paul Laverty.

Moore and Skarsgård have both in recent years co-starred in films at Cannes that ultimately earned them Oscar nominations. Moore's “The Substance” premiered at the festival in 2024. Last year, “Sentimental Value,” with Skarsgård, launched at Cannes.

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Updated: 1:39 PM CDT

This combination of images show actor Demi Moore, left, actor Stellan Skarsgård, center, and filmmaker Chloé Zhao. (AP Photo)

A real WKRP radio comes to Cincinnati, decades after the sitcom about a fictional station

The Associated Press 3 minute read Preview

A real WKRP radio comes to Cincinnati, decades after the sitcom about a fictional station

The Associated Press 3 minute read Updated: 3:21 PM CDT

CINCINNATI (AP) — WKRP isn't dead — as of Monday, it's living on the air in Cincinnati.

The call letters from the fictional radio station featured in a CBS sitcom were adopted by a trio of real “adult hits” stations in time for Monday's morning drive, and co-owner Jeff Ziesmann described listeners as “stoked.”

“Our phones have been mobbed this morning, as I'm sure you can imagine,” Ziesmann said.

Three stations in Cincinnati, northern Kentucky and Dayton, Ohio, simulcast the station's programming and listeners are now hearing them all identified as WKRP. They will continue to follow the format — music from the ‘60s to the ’80s, with an emphasis on the 1970s — they’ve had under “The Oasis” brand.

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Updated: 3:21 PM CDT

FILE - A photo of the cast members of the sitcom

Daniel Kraus’ ‘Angel Down’ and Bess Wohl’s ‘Liberation’ are among Pulitzer winners in the arts

Hillel Italie, The Associated Press 3 minute read Preview

Daniel Kraus’ ‘Angel Down’ and Bess Wohl’s ‘Liberation’ are among Pulitzer winners in the arts

Hillel Italie, The Associated Press 3 minute read Updated: 4:06 PM CDT

NEW YORK (AP) — Pulitzer Prize officials awarded the fiction prize to an author with a history of experimenting with genres and with language itself: Daniel Kraus, cited for “Angel Down,” a World War I narrative with a celestial twist that unfolds over some 300 pages in one long sentence. “Liberation,” Bess Wohl's look back at the feminist consciousness-raising groups of the 1970s received the drama prize.

Winners announced Monday included two books rooted in the country's founding. Jill Lepore's “We the People: A History of the U.S. Constitution” won for history, and Amanda Vaill's “Pride and Pleasure: The Schuyler Sisters in an Age of Revolution” was the winner for biography. Yiyun Li’s “Things in Nature Merely Grow,” her blunt account of the suicides of her two sons, was cited for memoir-autobiography. Brian Goldstone's “There is No Place for Us: Working and Homeless in America” won for general nonfiction.

The poetry prize went to Juliana Spahr's “Ars Poeticas,” and the music award was given to Gabriela Lena Frank for “Picaflor: A Future Myth,” a symphonic work inspired by Andean legend and California wildfires.

The 50-year-old Kraus has had a diverse and prolific career quite unlike the average Pulitzer fiction winner. He has written horror, science fiction, graphic novels and books for kids. He has collaborated with filmmakers George Romero and Guillermo del Toro, whose Oscar-winning “The Shape of Water” was conceived with Kraus' help. He has received numerous prizes over the years, including the Bram Stoker Award for horror, but had never imagined he'd win a Pulitzer. When he began receiving texts Monday — that included such messages as “Wow!” — he worried that he had somehow gotten himself in trouble.

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Updated: 4:06 PM CDT

FILE - Bess Wohl attends the Glamour Women of the Year Awards at The Plaza Hotel on Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)

Alleged defamation: Cape Breton fiddler Ashley MacIsaac files lawsuit against Google

Michael MacDonald, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Preview

Alleged defamation: Cape Breton fiddler Ashley MacIsaac files lawsuit against Google

Michael MacDonald, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Updated: 4:00 PM CDT

HALIFAX - Cape Breton fiddler Ashley MacIsaac has launched a civil lawsuit against Google, claiming the online giant defamed him by falsely identifying him as a sex offender in an AI-generated summary.

In December, the Juno Award-winning musician said he learned about the misinformation after a First Nation north of Halifax confronted him with the summary — known as an “AI overview" — then cancelled one of his concerts. The Sipekne'katik First Nation later issued a public apology to MacIsaac.

In a statement of claim filed in February with the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, MacIsaac says the summary falsely asserted he had been convicted of a series of offences including sexual assault, internet luring involving a child and assault causing bodily harm.

As well, the summary wrongly stated that MacIsaac had been listed on the national sex offender registry, the lawsuit says.

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Updated: 4:00 PM CDT

Ashley MacIsaac plays at the East Coast Music Awards in Halifax on Sunday, March 10, 2013. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan

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A sun-baked Senegal village erupts in color for one of Africa’s biggest dance festivals

The Associated Press 3 minute read Preview

A sun-baked Senegal village erupts in color for one of Africa’s biggest dance festivals

The Associated Press 3 minute read Updated: 12:59 PM CDT

TOUBAB DIALAO, Senegal (AP) — Twenty-five dance companies from across Africa descended on a Senegalese fishing village over the weekend for the African Dance Biennial, the continent’s largest showcase of contemporary African dance.

Dozens of dancers in vivid oranges, greens and blues stomped, leaped and collapsed into the sand of the sun-baked village of Toubab Dialao, an hour from the capital Dakar.

Founded in 1997, the African Dance Biennial has spent nearly three decades rotating across African cities — most recently Maputo, Mozambique, in 2023 — with the aim of raising the visibility of choreographic work on the continent.

The three-day event, which closed late Sunday, was held at the École des Sables, or School of Sands, in Toubab Dialao.

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Updated: 12:59 PM CDT

A lady attends a dance workshop at the Biennale of Dance in Africa, held at Ecole Des Sables in Toubab Dialaw, Senegal, Saturday, May 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Misper Apawu)

Electrical fire forces closure of Broadway theater that hosts ‘The Book of Mormon’

Jake Offenhartz, The Associated Press 2 minute read Preview

Electrical fire forces closure of Broadway theater that hosts ‘The Book of Mormon’

Jake Offenhartz, The Associated Press 2 minute read Updated: 2:08 PM CDT

NEW YORK (AP) — A fire broke out Monday in the Broadway theater that hosts “The Book of Mormon,” forcing the long-running musical to close, at least temporarily, as the historic venue undergoes repairs.

The blaze, which began in an electrical room, caused “substantial damage” to the Eugene O'Neill Theatre, according to New York Fire Department Assistant Chief David Simms. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

“Everyone has been safely removed from the theater,” the theater’s owner, ATG Entertainment, said in a statement. “We will keep all parties abreast of this developing situation.”

It wasn’t immediately clear how long the 1,108-seat theater would be out of operation. A spokesperson for “The Book of Mormon” did not immediately respond to messages. The show’s next scheduled performance is Tuesday.

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Updated: 2:08 PM CDT

FILE - In this March 16, 2011 photo, Trey Parker, right, and Matt Stone, co-creators of the Broadway show

Celebrity birthdays for the week of May 10-16 includes Kenan Thompson and Cate Blanchett

The Associated Press 7 minute read Preview

Celebrity birthdays for the week of May 10-16 includes Kenan Thompson and Cate Blanchett

The Associated Press 7 minute read 9:21 AM CDT

Celebrity birthdays for the week of May 10-16:

May 10: Actor David Clennon (“thirtysomething”) is 83. Singer Donovan is 80. Singer Graham Gouldman of 10cc is 80. Sports anchor Chris Berman is 71. Actor Bruce Penhall (“CHiPs”) is 69. Actor Victoria Rowell (“The Young and the Restless”) is 67. Singer Bono of U2 is 66. Drummer Danny Carey of Tool is 65. Actor Darryl M. Bell (“A Different World”) is 63. Model Linda Evangelista is 61. Rapper Young MC is 59. Actor Erik Palladino (“ER”) is 58. Singer Richard Patrick of Filter is 58. Actor Lenny Venito (“Kevin Can Wait”) is 57. Actor Dallas Roberts (“Dallas Buyers Club,” ″The Good Wife”) is 56. Actor Leslie Stefanson (“The Hunted,” ″The General’s Daughter”) is 55. Actor Todd Lowe (“True Blood,” ″Gilmore Girls”) is 54. Actor Andrea Anders (“Joey”) is 51. Bassist Jesse Vest of Tantric and of Days of the New is 49. Actor Kenan Thompson (“Saturday Night Live,” ″Kenan and Kel”) is 48. Singer Jason Dalyrimple of Soul For Real is 46. Drummer Joey Zehr of The Click Five is 43. Actor Lindsey Shaw (“Pretty Little Liars”) is 37. Actor Lauren Potter (“Glee”) is 36.

May 11: Singer Eric Burdon (The Animals, War) is 85. Actor Pam Ferris (“Call the Midwife”) is 78. Actor Shohreh Aghdashloo (“24″) is 74. Actor Frances Fisher (“Resurrection,” ″Titanic”) is 74. Actor Boyd Gaines is 73. Drummer Mark Herndon (Alabama) is 71. Former MTV VJ Martha Quinn is 67. Country singer Tim Raybon of The Raybon Brothers is 63. Actor Tim Blake Nelson (“Lincoln,” ″O Brother, Where Art Thou?”) is 62. Actor Jeffrey Donovan (TV’s “Fargo”) is 58. Bassist Keith West of Heartland is 58. Actor Nicky Katt (“Boston Public”) is 55. Actor Coby Bell (“Third Watch”) is 51. Cellist Perttu Kivilaakso of Apocalyptica is 48. Actor Austin O’Brien (“Last Action Hero”) is 45. Actor Jonathan Jackson (“Nashville,” ″Tuck Everlasting”) is 44. Rapper Ace Hood is 38. Singer Prince Royce is 37. Actor Annabelle Attanasio (“Bull”) is 33. Musician Howard Lawrence of Disclosure is 32.

May 12: Actor Millie Perkins (“Knots Landing”) is 90. Singer Jayotis Washington of The Persuasions is 85. Country singer Billy Swan is 84. Actor Linda Dano (“Another World”) is 83. Singer Steve Winwood is 78. Actor Lindsay Crouse is 78. Actor Bruce Boxleitner is 76. Singer Billy Squier is 76. Actor Gabriel Byrne is 76. Blues musician Guy Davis is 74. Country singer Kix Brooks of Brooks and Dunn is 71. Drummer Eric Singer of Kiss is 68. Actor Ving Rhames is 67. Guitarist Billy Duffy of The Cult is 65. Actor Emilio Estevez is 64. Actor April Grace (“Lost,” ″Joan of Arcadia”) is 64. Actor Vanessa Estelle Williams (“Soul Food,” ″Melrose Place”) is 63. TV personality Carla Hall (“The Chew”) is 62. Keyboardist Eddie Kilgallon (Ricochet) is 61. Actor Stephen Baldwin is 60. Actor Scott Schwartz (“A Christmas Story”) is 58. Actor Kim Fields (“Living Single,” ″The Facts of Life”) is 57. Actor Samantha Mathis (TV’s “The Strain”) is 56. Actor Jamie Luner (“Melrose Place,” ″Profiler”) is 55. Actor Rhea Seehorn (“Better Call Saul”) is 54. Actor Mackenzie Astin (“Scandal,” “The Facts of Life”) is 53. Bassist Matt Mangano of Zac Brown Band is 50. Actor Rebecca Herbst (“General Hospital”) is 49. Actor Malin Akerman (“Trophy Wife”) is 48. Actor Jason Biggs (“Orange Is the New Black,” “American Pie”) is 48. Actor Rami Malek (“Bohemian Rhapsody,” ″Mr. Robot”) is 45. Actor Clare Bowen (“Nashville”) is 42. Actor Emily VanCamp (“Revenge”) is 40. Actor Malcolm David Kelley (“Lost”) is 34. Actor Sullivan Sweeten (“Everybody Loves Raymond”) is 31.

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9:21 AM CDT

Kenan Thompson arrives at the 51st AFI Life Achievement Award tribute to Eddie Murphy on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Princess Eugenie and her husband announce they are expecting their 3rd child

The Associated Press 2 minute read Preview

Princess Eugenie and her husband announce they are expecting their 3rd child

The Associated Press 2 minute read 5:30 AM CDT

LONDON (AP) — Britain’s Princess Eugenie and her husband, Jack Brooksbank, announced Monday that they are expecting their third child.

Eugenie, the younger daughter of the former Prince Andrew and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson, is set to give birth this summer, Buckingham Palace said in a statement.

The couple’s two sons August, 5, and Ernest, 2, are “very excited" to welcome a new sibling to the family, and King Charles III is “delighted’’ with the news, the palace said.

Charles is the older brother of the former prince, now known as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, and Eugenie’s uncle.

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5:30 AM CDT

FILE - Britain's Britain's Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank attend the Together At Christmas carol service at Westminster Abbey, in London, Thursday, Dec. 15, 2022. (Henry Nicholls/Pool Photo via AP, File)

Britney Spears pleads guilty to lesser ‘wet reckless’ charge in DUI case, avoids further jail time

Andrew Dalton, The Associated Press 4 minute read Preview

Britney Spears pleads guilty to lesser ‘wet reckless’ charge in DUI case, avoids further jail time

Andrew Dalton, The Associated Press 4 minute read Updated: 1:55 PM CDT

VENTURA, Calif. (AP) — Britney Spears pleaded guilty through her lawyer Monday to a lesser charge that will allow her to avoid jail time after California prosecutors accused her of driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs.

The 44-year-old pop star, who recently completed a stint at a rehabilitation facility, didn’t appear in Ventura County court. But her lawyer, Michael A. Goldstein, pleaded guilty on her behalf to what’s commonly called a “wet reckless.” That allowed her to be sentenced to one day in jail that the judge said she served when she was booked, one year of probation, a required DUI class and state-mandated fines.

The plea offer was standard for defendants with no DUI history, no crash or injury on the road, and a low blood-alcohol level, the county district attorney’s office said. And it’s especially common for defendants who have shown motivation to address their problems and seek treatment, as Spears did when she voluntarily checked in to a substance abuse treatment center last month.

“I don’t think anybody’s happy about pleading guilty to anything, but under the circumstances, to get this behind her, I think everybody is pleased with the result,” Goldstein said after the hearing. “We appreciate the district attorney recognizing the positive steps that Britney is taking to help herself.”

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Updated: 1:55 PM CDT

FILE - Britney Spears arrives at the Los Angeles premiere of

Associated Press global investigation into government surveillance efforts wins Pulitzer Prize

Deepti Hajela, The Associated Press 4 minute read Preview

Associated Press global investigation into government surveillance efforts wins Pulitzer Prize

Deepti Hajela, The Associated Press 4 minute read Updated: 4:48 PM CDT

NEW YORK (AP) — The expansion of government surveillance efforts in China — and the role that U.S. tech firms played in it — was the foundation of investigative stories from The Associated Press that won a Pulitzer Prize Monday for international reporting.

The Pulitzer board recognized AP journalists Dake Kang, Garance Burke, Byron Tau and Aniruddha Ghosal, along with contributor and independent journalist Yael Grauer, for what it called “an astonishing global investigation into state-of-the-art tools of mass surveillance” that also included a story about the expansion of license plate surveillance of drivers in United States by the U.S. Border Patrol.

AP Senior Vice President and Executive Editor Julie Pace said “this complex and difficult reporting, done by journalists across several continents, embodies the true spirit of the AP: leveraging our global footprint and deep expertise to tell important, impactful stories. It comes at a critical time when the immense and growing power of U.S. tech companies — and their increasingly complex relationship with governments — is in the spotlight and of immense public interest.”

The AP's investigation spanned three years, thousands of pages of documents and numerous interviews. It found that the foundations of the system used by the Chinese government to monitor and police its citizens over recent decades was laid down with the help of American companies. Some of the companies went so far as to use their tech's surveillance capabilities as a selling point.

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Updated: 4:48 PM CDT

FILE - Signage for The Pulitzer Prizes appear at Columbia University, May 28, 2019, in New York. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews, File)

Actors and studios strike a tentative 4-year deal, easing fears of another Hollywood shutdown

Andrew Dalton, The Associated Press 3 minute read Preview

Actors and studios strike a tentative 4-year deal, easing fears of another Hollywood shutdown

Andrew Dalton, The Associated Press 3 minute read 4:07 PM CDT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Union board members representing television and movie actors are set this week to review a tentative contract deal with studios and streaming services.

While an agreement was announced Saturday, it still must be approved by the board of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, then ratified by a member vote. If both those things happen — as they're expected to — the industry will avoid a repeat of the 2023 actor and writer strikes that seriously shook the entertainment industry. This year's negotiations were drama-free, and more strikes never really appeared to be in the cards.

The tentative deal was announced in a joint statement from SAG-AFTRA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents a coalition of Hollywood's major studios, streamers and production companies.

The statement said no details would be made public until the union's board has had a chance to review them.

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4:07 PM CDT

FILE - A picketer carries a sign on the picket line outside Netflix on Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, File)

Dolly Parton cancels Las Vegas residency due to health issues: ‘Everything I have is treatable’

Maria Sherman, The Associated Press 4 minute read Preview

Dolly Parton cancels Las Vegas residency due to health issues: ‘Everything I have is treatable’

Maria Sherman, The Associated Press 4 minute read Updated: 4:56 PM CDT

NEW YORK (AP) — Dolly Parton has canceled her previously postponed Las Vegas residency due to health challenges that leave her feeling “swimmy headed” — but has assured fans her ailments are treatable.

“The good news is I'm responding really well to meds and treatments and I'm improving every day,” the 80-year-old country superstar said in a short video posted to her official Instagram account. “Now the bad news is, it's going to take me a little while before I'm up to stage-performance level because some of the meds and treatments make me a lit bit swimmy headed, as my grandma used to say.”

“And of course, I can’t be dizzy carrying around banjos, guitars, and such on five-inch heels — and you know that I’m going to be wearing them,” she joked. “Not to mention, all those heavy rhinestone outfits, the big hair, my big … uh, personality. Lord, those — that would make anybody swimmy headed!”

She didn’t share too many details about her health but clarified that she’s always “had problems with my kidney stones,” and that her immune system and digestive system “got all out of whack over the past couple three years and they’re working real hard on rebuilding and strengthening those.”

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Updated: 4:56 PM CDT

FILE - Dolly Parton performs in Overland Park, Kan., on Aug. 14, 2023. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)

Netflix’s ‘Lord of the Flies’ is a harrowing descent into horror. The cast had a ball

Mark Kennedy, The Associated Press 6 minute read Preview

Netflix’s ‘Lord of the Flies’ is a harrowing descent into horror. The cast had a ball

Mark Kennedy, The Associated Press 6 minute read Updated: 1:37 PM CDT

NEW YORK (AP) — Put 40 boys alone on an island and what do you get? Harmony or chaos?

British author William Golding predicted not good things in his harrowing 1954 classic novel “Lord of the Flies,” and a new powerful, kinetic TV adaptation makes an inspired case that he was probably right.

The Netflix series premiering Monday follows more than two dozen British boys in the mid-1950s stranded on a tropical island after a plane crash as they descend into tyranny and violence, making an indictment about the fragility of democracy and the shallow veneer of civilization.

“We’ve advanced socially or we’ve advanced technologically, but those issues are still there,” says David McKenna, who plays a sensible boy nicknamed Piggy. “I would say put 40 boys on a tropical island today, and the same thing would probably happen, sadly.”

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Updated: 1:37 PM CDT

May 4, 2026

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