Assassins return for unfinished business, cursed spirits crawl back into cinemas, and entire cities hide dangerous secrets. Across streaming platforms and the big screen, May’s roundup leans into paranoia, cursed folklore, and fractured identities. From the violence of Tarung: Unforgiven to the small-town mystery of The Boroughs, this month moves between psychological tension, supernatural horror, and blockbuster spectacle. Even familiar franchises feel heavier, with old enemies resurfacing and alliances beginning to crack.
Produced by the Russo Brothers of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), this series doubles down on the slick action of espionage that rarely leaves anyone untouched. Richard Madden and Priyanka Chopra Jonas reprise their roles as former elite spies Mason Kane and Nadia Singh, whose fractured memories haunt them long after the fall of the Citadel agency.
Season two depicts Bernard Orlick (Stanley Tucci) escaping captivity and reuniting the former agents for another global operation. They rally rogue operatives across Europe to pursue a powerful billionaire. The mission turns into a race to shut down a dangerous mind-control programme before it’s used in a plot to assassinate the Russian president.
Fresh off the success of Kahar: Kapla High Council, director Razaisyam Rashid steps back into the ring with Tarung: Unforgiven, a local action drama that has already pulled in RM15.7 million within its first 11 days of release. Co-written by Razaisyam and Amar Amir, the film doubles down on the genre, which remains a staple among Malaysian fans and cinemas.
Mierul Aiman stars as Hatta, a disgraced former silat champion haunted by a deadly mistake. Driven by desperation, he enters an underground fighting circuit to pay for his critically ill sister Dahlia’s (Azira Shafinaz) medical treatment. Waiting for him is Isa (Aedy Ashraf), a former best friend carrying resentment and unfinished business. Between brutal fights and personal guilt, the film turns violence into something far more painful than sport.
After making waves in Weak Hero, Park Ji-hoon now leads this South Korean series as Kang Seong-jae, alongside Yoon Kyung-ho as Park Jae-young, and Han Dong-hee as Cho Ye-rin. Behind its chaotic blend of military life and dark comedy, the TV show adapts the Naver Webtoon Kitchen Soldier.
After losing his father, Kang Seong-jae joins the army in Ganglim, where he’s assigned as an assistant cook under Yoon Dong-hyeon (Lee Hong-nae), Park Jae-young, and Cho Ye-rin. A mysterious system assigns him to cook meals for the soldiers through a series of strict, task-based missions. As he improves, Kang Seong-jae uncovers hidden military secrets and suspicious incidents tied to his father’s death.
Marvel’s Punisher is back in the MCU as part of Phase Six. Jon Bernthal returns as the titular antihero, serving as co-writer alongside director Reinaldo Marcus Green. This television special is the second MCU production centred on the comic book character, following the Netflix series The Punisher (2017–2019).
Frank Castle, known as the Punisher, eliminates the last members of the Gnucci Crime Family. However, Ma Gnucci (Judith Light) places a bounty on him, plunging Little Sicily into violent chaos. Haunted by hallucinations, Castle is pushed to the edge after a brutal attack on his apartment complex, forcing him to return as the Punisher with renewed lethal resolve.
Slipping back into the Beskar helmet, Pedro Pascal returns as Din Djarin, reuniting with Grogu, voiced by David Acord. Directed by Jon Favreau, the film continues the story of the Disney+ series The Mandalorian (2019–2023) while expanding the Star Wars universe on the big screen. Sigourney Weaver joins the franchise as Commander Ward, alongside Jeremy Allen White as Rotta the Hutt and Jonny Coyne as the Imperial warlord Janu Coin.
After receiving intel from the Hutt Twins, Djarin and Grogu are tasked with rescuing Rotta in exchange for help tracking Coin. However, the mission quickly unravels on the planet Shakari when Rotta refuses to leave. What begins as a routine bounty-style assignment soon exposes a larger Imperial operation, pulling Djarin and Grogu into another conflict stretching across the galaxy.
Have we moved on from the final season of Stranger Things yet? Because the creators, the Duffer Brothers, return as executive producers of a new supernatural eight-episode series. This science fiction show stars icons such as Alfred Molina as Sam Cooper, who played Doctor Octopus in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 2, and award-winning actress Alfre Woodard as Judy Daniels.
Nothing rests in peace in the sun-drenched New Mexico desert. The Boroughs sells a dream retirement until newcomer Cooper senses that something is wrong beneath its perfect lawns. After encountering a monstrous figure stalking the neighbourhood at night, he’s dismissed as confused. Cooper eventually joins a small group of misfit residents who begin to connect the dots behind a string of disappearances in this picturesque retirement community.
Set in an alternate universe within Sony's Spider-Man franchise, the superhero steps into the shadowy streets of 1930s New York. In his first lead role in a TV show, Nicolas Cage plays the Spider / Ben Reilly, a private investigator. The noir-inspired series is released in both black-and-white and colour versions, giving the look of a vintage serial pulled from another era.
Washed-up detective Reilly reluctantly returns to vigilantism when hired to investigate assassination attempts against his fierce enemy, mob boss Silvermane (Brendon Gleeson). The investigation pulls him into a treacherous underworld war, exposing a conspiracy involving corrupt city officials. To protect New York, Reilly must don the Spider mask once more to battle a terrifying alliance of ruthless gangsters and superpowered threats.
Directed by Zulkarnain Azhar, this local horror film will deeply unsettle audiences, making it impossible to sit still in the cinema. The script is inspired by high-profile murder cases and black magic practices involving popular 1990s singer Mona Fandey. Polong features acclaimed Malaysian actors, including Mimi Lana as Fatima and June Lojong as Maria Hadi.
Some sins don’t end with death. They wait to be inherited. This movie follows Maria Hadi near the end of her life as she seeks forgiveness for her sinful past and for her use of black magic. In a final act, she releases her spirit familiar, polong, to an unintended heir. After her death, the polong returns with a vengeance alongside a cursed fate bound to its new bearer.
As a modern adaptation of the 1981 film of the same name, the hit Netflix comedy-drama series returns for another season of love and second chances. The TV show assembles a comedian-filled cast, including creator Tina Fey, Will Forte, Colman Domingo, Kerri Kenney-Silver, and Marco Calvani, for lavish vacations among a group of middle-aged couples.
If you haven’t finished the first season, spoiler warnings ahead. After Nick’s sudden death, his inner circle continues their annual trip to Italy. To make it happen, Kate, Danny, Claude, and Anne are forced into a new, uneasy dynamic. They’re joined by Nick’s young girlfriend, Ginny, and her baby, which sparks relationship fights, financial panic, and buried grief.
Apple TV expands the alternate-history universe of For All Mankind with a Soviet-focused spin-off set during the height of the space race. Named after the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center, the science fiction series shifts the perspective towards the scientists, cosmonauts, and political figures driving the USSR’s lunar ambitions.
Rhys Ifans stars as the Chief Designer overseeing the programme, while Anna Maxwell Martin plays Lyudmilla Raskova, the KGB official tasked with keeping the operation under control. As pressure mounts to beat the Americans to the Moon, suspicion spreads after an internal leak is discovered at the facility. Between strict surveillance, scientific breakthroughs, and shifting loyalties, the show turns the Soviet space programme into a tense battleground.
Esquire Malaysia
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