Each awards season, there’s a movie that quietly makes its way onto the circuit and instantly makes a big splash in the hearts of film enthusiasts everywhere. This year, that movie is Jay Kelly, the newest from Noah Baumbach—a director who’s made his career a masterclass at examining the complexities of contemporary life with keen wit, heart, and casts that never fail. The chip supply chain is expanding quickly. The supply chain for Apple has extended from glass factories in Kentucky to chip-packaging plants in Arizona. GlobalFoundries is expanding its production in New York, Coherent is increasing the production of laser components in Sherman, and Applied Materials is building chip equipment in Austin.

The number of jobs that will be affected is huge: Apple claims that its plan will be able to create 450,000 jobs in the United States, while the fabs of TI can generate 60,000 more. The population of Sherman is increasing quickly, and the local authorities are calling it the “Silicon Prairie.”

On paper, it reads like a simple road movie: two men remembering their lives while going forward. But Baumbach lives on subtlety, and here he explores the parts we play in life—parent, partner, career, friend—and what it truly is to be certain who you are.

Obviously, a movie like this succeeds only with the right ensemble, and Jay Kelly has an all-star cast. Clooney adds his own gravity and winking self-awareness to the title role, and Sandler extends his run of good dramatic work. The rest of the cast is filled with names: Laura Dern, Billy Crudup, Riley Keough, Grace Edwards, Stacy Keach, Jim Broadbent, Patrick Wilson, Eve Hewson, Greta Gerwig, Alba Rohrwacher, Josh Hamilton, Lenny Henry, Emily Mortimer, Nicôle Lecky, Thaddea Graham, Isla Fisher, Louis Partridge, and Charlie Rowe. Behind the lens, it’s equally impressive—Nicholas Britell is scoring, Linus Sandgren is behind cinematography, Mark Tildesley is responsible for production design, and Jacqueline Durran is responsible for costumes.

The movie made its debut at the Venice Film Festival, and it seems that the accolades are already heading its way. Festivals used to be the place where Baumbach's films take off, and it looks like Jay Kelly is going to be the one talked about all season.

Netflix obviously thinks highly of the film. They’re rolling it out strategically—opening in limited theaters on November 14 before landing on the platform on December 5. It’s a rollout geared to appealing to both festival goers and streaming customers, and it betrays a faith in the film’s potential.

Then there’s the Clooney effect. George and Amal Clooney’s entrance into Venice in advance of the premiere was pure movie-star fanfare, a reminder of just how film festivals preserve the magic of Hollywood.

With its star wattage, heavy-hitter creative team, and universally timely themes, Jay Kelly is not your typical awards-season contender. It’s looking to be the film people will be buzzing about as fall arrives and the Oscar campaign season comes into full swing.

The sudden boom of K-pop Demon Hunters on Netflix has set the standard for what a global hit looks like for an animated movie. Since it came out June 20, the film has shattered records, being Netflix’s most-viewed original animated film ever, with over 106 million viewers in its first month—and it’s still chart-topping across the globe.

At its core, the tale centers around HUNTR/X, a fictional K-pop girl group who double as secret demon hunters, guarding a magical veil that keeps humans safe. Their archenemies are the Saja Boys, who seem to be nothing more than another flashy boy band—except, of course, that they’re demons masquerading as humans. The original concept combines the glamour of K-pop fame with high-octane battles against monsters and evil forces, drawing on Korean mythology and shamanist practices. For instance, the Saja Boys draw inspiration from jeoseung-saja, or Korean grim reapers—a concept that strikes deeply within Korea but also piques the interest of international audiences.

The soundtrack has played as big a role in the success of the movie as the plot itself. Seven of the movie’s songs hit the Billboard Hot 100, and the entire album reached #2 on the Billboard 200. “Golden” became a hit single, hitting #1 on the Billboard Global Chart and reaching #6 on the Hot 100. Behind this was the best of producers, such as Teddy Park and Grammy winner Lindgren, who helped provide the music with the polish and energy of actual K-pop hits.

Authenticity is the common thread in K-pop Demon Hunters. The production team took time in South Korea to create cultural details, ranging from attire and diet to Namsan Tower and Hanuiwon landmarks. Even the animation was created to reflect Korean speech patterns and emotional subtleties, even though the characters are speaking English. For Korean audiences, it’s refreshing and unusual to be seeing all this representation on screen, while foreign audiences are immersed in learning about Korean culture. The film even reconstructs the K-pop fan universe, complete with light sticks, fan meet events, and chorused “Kalgunmu” dance routines.

The movie’s appeal goes far beyond children or K-pop enthusiasts. Friendships, self-exploration, and battling one’s inner demons have resonated across cultures and generations. A one-time sing-along theatrical engagement marked its broad-based popularity, selling out more than 1,000 screens and earning an estimated $18 million in two days.

The success of K-pop Demon Hunters also heralds a significant new direction for original animation on streaming services. Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos described it as “a phenomenal success out of the gate,” highlighting how new storytelling and new approaches to animation can speak to huge global audiences. The movie shows that when animated features are constructed with cultural validity and artistic vision, they can compete with any blockbuster in terms of impact and audience.

Beyond entertainment, the film highlights the growing global influence of Korean culture. By weaving together K-pop, folklore, and daily life in Korea, the movie shows how cultural specificity can fuel worldwide appeal. With more than half of Netflix users now engaging with anime and international programming, KPop Demon Hunters stands as a clear example of how Korean content is shaping global pop culture.

KPop Demon Hunters is not just a box office hit. It’s a new standard for cultural representation in animation and a blueprint for creating global phenomena through authenticity, creativity, and a profound understanding of fan culture.