Sinners, a horror movie set in the Jim Crow South, used vampires as a metaphorical device to explore systemic racism and cultural theft—and director Ryan Coogler scored a feat in his deal with Warner Bros. that gives him the rights to the film in 25 years. KPop Demon Hunters, a story by a female Korean-Canadian director who’d been waiting over a decade for her chance to direct a feature, placed a huge emphasis on authenticity and brought the already-massive subculture around K-pop even more into the mainstream. Heated Rivalry, a small Canadian television production picked up by HBO, had an extremely subversive take on hockey by chronicling the horny-yet-poignant love story between two closeted pro players. And One Battle After Another—decried by conservative commentators who felt it lionized left-wing violence—offered complicated views on motherhood and activism while skewering ICE-like agent Colonel Steven J. Lockjaw and his desperate attempts to fit in with other racists.