Why Is Every Pop Star Having a Mental Health Crisis?

As summer comes to a close and we start eyeing the fall film corridor, I am sorry to inform readers outside of New York and Los Angeles that we’ve entered the “platform release season.” Rather than open movies wide, like they do with winter B-movies and summer blockbusters, studios in the fall like to stretch releases over weeks (and sometimes months) in order to keep their films in the awards conversation for as long as possible. That’s how films that will premiere at the Venice Film Festival on Labor Day somehow won’t make it to a Michigan theater until January 16. This week I saw two films in New York (more on those below), believing that they’d opened to the general population, only to learn they’d screened in 5/6 theaters nationwide.

Perhaps more infuriating is that there really is no easy way to figure out when a movie is coming out where. Both Tony, the Anthony Bourdain biopic, and the Hannah Einbinder-led horror film Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma are playing in New York to massive per-screen averages, but when will you be able to watch them in Connecticut or New Jersey? Who can say.

The two movies that are readily available to everyone are Spider-Man: Brand New Day and The Odyssey, both of which have surpassed the $1 billion mark globally with weeks left to play in theaters. While the 60% drop for Spider-Man was much steeper from week one to week two than any of The Odyssey’s drops so far, both are raking in cash, and the only new release this weekend (more on that soon also) provided minimal competition. With The End of Oak Street earning rave reviews, however, the August dead zone could not be quite as dead as you’d think.

Awarded to THE standout figure of the week, recognizing exceptional talent across disciplines.

Not to be a Republican comedian complaining about getting cancelled, but “Why can’t we just have fun anymore?” One Night Only, aka the sex purge, which stars Monica Barbaro and Callum Turner as lonely singles looking for love in a dystopian society where unmarried people can only have sex on one night a year, came out this weekend, and no one acted normally for a single second. Was this film a piece of high art? No. Was it ever trying to be? No. The movie is wacky as hell from opening to close, full of plot holes and built on a truly deranged premise that the film never takes seriously. But personally, I love a zany comedy doing outlandish things (even if they don’t always make sense), and I laughed quite a bit seeing this over the weekend, as did the other people in my theater.

Looking online after the fact, I found a 46% Rotten Tomatoes score (fair enough), and a whole slew of reviews whacking the film for serving as a Trojan Horse for fascism, not deeply examining the real-life implications of a sex ban, and nitpicking the realism of the meet-cute. While plenty of horrific behaviour in recent years has been passed off as a joke or locker room talk, I do fear we might be mistaking the forest for the trees when it comes to this obviously ludicrous movie that I don’t think is saying much of anything aside from, “Isn’t this a weird premise?” And I understand if this isn’t your sense of humor, but I don’t think there’s anything more nefarious here than in any other rom-com with a far-fetched premise. You could easily say that You’ve Got Mail is about a dishonest corporate shill gaslighting a poor woman, and if the events of that movie happened to a real-life friend of mine, I’d probably say that, but a suspension of disbelief is often needed in rom-coms. We deal with the terrors of fascism every day in the real world. I think we can allow ourselves to laugh at a satirical worst-case scenario filled with hot people now and again without beating ourselves up about it.

Ultimately, I don’t care enough about this movie to spend too much time defending it, but I do think it will find a second life as a plane movie, and perhaps at a higher altitude after a second mini bottle of wine, it won’t prompt quite so many think pieces.

21@21metgala

Anne Hathaway attends the World Premiere of Warner Bros.' "The End of Oak Street".

12:35 AM · Aug 10, 2026 · 47.4M Views

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Awarded to the best-dressed individual of the week, either a real-life human or an on-screen character.

Now four movies into her year of five movies, Anne Hathaway refuses to take her foot off the gas while on the red carpet. This low-rise jeans/shirt dress ensemble is a perfectly calibrated high/low mix, and I truly can’t ever remember a star pulling off so many great maternity looks. Praying that Annie gets her second Oscar after this incredible year.

Awarded to the best use of the English language in the past 7 days.

Biopics are tricky movies to write. Traditionally there are two routes a writer can take. They can tackle the subjects entire life (think Oppenheimer or Rocketman) or zoom into a very specific time period (think A Complete Unknown or Jackie). Tony, directed and co-written by Matt Johnson, opts for the later, focusing on a singular summer Anthony Bourdain spent in Provincetown. Tony, like the best biopic in recent years Spencer, plays fast-and-loose with the truth, combining various characters and memories from Kitchen Confidential into a semi-fictional account. Is this movie historical accurate? No. But does it get to the truth at the heart of Bourdain’s beginning? I think so.

Awarded to the individual(s) who deserve(s) an Oscar for their remarkable performance(s) on screen, large or small.

Hannah Einbinder is collecting horny older lesbians like Infinity Stones. She’s made out with Jean Smart, Christina Hendricks, and Leslie Bibb, and now she’s macking on Gillian Anderson (with a Dolly Parton accent). Hannah Einbinder is one of our greatest national treasures, and she delivers on her Hacks potential here, sparring with an absurd (and absurdly good) Gillian. Both Tony and Camp Miasma are worth watching whenever they arrive in your town.

Awarded to the entity with the worst energy, most unwell aura, and bleakest constitution.

Last week Katseye announced that one of its members, Sophia Laforteza, was taking a hiatus from the group for “personal health and wellness” reasons. While history is certainly full of individual musicians leaving pop groups, Sophia’s departure raised eyebrows as it came just months after another member of the group, Manon Bannerman, also announced a hiatus to focus on her “personal health and wellbeing.” While both stated that they’d like to rejoin at some point in the future, no concrete plans have been announced, and I’ve lived long enough to know that a pop group “hiatus” usually just means “end.” Now Katseye, the Kpop group constructed via reality TV show is down to a quartet.

The Katseye mutation, however, is not a one-off event. Ariana Grande, who is finishing a tour, recently announced she’s pulling out of a West End production to take “a step back from visibility.” Last year, Lola Young took a hiatus after collasping on stage, Chappell Roan cancelled a show I was supposed to go to citing her mental health, and, of course, Britney Spears is the historical example of a young pop star, psychologically tortured by the industry.

While I appreciate that in a post-Simone Biles universe, people feel more empowered to take mental health breaks, but perhaps we’d be better served as a society to ask what about the music industry compels young women to need a mental health break in the first place. Is it the gruelling album cycle/tour schedule? Is it the rabid fans clinging to parasocial relationships? Is it management companies trying to squeeze every dollar out of a woman before she loses “bankability?” Or is it Answer D: All of the Above?

As an ardent lover of pop stars, I never want to lose this genre of music or celebrity, but it’s starting to feel like we need better sustainability measures. When 1/3 of your group can’t emotionally and physically deal with the toll of stardom, perhaps the mechanism needs to change. I’d like to offer three solutions:

1. Let’s change the album/tour cycle — Look I love a concert as much as the next guy, but having to constantly tour feels nightmarish. Actors go away to shoot their films (much like musicians go away to create their albums), and then do a traditional press push. They’re never dragged around the country on a year-long roadshow. Whether the solution is a residency, or smaller month-long tours with more gaps, I think we’ve got to revamp this process.

2. Introduce age requirements — Lola Young is 25. Manon is 24. Sophia is 23. If your brain can’t develop past the age you become famous, maybe we shouldn’t let people become famous when they’re barely old enough to buy beer. I don’t really know how you’d implement any rule like this, but I do think that artists like Charli XCX, who hit superstardom in her 30s, are better equipped to deal with the massive changes. Pop stars under 25 should be topped out at 500K Instagram followers, and kept in the minor leagues until they’re old enough.

3. Get everyone in therapy — Every pop star needs to be in weekly (if not daily) therapy, and I’m not talking about a quick phone chat while they’re getting their makeup done. I also think some pop star group therapy/mentorship programs would do a world of good. Chloe and Halle Bailey do seem to be handling fame well, and I think that’s partially due to Beyonce’s tutilage. Send Emma Bunton and Mel C to the Katseye manor to help the girls.

If you’re going to engage with media in the upcoming week, this is what you should be engaging with.

I’ve said it before. I’ll say it again. The best thing about living in New York City is Film at Lincoln Center. Every fall, they program a lineup of horror films, with the 2026 version (very practically) titled “Scary Movies XIV”. The showcase runs from August 12-20, and includes a number of spooky offerings, but I’m here to shout out a new 4K restoration of Sudden Fury, a Canadian thriller from 1975. The film opens with a husband and wife on a drive through the rural Canadian countryside. After an argument and a car crash, however, Sudden Fury becomes a taut cat-and-mouse game between the sociopathic husband, a kindly passerby, and a local farmer. It’s thrilling a screenplay this simple and tight can yield such a captivating descent into madness. If you’re in the NY area, I’d highly recommend seeing it on the big screen.

Snag tickets to the Sudden Fury screening + Q&A on August 15 at 9:15 p.m. here.

Sorry kids, but it’s time for the grown-ups to talk. If you’re a paying subscriber, feel free to read on for gossip, hot takes, and potentially controversial subject matter for your eyes only.