Lost Records: Bloom & Rage

Don’t Nod’s return to supernatural young adult drama is proof the Life Is Strange studio still has that special sauce. Lost Records: Bloom & Rage blends the deceptive allure of ‘90s nostalgia with an unsettling modern-day mystery, and the result is one of the studio’s most tantalizing stories since Life Is Strange 2 in 2019. Through its awkward but likable heroine Swann, Lost Records illustrates the hardships of growing up sensitive, shy, and unsure of yourself. The connections between its cast of four young women are raw and earnest, and it makes the mystery of what could have happened to these friends that would cause them to go decades without speaking all the more compelling. The second episode follows through on most of the questions the first part leaves you with, but it does leave some things up in the air, perhaps for a potential sequel. Hopefully, the studio gets to explore this world and these characters further in a year or two. — Kenneth Shepard