Netflix’s answer to The Traitors, and a rival to The Sims: What’s coming up this week
March 23, 2025
Netflix’s answer to The Traitors, and a rival to The Sims: What’s coming up this week
Getty/KraftonThis week, Million Dollar Secret hits our screens – it’s being dubbed Netflix’s answer to The Traitors.
But that’s not all the week has in store.
InZoi, a new game seen as a direct competitor to The Sims, is coming out, Mumford & Sons are back with a new album, and Holland – starring Nicole Kidman – drops on Amazon Prime.
Read on for this week’s biggest releases…
Secrets, lies and a cash prize… sound familiar?
NetflixI’ve just about recovered from the drama of The Traitors, but Netflix is here with its own version to fill that void.
Million Dollar Secret, a competition reality show, drops on Wednesday
So here’s the premise. Twelve strangers enter a fancy lakeside estate. In each of their rooms is a mysterious welcome gift – a box. Eleven are empty, and one contains (you guessed it) a million dollars.
The cash is for that guest to keep, as long as they keep their identity hidden. But a series of games will reveal clues about who they are.
When the trailer dropped on YouTube, people were quick to spot the similarities with The Traitors.
I’ve had a sneak preview, and can confirm there are a lot of parallels – from the awkward group meals, to the tearful revelations of why they really, really need the money.
One thing it doesn’t have, though, is Claudia and her enviable wardrobe. Instead, it’s hosted by British actor Peter Serafinowicz, who told me the game would be “high stakes” with “endless twists”.
The Sims, step over
By Tom Gerken, Newsbeat reporter
Has there ever really been a game to rival The Sims, the virtual dollhouse game that lets you design your own characters, give them personalities and tend to their needs?
It has been a hit for 25 years now – but perhaps a challenger has emerged, or so the online hype would have you believe.
InZoi is in effect The Sims, with many similar features but one massive difference – far more realistic and even, at times, lifelike graphics.
The developers want the game to simulate life like never before – with open worlds you can walk (and drive) around, as well as jobs you’ll actively play yourself.
Will it be a hit? We’ll have to wait to find that out – but after two years of teases and trailers, PC gamers will finally get their hands on the game when it launches in early access form on Friday.
Mumford & Sons’ new album
By Mark Savage, music correspondent
Getty ImagesMumford & Sons have timed their comeback perfectly.
Their fifth album, Rushmere, arrives on Friday – just as the Americana sound they championed enjoys a revival, and newcomers like Myles Smith are citing the band as an influence.
Recorded over two years in Nashville and Devon, it finds the group returning to their rustic roots. Guitars are plucked, fiddles are fiddled, and brows are furrowed as Marcus Mumford navigates his mid-30s, and the reorganisation of friendships and priorities that mid-life brings.
Highlights include the understated campfire ballad Monochrome, and the spiky Truth (“I refuse to offer myself up to men who lie”), which is underpinned by a surprisingly nimble bassline.
Named after the pond on Wimbledon Common where they formed, it’s a fairly cautious return, presumably designed to remind people of why they fell for the band in the first place. There’s certainly nothing as experimental as last year’s one-off single, Good People, recorded with Pharrell Williams.
But Marcus Mumford says they recorded more than 60 songs during the sessions, which he called “the most prolific two years of our life”, and there are plans to release the extra material in one form or another. Watch this space.
From Babygirl to Stepford wife
Nicole Kidman is the queen of creepy thrillers.
She’s back in Holland, which drops on Amazon Prime on Thursday, and also stars Succession’s Matthew Macfadyen.
The film’s trailer shows Kidman living a Stepford Wives-style life in a small town, with a forced smile as she declares “it’s just perfect”.
But things quickly unravel and secrets, paranoia and suspicion start to mount.
Reviews have been mixed. The Guardian gave it just two stars, calling it a “disappointing mess”, while the Hollywood Reporter called it “stylish but plodding”.
But the Evening Standard was more optimistic. “Forget Babygirl, this is the Nicole Kidman movie to watch,” it writes.
Other highlights this week…
- Free: My Search for Meaning, a new book by Amanda Knox, is out on Tuesday
- The Studio, series 1, starring Seth Rogen, drops on Apple TV+ on Wednesday
- Atomfall, a new gaming release, is out on Thursday
- John & Paul: A Love Story in Songs by Ian Leslie is out on Thursday
- SURF! exhibition opens at the National Maritime Museum Cornwall on Friday
- Splash! A Century of Swimming and Style opens at the Design Museum on Friday
- Novocaine arrives in UK cinemas on Friday
- The Darkness’ new album, Dreams on Toast, drops on Friday
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