Jessica Toomer-Contributor

Jessica Toomer

Contributor

March, 2022
Netflix, Prime Video, Thriller
  • 174
    articles
  • 118
    Features
  • 50
    Lists
  • 6
    Reviews

About Jessica Toomer

Jessica is a journalist, editor, TCA critic, and multimedia storyteller with a decade of experience covering pop culture, film, TV, women's sports, lifestyle, and more. She earned her degree in journalism from the University of North Carolina-Wilmington with a focus in creative writing before moving to N.Y.C. and getting her start at The Huffington Post. (She still misses those nap pods.) She's covered multiple film festivals, recapped some of your favorite series, worked too many red carpets to count, and even yapped on a podcast or two. When she’s not interviewing your favorite showrunner or ranking Ryan Gosling's best roles for places like UPROXX, Teen Vogue, Marie Claire, The Daily Beast, and Cosmopolitan, she’s busy being a full-time hype woman to her cat, Finn. You can find her on Bluesky and, sadly, Twitter.

Industry Experience

Jessica has over a decade of experience covering film and television online and in print (wait, does that still exist?!). She's written for industry pubs like The Hollywood Reporter and genre fan sites like SYFY Fangrrls (RIP). An accomplished interviewer, essayist, and member of the Television Critics Association, she's happiest when geeking out over great TV shows and films with the people who create them. 

Favorite Media

Crippling anxiety prevents her from definitely naming her favorite TV shows and films -- they're all works of art, people! -- but she does have a soft spot for JJ Abrams' totally aughts spy thriller Alias and Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy. Workplace comedies like The Office, Parks & Rec, and Superstore play on repeat in her house, as does every Jane Austen adaptation and Greta Gerwig creation. 

Latest

Jonathan Bailey and Simone Ashley on the cover of 'The Viscount Who Loved Me'
10 Regency Romance Books That Are Perfect From the First Page to the Last

These period romances are so swoonworthy, we'd defend their honor in a duel.

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Dark Matter S2
Apple TV's 'Dark Matter' Season 2 Is an Enjoyable Headache | Review

Joel Edgerton and Jennifer Connelly are still worth showing up for, even when the multiverse around them stops making sense.

Scoot McNairy on the phone in Furious.
'Shameless' Star's 8-Part Serial Killer Thriller Is Officially the Biggest Show on Streaming

A small but ferocious killer targets powerful men linked to trafficking while the investigators carry their own scars.

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The Hunger Games - 2008 - book cover crop
10 Essential YA Books for Beginners

The genre is bigger than Hogwarts.

Syndey wearing a white blonde wig and a dark jacket disguise in Alias
Jennifer Garner's 105-Episode Spy Series Built the Formula Everyone Still Uses

The wigs alone are worth the rewatch.

Book art for 'Here One Moment' by Liane Moriarty
10 Mystery Books You Need To Read Before Their TV Adaptations Premiere

Beat the writers' room to the ending.

Peter Parker (Tom Holland) looking at Ned in 'Spider-Man: Brand New Day'
Years Before Spider-Man, Tom Holland's Forgotten Historical Drama Remains a Hidden Gem

Before he was swinging around Manhattan, Tom Holland was standing around a candlelit English court.

Josh Holloway as Sawyer in 'Lost'
The 10 Most Perfect Fantasy Shows of the Last 25 Years, Ranked

Dragons, vampires, pie makers, and polar bears.

Sister Simone (Billy Gilpin) holding a can attached to a string in Mrs. Davis
Peacock's 8-Part Sci-Fi Series Is So Good, There's Nothing Else Like It in Hollywood

Betty Gilpin as a Nazi-fighting nun on horseback in a war of wills against an omnipotent A.I? What more could you want?

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Florence Pugh as Charlie Ross in 'The Little Drummer Girl'
9 Spy Shows Where Every Episode Is a Masterpiece

Would you rather spend time at Slough House or Park Chan-wook's Berlin?

Denis O'Hare in The Nevers Season 1.
HBO's Cancelled 12-Episode Series Is a Steampunk Masterpiece

This messy and ambitious sci-fi drama deserved a second season but never got one.

Will Ferrell as Lonnie
Will Ferrell's New Netflix Series Just Became One of the Streamer's Biggest Hits of 2026

Critics called 'The Hawk' a flop. Audiences clearly disagreed.

Jennifer Garner smiling and clinking glasses with other women in The Five-Star Weekend.
Jennifer Garner's Peacock Series Is Officially Its Biggest Streaming Hit With 861M Minutes Watched

And now it's been renewed for Season 2!

Neuromancer-Book-Cover
7 Sci-Fi Books You Need To Read Before Their TV Adaptations Premiere

Your reading list has never looked this good.

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Anya Taylor-Joy as Beth Harmon looking to her left in The Queen's Gambit
The 10 Most Perfect Miniseries of the Last 30 Years, Ranked

The best argument against a second season is a first one this good.

10
Galadriel in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power
‘Lord of the Rings’ Meets ‘Game of Thrones’ in Prime Video’s Cancelled 3-Part Fantasy Epic

Everyone's been watching the wrong Prime Video fantasy show.

Matt Damon as Odysseus before a battle scene in The Odyssey (2026)
10 Movies That Clearly Influenced Christopher Nolan's 'The Odyssey'

From Kurosawa's battlefields to a David Lean desert.

Sam Reid in The Vampire Lestat
The 9 Most Perfect Fantasy Shows of the Last 15 Years, Ranked

Dragons, vampires, time-traveling nurses, and depressed grad-school wizards.

Sam (Fortune Feimster) and Lonnie (Will Ferrell) in 'The Hawk'
9 Must-Watch Shows To Enjoy After You Finish Netflix's 'The Hawk'

Will Ferrell's washed-up golfer left a hole in your watchlist. These shows are here to fill it.

The cast of Bridgerton lean in to listen at a fancy event
10 Historical Romance Books That Could Be the Next 'Bridgerton'

Corsets, crime lords, and a society of lady pirates.

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