Episodes

  • 472 - Sirât

    472 - Sirât
    Apr 3 2026
    Sirât is all about tone, and the time it takes to establish it. It begins with an array of massive speakers being set up in a desert, and over the next several minutes, we experience an outdoor rave, the music trance-inducing, the ravers moving freely and in their own worlds, as we gradually narrow our focus on an out-of-place father, Luis, and his young son, who we learn are searching for his daughter, last seen five months ago. Failing to find her there, Luis latches on to the mention of another, upcoming rave, and, while war breaks out in the background, uncertainly follows a group of ravers there. It's possible to spoil Sirât severely - some of what occurs is barely signposted and hard to believe, but just as we're told about the music that underscores everything, this is a film for dancing to, not listening to. It would be all too easy to watch Sirât at a remove and find the events depicted ludicrous and laughable, but director Óliver Laxe demonstrates such control of tone that it's easy to be lured into the emotional state he needs to shock us when he wants. The only thing you should be prepared to expect is a lack of easy answers. Sirât is a film about a world coming apart that leaves you wondering what it's all for. Recorded on 3rd March 2026.
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    34 mins
  • 471 - The Secret Agent

    471 - The Secret Agent
    Mar 27 2026
    We've previously seen Bacurau, writer-director Kleber Mendonça Filho's last film, which we loved, and find The Secret Agent a similarly fascinating depiction of political corruption and persecution in Brazil, though much more grounded and fleshed out, particularly given the historical setting in 1977, at which time Brazil was subject to a military dictatorship. To José, who grew up in Franco's Spain, The Secret Agent's depiction of life under fascism richly, and scarily, evokes the dynamics at play in such a society. As Wagner Moura's protagonist discovers, simply upsetting the wrong person can be enough to have hitmen sent after you. Mike argues that the film takes too long to get going - in developing its picture of the lawless world in which Moura joins other political refugees and a dissident network, it makes us wait to find out who he is and why he's among that group. José doesn't share that assessment, finding the time well spent and trusting the film's pacing. We discuss the flights of fancy, including an animated segment which dramatises news reports of a supposedly supernatural severed leg killing people (in fact, the police and media are all too happy to make use of the nonsensical urban legend to cover up their extrajudicial murders); Moura's performance, which earned him an Oscar nomination; the generations' differing attitudes to maintaining historical records and keeping the past alive; and the hereditary aspect of positions of power, in which such figures as the police chief, wealthy industrialists, and even contract killers are always accompanied and assisted by their sons. Recorded on 2nd March 2026.
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    42 mins
  • 470 - Wuthering Heights (2026)

    470 - Wuthering Heights (2026)
    Mar 24 2026
    Those to whom Emily Brontë's only novel, Wuthering Heights, is important, have approached Emerald Fennell's adaptation warily. It's a book that a lot of women have grown up on, and the trailers raised questions. Would it be too steamy? Too modernised? Would it miss the point? We, however, residing outside that demographic and never having read the novel, can't meaningfully consider the issue of adaptation, and are more interested in the film taken on its own terms. Is it good? The answer is yes. Fennell's direction is visually expressive and inventive, and tonally confident. We disagree on aspects of Cathy and Heathcliff's dynamic, José arguing that theirs is as deep as a romance gets despite - or perhaps because of - how toxic they are for one another; Mike questioning Cathy's commitment and suggesting that the film doesn't sell the idea that social status and financial obligation requires her to forgo Heathcliff. We also consider the blind casting, sexual dynamics and depiction of BDSM (or BDSM-like) activities, and the female gaze that's built in to everything - this is a film about a woman, based on a novel by a woman, screenwritten, directed and produced by women, and aimed at a female audience. Recorded on 22nd February 2026.
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    42 mins
  • 469 - Send Help

    469 - Send Help
    Mar 19 2026
    Send Help sees Rachel McAdams marooned on a desert island with her asshole boss in a cartoonishly gory comic adventure the likes of which made director Sam Raimi's name. We discuss how feminist it really is - at the very least, it's a bloke's idea of female empowerment - and praise McAdams' and Dylan O'Brien's performances, upon which the entire film relies. Recorded on 15th February 2026.
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    25 mins
  • 468 - Pillion

    468 - Pillion
    Dec 17 2025
    Possibly the sweetest and lightest gay BDSM biker film ever made, Pillion opens up conversations on power dynamics, consent and boundaries, and made Mike cry. Everything about it is so assured, particularly Harry Melling's understated protagonist, meek and new to BDSM; Alexander Skarsgård's commanding, mysterious lover; and Harry Lighton's direction, the control of tone he exhibits a remarkable achievement for a first feature. We explore the film's themes, offer different interpretations of events, and ask what's good and bad about the relationship depicted. Pillion is a wonderful film, with, given the subject matter, a surprisingly funny and wholesome spirit. Highly recommended. Recorded on 11th December 2025.
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    33 mins
  • 467 - It Was Just an Accident

    467 - It Was Just an Accident
    Dec 15 2025
    One of Iran's most celebrated filmmakers, Jafar Panahi, has spent the last quarter of a century in conflict with the Iranian government, which objects to his films' criticisms of their actions and the wider social conditions in the country, and has both arrested him several times and banned him from making films for twenty years - which hasn't stopped him. His latest, It Was Just an Accident, won the 2025 Palme d'Or, and tells the story of former political prisoners who capture a man they suspect was their torturer. It's a brilliant thriller which, despite the gravity and darkness of its subject matter, is energetic and entertaining. It effortlessly raises both moral and practical questions - What's the right thing to do with their captive? Have they become the torturers? If they let him live, won't he just come after them again? - without entering morality play territory, neither pretending to have the answers nor admonishing its characters for their choices and emotional responses. It's a vivid expression of the lasting effect the actions of the Iranian regime have had on its people, for whom merely the suggestion that they might be able to exact revenge on their torturer causes instant emotional outbursts. We discuss all this and more, including the depiction of a lawless culture in which you're constantly expected to give bribes to get by; the filmmaking, in which no filming permits were provided and Panahi had to once again violate his filmmaking ban; the question of how ambiguous the end might be and what that means; and a comparison with American cinema in Trump's America and the question of what might be happening under ICE, the immigration enforcement agency that's expanded into a neo-paramilitary force over the last year. It Was Just an Accident is a magnificent film. See it. Recorded on 10th December 2025.
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    35 mins
  • 466 - Nuremberg

    466 - Nuremberg
    Nov 28 2025
    Russell Crowe shines in Nuremberg as Hermann Göring, who became the face of the Nazi Party following Hitler's suicide and the end of the war, as he's held in custody and probed by a psychiatrist as the titular trials approach. Indeed, while a mediocre film, its actors' performances are a pleasure - with the exception of Rami Malek, whose psychiatrist is twitchy, busy, and a failure. A shame that he's the protagonist, then. We discuss the film's structure and screenplay: José contends that Malek's character is not just badly played but an irrelevance, and the drama would be much better served by focusing on Michael Shannon's prosecutor; Mike criticises what he claims is a stupid person's idea of clever writing. And there's more to think about: how Nuremberg compares to Bridge of Spies, which similarly depicted a novel trial that had obvious implications beyond the courtroom, and Judgment at Nuremberg, the other major dramatisation of the trials; the film's tone, which is able to handle moments of humour but sometimes veers into the overly glib and kitsch; the present-day rise of fascism and the genocide in Gaza to which the film speaks; the use of real footage of Holocaust victims and the purpose to which it's put; and whether we think that its critique of the Catholic Church for its support of the Nazis, and suggestion that dropping the atomic bomb on Japan was an unjustifiable atrocity, are surprising and bold things for a mainstream American film to do... or not particularly impressive, and shouldn't people just know this stuff anyway? Recorded on 23rd November 2025.
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    42 mins
  • 465 - Die My Love

    465 - Die My Love
    Nov 18 2025
    Jennifer Lawrence gives a career-best performance as a new mother struggling with depression and a rocky relationship in Die My Love, directed by Lynne Ramsay, whose remarkable instinct for tone and atmosphere shouldn't be taken for granted. It's a character study whose artistry is all in the filmmaking and performances, which bring out great richness of feeling in material that, on the page, might seem to lack complexity. One could suggest that those who've experienced similar struggles to the film's characters hold the key to unlocking its depths, but that's a temptation to avoid - one of the film's achievements is the ease with which it gets you to feel what its characters are feeling. See it at the cinema, where you'll be able to properly submit yourself to it. Recorded on 9th November 2025.
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    28 mins