Ep. 326: One Battle After Another by Paul Thomas Anderson

October 10, 2025 by Morgan Davies in episodes

Steffan and Gavia review One Battle After Another, widely hailed as the best film of 2025. Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, this comedic thriller displays startlingly bold politics for a Hollywood studio release, telling a gripping story about leftist revolutionaries, racism, and the senseless brutality of American border control. Leonardo DiCaprio and Chase Infiniti star as the central father/daughter duo, opposite Sean Penn as the villain.

Ep. 324: David Cronenberg's Crash

September 01, 2025 by Morgan Davies in episodes

Claire and Gavia delve into David Cronenberg's fascinating erotic thriller Crash, starring James Spader as a man who develops a fetish for car crashes. Divisive and controversial when it first came out in 1996, it's now regarded as one of Cronenberg's greatest films, celebrated for its peculiar characters and unique brand of sexuality.

Ep. 309: The World of Kanako

December 05, 2024 by Morgan Davies in episodes

Steffan and Gavia review the 2014 crime thriller The World of Kanako, directed by acclaimed Japanese filmmaker Tetsuya Nakashima. Kōji Yakusho stars as a disgraced former cop, whose daughter Kanako goes missing. When his ex-wife asks him to find out what happened, he discovers that Kanako has been living a disturbing double life.

Ep. 304: M. Night Shyamalan's Trap

August 25, 2024 by Morgan Davies in episodes

Steffan and Gavia review M. Night Shyamalan's wildly entertaining new escape thriller Trap, examining Shyamalan’s divisive reputation as a director, this film’s crowd-pleasing grasp of serial killer tropes, Saleka Shyamalan's amusingly plausible in-universe pop music, and Josh Hartnett’s fantastic lead performance.

August 03, 2024 by Morgan Davies in episodes

Steffan and Gavia review the much-hyped horror movie Longlegs, starring Maika Monroe as an FBI agent investigating a serial killer (Nicolas Cage) who targets suburban families. Among other topics, this episode explores the film's unsettling atmosphere, its connection to Silence of the Lambs, its overlap with the Satanic Panic, and its use of potentially transphobic serial killer tropes.

Ep. 299: Hanna

June 03, 2024 by Morgan Davies in episodes

Claire and Gavia review the stylish 2011 action thriller Hanna, directed by Joe Wright (Pride & Prejudice). 16-year-old Saoirse Ronan stars as Hanna, a girl raised in the wilderness by her father (Eric Bana), a former spy. Venturing out into mainstream society for the first time, Hanna must travel alone across Europe while evading a malevolent CIA agent played by Cate Blanchett.