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This week, we discuss two films from French director François Ozon.

The first is In the House (2012), which follows a precocious student who infiltrates a classmate’s family life through storytelling, blurring the line between fiction and reality.

The second is Swimming Pool (2003), a tense psychological mystery where a reclusive writer’s quiet retreat unravels into a game of seduction, suspicion and blurred identities.

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This week, we discuss two films from American director John Milius.

The first is The Wind and the Lion (1975), which blends adventure and political intrigue as a Berber chieftain kidnaps an American woman, sparking an international incident in early 20th-century Morocco.

The second is Conan the Barbarian (1982), which charts the mythic rise of a warrior seeking vengeance in a brutal, sorcery-laced world.

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This week, we discuss two films that explore the uncertainty of growing up.

The first is Diner (1982), which captures the camaraderie and coming-of-age struggles of a group of young men on the brink of adulthood in 1950s Baltimore.

The second is I Vitelloni (1953), which follows five idle friends in a small Italian town as they face the slow, reluctant transition from youth to responsibility.

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What we’ve been watching (...

This week, we discuss two films that quietly explore isolation, beauty and the passage of time.

The first is Vigil (1984), which follows a young girl in rural New Zealand as she navigates grief, and a mysterious new presence, after her father's death.

The second is Days of Heaven (1978), which captures the tragedy of a love triangle set against the sweeping landscapes of the American frontier.

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This week, we discuss two films from acclaimed director Jane Campion.

The first is In the Cut (2003), a psychological thriller that delves into desire and danger as a woman becomes entangled in a murder investigation.

The second is The Piano (1993), which tells the haunting story of a mute pianist whose arranged marriage in colonial New Zealand ignites a turbulent journey of passion and autonomy.

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This week, we discuss two depressing Scandinavian films.

The first is Aniara (2018), which follows a spaceship of passengers drifting hopelessly through space, confronting existential despair after veering off course.

The second is Melancholia (2011), which centres on two sisters grappling with personal and cosmic doom as a rogue planet threatens to destroy Earth.

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What we’ve been watching (00:01:00) – Suspect: The Shoo...

This week, we discuss two films starring Jack Nicholson.

The first is The Witches of Eastwick (1987), which blends dark comedy and supernatural chaos as three women discover their powers, and a devilish visitor, in a small town.

The second is Terms of Endearment (1983), which traces the complex, tender and often turbulent bond between a mother and daughter over decades of love and loss.

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This week, we discuss two Martin Scorsese films dealing with Christianity.

The first is The Last Temptation of Christ (1988), which presents a deeply human portrait of Jesus, torn between divine duty and earthly desires.

The second is Silence (2016), which follows two Jesuit priests facing persecution and crisis of faith while searching for their mentor in 17th-century Japan.

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What we’ve been watching (00:01:03) – Civil...

This week, we discuss two American sports films from 1979.

The first is North Dallas Forty (1979), which exposes the gritty underside of professional American football, where painkillers, politics and profit overshadow the game

The second is Breaking Away (1979), which follows a group of working-class friends navigating identity, dreams and class divisions in a college town through the lens of competitive cycling.

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This week, we discuss two classic British films from Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger.

The first is Black Narcissus (1947), which explores the psychological unraveling of nuns in a remote Himalayan convent as desire and isolation take hold.

The second is The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943), which traces the life of a British officer through love, war and friendship, challenging ideas of honour and aging.

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This week, we discuss two historical dramas about political resistance.

The first is Peterloo (2018), which tells the harrowing story of the 1819 massacre in Manchester, where peaceful protesters were met with deadly force while demanding political reform.

The second is The Wind that Shakes the Barley (2006), which follows two brothers caught on opposite sides of Ireland’s fight for independence and the ensuing civil war.

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This week, we discuss two horror films from director Tobe Hooper.

The first is The Funhouse (1981), which follows a group of teens who sneak into a carnival funhouse for a night of thrills, only to be hunted by a monstrous killer lurking within.

The second is Poltergeist (1982), which tells the story of a suburban family whose home becomes haunted by vengeful spirits, leading to a desperate fight to rescue their youngest daughter f...

This week, we discuss two films from the Wachowski siblings.

The first is Cloud Atlas (2012), an epic science fiction film which weaves together six interconnected stories across time and space, exploring how individual actions ripple through history to shape destinies.

The second is Bound (1996), a neo-noir erotic crime thriller where two women plot to steal from the mob, igniting a tense game of deception, passion and survival.

This week, we discuss two films which delve into the Soviet/Russian psyche.

The first is Brother (1997), a neo-noir crime drama which follows a young Russian veteran navigating the criminal underworld of post-Soviet Saint Petersburg, where his code of honor and survival instincts are tested amid violence and betrayal.

The second is Come and See (1985), a harrowing journey through the horrors of World War II, as a Belarusian boy wit...

This week, we discuss two films written and directed by John Sayles.

The first is Matewan (1987), an historical drama which depicts a tense labour struggle in 1920s West Virginia, where coal miners, faced with brutal oppression from company enforcers, unite in a fight for their rights.

The second is Lone Star (1996), a neo-Western which unravels a decades-old mystery in a Texas border town, as a sheriff investigating a skeleton’s d...

This week, we discuss two films starring, written and directed by Orson Welles.

The first is Chimes at Midnight (1966), an historical comedy which follows the rise and fall of Sir John Falstaff, a boisterous yet tragic figure caught between loyalty and political upheaval in Shakespearean England.

The second is Touch of Evil (1958), a noir thriller about corruption and moral decay, as a Mexican detective clashes with a ruthless Amer...

This week, we discuss two films starring French actor Alain Delon.

The first is Purple Noon (1960), an adaptation of the Patricia Highsmith novel “The Talented Mr. Ripley”. In the film, a young man becomes entangled in deception and identity theft while vacationing on the Italian coast, leading to dangerous consequences.

The second is The Red Circle (1970), a crime thriller written and directed by Jean-Pierre Melville. The plot see...

This week, we discuss two films involving Brady Corbet, the director of The Brutalist.

The first is Vox Lux (2018), a musical drama written and directed by Brady Corbet, from a story by Corbet and Mona Fastvold. It follows a pop star who rises to fame after a traumatic event, exploring the intersection of celebrity and personal history.

The second is Mysterious Skin (2004), a coming-of-age drama written, produced and directed by Gr...

This week, we discuss two vampire films.

The first is Daughters of Darkness (1971), an erotic horror film co-written and directed by Harry Kümel and starring Delphine Seyrig, John Karlen, Andrea Rau and Danielle Ouimet. A newlywed couple's honeymoon at a deserted seaside hotel takes a sinister turn when they encounter the enigmatic Countess Bathory, whose seductive and vampiric nature threatens to consume them.

The second is Near D...