We’re back for a brand-new season of Shoot the Hostage, and Dan has officially established a theme that Sarah finds entirely hypocritical: “Size Doesn’t Matter.” To kick things off, we’re looking at a cinema entry where scale is quite literally the only thing that matters, Ant-Man (2015).

This episode marks our first full-length dive into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, specifically during the era before the quality dropped off a cliff. We spend a fair amount of time sifting through the wreckage of Edgar Wright’s Ant-Man, debating whether his standalone vision would have been superior to the more by the numbers heist-lite movie we ended up with. We also attempt to make sense of the shrinking technology, though we eventually conclude that the quantum realm is mostly just the place Marvel writers smash two words together to make it sound real.

What to expect from this episode:

• A breakdown of why Dan’s “Size Doesn’t Matter” theme is fundamentally ironic given the film choices.
• The reason why Thomas the Tank Engine was legally required to keep smiling while crushing a police car.
• A mourning period for the Edgar Wright Ant-Man we’ll never get to see.
• Misplaced optimism over the possibility of quantum immortality eventually propelling us into the reality where Edgar Wright did direct Ant-Man.
• The scientific realisation that “Quantum” is just a prefix Marvel uses to make magic sound like physics.
• Appreciation for the innate charisma of Paul Rudd.
• Recognition for a suit well-tailored.
• The reason why Michael Douglas’s wig in Endgame was for more distracting than any de-aging effects.

This season has eight episodes, concluding September 21st

Would you like to see the full lineup for season 16? The only place you can see it is on Patreon but you don't need to be a paying member. Sign up for a free membership and get access to the lineup.

If you're a fan of the show and want more content, check out our £3.00 a month tier on Patreon where we release our end of season wrap shows and 2 reviews of brand new movies every month. Plus you'll get access to our back catalogue from 2023 onwards.

Enjoy the show but can't support us financially? We get it. You could submit a review on the podcast player you're reading this on right now. Or if you listen on Spotify and you haven't given us a five-star rating yet, what are ye waiting for? It's easy.

If you've done some or all of that and still want to do more, we would love it if you tell a friend about the show.

Or come find us on social media:

Instagram | TikTok | Threads | YouTube

We managed to find time to wander aimlessly through the fluorescent lit yellow wallpapered nightmare of Kane Parsons’ Backrooms.

Join Dan and a moderately functional Sarah as she recounts the joy of following a horror movie with a 3am trip to a real-life liminal hospital corridor for a CT scan.

In this episode we dive into:

• The rise of Kane Parsons and how a 20-year-old turned a creepy pasta inspired YouTube series into a feature film.
• Why 75% of the budget was seemingly spent on suspended ceilings and why that works.
• The unusual vibes of the film.
• How Dan managed to connect with this one while filling his disenfranchised man quota.
• Why movies like Obsession and Backrooms are dominating the box-office now.

We shall return!

On August 3rd we're back with a brand new season. This time chosen by Dan. The new theme is "Size Doesn't Matter" and the first film we're sizing up is Ant-Man (2015).

Would you like to see the full lineup for season 16? The only place you can see it is on Patreon but you don't need to be a paying member. Sign up for a free membership and get access to the lineup when it drops any day now.

Instagram | TikTok | Threads | YouTube

Welcome to this bonus episode of Shoot the Hostage, where we are lingering in the hallways of our favourite moments from our Liminal Spaces season. If you’ve ever felt like you’re trapped in a dreamlike transitory space between a swimming pool and a never-ending warehouse, you’ve come to the right place for some Liminal Space cinema chat. We’re crossing over from the uncanny to the absurd as we revisit the movies that made Dan question Sarah’s sanity and his own grasp on geometry.

In this best of compilation, we dive back into the eerie, sparsely populated worlds of some of the best movies with liminal spaces. We revisit Christopher Smith’s time-loop feature Triangle, where Dan finally learns how many points a triangle has. We also tackle the art-house vibes of 70s cult horror like Messiah of Evil, which Dan argues isn’t a movie but rather a collection of images that would be vastly improved by a guest appearance from Mr Blobby.

The journey continues with Peter Weir’s Picnic at Hanging Rock, featuring a magic rock that may or may not be solar powered for your 1900s toaster. We also get a pinch of Lynch with Jamie from Final Transmission as we attempt to decode David Lynch’s Lost Highway and the rising star power of Balthazar Getty. From the slow march to death in David Robert Mitchell’s, It Follows to the aggressive hospitality of Wake in Fright, we’ve curated a lineup that is definitely more vibes that linear narrative.

We also touch on Alex Garland’s Annihilation, the dessert of the season and John Carpenter’s Prince of Darkness, featuring the legendary Dondald Pleasence and a very large, very secure wooden door. Whether you’re a fan of liminal space horror or just here for the film criticism and humour, this episode has it all – including a discussion on whether a crab is technically a “floor fish”

What to expect from this episode:

• Dan tries to convince Sarah to pivot the season into movies featuring basic geometric shapes.
• A definitive (and possible incorrect) explanation of what actually constitutes a liminal space.
• The revelation that the Messiah of Evil might have been a piny, yellow spotted ghoulish figure from 90s British TV.
• The logistics of plugging a laptop into a 6 million year old magic rock in the year 1900
• Dan’s theory that the size of the church key is directly proportional to how much evil you’re hiding in the basement.
• A debate about some of the Brian Johnsons and whether they hold the key to ancestral immortality.
• A sneak peek at our upcoming season where we finally prove once and for all that size doesn’t matter.

We shall return!

On August 3rd we're back with a brand new season. This time chosen by Dan. The new theme is "Size Doesn't Matter" and the first film we're sizing up is Ant-Man (2015).

Would you like to see the full lineup for season 16? The only place you can see it is on Patreon but you don't need to be a paying member. Sign up for a free membership and get access to the lineup when it drops any day now.

Instagram | TikTok | Threads | YouTube