Episodes

  • JOSH BROLIN and AUSTIN ABRAMS talk Whalefall

    JOSH BROLIN and AUSTIN ABRAMS talk Whalefall
    Oct 15 2026
    The Take is now on Patreon: www.patreon.com/kermodeandmayo Become a Vanguardista or an Ultra Vanguardista to get video episodes of Take Two every week, plus member-only chat rooms, polls and submissions to influence the show, behind-the-scenes photos and videos, the monthly Redactor’s Roundup newsletter, and access to a new fortnightly LIVE show - a raucous, unfiltered lunchtime special with the Good Doctors, new features, and live chat so you can heckle, vote, and have your questions read out in real time. With Simon Mayo off on the Marrakech Express, Simon Poole, AKA The Redactor is stepping into the breach to host the Take this week. After 15 long years his moment in the limelight has finally come, and by God is he milking it for all it’s worth. How will he measure up to Mayo? There’s only one way to find out… Simon Poole also interviews our special guests this week: Josh Brolin and Austin Abrams. They talk Whalefall, a new survival drama adapted from Daniel Kraus’s acclaimed novel about—yes—accidentally falling inside a whale. Come on, we’ve all done it. They discuss the film’s stomach-churning underwater peril, plus we hear some on-set anecdotes about Josh’s literally churning stomach whilst filming No Country For Old Men. And, of course, Simon couldn’t let the interview go by without a question or two about The Goonies… We’ll get Mark’s verdict on Whalefall too, alongside two more new releases: Forgotten Island, an animated adventure about lifelong friendship and unquiet spirits, and Street Fighter, which brings the iconic video game franchise back to the big screen. Plus, we’ll take our customary spin through the Box Office Top 10, sample a healthy serving of your correspondence, and collapse with pure hilarity once again in the Laughter Lift. Will Simon Poole hand back the keys when Mayo returns? Only time will tell. Thanks for listening to another top Take. You can contact the show by emailing correspondence@kermodeandmayo.com or you can find us on social media, @KermodeandMayo. A Sony Music Entertainment production. Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts and follow us @sonypodcasts To advertise on this show contact: podcastadsales@sonymusic.com EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal ➼ https://nordvpn.com/take Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee! Our Christmas Movie Spectacular is back! It’s in Bristol this year on Sunday 6th December. Don’t miss it! Here’s the link for tickets: https://www.fane.co.uk/kermode-and-mayo Timecodes: Forgotten Island review 00:12:09 Box Office Top Ten 00:18:36 Josh Brolin and Austin Abrams interview 00:39:10 Whalefall review 00:53:46 Laughter Lift 01:01:28 Street Fighter review 01:04:06 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    1 hr and 22 mins
  • Is THE UPRISING revolutionary or revolting? + PAUL GREENGRASS

    Is THE UPRISING revolutionary or revolting? + PAUL GREENGRASS
    Oct 8 2026
    The Take is now on Patreon: www.patreon.com/kermodeandmayo Become a Vanguardista or an Ultra Vanguardista to get video episodes of Take Two every week, plus member-only chat rooms, polls and submissions to influence the show, behind-the-scenes photos and videos, the monthly Redactor’s Roundup newsletter, and access to a new fortnightly LIVE show - a raucous, unfiltered lunchtime special with the Good Doctors, new features, and live chat so you can heckle, vote, and have your questions read out in real time. Paul Greengrass is our special guest this week, and he’s talking to Simon about The Uprising—his new medieval thriller set at the time of the peasants revolt. It stars Andrew Garfield as ‘Ploughman’, who’s violent rebuttal to one tax collection too many provides the spark for the historic revolution, alongside Wat Tyler (Cosmo Jarvis) and John Ball (Jamie Bell). Paul chats to Simon about the film’s political echoes today and more. Mark reviews it too, plus two more enticing titles coming up on the big and small screen. First up it’s The Social Reckoning, a companion piece to The Social Network from last week’s guest Aaron Sorkin, tackling the Facebook Files scandal. Then there’s Mike Flanagan’s series adaptation of Carrie, which translates Stephen King’s classic into the modern day. Plus we’ll get the Good Doctors’ usual rundown through the Box Office Top 10, hear a delightful smattering of your correspondence, and all groan through the laughter lift together. Thanks for listening to another top Take. You can contact the show by emailing correspondence@kermodeandmayo.com or you can find us on social media, @KermodeandMayo. A Sony Music Entertainment production. Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts and follow us @sonypodcasts To advertise on this show contact: podcastadsales@sonymusic.com EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal ➼ https://nordvpn.com/take Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee! Our Christmas Movie Spectacular is back! It’s in Bristol this year on Sunday 6th December. Don’t miss it! Here’s the link for tickets: https://www.fane.co.uk/kermode-and-mayo Timecodes: 00:00:00 Introduction 00:09:05 The Social Reckoning 00:24:37 Box Office Top Ten 00:38:09 Paul Greengrass interview 00:51:10 The Uprising review 01:03:01 Laughter Lift 01:06:43 Carrie review Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    1 hr and 32 mins
  • Does Mark dig Digger? + AARON SORKIN

    Does Mark dig Digger? + AARON SORKIN
    Oct 1 2026
    The Take is now on Patreon: www.patreon.com/kermodeandmayo Become a Vanguardista or an Ultra Vanguardista to get video episodes of Take Two every week, plus member-only chat rooms, polls and submissions to influence the show, behind-the-scenes photos and videos, the monthly Redactor’s Roundup newsletter, and access to a new fortnightly LIVE show - a raucous, unfiltered lunchtime special with the Good Doctors, new features, and live chat so you can heckle, vote, and have your questions read out in real time. Three more big screen big hitters are getting the Take treatment this week. First up, the British boarding school answer to Booksmart, Extra Geography, which follows the offbeat romantic quest of two Oxbridge hopefuls with an unlikely love interest. Next up, Verity: an Anne Hathaway led horror with a dash of the erotic thriller. And last but not least, we’ll get the Good Doctors’ verdict on Tom Cruise’s latest and quite possibly maddest movie yet, Digger. Our special guest is Oscar-winning writer and director Aaron Sorkin, who chats to Simon about his new film The Social Reckoning, out next week. In this companion piece to The Social Network, he revisits the theme of social media with a focus on The Facebook Files, the expose on the link between facebook’s algorithm and political radicalisation in the run up to the Capitol Riots of 2021. It’s a meaty conversation with one of our greatest living screenwriters, not to be missed. Plus the box office top 10, and top tips from your correspondence about how to beat bladder-bursting movie runtimes and more in another top-drawer Take. You can contact the show by emailing correspondence@kermodeandmayo.com or you can find us on social media, @KermodeandMayo. A Sony Music Entertainment production. Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts and follow us @sonypodcasts To advertise on this show contact: podcastadsales@sonymusic.com EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal ➼ https://nordvpn.com/take Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee! Our Christmas Movie Spectacular is back! It’s in Bristol this year on Sunday 6th December. Don’t miss it! Here’s the link for tickets: https://www.fane.co.uk/kermode-and-mayo 17:37 Ad break 1 28:09 ad break 2 58:08 ad break 3 Timecodes: 00:09:38 Extra Geography review 00:17:07 Box office top ten 00:29:07 Aaron Sorkin interview 00:46:31 Verity review 00:55:14 Laughter Lift 01:00:21 Digger review Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    1 hr and 21 mins
  • Does the new Austen adaptation suit Mark's sensibility? With George MacKay

    Does the new Austen adaptation suit Mark's sensibility? With George MacKay
    Sep 24 2026
    The Take is now on Patreon: www.patreon.com/kermodeandmayo Become a Vanguardista or an Ultra Vanguardista to get video episodes of Take Two every week, plus member-only chat rooms, polls and submissions to influence the show, behind-the-scenes photos and videos, the monthly Redactor’s Roundup newsletter, and access to a new fortnightly LIVE show - a raucous, unfiltered lunchtime special with the Good Doctors, new features, and live chat so you can heckle, vote, and have your questions read out in real time. George MacKay is our special guest this week, and he’s in full dashing Austenian gentleman mode to tell Simon all about Sense and Sensibility. He plays Edward Ferrars, the handsome and thoroughly upstanding chap who catches the eye of Daisy Edgar-Jones’ Elinor Dashwood. He talks about bringing this Austen classic up to date, three decades on from Ang Lee’s classic screen version starring Emma Thompson, Kate Winslet and Hugh Grant. Mark reviews the film, plus another three big movies hitting cinema screens this week. There’s Heart of the Beast, a survival thriller starring Brad Pitt as an ex-special forces soldier living on society’s inhospitable margins alongside his ex-service dog. Plus we’ll finally get Mark’s verdict on Her Private Hell, the latest neon-soaked feature from recent Take guest Nicolas Winding Refn. Last but certainly not least, Boorman and the Devil - a documentary about the making of the colossally unsuccessful sequel Exorcist II: The Heretic. Surely this one is Kermode catnip. Plus the weekly joy (and/or pain) of the Laughter Lift, and of your consistently excellent correspondence. Keep it coming! You can contact the show by emailing correspondence@kermodeandmayo.com or you can find us on social media, @KermodeandMayo. A Sony Music Entertainment production. Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts and follow us @sonypodcasts To advertise on this show contact: podcastadsales@sonymusic.com EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal ➼ https://nordvpn.com/take Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee! Our Christmas Movie Spectacular is back! It’s in Bristol this year on Sunday 6th December. Don’t miss it! Here’s the link for tickets: https://www.fane.co.uk/kermode-and-mayo Timecodes: 00:00:00 Introduction 00:10:15 Her Private Hell review 00:19:29 Box Office Top Ten 00:31:46 George McKay interview 00:47:24 Sense and Sensibility review 00:56:40 Laughter Lift 00:59:20 Boorman and the Devil review 01:08:29 Heart of the Beast review Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    1 hr and 21 mins
  • Does RESIDENT EVIL equal WEAPONS? + JULIETTE BINOCHE

    Does RESIDENT EVIL equal WEAPONS? + JULIETTE BINOCHE
    Sep 17 2026
    The Take is now on Patreon: www.patreon.com/kermodeandmayo Become a Vanguardista or an Ultra Vanguardista to get video episodes of Take Two every week, plus member-only chat rooms, polls and submissions to influence the show, behind-the-scenes photos and videos, the monthly Redactor’s Roundup newsletter, and access to a new fortnightly LIVE show - a raucous, unfiltered lunchtime special with the Good Doctors, new features, and live chat so you can heckle, vote, and have your questions read out in real time. Legendary French actress Juliette Binoche is our special guest this week. She’ll be talking to Simon about her new film Queen at Sea, a hard-hitting drama examining the tensions and taboos of caring for a family member with Alzheimer’s. Plus we’ll hear a little about her dance documentary directorial debut In-I in Motion - which is also released in the UK this week. She even challenges Simon to get on the dancefloor…now that we would like to see… Mark reviews Queen at Sea, as well as three more big screen releases - it is, as they say, a packed show. We’ll get his verdicts on Resident Evil - an adaptation of the hugely popular videogame from Weapons director Zach Cregger - as well as dark classroom satire Bad Apples, starring Saoirse Ronan, and the latest Aardman animated treat, Shaun The Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom. Plus an uncharacteristically quite-funny Laughter Lift (which we really did need this week…), and all your excellent correspondence. Keep it coming please! You can contact the show by emailing correspondence@kermodeandmayo.com or you can find us on social media, @KermodeandMayo. A Sony Music Entertainment production. Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts and follow us @sonypodcasts To advertise on this show contact: podcastadsales@sonymusic.com EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal ➼ https://nordvpn.com/take Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee! Our Christmas Movie Spectacular is back! It’s in Bristol this year on Sunday 6th December. Don’t miss it! Here’s the link for tickets: https://www.fane.co.uk/kermode-and-mayo Timecodes: 00:00:00 Introduction 00:09:51 Resident Evil review 00:20:20 Box Office Top Ten 00:31:52 Juliette Binoche interview 00:48:02 Queen at Sea review 01:00:04 Laughter Lift 01:03:12 Bad Apples review 01:12:38 Shaun The Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom review Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    1 hr and 24 mins
  • Has PRACTICAL MAGIC 2 got Mark spellbound? + NICOLAS WINDING REFN

    Has PRACTICAL MAGIC 2 got Mark spellbound? + NICOLAS WINDING REFN
    Sep 10 2026
    The Take is now on Patreon: www.patreon.com/kermodeandmayo Become a Vanguardista or an Ultra Vanguardista to get video episodes of Take Two every week, plus member-only chat rooms, polls and submissions to influence the show, behind-the-scenes photos and videos, the monthly Redactor’s Roundup newsletter, and access to a new fortnightly LIVE show - a raucous, unfiltered lunchtime special with the Good Doctors, new features, and live chat so you can heckle, vote, and have your questions read out in real time. On this week's Take, Simon and Mark are back in the booth and diving into a packed slate of new releases. From the spellbinding return of Practical Magic 2 to the vertigo-inducing thrills of Fall 2, they weigh up the latest sequels hoping to recapture cinematic lightning in a bottle. There's also a look at the tense wartime-weather-system drama Pressure and jazz biopic Everybody Digs Bill Evans, exploring the life and legacy of one of the genre’s most influential musicians and featuring last week’s guest Bill Pullman. Plus, director Nicolas Winding Refn joins Simon for a conversation about coming back from the dead (for real), and Her Private Hell—his first film in a decade, out on September 25th. Keep your eyes peeled for Mark’s review then too. Along the way there's the usual mix of film news, recommendations, correspondence, and of course the Laughter Lift. Time to settle in, press play, and enjoy another trip to the cinema with Mark and Simon. You can contact the show by emailing correspondence@kermodeandmayo.com or you can find us on social media, @KermodeandMayo. A Sony Music Entertainment production. Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts and follow us @sonypodcasts To advertise on this show contact: podcastadsales@sonymusic.com EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal ➼ https://nordvpn.com/take Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee! Our Christmas Movie Spectacular is back! It’s in Bristol this year on Sunday 6th December. Don’t miss it! Here’s the link for tickets: https://www.fane.co.uk/kermode-and-mayo Timecodes: 00:00:00 Introduction 00:13:23 Pressure review 00:23:25 Box Office Top Ten 00:35:21 Nicholas Winding Refn interview 00:49:01 Everybody Digs Bill Evans 00:59:05 Laughter Lift 01:01:31 Fall 2 01:12:01 Practical Magic 2 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    1 hr and 26 mins
  • Is this the darkest ROBIN HOOD adaptation ever? + BILL PULLMAN

    Is this the darkest ROBIN HOOD adaptation ever? + BILL PULLMAN
    Sep 3 2026
    The Take is now on Patreon: www.patreon.com/kermodeandmayo Become a Vanguardista or an Ultra Vanguardista to get video episodes of Take Two every week, plus member-only chat rooms, polls and submissions to influence the show, behind-the-scenes photos and videos, the monthly Redactor’s Roundup newsletter, and access to a new fortnightly LIVE show - a raucous, unfiltered lunchtime special with the Good Doctors, new features, and live chat so you can heckle, vote, and have your questions read out in real time. This week’s special guest is Hollywood stalwart Bill Pullman, who across the decades has starred in Independence Day, Spaceballs, David Lynch’s Lost Highway, Sleepless in Seattle and many more. This time we see him in Everybody Digs Bill Evans, where he plays the father of the titular jazz legend. He chats to Simon about father-son stories, jazz, and how working in black and white changes his acting. Mark will review Everybody Digs Bill Evans next week, and in the meantime we’ve got a packed show with four big screen releases up for the Good Doctors’ judgement. We’ve got Late Fame, a New York set indie about an aging former poet (Willem Dafoe), who is surprised to find his work reappraised by a group of young bohemians. Then there’s Leviticus, an Australian conversion therapy horror from the producers of The Babadook and Talk To Me, and Supernature, a love letter to nature documentary shot entirely on Super 8. And finally, following our interview with director Michael Sarnoski last week, the wait is over for Mark’s verdict on The Death of Robin Hood. All that plus an especially groan-inducing Laughter Lift, and all your top correspondence, including some great What’s On bulletins this week. You can contact the show by emailing correspondence@kermodeandmayo.com or you can find us on social media, @KermodeandMayo. A Sony Music Entertainment production. Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts and follow us @sonypodcasts To advertise on this show contact: podcastadsales@sonymusic.com EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal ➼ https://nordvpn.com/take Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee! Our Christmas Movie Spectacular is back! It’s in Bristol this year on Sunday 6th December. Don’t miss it! Here’s the link for tickets: https://www.fane.co.uk/kermode-and-mayo Film Suffolk: linktr.ee/ouatis Ikea Knightley https://iwittr.com/wiki/page/Ikea_Knightley Timecodes: 00:00:00 Introduction 00:09:06 Late Fame review 00:18:15 Box Office Top Ten 00:30:20 Bill Pullman interview 00:44:54 Supernature review 00:53:25 Laughter Lift 00:55:16 Leviticus review 01:02:36 The Death of Robin Hood review Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    1 hr and 21 mins
  • THE DOG STARS: Top dog or a dog’s dinner?

    THE DOG STARS: Top dog or a dog’s dinner?
    Aug 27 2026
    The Take is now on Patreon: www.patreon.com/kermodeandmayo Become a Vanguardista or an Ultra Vanguardista to get video episodes of Take Two every week, plus member-only chat rooms, polls and submissions to influence the show, behind-the-scenes photos and videos, the monthly Redactor’s Roundup newsletter, and access to a new fortnightly LIVE show - a raucous, unfiltered lunchtime special with the Good Doctors, new features, and live chat so you can heckle, vote, and have your questions read out in real time. Three more of the week’s big screen offerings reviewed by the Good Doctors on the Take. First up, The Dog Stars—Ridley Scott’s latest post-apocalyptic survival thriller offering starring Jacob Elordi and Josh Brolin. Then there’s the new drama from our favourite multicoloured Spanish maximalist Pedro Almodóvar, Bitter Christmas, and even more outrageously, Gregg Araki’s kinky comedy I Want Your Sex, starring Olivia Wilde and Cooper Hoffman. Plus our guest this week is Michael Sarnoski, director of Pig, A Quiet Place: Day One, and now The Death of Robin Hood, Out next week, it shows us a darker side of the folk legend, following Hugh Jackman’s grizzled Robin Hood in later life as he reckons with the legacy of years of violence. No men in tights here, sorry. Michael chats to Simon and Mark about reimagining this famous take and directing Huge Action through some serious Northern Irish mud. Laugther Lift too as usual, plus the best of your excellent correspondence, including some great What’s On info and another entry into our new technophobic feature A, I Don’t Like That. Enjoy! You can contact the show by emailing correspondence@kermodeandmayo.com or you can find us on social media, @KermodeandMayo. A Sony Music Entertainment production. Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts and follow us @sonypodcasts To advertise on this show contact: podcastadsales@sonymusic.com EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal ➼ https://nordvpn.com/take Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee! Our Christmas Movie Spectacular is back! It’s in Bristol this year on Sunday 6th December. Don’t miss it! Here’s the link for tickets: https://www.fane.co.uk/kermode-and-mayo Timecodes: 00:00:00 Introduction 00:12:11 The Dog Stars review 00:21:41 Box Office Top Ten 00:30:35 Michael Sarnoski interview 00:45:08 Bitter Christmas review 00:53:37 Laughter Lift 01:01:28 I Want Your Sex review Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    1 hr and 16 mins