On this week's episode, Megan talks about M3GAN 2.0 (2:58), the sci-fi action sequel which sees the return of the murderous robotic doll, directed by Gerard Johnstone and starring Allison Williams, Violet McGraw, and Jenna Davis. Flawed yet intermittently fun, it's inferior to the sharply crafted and delightful original horror film. Then, Megan talks about RENT FREE (17:17), Fernando Andrés's indie comedy about two queer best friends (Jacob Roberts, David Treviño) attempting to live for a year w...
Jun 27, 2025•52 min•Ep. 572
Evan is off this week, so it's Dave and Megan as a duo. First, Megan discusses THE QUEEN OF MY DREAMS (1:42), Fawzia Mirza's comedy-drama about a Bollywood-loving queer Pakistani-Canadian woman (Amrit Kaur) navigating her complicated relationship with her mother (Nimra Bucha) after a tragedy. It's a lovely film with great performances, vibrant costumes and production design, and a clever narrative structure. Then, Dave delves into 28 YEARS LATER (12:27), the long-awaited third film in the post-a...
Jun 20, 2025•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 571
This week, Megan took in MATERIALISTS , written and directed by Celine Song. Don't be fooled by the poster: It's not a romcom (though it does have some of those elements); it's much more than that. Megan really loved it. Then Evan and Dave joined her for BEST WISHES TO ALL , a bizarro Japanese horror film about what one family does to maintain it happiness, and whether one of the family members will accept the horrifying realities of that choice or reject them. Then they watched ECHO VALLEY , a ...
Jun 13, 2025•1 hr 12 min
This week Dave braved writer-director Mike Flanagan's adaption of Stephen King's THE LIFE OF CHUCK (3:19) and deems it strangely affecting despite not being in love, generally, with the weird maudlin nostalgia of King's non-horror work. Then Megan, Evan, and Dave weigh in on (this is actually its full title) FROM THE WORLD OF JOHN WICK: BALLERINA (20:47). It largely works for Evan, kind of works for Dave, and Megan didn't like it much at all, though they all agree it has some great action set pi...
Jun 06, 2025•52 min
Megan is off this week, so Evan and Dave tackle LOST IN STARLIGHT (2:14), an animated romantic sci-fi drama about a dedicated scientist determined to go to space - but she meets the love of her life just before her departure. Then it's TORNADO (19:13). Set in the 1860s Scottish highlands, it's part western, part Samurai film, part heist flick, and all killin'. Over on Patreon , our second May poll movie is FRACTURE (2007) starring Anthony Hopkins and Ryan Gosling....
May 30, 2025•47 min
This week, Dave and Megan talk about FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH (2:47), Guy Ritchie's incredibly derivative and frustrating adventure film, starring John Krasinski and Natalie Portman as siblings on a globe-trotting trek for (you guessed it) the mythical Fountain of Youth. Then, we all (Evan, Dave, and Megan) discuss FEAR STREET: PROM QUEEN (29:21), a slasher horror film and the latest entry in the franchise based on the R.L. Stine novel. Directed by Matt Palmer and starring India Fowler, Suzanna Son, an...
May 23, 2025•59 min•Ep. 567
This week, we review two international films featuring unconventional women protagonists. First, Evan and Megan talk about SISTER MIDNIGHT (1:56), Karan Kandhari's "genre-bending" dark comedy (from the UK and India) about a woman in India (Radhika Apte) in an arranged marriage who experiences strange events. One of us loved the weird and bold film for Radhika Apte's excellent performance as the defiant protagonist, Kandhari's assured direction, the film's vivid cinematography and soundtrack, its...
May 16, 2025•48 min•Ep. 566
This week, the whole gang is back together! Yay! Evan and Megan start out by reviewing Paul Feig's whodunnit dark comedy, ANOTHER SIMPLE FAVOR (2:33), a sequel to you guessed it, A SIMPLE FAVOR. While it retains the crackling chemistry between its leads, Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively, the movie doesn't have much going for it other than its gorgeous location and fashions; its writing and dialogue are abysmal, and it's glacially paced. Next, we all discuss Eli Craig's horror film CLOWN IN A CORNF...
May 09, 2025•52 min•Ep. 565
Dave can't make it this week, so Megan and Evan review this week's very different films as a duo. First, Megan covers the Ami Canaan Mann's biopic AUDREY'S CHILDREN (2:32), which chronicles a period in the life of world-renowned children's doctor Dr. Audrey Evans (Natalie Dormer), as she works to revolutionize treatment of childhood cancer during the late 1960s and helps co-found the first Ronald McDonald House. Come for Natalie Dormer's excellent performance. Next, they discuss Jon Kasbe and Cr...
May 02, 2025•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 564
Dave returns! But Evan can't make it this week. So Dave and Megan discuss FREWAKA (2:31), Aislinn Clarke's Irish folk horror film about a home care aide (Clare Monnelly) dealing with haunting disorientation after taking a job caring for an agoraphobic older woman (Bríd Ní Neachtain). One of us really liked the film for the performances and eerie, unsettling atmosphere. But it was too slow for one of us. Then, we talk about ON SWIFT HORSES (27:33), Daniel Minahan's queer romantic drama adapted fr...
Apr 25, 2025•1 hr•Ep. 563
Megan is flying solo this week, as Dave and Evan couldn't make it (I miss you two!). First, Megan reviews THE UGLY STEPSISTER (1:54), Emilie Blichfeldt's Norwegian fairy-tale horror film starring Lea Myren and Thea Sofie Loch Næss, which played at this year's Boston Underground Film Festival . With lush costumes and production design, it's a compelling and gruesome Cinderella retelling that critiques beauty standards. Then, Megan talks about THE WEDDING BANQUET (19:25), Andrew Ahn's queer rom-co...
Apr 18, 2025•54 min•Ep. 562
Unfortunately, Dave can't make it this week (we miss you), but we (Evan and Megan) carry on in his stead. First we cover Michael Angarano's dramedy SACREMENTO (2:14), where a free-spirited guy (Angarano) cons his anxiety-ridden best friend (Michael Cera) into taking a road trip to, you guessed it, Sacramento. The movie, which co-stars the vastly underused Maya Erskine and Kristen Stewart, has the occasional poignant moment or funny line but is too scattershot for our taste. Next, we review Chris...
Apr 11, 2025•59 min•Ep. 561
This week Evan and Megan watched (and Dave partly watched) the micro budget thriller GAZER (2:22), directed by Ryan J. Sloan, and written by Sloan and star Ariella Mastroianni. Frankie (Mastroianni) has dyschronometria, a neurological condition where an individual struggles to perceive and track the duration of time. So when Frankie accepts a high-risk job for a decent chunk of money, it’s safe to say things don’t work out like she expects. Then everyone watched FREAKY TALES (21:20), one movie m...
Apr 04, 2025•1 hr
Sometimes we accidentally stumble into a theme at Spoilerpiece, and this week's theme is movies that make us dissolve into choking sobs. First, Megan and Dave weigh in on THE PENGUIN LESSONS , a movie that should be slight; a high school English teacher in politically fraught 1972 Argentina (Steve Coogan) rescues a pengiun and then everyone learns something. Megan and Dave agree: This movie should not work . It should be treacly and stupid...but it made us weep. Legit tears, not tears cheaply je...
Mar 28, 2025•53 min
Evan, Megan, and Dave take in two derivative films this week: ASH (2:37), a horror/sci-fi hodgepodge headed up by Eiza González and Aaron Paul about an astronaut who wakes up to find her crew killed, features just about every horror/sci-fi trope since ALIEN hit screens in 1979. Then there's LOCKED (25:17), a thriller starring Bill Skarsgård as a petty criminal trapped and tortured in an impenetrable SUV owned by bad-dude Anthony Hopkins. Over on Patreon , we watched the 1975 noir NIGHT MOVES , s...
Mar 21, 2025•59 min
This week Evan, Megan, and Dave watched one dud and one banger. The dud: THE ELECTRIC STATE (1:55), the latest crap-fest from the Russo brothers. This unfunny sci-fi comedy stars Millie Bobby Brown, Chris Pratt, and Ke Huy Quan. The banger: NOVOCAINE (26:00). Assistant bank manager Jack Quaid has a genetic condition in which he can't feel pain. So when bank robbers kidnap his would-be girlfriend (Amber Midthunder), he uses the condition to his advantage to try to save her. Over on Patreon , we t...
Mar 16, 2025•59 min
It's a week for horror on Spoilerpiece. Megan and Dave talk about THE RULE OF JENNY PEN (2:10), featuring Geoffrey Rush as a judge recovering from a stroke, John Lithgow as a sadist, and Jenny Pen as Lithgow's evil puppet cohort. Then Evan joins in for STARVE ACRE (20:59), in which two grieving parents find a mummified oak tree and tend to a reanimated rabbit that may or may not be malevolent. Yeah, it's weird. Over on Patreon , we talk about the 2025 Oscars....
Mar 07, 2025•52 min
This week we catch up on two current releases and a new film. Megan and Evan talk about CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD (2:28), and Megan and Dave discuss THE MONKEY (26:02). Then we all talk about the new film MY DEAD FRIEND ZOE (41:03), a dark comedy/drama about an Afghanistan war veteran (Sonequa Martin-Green) dealing with the trauma of losing her friend and fellow vet Zoe (Natalie Morales), who keeps popping up in her day-to-day life as a ghost. Over on Patreon , we talk about FINAL DESTINA...
Feb 28, 2025•1 hr 5 min
This week Dave is under the weather, so Megan and Evan tackle the two films as a duo. First, we review Frederik Louis Hviid's true crime heist film, THE QUIET ONES (2:59), which recounts the largest robbery in Denmark's history. Next, we discuss Martin Campbell's action thriller CLEANER (28:09), which features Daisy Ridley as an ex-soldier turned window cleaner who must save a building full of people after they're taken hostage by eco-terrorists. Over on Patreon , we talk about Jeremy Saulnier's...
Feb 21, 2025•58 min•Ep. 554
This week Megan, Evan, and Dave discuss ROUNDING (1:59), about an ambitious medical resident who relocates to a rural hospital after an elderly patient dies in his care. He soon becomes obsessed with saving a young asthma patient while suffering from horrific visions brought on by sleep deprivation and his previous trauma. Then we talk about THE GORGE (27:48), an action-rom-com-horror-thriller starring Miles Teller, Anya Taylor-Joy, and Sigourney Weaver. Over on Patreon , we watched RETURN TO OZ...
Feb 14, 2025•1 hr 6 min
This week Dave spoils director Josh Ruben’s latest, the horror comedy HEART EYES (2:11), about a serial killer who targets couples on and around Valentine’s Day. Then Evan and Megan join him to discuss LOVE HURTS (18:09), which stars Ke Huy Quan in his first leading role. Over on Patreon , we talk about Billy Wilder’s SUNSET BOULEVARD in honor of its 75th anniversary....
Feb 07, 2025•50 min
Evan and Dave are a duo this week. Dave took his children to see the ridiculous animated movie DOG MAN , which he - surprisingly? - liked. And both Evan and Dave took in LOVE ME , a romantic drama in which Kristen Stewart and Steven Yeun play a buoy and a satellite falling in love long after every lifeform on Earth has gone extinct. Over on Patreon , we discuss the 2006 Tony Scott film DÉJÀ VU with Denzel Washington....
Jan 31, 2025•43 min
This week we watch two films, the indie comedy-drama ROCKY’S (2:26), about five friends in their mid-20s who come together for a funeral, but first regroup in the parking lot of the 24-hour deli they loitered around in high school. Then it’s INHERITANCE (23:11), a spy thriller with Phoebe Dynevor and Rhys Ifans as an estranged daughter and father caught in a conspiracy. (Please excuse Dave’s room noise when the podcast begins; his space heater ran for a few minutes.) Over on Patreon , we talk ab...
Jan 24, 2025•58 min
This week Megan saw WOLF MAN (2:20), director and co-writer Leigh Whannell ’s latest trip down the horror highway, starring Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner. Megan likes this new take on Universal’s legendary Wolf Man…until she doesn’t. A good start, a meh finish. Then Evan and Dave join in when the conversation turns to NIGHT CALL (16:17), Michiel Blanchart's tense and nimble French-language thriller about a locksmith (Jonathan Feltre) who has the misfortune of opening a door…TO CRIME! (See ...
Jan 17, 2025•1 hr 9 min
This week Evan, Megan, and Dave take in the new Nick Frost -written-and-starring horror comedy GET AWAY (2:50), about a family that goes to a remote Swedish island for a holiday weekend, only to be trapped as a killer is on the loose. Zoinks! Blood and guts ensue! But do the laughs follow? DO THEY?!! Two-thirds of us felt one way, and one-third of us felt another way. Then we watch RED ROOMS (26:02), the French-Canadian drama about obsession (among other things) about the trial of a man accused ...
Jan 10, 2025•1 hr 3 min
Welcome to 2025! Evan is off this week, but Megan and Dave are here to talk about I SAW THE TV GLOW (2:26), writer-director Jane Schoenbrun’s horror-fantasy about Owen (Justice Smith) and Maddy (Brigette Lundy-Paine), two teens obsessed with a TV show called “The Pink Opaque,” with airs on Saturday nights past Owen’s bedtime. This was Megan’s top movie of 2024, so she has lots to say, as does Dave, who found its performances excellent, its look great, and its steeped-in’-90s-culture vibe spot-on...
Jan 03, 2025•57 min
It's the end of the year, and that means it's time for our top 10 lists. As members of the Boston Online Film Critics Association, we vote for what we consider the best films of the year (ya know, like critics do). Megan (4:28) goes first, followed by Dave (28:45), and finally Evan (51:51). We have some overlap, but not much! And we have a good time breaking down our reasons for liking the films we do. There are some curveballs, too, which is always fun. Over on Patreon, the results of our Hitch...
Dec 27, 2024•1 hr 16 min
Ladies and gentleman, pray forgive Dave in his capacity as host this week: His rhythm was off, as he was interrupted during the Patreon segment by a restless 9-year-old. (Speaking of Patreon, we cover the Shane Black-written , Geena Davis-starring THE LONG KISS GOODNIGHT. It's a fun conversation!) This week we all watched THE BRUTALIST (3:44), Brady Corbet's post-WWII epic featuring Adrien Brody as a talented architect trying to thrive in the United States while dealing with rampant antisemitism...
Dec 20, 2024•1 hr 6 min
We start with CHASING CHASING AMY (1:44), trans filmmaker Sav Rodgers’ documentary about his relationship with Kevin Smith’s CHASING AMY , and an exploration of Rodgers’ reverence for Kevin Smith’s at-the-time groundbreaking but now much-more-questioned-about-its-narrative-ideas lesbian-falls-for-a-straight-man rom-com. Over the course of six years, Rodgers’ feelings change as he transitions, and interviews Smith, queer filmmakers and critics, academics, his own fiancée Riley (whom we all love),...
Dec 13, 2024•1 hr 10 min
This week Megan and Dave talk about director Luca Guadagnino’s QUEER (2:28), an adaptation of William S. Burroughs 1985 novel (with a screenplay by Justin Kuritzkes). Starring Daniel Craig as William Lee (a Burroughs stand-in), this movie left both Megan and Dave a little bewildered, as there were things they liked (the shooting-up scene, the color palette), and things they didn’t like (Drew Starkey’s performance as Lee’s love interest). Then Evan joins in for FLOW (22:38) an excellent animated ...
Dec 06, 2024•1 hr 9 min
