The Minimum Commitment: Film Theory in Small Doses

Donn Lawler Podcasts

Hosted by Donn Lawler, this podcast explores film theory one movie at a time. Each episode breaks down a single film—no jargon, no lectures—just sharp analysis in under 10 minutes. Noir, sci-fi, horror, dystopias… every story says more than you think. New episodes weekly. Minimum Commitment. Maximum Meaning.

  1. Dragonslayer – The Age of Fire, the Fall of Magic

    HACE 6 DÍAS

    Dragonslayer – The Age of Fire, the Fall of Magic

    NOTE: This episode contains MAJOR spoilers. If you haven’t seen the film yet, you might want to hit pause and come back when you’re ready. Matthew Robbins’ Dragonslayer is more than a monster movie. It’s an elegy. A tale of collapsing systems, vanishing gods, and the quiet transition from wonder to order. In this episode of The Minimum Commitment, we explore how the film reflects the dying breath of magic in a world slowly overtaken by belief, power, and institutional control. Using structuralist theory and the lens of cultural hegemony, we’ll break down how symbols change as they pass from myth to machinery. The dragon is more than a beast, it’s a metaphor for the old ways. Ulrich’s death is more than sacrifice, it’s the extinguishing of mystery. And Galen doesn’t become a legend. He becomes a witness. One who understands that history doesn’t remember magic. It replaces it. Recommended Reading: “The Uses of Enchantment” by Bruno Bettelheim A landmark work in myth and psychology, Bettelheim’s book explores how fairy tales help children understand moral conflict, identity, and cultural transition. For viewers of Dragonslayer, it provides insight into why stories of sacrifice, transformation, and magical inheritance still resonate, and what they teach us about the systems that raise and rule us.

    17 min
  2. The Green Knight – Bravery, Performed

    21 NOV

    The Green Knight – Bravery, Performed

    NOTE: This episode contains MAJOR spoilers. If you haven’t seen the film yet, you might want to hit pause and come back when you’re ready. David Lowery’s The Green Knight offers a fresh and intricate retelling of a classic myth, weaving unfamiliar consequences into the narrative fabric. This episode explores the story through the lens of post-structuralist theory, presenting Gawain’s journey not merely as a straightforward triumph of courage but as a complex exploration of performance, fear, and the elusive construction of meaning. Through distorted symbols, fragmented timelines, and a world crafted from poetry and peril, The Green Knight compellingly reminds us that stories do not provide definitive answers—only a series of pivotal choices that shape our understanding and destiny. Recommended Reading: “The Postmodern Beowulf” (ed. E. L. Risden) Includes essays examining how mythic texts are reinterpreted in contemporary culture and media, including comparisons between Beowulf and The Green Knight.

    16 min
  3. Excalibur – The Sword, the Spectacle, and the End of Magic

    14 NOV

    Excalibur – The Sword, the Spectacle, and the End of Magic

    NOTE: This episode contains MAJOR spoilers. If you haven’t seen the film yet, you might want to hit pause and come back when you’re ready.  John Boorman’s Excalibur transforms the Arthurian legend into a mythic opera—grand, poetic, and soaked in metaphor. In this episode of The Minimum Commitment, we explore how the film uses visual spectacle and semiotic design to breathe new life into the monomyth, while also forecasting its collapse. Through the lens of post-structuralism and symbolic formalism, we’ll examine how Excalibur treats magic as a language—one that loses power as its users forget what their words mean. From Uther’s violent rise to Arthur’s tragic decline, Excalibur traces the failure of meaning itself: when myths are no longer believed, all that remains is theater. This isn’t just a story about swords and kings. It’s a reflection on what endures after the magic fades. A world still trying to remember what the sword once stood for. Recommended Reading: “The Mabinogion”, translated by Jeffrey Gantz A vivid collection of ancient Welsh myths and folktales that predate and inform the Arthurian legend. These stories offer a glimpse into the symbolic world Excalibur draws from—where swords, kings, and prophecies speak to deeper cultural truths. For anyone curious about the roots of Merlin, magic, and the shifting shape of myth, this is essential reading.

    21 min
  4. Beowulf – The Lie That Made the Legend

    7 NOV

    Beowulf – The Lie That Made the Legend

    NOTE: This episode contains spoilers. If you haven’t seen the film yet, you might want to hit pause and come back when you’re ready. Robert Zemeckis’s 2007 animated film Beowulf offers a modern reimagining of the ancient epic, blending cutting-edge digital animation with a reinterpretation of traditional myth. The film presents a world where formidable digital bodies collide with fractured mythologies, revealing a story that challenges conventional notions of heroism. Beneath the dazzling golden armor and the shimmering illusions lies a narrative rooted in deeper themes of consequence and moral complexity. Using post-structuralist theory, this episode explores the legendary tale of Beowulf and how it begins to crumble under the oppressive weight of denial, temptation, and the silencing of multiple generations. We analyze how identity becomes fragmented under the pressure of mythic expectations and how the monsters we dread often symbolize the uncomfortable truths we refuse to confront or acknowledge. Recommended Reading: “Mythologies” by Roland Barthes A cornerstone of post-structuralist thought, Barthes dissects how cultural myths are constructed and what they conceal. Essential for understanding how stories like Beowulf sustain power by hiding the truth in plain sight.

    19 min
  5. Us: The Horror in the Mirror

    31 OCT

    Us: The Horror in the Mirror

    NOTE: This episode contains MAJOR spoilers. If you haven’t seen the film yet, you might want to hit pause and come back when you’re ready.  Jordan Peele’s film Us intricately deconstructs the American dream, portraying it as a distorted hall of mirrors that reflects the complex interplay of class, privilege, and identity. Through the meticulous use of symmetry, deliberate sound design, and compelling performances, Peele reveals the subtle horror of recognition — the unsettling realization that our deepest fears are not external threats or strangers, but the unacknowledged parts of ourselves. This episode explores themes of duality, the phenomenon of othering, and the film’s precise formal craftsmanship, which collectively form a social anatomy that exposes the underlying guilt and primal instincts of survival embedded in American society. At its heart, Us isn’t a story about invasion. It’s a story about recognition and the cost of pretending we’re not connected to what lives beneath us. Recommended Reading: “The Souls of Black Folk” by W.E.B. Du Bois. An essential exploration of “double consciousness,” a concept that deeply informs Peele’s portrait of divided identity.

    20 min
  6. Hereditary – The Shape of Inheritance

    24 OCT

    Hereditary – The Shape of Inheritance

    NOTE: This episode contains MAJOR spoilers. If you haven’t seen the film yet, you might want to hit pause and come back when you’re ready. Ari Aster’s Hereditary is less a story about grief than it is about inevitability. Evil doesn’t stalk from outside; it festers within the walls of family, passed down like memory or blood. In this episode, we explore how the film dissects generational trauma, control, and the illusion of choice, using formal precision and psychological collapse to expose the darker side of inheritance. By the end, Hereditary reminds us that horror doesn’t need monsters or ghosts. It only needs a home and a family willing to repeat the pattern. Suggested Reading: The Family Romance by Sigmund Freud – A foundational text in understanding the psychological patterns that shape family identity and repetition. Dedicated to Ace Frehley. You will be missed.

    19 min
  7. The Exorcist – A Crisis of Faith and Flesh

    17 OCT

    The Exorcist – A Crisis of Faith and Flesh

    NOTE: This episode contains MAJOR spoilers. If you haven’t seen the film yet, you might want to hit pause and come back when you’re ready. William Friedkin’s The Exorcist isn’t just a story of demonic possession; it’s a powerful and haunting collision of faith and reason set against a backdrop where the world seems to have forgotten how to accept and understand true mystery. This episode explores how the film forces both science and religion to confront the uncomfortable limits of their own understanding and beliefs. Using Regan’s possession as a visceral reflection of cultural doubt, spiritual crisis, and human suffering, the narrative explores the profound tension between doubt and faith. Through a postmodern lens, we’ll analyze how the institutions that once promised absolute certainty—medicine, psychology, and the Church—struggle and sometimes fail to make sense of the unexplainable, revealing broader questions about belief, knowledge, and the nature of reality. At its core, The Exorcist is not about a girl possessed by a demon. It’s about a culture possessed by doubt. Recommended Reading: “Faith and Doubt in the Modern World” by Charles Taylor An insightful exploration of how secularism has reshaped the Western understanding of faith, belief, and transcendence, making it a perfect companion to Friedkin’s crisis of meaning.

    20 min
  8. The Shining: Madness in the Method

    10 OCT

    The Shining: Madness in the Method

    NOTE: This episode contains MAJOR spoilers. If you haven’t seen the film yet, you might want to hit pause and come back when you’re ready. Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining isn’t merely a straightforward haunted house story; it’s a richly layered, postmodern exploration into a chaotic universe where traditional notions of meaning and perception continually dissolve and escape understanding. Through innovative cinematic techniques such as  Fragmentation: a disjointed narrative structureHyperreality: blurring the line between illusion and realitySimulation: creating an artificial sense of authenticity The ominous Overlook Hotel transforms into a haunting mirror of Jack Torrance’s fractured, unstable psyche. This eerie environment reflects his psychological unraveling in visceral, visual terms, emphasizing the instability of identity and perception. This episode examines the intricate interplay between  Architecture: its oppressive, labyrinthine designPersonal identity: its fragile, shifting naturePrimal fear: core human terrorintertwining them into a labyrinthine maze that has no clear center or exit. This complex spatial and psychological structure embodies a universe where certainty is illusory, and ambiguity reigns supreme, immersing the viewer in a world devoid of stable ground or definitive meaning.

    17 min
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Hosted by Donn Lawler, this podcast explores film theory one movie at a time. Each episode breaks down a single film—no jargon, no lectures—just sharp analysis in under 10 minutes. Noir, sci-fi, horror, dystopias… every story says more than you think. New episodes weekly. Minimum Commitment. Maximum Meaning.

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