How to Survive Joe Shervell and Chris Morris

How to Survive is now on Patreon! Support us at Patreon.com/HowtoSurvivePod to get every episode one week early, plus monthly bonus episodes and more.
It's episode 275...and It's really disgusting that you could just sit there, and watch it happen. Like a robot. What's wrong with you?
Infinity Pool (2023) sees us join the disaffected writer James Foster on a trip to the paradise island of Li Tolqa. When a drunken misadventure ends in disaster, James discovers the Li Tolqan legal system has a curious loophole – rich tourists can escape capital punishment by paying for a clone to take their place, so long as they watch the execution of their double take place. How will this experience change James, and can he escape the magnetic pull of the mysterious Gabi, a fellow guest at the resort with first-hand experience of Li Tolqan justice.
We break down Brandon Cronenberg’s sci-fi horror gem, pay homage to incredible performances from Mia Goth and Alexander Skarsgård, ponder the ethics and meaning of Li Tolqan cloning, dish out some sage wisdom on avoiding white sand brain death and discuss whether getting a clone would help Joe play more PlayStation.
All of which leads to one question: How would you survive?
Whatever happens, one thing's for sure: You wake up in that little room, and for all you know, they could've just swapped you out. Hard to say what happened while you were asleep.
Next time out it’s another Patreon pick – Rosie PK has chosen Julia Ducournau’s Titane (2021)
 

How to Survive is now on Patreon! Support us at Patreon.com/HowtoSurvivePod to get every episode one week early, plus monthly bonus episodes and more.
 

It's episode 274...and what touched this place cannot be quantified or understood by human science.
 

Color out of Space (2019) tells the story of the Gardener family, who have recently left the city to start farming alpacas. As they begin to embrace country life, a meteor lands on their property, bringing with it unseen and unimaginable horrors.
 

Cosmic Horror season wraps up with the movie that's widely considered to be the best H.P. Lovecraft adaptation. We talk about the benefits of embracing firearms; some straightforward PPE advice; and the failures of a public health official to do even a rudimentary job.
 

All of which leads to one question: How would you survive?
 

Whatever happens, one thing's for sure: It came from the stars... where things ain't like they are here.
 
Jump on Patreon.com/HowtoSurvivePod to suggest what we should cover next! 

How to Survive is now on Patreon! Support us at Patreon.com/HowtoSurvivePod to get every episode one week early, plus monthly bonus episodes and more.
It's episode 273...and I'm not insane, you hear me! I'M NOT INSANE!
In The Mouth Of Madness (1994) tells the story of John Trent, sent to investigate the disappearance of horror novelist Sutter Cane, and recover the manuscript for his latest novel. As an epidemic of violent behaviour spreads across the land, Trent tracks Cane to Hobb’s End, a town previously thought to exist only in Cane’s novels. There, Trent will discover unimaginable horrors that have the potential to rewrite reality in terrible ways.
Cosmic Horror season kicks off with a Carpenter love letter to HP Lovecraft. Expect tension and tentacles, madness and monsters, plus an extended discussion of whether or not it’s ok to only give an axe murderer a bucket to use as a toilet.
All of which leads to one question: How would you survive?
Whatever happens, one thing's for sure: Every species can sense its own extinction.
Next time, Cosmic Horror season continues with The Color Out Of Space (2019).

How to Survive is now on Patreon! Support us at Patreon.com/HowtoSurvivePod to get every episode one week early, plus monthly bonus episodes and more.
 
It's episode 272...and I don't like this kind of talk; the things you're saying.
 

Where exactly do you start with Inland Empire (2006)?
 
Ostensibly the story of Nikki, an actor cast in a remake of a supposedly cursed film in which the actors were murdered, what follows is a three hour psychological horror tone poem in which fiction and reality repeatedly collide, break down and are rebuilt. Lynch runs the gamut of everything from surreal rabbit sitcoms to surreal Polish neo-realism, with Laura Dern clinging on for dear life at the centre of his artistic hurricane. It might just be a work of genius.
 

July's David Lynch season concludes with a borderline incomprehensible piece of arthouse cinema as we ask ourselves a series of unanswerable questions: What does it all mean? Is this the ugliest-looking film we've ever watched? How do you survive a painting? Plus, crowbarred comparisons to safer ground as we variously compare it to Mission Impossible and Stewart Lee, and a piece of genuinely scholarly film studies work from one of our patrons.

 
All of which leads to one question: How would you survive?
 

Whatever happens, one thing's for sure: This is a story that happened yesterday. But I know it's tomorrow.
 

Next time out it's Cosmic Horror season, kicking off with John Carpenter's In The Mouth Of Madness (1994).

How to Survive is now on Patreon! Support us at Patreon.com/HowtoSurvivePod to get every episode one week early, plus monthly bonus episodes and more.
 
It's episode 271...and I want ya to "think" and stop bein' a smart aleck. Can ya try that for me?

 
Mulholland Drive (2001) tells the story of Betty, an aspiring actress new to the Hollywood scene who tries to help amnesiac Rita rediscover her identity following a mysterious car crash. Someone appears to be chasing Rita, and mobsters and movie directors might be involved too--what's really going on? Layers of reality unravel in classic Lynch-ian fashion as identities and dreams are deconstructed with tragic results.
 

The first episode of July's David Lynch season gives us the chance to talk about a genuine cinematic masterpiece, the joy of David Lynch's work on-screen and his real life persona, cows by the side of the road, DVD insert red herrings and, of course, dreams of snail penises.
 

All of which leads to one question: How would you survive?
 

Whatever happens, one thing's for sure: I'd rather be known as a great actress than a movie star. But, you know, sometimes people end up being both.
 

Next week it's bonus pod time, with this month's Patreon pick: Fresh (2022).

How to Survive is now on Patreon! Support us at Patreon.com/HowtoSurvivePod to get every episode one week early, plus monthly bonus episodes and more.
 
It's episode 270...and If she were any quieter, she'd be dead!
 

Sleepaway Camp (1983) follows the teenage Angela on her first trip away to Camp Arawak, several years after losing her father and brother in a terrible speedboat accident. Soon after their arrival, strange and fatal events being to befall the workers and guests of Camp Arawak. Are these mere accidents, or is Angela hiding a sinister secret?
 

We talk about one of the most surprising--and as it turns out, interesting--endings in the history of horror movies, the complex gender politics of what appears to be a by-the-numbers slasher, and spend a surprising amount of time discussing The Sopranos, Napoleon and Bartleby, the Scrivener.
 

All of which leads to one question: How would you survive?
 

Whatever happens, one thing's for sure: it certainly will be a nice little surprise when Richard comes home to find a little girl in the house.