The Next Reel Film Podcast

TruStory FM
  • 4.7 (87)
  • Film Reviews
  • Updated Weekly

A show about movies and how they connect. We love movies. We’ve been talking about them, one movie a week, since 2011. It’s a lot of movies, that’s true, but we’re passionate about origins and performance, directors and actors, themes and genres, and so much more. So join the community, and let’s hear about your favorite movies, too. When the movie ends, our conversation begins.

  1. To Live

    6d ago

    To Live

    Zhang Yimou's "To Live" is the most personal film he ever made—a 1994 historical epic that strips away his signature visual spectacle to follow one Chinese family across four decades of civil war, forced labor campaigns, and cultural upheaval. Ge You plays Xu Fugui, a gambler whose recklessness costs his family everything; Gong Li plays Jiazhen, his wife, whose capacity for endurance and eventual forgiveness gives the film its moral center; and Jiang Wu is Wan Erxi, their son-in-law, who arrives as a stranger and becomes the warmth the story needs. Pete Wright and Andy Nelson track the film's shadow puppets as an emotional through-line, dig into the novel versus film question, and wrestle with why this particular Zhang Yimou—the quietest, most naturalistic one—might be the best one. The conversation covers Ge You's transformation from comic actor to Cannes standout, why Andy reads Jiazhen rather than Fugui as the film's true change character, the food motif threading through tragedy after tragedy, and why the story of how this film came to be banned is more procedural than political. Watch our full conversation on YouTube. Full episode resources—including streaming links, the Yu Hua novel, and the full transcript—are available here. 🔒 This episode includes member-only bonus content. The movie ends. The conversation goes further—and there's more of it in the member feed. Become a member. 🎧 Members get this episode early and ad-free in their private feed—plus every show in The Next Reel family.  The Next Reel Family of Film Shows: Cinema Scope: Bridging Genres, Subgenres, and Movements | The Film Board | Movies We Like | The Next Reel | Sitting in the DarkConnect With Us: Web | Letterboxd | Flickchart | Instagram | Bluesky | YouTube | DiscordYour Hosts: Andy | PeteMerch Store | Audible

    58 min
  2. Resurrection

    May 28

    Resurrection

    What does it mean to carry something the world insists on explaining? "Resurrection" is a drama-fantasy from director Daniel Petrie, following Edna Mae McCauley—played by Ellen Burstyn—a woman who survives a car crash and returns with an inexplicable gift for healing others. Sam Shepard plays her mercurial lover Cal, and Richard Farnsworth is the eccentric who runs Last Chance Gas. A one-off entry in our Ellen Burstyn series. Pete and Andy dig into what makes "Resurrection" so unusual—a film that refuses to assign its central miracle to any doctrine, religious or scientific. The conversation moves from Burstyn's steadfast performance to a complicated father-daughter relationship that cuts deeper than the film's more obvious conflicts. We have a great time talking about it, so check it out then tune in—The Next Reel on TruStory FM, when the movie ends, our conversation begins! 🎥 Watch Our Full Conversation on YouTube 🎬 Watch & Discover Watch the Film: Apple TV | Amazon | Letterboxd | Trailer If You Liked This Conversation, Try These from the Next Reel Family: The Next Reel — Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore—keep going through the Ellen Burstyn series with the film that won her the Oscar The Next Reel — The Exorcist—start here if you're new to the series; Burstyn at her most extreme is the best catalog entry point The Next Reel — Requiem for a Dream—complete the picture of Burstyn's range with her most harrowing work Sitting in the Dark — Possessed—if the faith and possession themes here send you somewhere (and if you're a fan of The Exorcist), this is where to go next The Exorcist Minute—the deep-dive show for anyone who loves The Exorcist and wants to go further 🔒 This episode includes member-only bonus content. The movie ends. The conversation goes further—and there's more of it in the member feed. Become a member. 🎧 Members get this episode early and ad-free in their private feed—plus every show in The Next Reel family.  The Next Reel Family of Film Shows:Cinema Scope: Bridging Genres, Subgenres, and Movements | The Film Board | Movies We Like | The Next Reel | Sitting in the DarkConnect With Us: Web | Letterboxd | Flickchart | Instagram | Bluesky | YouTube | DiscordYour Hosts: Andy | PeteMerch Store | Audible

    1h 4m
  3. Alien: Romulus

    May 21

    Alien: Romulus

    Young colonists trapped under corporate contract make a desperate play for freedom—and find they're not alone. "Alien: Romulus," Fede Álvarez's ("Don't Breathe") entry into the Alien franchise, stars Cailee Spaeny as Rain, David Jonsson as Andy her synthetic companion, and Isabela Merced as Kay—a group whose bid to escape a Weyland-Yutani mining world leads them aboard an abandoned space station with a very good reason to be abandoned. Pete and Andy dig into what Fede Álvarez gets right—especially David Jonsson's performance as Andy, which they rank among the best in franchise history—and where the film falls short: whether a fan service problem is what's keeping a strong film from being a great one. We have a great time talking about it, so check it out then tune in—The Next Reel on TruStory FM, when the movie ends, our conversation begins! 🎥 Watch Our Full Conversation on YouTube  🎬 Watch & Discover  Watch the Film: Apple TV | Amazon | Letterboxd Original Theatrical Trailer If You Liked This Conversation, Try These from the Next Reel Family:  The Next Reel — Alien: Covenant — the film immediately before this in the series; where the franchise went wrong before Romulus tried to fix it The Next Reel — Alien — where this conversation begins; the touchstone Álvarez is working toward The Next Reel — Aliens — the gold standard for an Alien sequel; the other film Álvarez has in mind throughout The Film Board — Alien: Romulus — a companion conversation on the same film from a different angle The Next Reel — Alien series — the complete run, all seven films  🔒 This episode includes member-only bonus content. The movie ends. The conversation goes further—and there's more of it in the member feed. Become a member.  🎧 Members get this episode early and ad-free in their private feed—plus every show in The Next Reel family. The Next Reel Family of Film Shows: Cinema Scope: Bridging Genres, Subgenres, and Movements | The Film Board | Movies We Like | The Next Reel | Sitting in the DarkConnect With Us: Web | Letterboxd | Flickchart | Instagram | Bluesky | YouTube | DiscordYour Hosts: Andy | PeteMerch Store | Audible

    1h 2m
  4. Alien: Covenant

    May 14

    Alien: Covenant

    Whose decisions doom the mission? "Alien: Covenant," part of The Next Reel's Alien series, is Ridley Scott's return to the franchise he started—a sequel to "Prometheus" and a prequel to the rest of the series—built around a colony ship, a mysterious transmission, and a rogue synthetic. Michael Fassbender plays twin androids—David, an unshackled older model operating alone for a decade, and Walter, his constrained successor—alongside Katherine Waterston as Daniels and Billy Crudup as the crew's embattled new captain. Pete and Andy dig into why the film fails as both a creature feature and a philosophical inquiry—tracing the production history behind the script's competing visions, dissecting the protagonist problem (nobody meaningfully changes, not even the villain), and examining what Fassbender's dual performance achieves in a film that couldn't support it. If you've ever felt these prequels were working against the franchise, this conversation gives you the language for why. We have a great time talking about it, so check it out then tune in—The Next Reel on TruStory FM, when the movie ends, our conversation begins! 🎥 Watch Our Full Conversation on YouTube  🎬 Watch & Discover Watch the Film: Apple TV | Amazon | Letterboxd | Trailer  If You Liked This Conversation, Try These from the Next Reel Family: The Next Reel — Alien Series—the full run from "Alien" through "Prometheus" that leads directly to this conversation The Film Board — Prometheus—Pete and Andy's companion discussion of the direct predecessor that started the prequel arc The Film Board — Alien: Covenant—their original conversation at the film's 2017 release, which this episode revisits and extends  🔒 This episode includes member-only bonus content. The movie ends. The conversation goes further—and there's more of it in the member feed. Become a member.  🎧 Members get this episode early and ad-free in their private feed—plus every show in The Next Reel family. The Next Reel Family of Film Shows: Cinema Scope: Bridging Genres, Subgenres, and Movements | The Film Board | Movies We Like | The Next Reel | Sitting in the DarkConnect With Us: Web | Letterboxd | Flickchart | Instagram | Bluesky | YouTube | DiscordYour Hosts: Andy | PeteMerch Store | Audible

    1h 6m
  5. House of Games

    May 7

    House of Games

    The most dangerous blind spot is the one your expertise builds for you. In "House of Games," David Mamet's 1987 directorial debut in the David Mamet Directs series on The Next Reel, Lindsay Crouse stars as Dr. Margaret Ford, a psychiatrist and bestselling author who becomes entangled with a professional con man named Mike, played by Joe Mantegna, after she tries to settle a gambling debt on behalf of one of her patients. Pete and Andy dig into why Mamet's dialogue—built for stage interruption—comes off stilted on screen here, and whether the film's final act earns its setup. They land in genuinely different places on both counts, and that disagreement is where the most interesting listening happens. We have a great time talking about it, so check it out then tune in—The Next Reel on TruStory FM, when the movie ends, our conversation begins! 🎥 See Our Full Conversation on YouTube  🎬 Watch & Discover Watch the Film: Apple TV | Amazon | Letterboxd | Trailer Keep Going from Here:  David Mamet Directs series—all three films, all in one place. David Mamet Writes series—his scripts directed by others, where the dialogue tends to breathe differently. The Sting — Richard D. Zanuck series—another great con film conversation to keep going with.  🔒 This episode includes member-only bonus content. The movie ends. The conversation goes further—and there's more of it in the member feed. Become a member. 🎧 Members get this episode early and ad-free in their private feed—plus every show in The Next Reel family.  Support The Next Reel Family of Film Shows: Become a member for just $5/month or $55/yearJoin our Discord community of movie loversThe Next Reel Family of Film Shows: Cinema Scope: Bridging Genres, Subgenres, and MovementsThe Film BoardMovies We LikeThe Next ReelSitting in the DarkConnect With Us: Main Site: WebMovie Platforms: Letterboxd | FlickchartSocial Media: Facebook | Instagram | Threads | Bluesky | YouTube | PinterestYour Hosts: Andy | PeteShop & Stream: Merch Store: Apparel, stickers, mugs & moreWatch Page: Buy/rent films we've discussedOriginals: Source material from our episodesSpecial offers: Audible

    1h 2m
  6. S1M0NE • Member Bonus

    Apr 30

    S1M0NE • Member Bonus

    The Thinking Machines series concludes with the April member bonus: "S1M0NE," Andrew Niccol's satirical science fiction comedy about Viktor Taransky, a fading Hollywood director played by Al Pacino, who inherits a program capable of generating a digital actress—and unleashes her on an unsuspecting world alongside Catherine Keener as his producer ex-wife and Winona Ryder as the star she replaces. Pete and Andy take apart the film's central failure—Simone is a puppet, not an AI, which means the Frankenstein premise the film keeps setting up never pays off—and debate whether Niccol's Hollywood satire ever finds its blade. Join us—Pete Wright and Andy Nelson—as we conclude the Thinking Machines series with a member bonus conversation about "S1M0NE." We have a great time talking about it, so check it out then tune in—The Next Reel on TruStory FM, when the movie ends, our conversation begins! Watch the Film: Apple TV | Amazon | Letterboxd | Trailer  If You Liked This Conversation, Try These from the Next Reel Family:  The Next Reel: Thinking Machines series—keep going with the full arc; this conversation fits best in context of where the series has been  This is a member bonus episode. The movie ends—and for members, the conversation keeps going. Monthly bonus episodes like this one, ad-free listening, early releases, exclusive Discord access, and a vote on future member movies. Become a member of The Next Reel family and always know what to listen to next.

    10 min
  7. Brian and Charles

    Apr 30

    Brian and Charles

    Something wondrous happens when you build a robot from a washing machine. “Brian and Charles,” the finale of The Next Reel’s Thinking Machines series, follows Brian (David Earl), a lonely Welsh inventor, and Charles Popescu (Chris Hayward), the AI companion Brian assembles—who promptly learns English from a dictionary and wants to see the world. Louise Brealey co-stars as Hazel. Pete and Andy dig into what makes Charles Popescu work—Hayward’s sightless performance, the voice design, and why the amateurishness is right. The docu-style drives debate: Andy finds it inconsistently applied; Pete says the gap between promise and absurdity is where the comedy lives. We have a great time talking about it, so check it out then tune in—The Next Reel on TruStory FM, when the movie ends, our conversation begins! 🎥 Watch this episode on YouTube! 🎬 Watch & Discover Watch the Film: Apple TV | Amazon | Letterboxd Original Short Film Original Theatrical Trailer If You Liked This Conversation, Try These from the Next Reel Family: The Next Reel—Thinking Machines Series—the full run leading here; see how Brian and Charles lands as a closer after everything that came before The Next Reel—The Banshees of Inisherin—both films competed for Outstanding British Film at the same BAFTAs; see how the conversation compares Movies We Like—Re-Recording Mixer Andy Nelson on Local Hero—another warmhearted British film rooted in a small community and a sense of place Movies We Like—Costume Designer Alana Morshead on Never Let Me Go—Alex Garland wrote the screenplay; he directed Ex Machina earlier in this series, and this is where his AI themes find their quietest form 🔓 The movie ends. The conversation goes further. Become a member. 🎧 Members get this episode early and ad-free in their private feed—plus every show in The Next Reel family. Support The Next Reel Family of Film Shows: Become a member for just $5/month or $55/yearJoin our Discord community of movie loversThe Next Reel Family of Film Shows: Cinema Scope: Bridging Genres, Subgenres, and MovementsThe Film BoardMovies We LikeThe Next ReelSitting in the DarkConnect With Us: Main Site: WebMovie Platforms: Letterboxd | FlickchartSocial Media: Facebook | Instagram | Threads | Bluesky | YouTube | PinterestYour Hosts: Andy | PeteShop & Stream: Merch Store: Apparel, stickers, mugs & moreWatch Page: Buy/rent films we've discussedOriginals: Source material from our episodesSpecial offers: Audible

    59 min
  8. I Am Mother

    Apr 23

    I Am Mother

    “I hope you see that I’m governed by different parameters than her assailants. That I’m a good mother. Have I ever done you harm?” When an AI raises a child in a sealed bunker after an extinction event, the question isn't whether the machine can be trusted—it's whether the child has any other choice. Join us—Pete Wright and Andy Nelson—as we continue the Thinking Machines series with a conversation about "I Am Mother." Directed by Grant Sputore in his feature debut from a Black List screenplay he developed with writer Michael Lloyd Green, the film stars Clara Rugaard as Daughter and Hilary Swank as the mysterious Woman who arrives from the outside world, with Rose Byrne voicing Mother and Luke Hawker performing the physical role inside WetaFX's practical robot suit. We dig into why Mother may be the most unsettling AI the series has given us precisely because she genuinely cares, what the trolley problem test sequences are really measuring, and how Clara Rugaard carries the whole film with a performance that left both of us wondering why she isn't in everything. We also get into WetaFX's practical suit work, the film's relationship to the genre vocabulary it borrows from—Blade Runner, The Matrix, James Cameron—and where I Am Mother lands in an arc that has covered AI enforcement, violation, transcendence, and escape. We have a great time talking about it, so check it out then tune in. The Next Reel—when the movie ends, our conversation begins! 🎬 Watch & Discover 🎥 Our Conversation on YouTube 🍿 Watch the Film: Amazon | Letterboxd 📽️ Trailer If You Liked This Conversation, Try These from the Next Reel Family: The Next Reel: The Matrix (listener's choice series) Thinking Machines series: All episodes Million Dollar Baby (also starring Hilary Swank) The Film Board:  The Hunt (also starring Hilary Swank) The Creator (another compelling AI story)   Support The Next Reel Family of Film Shows: Become a member for just $5/month or $55/yearJoin our Discord community of movie loversThe Next Reel Family of Film Shows: Cinema Scope: Bridging Genres, Subgenres, and MovementsThe Film BoardMovies We LikeThe Next ReelSitting in the DarkConnect With Us: Main Site: WebMovie Platforms: Letterboxd | FlickchartSocial Media: Facebook | Instagram | Threads | Bluesky | YouTube | PinterestYour Hosts: Andy | PeteShop & Stream: Merch Store: Apparel, stickers, mugs & moreWatch Page: Buy/rent films we've discussedOriginals: Source material from our episodesSpecial offers: Audible

    1h 2m
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4.7
out of 5
87 Ratings

About

A show about movies and how they connect. We love movies. We’ve been talking about them, one movie a week, since 2011. It’s a lot of movies, that’s true, but we’re passionate about origins and performance, directors and actors, themes and genres, and so much more. So join the community, and let’s hear about your favorite movies, too. When the movie ends, our conversation begins.

Information

  • Creator
    TruStory FM
  • Years Active
    2011 - 2026
  • Episodes
    817
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © TruStory FM
  • Show Website
    The Next Reel Film Podcast

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