Two movies about women who are larger than life, and why that’s only acceptable when they’re giving men what they want — it’s Sunset Boulevard vs. The Ex (1996).
What happens when a woman refuses to be forgotten? We get into the strength that comes from creating your own reality, the weaponization of glamour and sexuality, and why Deidre Kenyon (Yancy Butler) is one of the most underrated female villains in cinema history.
Two movies about the dehumanizing nature of power and the surprising freedom of being boxed in — it's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest vs. Send Help.
This week, Emily puts a beloved classic up against a 2026 sleeper hit that she firmly believes should sweep the Oscars. On one side: the 1975 five-time Oscar winner One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, starring Jack Nicholson and Louise Fletcher. On the other: Sam Raimi's Send Help, starring Rachel McAdams aka the thinking man's Jack Nicholson.
Both films ask what happens to people when systems strip them of their humanity and what they do when they finally claw some power back. Spoiler: they don't always use it nicely.
Emily breaks down why Louise Fletcher's Nurse Ratched is more terrifying in her subtlety than in her reputation, why Brad Dourif deserved that Oscar, and is shocked to learn that Christopher Lloyd was a hunk. Then she makes the case for Send Help, a survival horror comedy that does magical heartbreaking work with a chunk of tuna.
Also covered: Jack Nicholson's bro-noir filmography, method acting gone too far, and the frustration of how people who play the game better earn our trust over the people that are actually competent.
Two movies about a young woman entering a world that is ready to eat her alive and aligning with the most dangerous person in it — it's The Silence of the Lambs vs The Devil Wears Prada.
Strip away the genre and it's the same story: a young woman, a world that doesn't want her, and a brilliant, dangerous mentor at the center of it all. Hannibal Lecter and Miranda Priestly both see something in their protégé that no one else does. Both offer knowledge, access, and respect at a price neither woman fully understands until she's already in deep.
The episode also gets into what The Devil Wears Prada does that even The Silence of the Lambs doesn't, particularly around femininity, fashion, and who gets to be a "strong woman" on screen.
Two movies about unlikely friendships and learning from people different than yourself — it’s Project Hail Mary vs. The Intern.
One is a glossy, emotional sci-fi flick about a man waking up alone in space on a mission to save Earth. The other is a Nancy Meyers comfort movie about a retired widower who becomes a senior intern at a fast-growing startup.
It’s all about how the right person can pull you out of your own patterns. Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling) and Jules Ostin (Anne Hathaway) are both stuck—not wrong, but stuck—and what makes their stories compelling is that someone with a completely different outlook comes in and disproves their ideas about themselves.
In Project Hail Mary, what starts as an impossible, solitary mission becomes interplanetary collaboration that allows Ryan Gosling and Rocky to save their species. In The Intern, that same kind of relationship helps Anne Hathaway realize she doesn’t have to do everything herself and that letting people in might actually make her better at what she does.
The episode also gets into why friendship stories like this hit harder than we give them credit for. Not everything has to be about romance to be life-changing. Both films show how connection can pull someone out of isolation, offer perspective, and lead to real growth.
And while Project Hail Mary delivers the big, heroic, saving the world swings, The Intern ultimately comes out ahead. Its central relationship feels more grounded, more human, focusing on two people with full lives, experiences, and opinions.
Two movies about terrible fathers trying their best for their children — it's Finding Nemo vs. Trap.
Two movies about communities coming together and the burden of loneliness — it’s It’s A Wonderful Life vs. Hot Frosty.
Two Thanksgiving movies about corporate greed and anonymity — it's You've Got Mail vs. Thanksgiving.
