Benson and Moorhead revisit the world that they established in Resolution with The Endless allowing them to explore more of the "what" of the entity controlling peoples' fates, but still neglecting to answer the "why" or "how."

Who'd have thought that it was a review from IMDb cluing me into how Resolution, a film that I initially wrote off as "two guys who did the best they could with what they had," was actually a meta parody of tired horror tropes that leaned into its budget restrictions rather than tried to work around them?

Benson and Moorhead's Spring is a marvelous exploration of suspense over surprise, focusing on two closed off characters whose world views of objectification stem from their vulnerabilities and fears of loss (even if its female lead is far more interesting than its male lead).

It only made sense to bring in the first pair of guests in IDMB history to converse about the first directing pair being covered in IDMB history! Jerry Smith and Mike Snoonian of The Pod and the Pendulum podcast join to discuss the films of indie genre pair, Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead. The boys first all check in to see how everyone is holding up and taking care of themselves as the COVID-19 pandemic rages on and protestors continue to demand police accountability and racial justice. Jerry and Mike talk about their personal creative journeys and how they joined together for The Pod and the Pendulum, they catch listeners up on the Cinestate fallout, and humorously relay the story of how $60 were mysteriously donated to Jerry one day out of the blue. 

The two explain their deep love for the low-budget filmmaking duo who build genre elements around ultimately hopeful stories of love and relationships and gush about their three recommendations: Spring (2014), Resolution (2012), and The Endless (2017).

Horror fandom is a passion that is not bound by race, gender, sex, or orientation. If you want to support the diverse voices of genre fans check out these other websites and podcasts:

Lone Star is, for better and for worse, an efficient encapsulation of the two things that make John Sayles films well, John Sayles films: his earnest filmmaking and his egalitarianism towards his characters.