Voicemails for Isabel is sitting at 87% on Rotten Tomatoes. We are not so convinced.

This week's rom-com gives us grief that actually breaks your heart, a haunted voicemail inbox, a suspiciously familiar face, and a leading man we've already started recasting before the credits rolled. Naturally, we had thoughts.

We talk about why the sister relationship is the one thing in this film that felt real, the childhood flashbacks, quoting The Notebook, adorable nicknames and a choreographed dance from when that they still doing as adults. We also get into the cystic fibrosis representation, and why a familiar face turning up as their dad sent us both down a "wait, where do I know him from" spiral.

We're less kind about the toxic-chef subplot dragging down every kitchen scene, a timeline that genuinely doesn't hold together, and why neither of us can buy Nick Robinson as this particular kind of romantic lead.

We get into which twists we saw coming a mile away versus the ones that actually caught us out, and why the ones that work tend to be about character rather than plot. Then there's the Easter eggs, a Sleepless in Seattle marquee, firework colours and foreshadowing.

Next week we're back on the ice for Heated Rivalry - so make sure you catch up before the episode drops.  

LET’S CONTINUE THE CONVERSATION

Facebook Community: Chemistry Read Podcast: The Lab
Chemistry Read on Instagram: @chemistryreadpod 

The credits might have rolled, but the conversation is just getting started.

Podcast edited by Oleksandr Hed: [email protected]

Why We Couldn't Stop Thinking About Off Campus: Garrett Graham and Women's Pleasure

We finished Off Campus, watched it again, and still weren't done talking about it.

In our first-ever episode, we're getting into why a college hockey romance has women from their twenties to their sixties in a chokehold.

We talk about the difference between toxic chemistry and actual chemistry (One Tree Hill, Twilight and Tell Me Lies have a lot to answer for), the sexiest moment of the whole series, which is probably not the one you're thinking of, and why it matters so much that Garrett notices things.

We also get into why emotional safety is hot, and how we all managed to spend two decades being sold the dangerous one who ghosts us instead. We chat about Jules, and what happens when a show trusts its audience instead of always explaining itself. 

We explore the trope of the third-act breakup, which is usually so lazy, but this one felt earned. And of course Kierkegaard, because a nineteenth-century Danish philosopher turns out to be the key to understanding a breakup in a hockey stadium car park.

Then there's every millennial reference the showrunner buried in there, from Dirty Dancing to Sixteen Candles to that Friends bathtub scene, plus the indie musicians whose careers this show has quietly changed.

Next week we're talking about film Voicemails to Isabelle. Watch it first, because there will be spoilers.

LINKS FROM THIS EPISODE

LET’S CONTINUE THE CONVERSATION

Facebook Community: Chemistry Read Podcast: The Lab
Chemistry Read on Instagram: @chemistryreadpod 

The credits might have rolled, but the conversation is just getting started.

Podcast edited by Oleksandr Hed: [email protected]

The credits may have rolled but the conversation is just getting started.

We all have that moment: the credits roll, and your first thought is "I need someone to talk to about this."

We're Gerri and Mia from the Chemistry Read podcast. Each episode we unpack the stories everyone else has moved on from in TV series, films, podcasts and documentaries.

Not celebrity gossip or episode recaps, but the ideas beneath them. Relationships, human behaviour, parenting, friendship, culture, feminism, philosophy. The moments that made us pause, cry, laugh or immediately text a friend.