Simon Miraudo is once again joined by Cecilia Allen and special guest Brekky host Emma Lucia for Movie Squad this week, while Taylah Strano and Tristan Fidler are away on special assignment.

First up in this instalment of the podcast, Cecilia reviews The Phantom of the Open, a so-strange-its-true tale about Britain's worst golfer, starring Mark Rylance and Sally Hawkins.

Then, Simon shares his melancholy take on Thor: Love and Thunder, the 29th (!) entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and fourth Thor film, directed by Taika Waititi.

Both films are now showing in Australian cinemas.

This week on the Movie Squad pod, Simon Miraudo is joined once again by Cecilia Allen to look at the weird and wonderful releases in cinemas. And they're joined by special guest Brekky host Emma Lucia!

First up, Simon runs through the highlights of the [Revelation Film Festival](https://www.revelationfilmfest.org/program/) program, including the special [Movie Squad-hosted screening of ](https://www.facebook.com/events/luna-leederville/rev22-qa-flux-gourmet/1724275364592604/)Flux Gourmet, featuring a Q&A with director Peter Strickland. Also reviewed: Australian horror-satire Sissy, the fascinating theatre adaptation Shadow and American screwball comedy 18 1/2.

Then, Cecilia reviews the Cannes Film Festival favourite Compartment No. 6, in which a Finnish student forms a friendship with a prickly Russian on a lengthy train ride from Moscow to Murmansk.

The Revelation Film Festival is now screening in WA, and Compartment No. 6 is now in select Australian cinemas.

This week on the Movie Squad pod, Simon Miraudo and Cecilia Allen get all high-falutin for a couple of intriguing dramas: the first, a humble romance from director Clio Barnard; the second, an ambiguous Tim Roth mystery.

In Cecilia's review of Clio Barnard's Ali & Ava, we learn which members of the Movie Squad enjoy a good romance (and who'd prefer a gnarly horror movie) while discussing the story of a British-Pakistani DJ who begins an affair with a sweet-natured Irish woman.

Then, Simon Miraudo plants the seed of curiosity while covering Sundown, from director Michael Franco, in which Roth's character abandons his family during a crisis to stay at an Acapulco hotel, for reasons that aren't immediately apparent (leaving plenty of space for audiences to apply their own reasoning and perspective), culminating in surprising violence.

Ali & Ava is now in select Australian cinemas. Sundown opens 7 July.

This week on the Movie Squad pod, critics Tristan Fidler and Simon Miraudo debate the merits of the divisive Baz Luhrmann and try to review a film spoken in complete gibberish.

First up, Tristan Fidler shares his thoughts on Elvis, starring Ausin Butler as the iconic artist and directed by Australia's own Luhrmann. Can Tristan convince an incensed Taylah that these are two great flavours that go great together?

Then, Simon Miraudo reviews Nude Tuesday, written by and starring Jackie van Beek as a woman who attends a romantic retreat with her husband (played by Damon Herriman), only to get swept up in the cult of its leader (Jermaine Clement). Spoken in a fictional language, the cinema release has been subtitled by Julia Davis, with the film set to debut on Stan in July with a different set of subtitles.

Both films are now in Australian cinemas.

A bizarre horror film hits cinemas and an Adam Sandler sports movie arrives on Netflix. You know the Movie Squad will cover both!

First up, Tristan Fidler shares his thoughts on Men, the latest from Ex Machina and Annihilation writer-director Alex Garland, starring Jessie Buckley as a widow being tormented by a village in which all the men are played by Rory Kinnear.

Then, Simon Miraudo reviews The Sandman's co-production with LeBron James, Hustle, which both Tristan and Brekky host Taylah Strano have also seen. In it, Sandler stars as a basketball scout who finds a generational talent (played by actual NBA player Juancho Hernangomez, alongside a whole roster of real basketballers).

Dinosaurs take over the world and a brooding Aussie struggles with the collapse of his marriage in two very different films on the Movie Squad docket this week.

But that's just what you get whenever Tristan Fidler and Simon Miraudo join Brekky host Taylah Strano.

First up, Tristan covers the latest instalment of the Jurassic World saga, Dominion, starring the original Jurassic Park trio Sam Neill, Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum opposite Chris Pratt and his pet raptor Blue. Like the dinosaurs at the end of Fallen Kingdom, is this instalment off the chain?

Then, Simon takes a look at director Aaron Wilson's 13-years-in-the-making Aussie drama Little Tornadoes, in which single-father Leo (Mark Leonard Winter) is coaxed out of his shell by Italian immigrant Maria (Silvia Colloca) in early '70s Australia.

Both films are now in Australian cinemas.

Tristan Fidler and Simon Miraudo are reunited with Brekky host Taylah Strano for this week's globe-trotting edition of the Movie Squad podcast.

The episode opens with Simon and Tristan's review of Asghar Farhadi's A Hero, which follows in the footsteps of the Iranian filmmaker's Oscar-winners A Separation and The Salesman. In it, a man becomes a local celebrity—and then a pariah—as a result of a white lie and a spiralling series of poor decisions.

Then, Tristan takes a look at the Indian (and international) box office sensation RRR, an epic action-musical that throws two historical figures together for an invented adventure, pitting these fast friends against English colonisers.

A Hero arrives in Australian cinemas soon, with advance screenings in select theatres. RRR is now available to stream on Netflix.

Tristan Fidler and Simon Miraudo join special guest Brekky host Danae Gibson for this week's blockbuster edition of the Movie Squad podcast.

This episode opens with a review of Top Gun: Maverick, the long-awaited (and long-delayed) sequel to the '80s action classic, in which Tom Cruise reprises his role as Pete "Maverick" Mitchell, the renegade fighter pilot who is now teaching the next generation of hot shots.

Then, the Squad takes a look at new Finnish body-horror flick Hatching, wherein a picture-perfect family is revealed to be hiding plenty of imperfections, which become exposed when the 12-year-old daughter starts incubating a giant bird's egg from which a horrifying creature emerges.

Both films are now in cinemas.

Tristan Fidler and Simon Miraudo reunite with Brekky host Taylah Strano for this week's edition of Movie Squad. And what an edition it is!

This instalment opens with Tristan's review of The Drover's Wife: The Legend of Molly Johnson, a revenge drama set on the Australian frontier, written, directed by and starring Leah Purcell.

Then, Simon reviews director Jane Schoenbrun's moody art-horror flick We're All Going to the World's Fair, in which a teenage girl submits to a creepy online challenge and begins to display a transformative change.

The Drover's Wife is now in Australian cinemas. We're All Going to the World's Fair is available to rent digitally.

Simon Miraudo is joined by Cecilia Allen for this week's edition of Movie Squad, bringing some international features to Taylah Strano on Brekky .

First, Simon reviews the Nordic thriller The Innocents, in which a group of young children discover their supernatural powers and put them to good (and bad) use.

Then, Cecilia looks at Javier Bardem's acclaimed black comedy The Good Boss, in which Bardem's titular manager endures the week from hell while trying to win a business award.

The Innocents opens in select Australian cinemas on 19 May. The Good Boss is now showing.