Stay Through the Credits

Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson play fictionalized versions of themselves in Apple TV's "Brothers," investigating whether they might secretly be related. We talk about why their easy real-life chemistry can't paper over a show that's afraid to get messy, and what happens when star power stands in for actual substance.

Georgia Oakley takes on Sense and Sensibility with mud, moody light, and a whole lot of dogs. Is a more serious Austen still Austen? We talk about what works, what's missing, and why the villain steals the show.

Our full TIFF wrap-up - why Julianne Moore's community theater meltdown and Andrew Scott's dying Hamlet topped our rankings, how Chris Rock and Peter Farrelly won the room, and what went wrong at the festival's messy first film market.

Sharon Horgan's new HBO series "Youth" follows a fifty-something publisher and single mom whose empty-nest plans collapse when her son moves back in. We dig into the show's take on midlife reinvention, the pull between duty and desire, and why Horgan keeps returning to characters who suspect they've traded joy for obligation.

Our thirty seventh film at Toronto brings the Bad Lieutenant franchise to Tokyo under genre legend Takashi Miike, and the results are wildly uneven. We talk about the film's strong opening stretch as a gritty yakuza crime drama, why its pivot into gonzo violence loses steam fast, and how an ill fitting American subplot ends up dragging down an otherwise stylish, seedy crime story.

Our thirty sixth film at Toronto gives Helen Mirren one of her most delightfully vicious roles in years, playing a fictionalized, venomous version of crime novelist Patricia Highsmith. We talk about the film's clever blurring of fiction and reality through a shapeshifting Alden Ehrenreich performance, why the movie's ambitious structure doesn't quite pay off as tightly as it should, and how Mirren alone makes this one worth watching.

Our thirty fifth film at Toronto follows a woman who disappears completely after devastating loss, and somehow makes her difficult, self isolating journey genuinely moving. We talk about Margaret Qualley's remarkable ability to find sympathy in an unsympathetic choice, Catherine Keener's brief but devastating supporting turn, and how director Rachel Morrison crafts an emotionally patient drama about grief, identity and eventually coming home to yourself.

Our thirty fourth film at Toronto finds Zack Snyder stepping way outside his comfort zone with a gritty revenge thriller set deep in Latin America. We talk about Stuart Martin's surprisingly grounded performance as a grieving, guilt ridden uncle, how the film echoes Apocalypse Now in its slow burn journey structure, and why this feels like a genuinely promising new direction for a director mostly known for capes and superhero spectacle.

Our thirty third film at Toronto tackles the death penalty and generational trauma through a prison writing class romance that spirals into something much darker. We talk about Amanda Seyfried's layered performance, why the film's repeated, escalating violence pushes past thoughtful commentary into something closer to punishing, and whether a film this well made can still go too far.

Our thirty second film at Toronto flips the classic age gap romcom formula with real heart and genuine chemistry. We talk about Annie Murphy delivering both her signature comedic energy and real emotional depth, why Cooper Raiff shines brighter under someone else's direction, and how a story that starts as a sperm donor arrangement somehow becomes one of the sweetest romances of the festival.