308 | Mārama

308 | Marama

The Bloodlust

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• Not Rated

• Runtime: 1hr 29min

• Written & Directed by Taratoa Stappard

• Stars: Ariana Osborne, Toby Stephens and Umi Myers

• Premiered at TIFF September 7, 2025

• Released in US theaters (limited) April 17, 2026

• RT: 100% critics / 81% audience

  Synopsis

Mārama journeys to England from New Zealand when she receives a letter from a mysterious man claiming to know the secrets of her past. When she arrives she quickly realizes she has been misled, but is forced to stay on at a castle surrounded by pilfered articles from her homeland and a creepy man who knows much more about her past than he’s letting on.

Corrections

While editing I realized I misspoke about two things (at least!) on this episode. I catch things while editing all the time, but usually I just beat myself up over them. This time I thought I’d issue a correction, even though I realize most listeners don’t look at the website. Sometimes my mouth says the wrong word despite my brain knowing the correct one, y’know?

1. It’s the Toronto International Film Festival, not Independent.

2. Bluebeard is the wife-murdering guy in the folktales I was talking about, not Blackbeard. Pretty sure Blackbeard is just a pirate.

   Thank you for your attention to these matters.

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Join us again in two weeks when we’ll be reviewing Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma, which is currently in theaters.

Theme music: "Secret of Tiki Island" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

280 | 28 Years Later

280 | 28 Years Later

The Bloodlust

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• Rated R

• Runtime: 1hr 55min

• Directed by Danny Boyle

• Written by Alex Garland

• Stars: Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Ralph Fiennes

• Release in US theaters June 20, 2025

• RT: 88% critics / 63% audience

  Synopsis

  12yr old Spike lives with his domineering father and mysteriously ill mother on a small island less than a mile away from mainland northern England. While safe there from the infected, the citizens uphold a tradition that sees their young people escorted to the mainland to kill infected as a rite of passage. Disillusioned after his outing and determined to locate the rumored doctor there, Spike sneaks out of the compound with his mother in tow in an attempt to cure her illness.

Join us again in two weeks when we will be reviewing The Damned, currently streaming on Hulu

Theme music: "Secret of Tiki Island" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/