
Kermode & Mayo’s Take
The new home of Mark Kermode and Simon Mayo. They’re back, and it’s bigger, and better and larger-er and more-er.
Film reviews, TV reviews, and all your conversation around movie and non-movie related stuff. Plus a whole bunch of recommendations to watch in cinemas, on all streaming services and on physical media.
As well as the film and TV reviews, Mark and Simon will be talking about anything and everything. Punctuation, Thunderbirds, obscure German pop music, fax machines, subtitles, MRI scans, magic, school assemblies, Scandinavia, and don’t forget the dad jokes.
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Latest episodes

Feb 23, 2024 • 1h 21min
Jonathan Glazer, Perfect Days, Madame Web, Shoshana & Wicked Little Letters
This week, director Jonathan Glazer talks to Simon about his Bafta award-winning and Oscar-nominated historical drama ‘The Zone of Interest, which follows the commandant of Auschwitz and his wife, as they strive to build a dream life for their family in a house next to the camp.
Meanwhile, Mark gives his take on an array of new releases, including ‘Perfect Days’, Wim Wenders’ latest offering, which follows a toilet cleaner in Tokyo, who finds joy in the mundane, but beautiful, details of everyday life; ‘Madame Web’, Dakota Johnson’s first superhero outing, which sees her play a New York City paramedic who starts to show signs of clairvoyance and must protect three young women from a mysterious adversary who wants them dead; ‘Shoshana’, Michael Winterbottom’s biographical thriller about the tragic, real life love story between Shoshana Borochov and Tom Wilkin, set against the British Mandate in Palestine; and ‘Wicked Little Lies’, a star-studded British black comedy about a real life scandal that saw residents of a quaint Sussex town receive letters filled with obscenities and hilarious profanity.
Plus, Mark and Simon tell us about your own cinematic events happening around the country.
Timecodes (relevant only for the Vanguard - who are also ad-free!):
12:29 Perfect Days review
23:46 Box Office Top 10
29:48 Madame Web review
37:00 Jonathan Glazer interview
53:43 Shoshana review
01:03:49 What’s On
01:04:47 Wicked Little Letters review
You can contact the show by emailing correspondence@kermodeandmayo.com or you can find us on social media, @KermodeandMayo
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A Sony Music Entertainment production.
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Feb 16, 2024 • 1h 19min
Michael Winterbottom, Someone’s Daughter, Someone’s Son, Bob Marley: One Love & The Taste of Things
Director Michael Winterbottom discusses his new biographical thriller 'Shoshana'. Reviews include 'Someone's Daughter, Someone's Son' exploring homelessness, 'Bob Marley: One Love', and 'The Taste of Things'. A cinematic treat for Valentine's week.

Feb 9, 2024 • 1h 19min
Steve McQueen and Bianca Stigter, Occupied City, Your Fat Friend & The Iron Claw
Filmmaker and producer Steve McQueen and historian Bianca Stigter discuss their four-hour documentary 'Occupied City' about the Nazi occupation of Amsterdam. Mark reviews the documentary 'Your Fat Friend' and 'The Iron Claw' starring Zac Efron. Exciting cinematic events happening in the UK are also covered.

Feb 2, 2024 • 1h 22min
Jeffrey Wright, Cillian Murphy, American Fiction, Oppenheimer Revisited, The Zone of Interest in & Argylle
It’s a bumper week for (lauded) guests! Simon chats to Jeffrey Wright about his Oscar-nominated role in ‘American Fiction’, which tells the story of a Black novelist, frustrated with the establishment that profits from Black entertainment that relies on tired and offensive tropes, who uses a pen name to write an outlandish Black book of his own, only to find himself at the heart of hypocrisy and the madness he claims to disdain; and both Simon and Mark talk to Cillian Murphy about his Oscar-nominated turn as J. Robert Oppenheimer in Christopher Nolan’s eponymous biopic.
Mark gives his thoughts on ‘American Fiction’, along with reviewing Jonathan Glazer’s historical drama ‘The Zone of Interest’, which follows the commandant of Auschwitz, Rudolf Höss, and his wife Hedwig, as they strive to build a dream life for their family in a house and garden next to the camp; and ‘Argylle’, a star-studded spy action-comedy about a reclusive author who writes best-selling espionage novels about a secret agent on a mission to unravel a global spy syndicate only to find that the plots of her books are starting to mirror the covert actions of a real-life spy organisation.
A very glitzy week for you!
Time Codes (relevant only for the Vanguard - who are also ad-free!):
08:15 The Zone of Interest review
22:13 Box Office Top 10
31:29 Jeffrey Wright interview
45:47 American Fiction review
53:41 Laughter Lift
55:44 Cillian Murphy interview
01:07:52 Argylle review
You can contact the show by emailing correspondence@kermodeandmayo.com or you can find us on social media, @KermodeandMayo
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A Sony Music Entertainment production.
Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts and follow us @sonypodcasts
To advertise on this show contact: podcastadsales@sonymusic.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jan 26, 2024 • 1h 16min
Andrew Haigh, All Of Us Strangers, Baghead & The Color Purple
This week, Simon sits down for a thoughtful and moving chat with director Andrew Haigh about his new Bafta-nominated drama ‘All of Us Strangers’, which sees Andrew Scott play a lonely screenwriter drawn back to his childhood home, where his parents appear to be living, just as they were on the day they died 30 years ago.
Mark also gives his take on the film, as well reviewing ‘Baghead’, a horror in which a young woman discovers the pub she’s inherited is home to a 400-year-old she-devil; and ‘The Color Purple’, the second adaptation of Alice Walker’s classic novel, which tells the story of Celie, an African American woman living in the American South during the early 1900s.
Plus, it’s awards season! The duo give their thoughts on who was – and wasn’t, ahem - nominated at this year’s Oscars.
Time Codes (relevant only for the Vanguard - who are also ad-free!):
10:55 Baghead review
23:24 Box Office Top 10
35:44 Andrew Haigh interview
50:54 All of Us Strangers review
57:10 Laughter Lift
59:18 The Color Purple review
01:06:16 What’s On
You can contact the show by emailing correspondence@kermodeandmayo.com or you can find us on social media, @KermodeandMayo
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A Sony Music Entertainment production.
Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts and follow us @sonypodcasts
To advertise on this show contact: podcastadsales@sonymusic.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jan 19, 2024 • 1h 19min
Daniel Kaluuya, The Kitchen, The End Where We Start From & The Holdovers
This week, the one and only Daniel Kaluuya is in the studio and ready to chat with Mark and Simon about his dystopian directorial debut – co-directed with his longtime friend and collaborator Kibwe Tavares - ‘The Kitchen’, which sees a funeral-service worker looking for a way out of the chaotic housing block of the title.
Mark also offers up his critical perspective on the film, as well as reviewing ‘The End Where We Start From’, a Jodie Comer-starring drama about a woman trying to find her way home with her newborn as an environmental crisis submerges London in floodwaters; and ‘The Holdovers’, Alexander Payne’s latest, which sees Paul Giamatti play a curmudgeonly teacher at a New England school, who remains on campus during Christmas break to babysit a handful of students only to form an unlikely bond with a brainy but damaged troublemaker and the school’s head cook.
Time Codes (relevant only for the Vanguard - who are also ad-free!):
09:50 The End We Start From review
21:13 Box Office Top 10
38:28 Daniel Kaluuya interview
57:32 The Kitchen review
01:00:32 The Laughter Lift
01:03:15 The Holdovers review
01:09:43 What’s On
You can contact the show by emailing correspondence@kermodeandmayo.com or you can find us on social media, @KermodeandMayo
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A Sony Music Entertainment production.
Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts and follow us @sonypodcasts
To advertise on this show contact: podcastadsales@sonymusic.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jan 12, 2024 • 1h 19min
Emma Stone and Ramy Youssef, Poor Things, The Disappearance of Shere Hite & The Boys in the Boat
This podcast discusses 'Poor Things' with Emma Stone and Ramy Youssef, a film about a Victorian woman's odyssey of self-discovery. They also review 'The Disappearance of Shere Hite', a documentary about a feminist educator, and 'The Boys in the Boat', a sports drama about rowing in the 1936 Olympics.

Jan 5, 2024 • 1h 16min
James Hawes, One Life, Night Swim & Good Grief
We’re back! Well kind of. This week, Robbie Collin and Rhianna Dhillon are filling in for Mark and Simon, who are still recovering from their completely raucous New Year celebrations.
Rhianna chats to director James Hawes about his new war drama ‘One Life’, which sees both Anthony Hopkins and Johnny Flynn star as humanitarian Nicholas Winton, who is known for his role in rescuing Jewish children during the Holocaust.
Robbie gives his take on the film, as well as reviewing ‘Night Swim’, a horror about a haunted swimming pool – yes, you read that right, a haunted swimming pool; and ‘Good Grief’, the directorial debut of Dan Levy of Schitt’s Creek fame, which follows an artist who takes his two best friends on a trip to Paris after the death of his famous writer husband.
Time Codes (relevant only for the Vanguard - who are also ad-free!):
03:07 Night Swim review
15:52 Box Office Top 10
35:01 James Hawes interview
50:04 One Life review
54:58 Laughter Lift
59:29 Good Grief review
01:07:18 What’s On
You can contact the show by emailing correspondence@kermodeandmayo.com or you can find us on social media, @KermodeandMayo
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A Sony Music Entertainment production.
Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts and follow us @sonypodcasts
To advertise on this show contact: podcastadsales@sonymusic.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dec 29, 2023 • 1h 1min
Raging Grace, Priscilla & Scala!!!, BEST and WORST films of 2023
This week sees Mark review ‘Raging Grace’, a social issue drama-come-gothic horror about a Filipino single mother working in a sinister British family mansion; ‘Priscilla’, Sofia Coppola’s adaptation of Priscilla Presley’s 1985 memoir about her complicated relationship with music icon Elvis Presley; and ‘Scala!!!’, a documentary telling the riotous story of the famed London cinema, which inspired a generation during Britain’s turbulent Thatcher years.
Plus, Mark talks us through his best and worst films of 2023. You’re welcome!
Time Codes (relevant only when you are part of the Vanguard):
10:36 Raging Grace review
21:16 Priscilla review
31:30 Scala!!! review
41:32 Mark’s Top 5 and Bottom 5 Films of 2023
A Sony Music Entertainment production.
Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts and follow us @sonypodcasts
To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email podcastadsales@sonymusic.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dec 22, 2023 • 1h 22min
Zack Snyder, Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire, The Boy and the Heron & Ferrari
It’s Christmas! This week, Simon chats to Zack Snyder about his new space opera ‘Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire’, which sees an ex-soldier search for allies to help defend her home when it is threatened by the cruel ruling Imperium.
Mark gives his take on the film, as well as reviewing ‘The Boy and the Heron’, the long-awaited and apparently final film from legendary filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki, which follows a 12-year-old boy, who, after speaking to a talking heron, journeys into another world to search for his mother, who he believed to be dead; and ‘Ferrari’, Michael Mann’s 30-years-in-the-making passion project, a biographical sports drama about Enzo Ferrari, who founded the iconic Italian car company.
Time Codes (relevant only for the Vanguard - who are also ad-free):
11:35 The Boy and the Heron Review
20:08 Box Office Top Ten
31:53 Zack Snyder Interview
49:00 Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire Review
57:36 Laughter Lift
01:05:14 Ferrari Review
01:13:00 What’s On
You can contact the show by emailing correspondence@kermodeandmayo.com or you can find us on social media, @KermodeandMayo
EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal ➼ https://nordvpn.com/take Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee!
A Sony Music Entertainment production.
Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts and follow us @sonypodcasts
To advertise on this show contact: podcastadsales@sonymusic.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices