Jun 20, 2026
A deep dive into Bretten Hannam's At the Place of Ghosts followed by an interview with Hannam.
How do you tell a story about two siblings processing a shared childhood trauma when they can't talk about what happened?
In this episode, Alex Heeney explores how At the Place of Ghosts uses horror elements to make trauma...
Jun 18, 2026
Why do some shows keep rewarding us years later?
And is there a way to make those rewards come sooner — without having to get older or rewatch ad infinitum?
In this episode, Alex introduces The Long Arc, a new 10-week experience built around the first season of HBO's Looking. She walks through what a typical week...
Apr 2, 2026
Joachim Trier's Oslo, August 31st starts with a sequence that doesn't advance the plot — and yet shifts how you watch the entire film — and ends with a sequence with almost no dialogue but a lot happens.
They're sequences I've returned to again and again over 14 years to figure out how they work — and keep...
Mar 17, 2026
Some of the best, most boundary-pushing cinema at the Berlinale is quietly tucked away in the sidebars where most of the press never look.
In today's episode, I’m looking at three films that feel like a step forward for women’s stories:
Arrú: A Sámi musical from Norway
Black Burns Fast: A queer South African...
Feb 17, 2026
This episode was originally recorded for a panel at the Berlinale Film Festival called Let's talk about (short) films! Pluralistic Discourse in Film Criticism.
I was invited to speak about the online film programs I've been building for thinking and talking about film — where we don't just share opinions about a film...