Directed by: Steven Spielberg Written by: David Koepp Starring: Emily Blunt, Josh O'Connor, Colin Firth, Colman Domingo, Eve Hewson, Wyatt Russell IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt15047880/

Special guest: Tarek Fayoumi (movieswithtarek.com), director of the Chicago Independent Film Critics.

In this episode of Mindframes, Michael and Dave — joined by returning guest Tarek Fayoumi — discuss Disclosure Day (2026), Steven Spielberg's return to the alien genre and his first big sci-fi swing since War of the Worlds.

The conversation works through Spielberg's recurring obsessions (renegade heroes, shadowy government forces, ordinary people swept into something enormous), Janusz Kamiński's return to the diffused-light, lens-flare look, and John Williams' 30th collaboration with the director — before splitting hard over whether the film's hopeful thesis actually lands. Comparisons run from Close Encounters of the Third Kind, E.T., and War of the Worlds to Contact, Minority Report, and Coppola's Megalopolis as a fellow "late master with something to say."

Verdicts split three ways: Michael 2.5/5, Dave 3/5, Tarek 4/4.

Disclosure Day asks whether an undeniable, truthful image can still unite people in a cynical age — Brian Tallerico's "undeniable image" framing, run through the show's central question: not is there proof? but does proof still work on us?

Michael argues the truthful image isn't wounded but dead — a shared reality the film is nostalgic for, but one that no longer functions when people deny what they're shown. Dave counters that the film's real hope is empathy and human-to-human connection replacing the broken image, while conceding Spielberg doesn't earn that buy-in the way his early work did. The film ends not on a revelation but on Margaret turning to the camera, saying "Listen," and cutting to black — proof getting humanity to the threshold, with faith and empathy left to carry it the rest of the way.

Note: recording was split into two files; Part 2 times below assume the parts run continuously (Part 2 offset by ~50:03). Verify against the stitched audio.

• Close Encounters of the Third Kind (Steven Spielberg)
• E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (Steven Spielberg)
• War of the Worlds (Steven Spielberg)
• A.I. Artificial Intelligence (Steven Spielberg)
• Minority Report (Steven Spielberg)
• Jaws (Steven Spielberg)
• Schindler's List / Saving Private Ryan (Steven Spielberg)
• The Terminal / Catch Me If You Can (Steven Spielberg)
• The Fabelmans / West Side Story (Steven Spielberg)
• Jurassic Park / Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (David Koepp & Spielberg)
• Contact (Robert Zemeckis / Carl Sagan)
• Explorers (Joe Dante)
• 2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick)
• Megalopolis (Francis Ford Coppola)
• Super 8 (J.J. Abrams)
• Watching the Skies (Norwegian sci-fi)
• Poltergeist / Gremlins (Spielberg-produced, 1980s)
• The Outer Limits — "The Architects of Fear"

Web: https://mindframesfilm.com Facebook: Mindframes Network: Now Playing Network Email: info@mindframesfilm.com

Directed by: Curry Barker Written by: Curry Barker Starring: Michael Johnston, Inde Navarrette, Cooper Tomlinson, Megan Lawless, Andy Richter IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt37287335/

In this episode of Mindframes, Michael and Dave dig into Obsession (2026), Curry Barker's micro-budget feature debut that turned into one of the biggest horror phenomenons in years — a $750K film bought for $15 million out of TIFF that went on to gross well over $148 million worldwide, growing at the box office in consecutive weekends rather than declining.

The discussion explores the film's monkey's-paw premise, its working-class Gen Z setting, the moral architecture of Bear's wish, and the central question of whether Bear is the film's actual villain — while comparing the film to Weapons, Pearl, Get Out, The Witch, and Isaac Asimov's Foundation and Empire.

Obsession explores consent and agency — what happens when desire is granted without consent.

The film suggests that Bear doesn't earn or deserve Nikki's love; he eliminates her will and replaces it with his own. As Curry Barker has put it, "love is earned, not demanded," and "any time you wish for something, it's probably going to be selfish." The true engine of the horror isn't the curse twisting the wish — it's that the wish works exactly as asked.

On-air verdict — Is Bear the villain? Both hosts landed on no. He's flawed, selfish, and prolongs the harm once he knows better, but he's the story's antagonist rather than its villain — if anyone is the "real" villain, it's the cursed object itself. Michael's framing: not every flawed person is a villain, and the film is more interesting because its characters are layered rather than purely good or evil.

On-air verdict — the ending. Dave correctly intuited that Nikki originally killed herself in an earlier draft — that actually was Barker's original Romeo-and-Juliet mutual-suicide ending, before his playwright father pushed him toward the survival cut used in the final film. Michael argued the survival ending is more thematically persuasive: if the theme is one person's coercion of another's agency, the resolution should be Nikki's, not a mutual destruction that treats the harm as shared. Bear's selfishness has to die for Nikki to live.

A live reference worth flagging for listeners: Michael cited Naomi Serpell's New Yorker piece "The New Literalism" (March 2025) as a framework for questioning how intentionally — and how literally — modern horror handles its themes of trauma and control.

• Weapons / Barbarian (Zach Cregger)
• Pearl (Ti West / Mia Goth) — Barker has cited this as a major influence
• Get Out (Jordan Peele)
• The Witch (Robert Eggers)
• Backrooms (Kane Parsons)
• Hurry Up Tomorrow (Jenna Ortega)
• Isaac Asimov's Foundation and Empire

🌐 https://mindframesfilm.com 📘 Facebook: Mindframes 🎧 Now Playing Network ✉️ info@mindframesfilm.com

Directed by: Damian McCarthy
Written by: Damian McCarthy
Starring: Adam Scott
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt35628972/

In this episode of Mindframes, Michael and Dave discuss Hokum (2026), a slow-burn Irish folk horror film from Damian McCarthy centered on a cynical horror writer who travels to a haunted inn to scatter his parents' ashes—only to uncover hidden violence, buried grief, and a terrifying supernatural presence lurking within the hotel.

The discussion explores the film's atmospheric craftsmanship, old-school suspense techniques, creature design, and overwhelming sense of dread. Along the way, the hosts compare Hokum to films like The Shining, Hereditary, The Witch, and Barbarian, while debating whether the film's emotional revelations are genuinely effective or too indebted to familiar Stephen King-style trauma storytelling.

Hokum explores the relationship between hidden spaces and hidden emotional wounds. The film presents grief as something buried, locked away, and left unresolved until it begins to poison both individuals and communities.

Through the haunted architecture of the inn and Om's suppressed guilt surrounding his parents, the film suggests that what we refuse to confront eventually manifests externally—whether psychologically, socially, or supernaturally.

• The Shining

• Hereditary

• The Witch

• Barbarian

• Heretic

• The Monkey

• Men

• Caveat

• Oddity

• Stephen King

• Alfred Hitchcock

• Ari Aster

🌐 https://mindframesfilm.com
📘 Facebook: Mindframes
🎧 Now Playing Network
✉️ info@mindframesfilm.com

Directed by: Ben Wheatley
Written by: Derek Kolstad
Starring: Bob Odenkirk, Lena Headey, Henry Winkler
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt31195136/

In this episode of Mindframes, Michael and Dave break down Normal (2026), a genre-blending action thriller from Ben Wheatley starring Bob Odenkirk as a temporary small-town sheriff uncovering a hidden criminal system beneath a seemingly quiet Minnesota town.

The discussion explores the film's strengths—particularly its sharp, inventive action sequences—while wrestling with its weaker character development and underdeveloped thematic ambitions. Along the way, the hosts compare Normal to films like No Country for Old Men, Fargo, and Hot Fuzz, asking whether the film earns its ideas about morality, violence, and the illusion of "normality."

Normal presents the idea that "normality" is not peace or order, but a fragile illusion maintained by hidden systems of violence and compromise. The film suggests that communities—and individuals—often accept morally compromised structures in exchange for stability, even when those systems are corrupt. However, while the idea is compelling, the film struggles to fully develop or emotionally ground this thesis, leaving it more implied than earned.

🌐 https://mindframesfilm.com
📘 Facebook: Mindframes
🎧 Now Playing Network
✉️ info@mindframesfilm.com

Directed by: Christopher Borgli
Starring: Zendaya, Robert Pattinson, Alana Haim, Mamadou Athie
Episode: 115

In this episode of Mindframes, Michael and Dave explore The Drama (2026), a psychologically charged romantic drama directed by Christopher Borgli. The film follows an engaged couple whose relationship is destabilized during a wedding tasting dinner when a seemingly harmless party game—confessing the worst thing you've ever done—reveals a deeply disturbing secret.

What begins as an offbeat romantic setup quickly spirals into a tense moral examination of identity, forgiveness, and whether people can truly escape their past. Anchored by powerful performances from Zendaya and Robert Pattinson, the film blends discomfort, dark humor, and emotional intensity into a uniquely unsettling experience.

Are we defined by our worst thoughts, or only by the actions we take?
The film challenges the audience to confront whether intent—especially unacted intent—carries moral weight equal to real harm.
Ultimately, The Drama refuses to answer this question directly, instead forcing viewers to sit in discomfort and decide for themselves.

• 🌐 Website: https://mindframesfilm.com

• 📘 Facebook: Mindframes Film

• 🎧 Network: Now Playing Network

• 📧 Email: info@mindframesfilm.com

Title: Sirat
Director: Olivier Laxe
Country: Spain / Morocco
Starring: Non-professional cast
Festival Run: Fantastic Fest, Cannes recognition (director)
IMDb: (Add link once available)

In this episode of Mindframes, Michael and Dave explore Sirat, a visually striking and spiritually immersive journey through the Moroccan desert. Following a father and son searching for a missing daughter, the film evolves from a grounded quest into something far more abstract and existential. The hosts unpack how the film uses rave culture, community, and physical endurance to explore themes of transcendence, identity, and surrender. What begins as a search becomes a stripping away—of purpose, of control, and ultimately of self.

Sirat presents life as an uncontrollable path that strips away identity through suffering, leaving individuals either isolated or transformed. Through the physical and communal ritual of rave culture, the film suggests transcendence is achieved not through control, but through surrender and shared experience. Ultimately, the film asks whether meaning is found in purposeful striving—or in accepting the dissolution of self into something greater.

🌐 Website: https://mindframesfilm.com
📘 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mindframesfilm
🎧 Network: https://www.nowplayingnetwork.net
📧 Email: info@mindframesfilm.com