Ben: Yeah, so that's something I
have in common with this movie.

Sissy, uh, I also once, had pink hair.

Emily: Nice,

Jeremy: I never had pink hair.

Well, I had red hair for a while, bright
red, and then it just faded to orange.

I went through a whole
sort of fall spectrum.

Morgan: I used to have

pink hair.

Ben: I could see you, I could
see you pulling off pink hair.

Jeremy.

Emily: hair.

Jeremy: Especially, you know,
with the pink shirt, right.

Wearing my macho

Ben: Big like I'm a girl dad
and I can kick your ass if you

disrespect him kind of energy.

Jeremy: Sure.

I have often thought about letting
my, my daughters paint my nails,

but the fact is, like I'm really
bad about like, anything that I, I

can pick at, especially on my hands.

So like the nail polish
would drive me insane.

Emily: Yeah, I say as I am, I'm
picking at my nail right now.

Yeah.

I've like, I can't be that goth because
I can't seem to keep nail polish on.

Jeremy: My daughter is like,
can I paint your nails?

And I'm like, theoretically, yes.

I have no moral objection to me
as a man having nail polish on.

It's just me personally.

Yeah.

All right.

Uh, You guys wanna talk
about this Good, good movie.

Emily: Hell yeah,

Emmanuel: do it.

Jeremy: All right.

Good evening and welcome to
Progressively Horrified, the podcast

where we hold horror to progressive
standards it never agreed to.

Tonight we're talking about one of
my favorite horror movies of 2022.

It's gay.

It has a black lead.

It has interesting things
to say, and it's Australian.

It's sissy.

I am your host Jeremy Whitley.

And with me tonight I have a
panel of cinephiles Encino bytes.

First, they're here to challenge the
sexy werewolf, sexy vampire binary.

My co-host Ben Kahn.

Ben, how Tonight?

Ben: Let's give it up
for psychosexual girl.

Crush the movie

Jeremy: And the cinnamon roll of
Cino Bites, our co-host Emily Martin.

How are you tonight, Emily?

Emily: Well, I'm glad that this movie
is on in Australia because then I could

figure out why there are kangaroos there.

But then uh, where are my pharmacy
employees dressed up as cows?

Like, where are my P H A R farm animals?

Jeremy: Yo.

I think, I think all you have
to do is go to San Francisco.

I'm fairly certain.

Ben: this is now our, th at least off
the top of my head, our third time

of seeing the trope of any horror
movie that involves any degree of car

travel will involve a plot, irrelevant
roadkill that's just there for the

Emily: Well this, this came
through to the end though.

Ben: It.

It did come back

Emily: Yes.

Jeremy: I love that there's so
much roadkill that's just deer

and we've really hit like a
stride of like first invitation.

It was like, oh, it's in California,
so it's a coyote in the roadkill.

And this one it's like,
it's fucking kangaroos.

It was Like the first real indication
for sure that this is in Australia.

Ben: Oh yeah.

We've seen a lot of
roadkill in these movies.

Definitely.

First time it was kangaroo

Jeremy: yes.

Emily: some kangaroo road

kill in movies.

Jeremy: And our guest tonight we
have two wonderful returning guests.

First the writer of the
diversity and horror blog and

friend of the podcast Morgan.

Morgan.

How are you tonight?

Morgan: I am doing great tonight and
I'm so excited to talk about this movie.

Jeremy: And so are we.

I obviously we're already started,
and English educator and friend

of the podcast, Emmanuel Lipscomb.

Emmanuel.

Good to see you.

Emmanuel: Good to see y'all.

I'm super pumped about this.

I had no idea there were
black people in Australia.

We have.

Jeremy: yes.

yes.

Ben: yeah, Aboriginal, like they,
started in Australia and then

all the crazy white people came.

Jeremy: I'm really glad that all of y'all
are here because I watched this movie

the first time and my first thought was
like, if this was an American movie, There

would be no end to the amount that they
talk about the race of these characters.

And for some reason, this
Australian movie does not mention

that this lead is black once

Ben: This movie also doesn't explicitly
mention being gay, aside from an

incredible same vagina forever balloons.

Jeremy: It doesn't say the word gay.

It just has women who
like to fuck each other.

That's like the only,

Emily: Yeah.

Jeremy: there is a, implied beginning to,
a hand job going on in one of the scenes

that they do not does not continue, but
like, they definitely interlude to it.

Ben: Well, it is, so it is wild
that you, this scene does begin with

Emma getting nagged by her fiance.

Like you care so much, which is
why, but it's such a flaw about you.

Now let's squeeze some boobs.

Morgan: Not only does it have a
black lead and a very queer cast,

it also has a disabled character,

Emmanuel: It does.

Emily: Yeah.

Ben: Yes.

Jeremy: it's really interesting to me
because there was a part of me that's

like, is it bad that the disabled
character is absolutely despicable?

And it's like, well, no, not really.

That's never chalked up
to his disability at all.

He just is a horrible person.

Emmanuel: It's 2023.

Disabled people can be dicks too.

Ben: Mm-hmm.

Emily: Yeah.

Morgan: and I like that they
never mentioned the disability.

It's just part of his character.

Jeremy: It is written and directed
by Hannah Barlow and Kane Sinnis,

who were both young directors.

Uh, Uh, Hannah Barlow was the, the winner
of the uh, Heath Ledger Australians and

film uh, scholarship they're both young.

They have like one movie together,
like feature length movie together

under their belt that they directed,
and then a lot of like smaller work.

Hannah Barlow is also an actor
who appears as Emma in this movie,

is one of the main characters.

But our lead is played by Aisha
d she is Cecilia or sissy, as

you know, named in the title.

We have Emily De Margarita as
Alex Daniel Monks as Jamie.

And I think really the only other like
major characters we have in here are Yin

ha is Tracy and Lucy Barrett is Fran.

And that sort of makes up our group.

But the basic plot of this movie as
we see it is we follow Cecilia, who

is a Instagram influencer, sort of,
she's sort of a general mental health,

say nice things, talk about yoga,
Give people permission to be nice to

themselves, kind of, influencer type.

Not despicable by any means, but also
does sell Elon Mask facial masks,

and she did help Chris Hemsworth
advertise his uh, advertise his app.

I don't know if Chris Emsworth really
has an app in real life, but um,

Ben: we gotta talk about Elon Musk.

I had to fucking rewind to make
sure I've understood what I was

Jeremy: yes, they're, they're Elon
Mask facial masks that, that help

with your pores and everything else.

Uh, they

Emmanuel: Elon known for having

great skin?

that what

you aspire

Ben: look at

Emmanuel: I, listen, I don't

Ben: Look at him.

He,

his skin, his skin looks divorced.

Jeremy: I think it was Stephan
Pun, they were like, Mask.

Mask.

Yeah.

This is funny.

Like it's in a, it's a funny
idea that this thing exists.

Morgan: It was funny.

Emily: It was.

Ben: I do love that.

It, it kind of becomes her
slasher mask later in the

Jeremy: Yeah.

I love the, the use

of the

Ben: That was so

Jeremy: as slasher mask as we go on.

We follow Cecilia as she goes on an
emergency run to go pick up some period

supplies and accidentally overhears
a former friend of hers, Emma, who is

in the next aisle over trying to get
prescription drugs without a prescription.

When she uh, you know, tries to get away
and accidentally bumps into Emma anyway.

We find out that Cecilia and Emma were
best friends at about, the age 12.

And Emma does not remember why
they're not friends anymore and is

so happy to see Cecilia and wants her
to come to her bachelorette party,

which is going on later that night.

Cecilia seems to really want to
say no, but can't quite manage it.

So she goes to the bachelorette
party where she meets Emma's

fiance Fran who she seems a little
surprised to discover that her

fiance is a woman, but, you know, 12.

They dance and drink and uh, then
eventually Emma throws up on Cecilia

and then tells her that she absolutely
has to come to her hens weekend leading,

I guess leading up to their wedding.

So she's gonna, they're gonna
go all of them to out into the

Australian country somewhere and
just have a weekend of debauchery.

They even talk Cecilia
into driving for them.

So Cecilia drives Emma, Fran Jamie
and Tracy out into the country.

They do hit a kangaroo on the way because
it's not a true horror movie unless

you accidentally run into an animal
on your way to wherever you're going.

Fran does tell her that the humane
thing is to go ahead and back over

the kangaroo and make sure it's
dead rather than leaving it out

there or doing something about the
fact that they've hit the kangaroo.

W the, i, I don't know what what
the procedure is for kangaroos.

I've heard from people that live in
Australia, they are dumb as shit.

So, you know, this, this is the sort
of thing that happens fairly regularly.

As they're going along the name, Alex
comes up as the person whose house

they're going to, and it turns out.

Cecilia does remember why her
and Emma aren't friends anymore,

and it has to do with Alex.

We learned that Alex uh, was a rich
bully who made fun of Cecilia, who

called her sissy, who mocked her.

And then we will learn shortly thereafter
that Alex gave Emma the other half

of a best friend's necklace, despite
the fact that Cecilia was pretty

sure she was Emma's best friend.

this interaction ended with uh,
Cecilia straight up stabbing

Alex in the face with a trowel.

The garden trowel.

Ben: and is also the exact moment
when you know this movie is not going

to be fucking around with the gore.

There is just straight up a
guardian trail sticking out of a

Emily: Well that, and then there
was the, there was kangaroo

roadkill that they really held on.

Like they, we were really looking.

Ben: Oh yeah.

Morgan: I'm the poor twitching kangaroo.

Emily: the pushing one.

Ben: you go and read the credits.

It does say some kangaroos were
harmed in the making of this

movie.

That's not true.

That's not

Emmanuel: I was like, I
thought it said the opposite.

Jeremy: It'd be a weird thing to put in
the credits is we did kill some kangaroos.

You're welcome.

You know.

Emily: I wouldn't wanna fuck
with the kangaroo, but continue,

Jeremy: so they get to Alex's
uh, super nice, super rich house

out in the middle of nowhere.

We have learned through flashbacks
that Alex is horrible and rich.

And apparently her and Emma have
continued to be best friends.

Over all this time.

We, we learned over social media and
Alex is not happy, surprisingly, to

see Cecilia, the girl who I guess last
time she saw her, stabbed her in the

face with a trowel and immediately
starts doing her best to let everybody

else know that uh, Cecilia is a
psychopath who tried to kill her.

Cecilia for her part is, is doing her
best to be chill and try and fit in

and not hype self up, but Emma wants
to talk about nothing but how many

followers that Cecilia has online.

It's all getting really uncomfortable.

And Cecilia ends up also having
to sleep in the living room

because there are no other beds.

There's also a very messed up
looking painting over of a woman

over the uh, couch in there
that she has to sleep under.

And Cecilia proceeds to have some
really horrible nightmares about Alex.

And Alex weirdly rubbing her face all
over Cecilia's hands before sticking

Cecilia's hand into, you know, a
gaping wound on the side of her face.

Emmanuel: That was wild.

Emily: Yeah.

Morgan: Yeah.

Jeremy: yeah, it's, it's a weird scene
that very quickly becomes horrifying.

Cecilia wakes up to find that
everybody else is already left.

They left her a roadmap to
the spot on the I guess creek

where they are all hanging out.

And she goes happily trotting
off into the countryside to go

find them, only to overhear.

Alex recounting the story of how uh,
Horrible Cecilia is, and how she's, the

reason that her face is scarred you know,
basically telling everybody else that

they shouldn't be friends with Cecilia.

And telling Emma that the only reason
that she is friends with Cecilia is

that she feels a need to save people.

Everybody else eventually, shortly
thereafter, leaves and Alex stays behind

realizing that Cecilia is there and has
been listening to what she's saying.

She then confronts her and Alex steals
her phone and attempts to record her

and then record herself talking about
uh, everything that Cecilia has done to

her trying to post to her social media.

Cecilia is so panicked about this and
Alex ruining her, that in a sudden fit

of passion takes their Special crystals
that they have for their getaway and beans

Alex over the head with it causing her to
bleed profusely and uh, appear to be dead.

Cecilia then drags her body out into the
brush and covers it up and is all set and

ready to go back to greet everybody else.

When Jamie shows up drunk and high
and quite wobbly and starts pissing

all over where Alex's body is hidden.

And Cecilia has to, to step in
to try and hide what's happened.

And in the process, Jamie ends up
falling on Alex's body discovering

it, and then attempts to run away from
Cecilia all the way up to a very large

cliff uh, which he's backed up against.

And Cecilia is uh, begging him to, not
tell people and to realize what's actually

going on between, you know, her and Alex
and that she didn't mean to hurt anybody.

And it seems like that's gonna
go all right until they hear

Tracy getting closer, yelling,
looking for Jamie somewhere.

And Jamie seems like he's about to
have a, a second thought about this

and call out to Tracy when Cecilia
shoves him right off the cliff.

And he bounces several times on
pieces of the cliff on the way down.

Emmanuel: Pretty.

Morgan: I, yeah, Jamie's
death was hilarious.

I, I have to say.

Emmanuel: A lot of the deaths felt
like Tucker and Dale versus Evil,

where they're just like, yeah, I
mean, yeah, you did this, but they

also kind of killed themselves.

If you think about it like it,

Ben: There was a talk, some real
Tucker Dale Evil, which holy

shit, we have to do at some point.

One of my absolute favorite like movies,

but God, yeah, I mean, seeing him
like almost spin around the tree

branch and then it hit like every
rock down and then like you, they show

you like his body later on and like
everything, like no limb is where it's

Emmanuel: it's like midsummer.

Ben: connection to the

Emmanuel: like.

Emily: Yeah.

His head doesn't get
crushed with a hammer,

but.

Ben: This movie does not fuck around.

Jeremy: no, absolutely

Ben: Uh,

Jeremy: yeah, with Jamie Guns, Cecilia
decides to make her way back to the

house to clean up and get all this
dirt and everything off of her.

She ends up running into Tracy, who was
still just there watching trashy tv.

And she has cut herself to make
it look like she has been hurt.

And she was attacked by Alex.

Ben: You know, this movie's Queer rep
is authentic because it really does

capture queer people's endless appetite
for the most garbage television.

Jeremy: Yeah.

Emmanuel: cheats on them.

Tracy like watches without them.

Emily: True.

Jeremy: Yeah.

And the um, the show they're watching
seems to be some sort of uh, bachelor

or too hot to handle sort of show uh,
that's called Paradise Lost It's like, all

right.

Ben: Bachelor, aka a Straight

People Safari.

Emily: Yeah.

Well, I, it's funny because the subtitles
say Paradise Lost, because it sounds

like you're saying Paradise Lost, but the
credits show it as Paradise Lust, which

I think is a fantastic title, and I hope

Ben: That's a much better show

Emmanuel: like Milton's porno, like

I,

Emily: yeah, for real.

And it is

perfect.

Ben: Also a good title for that.

Yeah,

Emily: Abashed the Devil stood
and saw how awful goodness is.

Emmanuel: I adore you.

Ben: A reality show called Paradise Lost
is just like we took a bunch of angels,

blindfolded them and put 'em in the woods.

How are they gonna survive on Paradise

Lost?

Emily: Listen, I would fucking
watch this shit out of an angel

versus angel reality survival show.

Like, I know you guys did the maths
to like, make the world or whatever.

Can you survive in it though?

It's like a, a computer
programmer trying to fix a car.

Like, anyway.

So that's my story about
angels, angel, engineers,

angel ears.

Ben: I mean, nowadays, I'm, I'm
pretty sure you do need to know

programming to fix a car with all
the fucking right to repair software

where they

Emily: can't, I cannot like the moment
that I found out that my acceleration

pedal is just a computer button.

Ben: Nope, Nope.

Don't trust that.

Don't trust that one

Emily: yeah, yeah.

I was

Emmanuel: the worst that could

happen?

Ben: because nobody's ever had a
fucking electronic button jam on

them or just not work, or responds.

Never happened.

Emily: Oh God.

Anyway,

Ben: Fuck.

Emily: it's, I mean,

Ben: go back to big, clunky technology.

Gimme physical switches and buttons
that make noises when you hit 'em.

Emily: drive a stick, drive a fun
yellow car, tie your hair pink.

Ben: Engineering peaked
with alien aesthetic.

Jeremy: meanwhile, while all of this
has been happening Fran and Emma are

out at some sort of third camping spot.

Emma is, is upset about her two
longtime friends, still being mad

at each other and now mad at her.

Fran is trying to soothe her with some
you know, light fingering, I guess.

And Emma is, is not in the mood for that.

Decides to go trudging off into the woods
to uh, find her friends and apologize.

Meanwhile, Fran, I guess just hangs out
by the fire and has a nice nap before

waking up and finding herself out in the
middle of the woods in the dark alone.

Cecilia makes her way back to
the house while she is doing so.

Poor Alex wakes up and discovers
that she has been beaten to death and

buried, but not quite beaten to death.

She is having some real trouble
seeing and also speaking.

She does find a mysterious phone that
has been dropped off of a cliff, but

still seems to be working uh, before then
finding Jamie's mangled body lying nearby.

The physics of how she finds all of this
don't really make sense because Jamie fell

off of a cliff past where she is buried,
and then she just sort of crawls up to

where Jamie's body is, which she would've
had to crawl off of a cliff to get to.

I'm not,

Emmanuel: Is just like that.

Emily: yeah, it was dragged by a dingo.

Jeremy: yeah, the, the physics of it don't
make sense, but I guess they wanted to

have sort of the discovery of Jamie's body
so it, you know, it works aesthetically

if not physically in the movie.

She tries to call the police but all
she is able to do is make horrible

uh, yelling noises, which I assume
has something to do with her being

uh, beaten nearly to death and buried.

Ben: Okay.

This fucking police officer, this man
is in an entirely different movie.

And that movie is an Australian remake

of Super Troopers,

Emmanuel: What is he eating
is what I have in my notes.

He cover, it looks like a pot
pie, but he covers it in ketchup.

Like what?

What's going on there?

Emily: I think it's like a,

Ben: I assume.

Some

Emily: yeah, I think it's

Ben: pie.

Yeah, just some sort of

Emily: a fried

Ben: Yeah.

Yeah.

Meat

and Mushrooms

Emmanuel: Mushrooms and ketchup do not go.

Emily: Sometimes they do.

Apparently.

Ben: He has a line at the end
of the movie where like, and

this is after everyone's dead.

There's no more action, no danger.

And he has a line where he is
just trying to psych himself

up and he goes, you got this.

Yeah.

You're a weapon.

Emmanuel: That's what I

say when trying to take
a spider out of a house.

Emily: Well, in Australia you need that.

If you're in Australia trying to
take fucking spider outta your

house, you have to be weapon.

Ben: like everyone else,
like you are in a heart.

You're in a fucking psycho thriller
cop man fucking slapstick comedy.

You got this

Emmanuel: I mean, someone
gets slapped with a stick.

All right.

Like.

Jeremy: Yeah, this is, this is actor Sean
Martindale playing Constable Martindale.

Ben: nothing.

Nothing like getting murdered in
front of the same vagina forever.

Balloons.

Morgan: Can we just talk about the fact
that like when she's reaching back,

the, like part of her brain is exposed?

Emily: I couldn't tell if that
was her brain or if that was

just like cracked skull and hair

Morgan: That like that looked like brain.

I thought it was brain.

Jeremy: Yeah, her her head is not intact.

Morgan: No, it is not.

It is.

It is.

Emily: I'm surprised she didn't like
Twitch whenever she was like touching it.

Emmanuel: I think that's
why she has aphasia.

She like poked at like
her language centers.

Emily: yeah.

Morgan: I.

Jeremy: Yeah, speaking of heads not being
intact Cecilia has made her way back to

the uh, house and uh, is greeted by Tracy,
who has been, you know, TV watching Tracy

bandages up her uh, self-inflicted wounds,
runs her a bath, which Cecilia goes and

and sits in with her Elon Musk while
Tracy talks to her and fawns over the

fact that she is sponsored by Elon Musk.

Over the course of this conversation,
it becomes clear that Tracy does think

that Cecilia is maybe a little crazy,
or definitely was crazy as a kid,

which is not sitting well with Cecilia.

That mask quickly turns into a,
a slasher mask as she is making

big, scary eyes through it.

she's seemingly trying to uh, Coaxed
Tracy into listening to her and,

you know, touching her nervously
up to the point that she grabs

Tracy and throws her into the bath.

Tracy's hair gets stuck in the drain and
Cecilia goes ahead and just uh, watches

her drown while she's flailing and
ripping pieces of her scalp out as she's

trying to like, get away from this drain.

Morgan: How Strong is that drain

Emily: I feel like that was less
of a drain and more, cuz there was

this, that tub was like some fancy
ass, like ion transfusion tub.

Tracy talked a lot about ions.

I don't know if they were involved at the

Jeremy: it's got little jets in the side.

Ben: Did anyone just see an Australian
drain and wanna go back to the Aus, to

the Simpsons Australia episode and make
sure the drains were going the same way

Jeremy: Yeah, I didn't think to check what
direction the drains were going this time.

But uh,

yeah.

Ben: 90 Simpsons is.

So that's how deep classic Simpsons in my
head, that like, as soon as I saw drain,

that's where my brain immediately went
to, is like, I know this from Simpsons.

We got this.

Emily: I mean, I'm just, I don't know
if I'm surprised that in Australia the

tubs also tried to kill you, but I think
that was, that might have been like an

intake for the, pump system or something.

Cuz it was like,

Jeremy: I mean, there was, there's a whole

Emily: for a drink.

Jeremy: so it's,

Emily: Yeah.

Jeremy: yeah.

Un unclear.

Ben: Cecilia really ramps up
to like full scale murder.

like there, there there's a
certain level of like, well she's

just doing small things or just
taking in action to kill people.

And then it really just like
ramps up until she is just pumping

Jeremy: yeah, there's a real, like when
she first hits Alex over the head, there's

definitely a feeling of like, Alex kind
of had this coming, like, Alex has been

horrible and, and

Emmanuel: Nobody feels bad that
Alex got hit with a crystal.

Ben: No, no sympathy for Alex

Emily: I, I have very little sympathy
for most of the victims, you know, in

the grand scheme, but we'll get there.

Jeremy: yeah.

And this is very much like
heat of the moment kind of

thing that she does to Alex.

Jamie.

It's like very much a
crime of opportunity.

Like if she doesn't push him, there's
a good chance she's gonna be exposed.

And all she really has to do is
just, just sort of lightly tap

him over the edge of the cliff.

Tracy, she pretty actively throws
into the bath and watches die.

But she's about to step it up to a whole
nother level because Tracy is very dead.

I guess Cecilia has decided that's it.

This is, this weekend has blown
three mergers is too much.

There's no hope for
coming back from this one.

So she

Ben: I mean, I do agree with
that, that three murders

Emily: yeah.

Ben: too much.

Emily: Yeah.

Emmanuel: Who hasn't done that?

Jeremy: she jumps in the little
yo car and zips off, uh, into

the countryside down the road.

Unfortunately for Fran, she is awoken
in the woods and uh, stumbles onto

the road, finding that , her new good
friend Cecilia is there to help pick

her up and take her back to the house.

Fran can't seem to get her seatbelt
unstuck and can't seem to get buckled up.

And Cecilia seems to be having a bit
of a panic attack where she's going

faster and faster and talking about how
unfair it is that Fran has Emma and has

all of the things that Cecilia wanted.

And for some reason, Cecilia never
was able to have any of these things.

And now she is alone.

And regardless of how good of a
person she is, it doesn't actually

matter because she does, she
doesn't get anything that she wants.

Fran is begging for Cecilia to stop
and Cecilia does, but maybe a little

more quickly than what Fran was after.

And Fran goes gliding out the front
windshield and down the uh, road.

Cecilia goes and checks
on her in the road.

She is still alive, but clearly
has some broken bones and is

not getting up anytime soon.

And in one of the coldest
lion readings Cecilia is like,

it's the humane thing to do.

And uh, it goes back in the car and and
just, runs her over in one of the most

horrifying gore shots of this movie.

Emily: God,

Emmanuel: It ruled.

I loved it.

Jeremy: we see Fran's entire head, just
her eyes jelly and her head split open.

Ben: not only do they show it in full
detail, they go, goddamn, Zach Snyder,

Emmanuel: Yeah.

I'm surprised it didn't have like the
charms, blow, pop sound effect like

it, like that eye shoots out of there.

Ben: It was so much worse that like
it wasn't just, oh, the head is gone.

you see it just like gave it and then
like almost kind of like go back out.

Like it's just a ball.

Like it's a ball that that's
been utterly deflated, but it's

still vaguely, still ball shaped

Emily: So, Ben, one of the things
that you, one of the complaints,

one of the many complaints that we
had, and not to call you out cuz I,

I

Ben: I am

Emily: And I

love you for it.

Ben: and what I am is a

Emily: yeah.

I mean, I, some David Kreinberg movies
are my comfort films, but when we

were complaining about They/Them one
of the complaints was that all of

the kills were really, really boring.

And this is just a reminder that you can
have a good movie with things to say,

things to say about queer people and also
have really fun, like fucked up kills.

So, take notes.

Ben: sissy is such a more queer
film than they slash them.

Emmanuel: Because of the murders, right.

Jeremy: This is like, it's

such a prime example of

like

who the audience is for this thing,

right?

Like sissy is clearly made for a,
a queer horror loving audience.

Whereas they then feels like it's made
for people who might have heard of

non-binary people once and don't really,
don't really know what that's about.

And you know, like have some
questions and maybe some light

prejudices and this is like a push
back against that kind of thing.

Whereas like sissy is like

very gay.

Emily: good.

Ben: and I think that's so much
of what makes the movie work

is just how relatable it is.

I mean, who hasn't like sapphic yearned
for your best friend So hard you lose your

mind a little bit and do some murders.

Emmanuel: That's called growing up.

Emily: That is called growing up.

Morgan: I actually kinda like that the um,
psycho lesbian trope is not in play here.

Cuz I feel like in so many horror
movies the queer woman is the psycho.

Who is like lusting after the
straight woman in this movie?

The lesbians are like the stable ones
and the presumably straight girl is

a

Ben: I, I, think what you have here is,
and we've talked about this in previous

episodes, is a case of you kind of can
do these tropes without it being harmful

when your level of representation is
high enough that the character embodying

that trope isn't representing like the
entirety of that identity, where it's not,

oh, here is the one but incredibly queer
coded character who is a psycho killer.

It's like, yes, we have an incredibly
queer co character who is a psycho

killer, but here is a multitude of queer
characters who are not psycho killers.

So like the psycho killers seems specific
to Cecilia and not because she's queer

Jeremy: Yeah, I think like it's, it's
interesting to me that obviously Emma

and Fran and Jamie are all queer coded.

Tracy feels like maybe
is a little uncertain.

I don't think she expresses
much uh, lut either way.

Alex, I think is the only

one

that is potentially coded as straight.

Ben: Look.

this is potentially me fucking putting
my foot in my mouth and being an asshole.

But I'm gonna say Tracy is by and
yet seems to only to ever date men.

Jeremy: I mean,

that seems in character.

Emily: Yeah,

Ben: that's my read on Traci's character.

Emily: was, there was some sort of inner
ch like exchange with her and Jamie,

which was interesting that there was like
some hugs and kisses, but I think that

those were, you know, buddy, but yeah.

Ben: Those were buddy kisses.

Morgan: Well, cuz Jamie's
clearly super, super gay.

So.

Emily: yeah, yeah.

Ben: those were those were some
Kiss your homie Goodnight kisses.

Emmanuel: Just a bro,

Jeremy: it's interesting.

Cecilia is the only one that doesn't
actually express any sort of like sexual

desire or need or, or crush really.

Like, not to say that her feelings
for Emma are not entirely un sexual or

unromantic, but they are very specific to
like, this was her best friend and they

were going to like have this pact
where they were old ladies, you know,

living at the nursing home together and
still just like hanging out and shit.

Emmanuel: they'd be roommates.

Jeremy: And this girl

abandoned her for the rich, bitchy girl
who like, like mercilessly taunted Cecilia

after, like the other two became friends.

Ben: I think the lack of explicit
sexual desire on Cecilia as part is

part of how her desires and wishes
and conception of herself really

seem to have frozen at 12 years old.

Jeremy: They go to great lengths to show
just how badly Cecilia wants to be liked.

She wants people to, to like
her, to think she's a good person

to, you know, to care about her.

Which, you know, pretty obviously
goes back to that, that moment of

like her friend abandoning her and
then her stabbing another girl in the

face and, you know, needing to prove
from there that she's a good person.

Ben: Cecilia being obsessed with how
things were in presumably the nineties

or two thousands is the only fucking
explanation I can think of for why

this fucking influencer with hundreds
of thousands of followers has this

fucking janky ass nineties TV set.

Emily: Well, it was for specifically
for their memories, right?

Emmanuel: Hooking up that
old like, hi eight camera.

Morgan: So that's true, but she
does have that uh, crappy old yellow

car, which Emma had specifically
said when they were kids that she

wanted to drive an old yellow car.

And

Emmanuel: And that's what
the things she says about her

dreams when she's a kid, right?

Is that I don't want anything to change.

I just wanna be like this forever.

Ben: exactly.

There's some single white
femaleness to it, but also

engaged gay femaleness instead.

Jeremy: Yeah.

Uh, there, there seems to be.

sort of this feeling of like, why?

can't she love me when clearly she's
very capable of loving a woman?

Like, why did Fran get this
and I can't get anything?

You know, like I think there's a bit
definitely a feeling that Cecilia like

would've been cool with a romantic
relationship with Emma if she had had

any idea that that was a possibility.

And doesn't seem like she did though,
cuz Emma's also very clearly in the

younger sections of the movie where we
see the younger versions of them kissing

up on this, this poster of a singer.

I guess he is.

I don't,

I didn't catch

Emily: Jha.

Jeremy: it was, was it Jake Lenal?

Okay.

Emily: Yeah.

Jeremy: Was it Jake Joha?

All right.

So yes, Jake Joha

Ben: Is either Bye or
Jake Joe Hall's Comp.

Hat.

Emily: Sounds good.

Jeremy: I mean, Jake Gien Hall, I
wouldn't say is like the flag bearer

for straight masculinity or anything
like that, but like, you know, I, it,

it's like, feels complicated, especially
if we're talking early two thousands.

Jake Gien Hall

Emmanuel: very same Bubble
Boy, Jake Gien Hall.

It's very different from Broke
Back Mountain, Jake Gien Hall.

Emily: Yeah.

Jeremy: yeah, I mean, early
two thousands we're talking

like Brokeback Mountain Times.

So I don't know.

Ben: Yeah.

The worst would've been like,
oh no, you had a poster of night

crawler, Jake Chilling Hall

Emily: yeah.

Emmanuel: right.

Uh, Jeremy to go back to your
original point, uh, you mentioned

the whole, why can't she love me?

Morgan: Yep.

Emmanuel: is kind of like a
character foil between Fran and

uh, Cecilia and that they're both
black, they're both attractive.

They're both kind of in this mental
health space, but Fran is actually

working on like a medical degree, and so
there, there seems to be like the, well,

what does she have that I don't like?

I, I think in Cecilia's eyes there is this
whole, we're basically the same person.

Like, how do you, how
are you cool with her?

But not with me

Jeremy: Yeah, and like Fran got
everything Cecilia wanted and might

have gotten had her life not been
sort of ruined at the age of 12.

We don't find out a lot about what
Cecilia's life was like between

12 and what, whatever age in
their twenties this is happening.

But like presumably it's not
been good since she is still

sort of stuck in this, this.

Mental space around this
particular uh, event.

still got two more murders to get to
because Celia does get back to the

house just in time to run into Emma,
who is uh, finally stopped looking

for Alex and come back to the house.

uh, Cecilia tries to convince Emma that
Alex attacked her and tried to kill her.

But Emma being a fairly smart
for protagonist notices that uh,

Cecilia is wearing the other half
of the best friend's necklace

that belong to Alex and her.

And so does maybe one of the smarter
moves that I've ever seen from like a

horror protagonist and tries to like
very calmly talk to Cecilia and state

that she believes her repeatedly and
is like, we should definitely call

the cops if that's what happened.

And Cecilia is like, oh, no,
no, we should not do that.

And eventually ends up having to
knock Emma unconscious and tie her

up so that they, she can force her
to watch the uh, recorded video of

them as kids that she keeps trying
to get her to watch throughout.

And uh, so they, she can dye her hair.

So they both have pink hair like they
talked about wanting in the video.

She goes through such lengths
as to uh, tape Emma's mouth

shut and draw a smile over it.

Then things go really sideways cuz Emma
manages to uh, cut her way out of this

thing while Cecilia's in the other room.

Tackles Cecilia.

They have a fight.

They go back and forth a few times.

Emma ends up on top of
Cecilia beating her up.

It looks like Cecilia's lost
this fight until Alex shows up.

Having worked her way back with
uh, Jamie's crutch that she found

and sees through her messed up at
this point, eyes, somebody with

pink hair beating up somebody else
and proceeds to uh, beat that pink

haired person into a literal pulp.

Before figuring out that it's Emma
that she was doing this to Cecilia

goes ahead and records all of this
on her phone while it's happening.

And then Emma is about to uh, try
and kill Cecilia as well when the

cop finally shows up and kills uh,
kills Alex in the process while

witnessing Alex trying to kill Cecilia.

Emily: Going for the head.

Jeremy: yeah.

Shoots her right in the head.

Ben: by the angle, the way it appears,
did it seem like she had been shot from

the front and the bullet just kind of
crumpled against her skull, like superman?

Emmanuel: reminded me of, what is it uh,
Wolverine in one of the X-Men movies.

How did that happen?

Where it just stop skull.

Ben: Yes.

And I had the thought, wait,
does Alex have superpowers?

And then my next thought was like,
wait, what kind of fucking guns

do the Australian police have?

Jeremy: she, yeah, she
does pull the bullet out.

But it is apparently come all the way
through her head on the way there and lots

of brain matter follows it out behind.

Yeah.

And then,

Ben: Yes, that is the explanation.

But I, I do like the version where it just
can't, where this pulitz just can't even

Emily: I like the idea that the cop
used the head wound as a target.

Like she was running.

Yeah, she was running with a, aluminum bat

Morgan: It was a crutch.

Yeah,

Ben: I was gonna say all training
definitely says aim for center

mass, but then nothing about this
cop in his two scenes implies

he has received any training.

And if he did, he was

Emily: Oh yeah.

Yeah.

He was, he was probably drunk,

Jeremy: Well, maybe not drunk.

he does he does threaten to kick his
friend off of the netball team for calling

the police station drunk, not realizing
that it is a injured woman colleague who

can, is only capable

of vocally screaming.

Ben: this guy is in an entirely
different fucking movie.

Jeremy: He's,

Emily: perfectly

Jeremy: we do in the shadows.

Like

he's, this guy has transferred

from Wellington pd.

Ben: yes.

A thousand

Morgan: But it is impressive how
much damage she manages to do with

that crutch to uh, Emma's face

Emily: Yeah.

Well, a lot of force behind it,
you know, speed plus accel, wait,

Emmanuel: Get there.

You can do it.

I

Emily: oh my god.

No

Emmanuel: Mass times

acceleration.

Emily: Times acceleration.

So whatever, what she lacked in
mass, she had in acceleration.

that's force

Jeremy: Yeah.

So, uh, Cecilia is the last survivor.

The cop encourages her to just uh, stay
there while he secures the house to

make sure there's nobody else there.

And Cecilia goes on to uh, go back
to being an influencer who's now

super popular and has a book because
she survived this massacre that Alex

totally did to all of her friends.

And now she has millions of followers
instead of tens of thousands or

hundreds of thousands of followers
which means she wins the end.

Emily: Yeah.

Um.

Morgan: So happy at the end.

Emily: Yeah.

And for a moment I thought it was
like some kind of dream or something

cuz she was in this like pink void.

But maybe it is, maybe it isn't,
doesn't matter because you know,

she'll probably never do it again.

Right.

Jeremy: I mean, now she just has all,
all the reasons she needs to be loved.

That's the,

that's the, important thing.

Emily: that was one of the things about
earlier is that in the midst of, I

think she was in the woods or something
and she was actually, she did post in

the middle of this whole situation, I
think it was between a couple of the

deaths that she said, Alex said this
and she was posting to her account and

she was, this is her call for help.

We're not sure if it was Alex, Emma,
or her who really got the police there.

With the followers I mean, I don't know if
they know where she is though, so I mean,

Emmanuel: since it was the
same cop, I assumed it was

Ben: Yeah, I

Emily: Yeah,

Ben: for like when Emma was still
like on the phone with the cops, I

just kept thinking like, say her name.

Say the name of the person, killing
of the person attacking you.

Emily: Yeah.

Ben: This is how she's gonna get away
with it because you don't say her fucking

Emmanuel: Yeah.

One of the best details is
that when she starts recording

uh, Cecilia goes, thank you.

That's just

Emily: Yeah.

as Alex is beating the shit outta
Emma and Cecilia's like, thank you.

And that's when Alex realizes that she's
beat the shit outta the wrong person.

I have a question for the forum.

Jeremy: Okay.

Emily: Does this movie have.

Does this movie have something specific
to say about social media and what,

Morgan: I think that toxic positivity
is an issue is what it has to say.

And also that you can't replace like
real world affection with followers.

Cuz we noticed throughout the
movie whenever um, Cecilia starts

freaking out, she just goes onto
her Instagram and sees all the

positive comments from her followers.

And that like, gives
her the boost she needs.

Which like, there's nothing wrong
with, you know, reading compliments

about yourself and being like,
oh, I feel good, but she does this

after she murders someone like,
sh she fucking murders someone.

And then she like immediately goes
on and she's like, okay, people like

me, I'm still a good person even
though I just murdered somebody.

Emily: Yeah, I am enough.

Jeremy: It definitely feels like this
movie definitely has an understanding

of social media that a lot of
movies about social media don't.

This is this persona that
this person is putting on.

It's who they want to be
that's online, and it's not

necessarily who they actually are.

You know, and a lot of this,
like toxic positivity is them not

dealing with like, seriously bad
stuff that's happened to them.

And, you know, being able to move forward.

Morgan: Well, and you see in her in the
beginning um, she has like her space.

She does the podcast stuff, but then
she gets up to her apartment and

her apartment's like just trashed.

It's such a mess.

And then she's like eating cold
pizza out of the, the fridge.

And I mean, I'm not gonna judge what
other people eat, but you would expect

her to eat like healthier because
she kind of preaches that lifestyle.

And then she goes to watch TV and the
news is on, but it's too depressing.

So she changes to like some
like shallow reality show.

Ben: on her janky nineties tv.

They don't even, you can't even
get live TV on those anymore.

Maybe you can in Australia, but you can in

Emily: Oh, you, well, what you
do is you have your Roku set up

with your nineties tv and you
have that nice coax com connector.

Jeremy: You gotta have a
converter at this point.

You gotta have something between
the wall and the TV in order for

that

to

Emmanuel: Y'all we're so old.

Emily: Back

in my days the Gameboys weren't in color.

They were green.

Morgan: I,

remember that.

Ben: I Back in my day,
all the Macintosh's were

see-through

Morgan: And there was only 150 Pokemon.

Jeremy: I was about to say 151

Pokemon.

That was gonna be

my

joke

Emily: I remember computers when they were

beige.

Ben: I think what this movie does well
with social media is depicting the

kind of like addictive nature of it.

Like, so when you see like her eyes
dilate, we see like this is like a

physical, chemical bodily reaction
she is having, like this is a near

chemical dependency on social media
positivity and attention and validation.

Morgan: No.

Again, there's not, there's nothing wrong
with seeking validation, but like you

mentioned, Ben, she, she's addicted to it.

She's just taking it too far.

Ben: Yeah.

Emmanuel: Right,

Ben: Like this is her stress mechanism
is that her response to murdering

somebody is, let me make, let me
post a quick vid so I don't have to

deal with the thoughts that I'm a
bad person, that I murdered someone.

I'm gonna get my, almost like my
chemical good person hit from this.

Like the way you'd almost like
someone else, I don't know, take a

hit on meth after a stressful day.

She's like, let me, let me get them, let
me post the vid and get that engagement

high.

Emmanuel: it Also,

has real status.

Ben: Also, how much time did she have
to, how much time did she have to bury

Alex and with what She made a whole
fucking pattern and stuff like that.

Like she found a tree, like god damn.

how about

Emma?

Just Emma getting
defeated by like a stream.

Like there's the whole thing where
like Emma's just like in this like

shallow river they were chilling in and
then just get swept away, presumably

Emily: did get defeated by a stream
that was perhaps two feet deep.

You can't, unless this was one of those
weird, like CVOs rivers, which still,

I don't know, I,

Jeremy: run backwards, so
it's a little harder to

Emily: she couldn't, she could
figure out how to, how to fight

the current Cause it was backwards.

So when you stream upstream, when you,
when you're swimming against the current,

you're actually swimming with it.

Jeremy: Yeah.

Ben: Other moments I wanna point
out, because they made me laugh,

was when Alex stole the phone
and was like filming a video.

It was like, Can you see my scar?

And I'm like, no, I can't.

The video resolution on that
Instagram video is not good enough.

is not showing up on the screen.

Emmanuel: Just the, the, one of the
things that I loved about the social

media thing was that there's sort
of like real status or cache here in

that they're all kind of surprised
that she has more followers than Alex.

Like that you're a nobody like you.

Who are you?

How do you have 200,000 followers?

And so even though there is that kind
of addictive dopamine hit of getting

the likes and getting all the comments,
There's a real status thing there where

it's like, well, yeah, but like I've
put in the work and I've connected with

the Hemsworth and I've, you know, I'm

hocking these masks and such, and so I,
I thought that was kind of interesting

?
Ben: just, they're all so mean

to her at the dinner about being

Emily: Yeah,

Emmanuel: no reason, like
y'all invited her out.

Well, I guess Emma invited her out,

Emily: yeah,

Ben: Okay.

I do, I do wanna talk about Emma
cuz for as much as Emma's the

victim, I have some thoughts.

Like Emma's behavior is

Emily: same be, before we get to that,
I just wanted to say about the social

media, like they all have fucking phones.

We have established that they have
phones and use them and there is in fact

signal out in this nowhere warehouse.

Right.

Ben: Yes.

Oh my God.

Thank God.

A movie where they actually had
signal, it's a relief to see a

movie that that's the, that's

Jeremy: make the

mistake of

Ben: at this point, like why

do, yeah, like why does it

even matter if

Emily: yeah.

Ben: in these horror movies?

The police are

Emily: Well, and, and that's another thing
is that like in other movies, there is a

Cote, then calling the police is going to
be the thing that fixes the, the problem.

So the plot will end.

Ben: It never is.

Even every movie where they managed to
call the police, it is never the solution

with the possible exception of child's

Emily: And

Morgan: Just like in real life.

Emily: yeah.

If you, the only reason
you should call the police

first is if you get attacked by a

doll.

Ben: it's the most realistic part of most

Emily: Yeah.

So police are good against dolls.

So next time you get
attacked by a mannequin?

Well, it depends on the color of the
bag, the mannequin, probably, I mean,

Ben: Holy fuck.

You are not wrong, but

Emily: sorry, but I mean, we gotta be

real.

But social media to these people.

So this movie is interesting to me.

Usually you have a pretty distinct.

Decision in the messaging of the
movie where it's gonna land with the

social media, sometimes maybe there's
a twist where it's like, well, the

social media helped at this time.

In this case the social media
was a factor, but the judgment

for Cecilia's work on social
media comes from these assholes.

And I think it's very important to point
out that these assholes are totally 100%

into the same shit that she's hawking.

Like she's says this, she's like a
they say psycho psych psychological

advisor or something like that.

She's a spiritual advisor, is what she is.

Morgan: Yeah,

Ben: Yeah, the movie really makes
sure to ramp you up like the murder

slope and how you're supposed to feel
like about Cecilia by, I feel the

movie is very strategic in, killing
off the two meanest characters to her

first.

Emily: And, I think that there is
a respect for the audience in this

movie that there's not like a a solid
like yay or nay when it comes to this

social media because everybody is on
social media there, like everybody.

And that's why everybody is so
surprised that Cecilia is as much

of an influencer as she is because
they all think that they're hot shit.

Right?

And I don't know what Alex does.

I can only assume.

That it has something to do with art
because I feel like the picture she

drew was, or the, the picture on the
wall was a picture she painted uh, as

some part of processing her trauma.

Because it is very much like
supposed to reflect Cecilia.

You know, and I think Cecilia recognizes
that as they become, you know, she begins

to talk to the painting, you know, but

Jeremy: strikes me as
being professionally rich.

Emily: Yeah.

Yeah.

And has, friends on social media and
maybe does something creative on social

media because that's what you do.

And instead of like having something to
say other than this thing that happened

to her, you know, when she was a child,
which like none of these characters must

have siblings because siblings do fucked
up shit to each other when they're young.

I've known a few people whose
siblings have just about almost

killed them, like pushed them outta
cars and shit when they were 12.

Morgan: Yeah.

Emily: And they're, you know, still
buddies, you know, so obviously Alex

doesn't have siblings because this
is the most traumatizing thing that

ever happened to her in her life.

And while it's not cool this is something
that kids were being awful to each other.

And sometimes when, especially when you're
like, kids are bullying each other and

they're taunting each other, shit happens.

And it's fucked up.

But they're also kids.

I think that there's, there's something
to be said about Alex's preoccupation with

that, and then also Cecilia's preoccupied
with something else in her past.

But I've gotten off track with
my thing about social media.

The bottom line here is I think it's
interesting that everybody who is

criticizing Cecilia's social media, like
involvement are completely hypocritical.

Um, And obviously hypocritical.

It's like it's a jealousy thing which
feels very on brand for a group of

toxic, like close, toxic friends.

Jeremy: Yeah, what I think is interesting
in this, and I, I mentioned it a little

bit earlier, but I think it's good to
like kind of suss out a little bit,

is how little like race is discussed
or even mentioned in this movie.

But also like in the way it plays out
does seem to have like, an importance.

Um, And I don't know if you know,
the intention was for it to initially

just be a class thing and the way
that it ended up being cast, it

was, you know, also a race thing.

But you know, you have, its Cecilia,
especially as this, you know, black

character who was friends with a little
blonde white girl who like met another

rich little white girl and decided
that they were going to be friends now.

And uh, Cecilia as the black friend
gets sort of like chucked aside and.

Taunted and everything by this girl for
what seems like a variety of, of nebulous

reasons, including just her name, but
also that she doesn't have the same money

that Alex does, and that she seems really
upset about losing Emma as a friend.

Ben: I wanna know what happens to these
like mean ginger twins in the present day.

Like What What happened to these

Emily: I think they got killed
by their dad at a hotel.

Ben: Oh, no.

Emily: They're still there.

They're just really bored.

Jeremy: yeah, and I, the, the only
other black character we have is

Fran, who I think is the only victim
who's, blameless in this movie.

She doesn't like, doesn't really
engage in like, messing with Cecilia.

Emily: She is also

Emmanuel: She's not great.

She uh, especially for someone that's
supposed to be like a trained mental

health professional, she does a whole
lot of things that are kind of just,

you wouldn't say that if you
were heading down this track.

I don't think so.

I she's not antagonistic, but

she's not a good person.

Jeremy: it is not her job to be a
mental health professional to this

person who has come to her, you
know, bachelorette party, basically.

Emily: Well, no, but she doesn't
say shit like, nobody says shit

when Alex is being an asshole.

She does laugh when Alex is like
making fun of Cecilia's name,

which is completely off, off topic

when you're talking about

Emmanuel: psychologist.

She seems to lack empathy, like
she just is in no way is interested

in trying to understand where
Cecilia's coming from, like,

Emily: yeah.

And maybe she's also like, she, she
seems at the very beginning, like a

little bit jealous cuz I think she
recognizes the foil element there.

So,

Jeremy: I feel like that's fair.

I feel like if you're getting ready
to marry somebody in like a matter

of days, and suddenly there's this
person who's their best friend,

who you've never heard of before.

Who is just like at your bachelorette
party and that your fiance is suddenly,

like, literally all over, like on
top of, you know, singing songs

with is is like pouring over her.

It's fair to be like, should I be worried?

Like, it seems like maybe I

Morgan: Well, she even says that too.

She's

Emily: yeah, I, well

Morgan: like, should I.

Emily: then, I mean, I think after Emma,
like vomits all over Cecilia, that's

when Fran is like, okay, I can forgive
this situation because obviously like,

all right, this sucks for everyone.

Hello.

Let me tell you.

Th this, what's the name of the, , the
actress slash director who plays Emma

Hannah Barlow hats off because a,
a woman of many talents because

not only is this movie great,
she directed it, you know, she,

co-directed it, but yeah, and star it.

She, I swear she was actually drunk.

uh, if she wasn't drunk, she deserves
an Oscar, because I have never seen

such a incredibly accurate depiction
of white girl drunk in a film that

isn't like, like, I don't know.

She was somehow sympathetic while
also being cartoon initially drunk.

The like little trickle of
vomit that comes out all over

Cecilia's shirt it was just like
perfectly, like, it was so nuanced.

It was great.

And then Fran did that thing where she
put the little sparkles on Cecilia's

face and everything seemed so freaking
wholesome and that was beautiful.

Emmanuel: Did any of you watch
this movie with headphones?

Emily: Did I?

No.

Emmanuel: So there's a lot,
there's a lot of really great

sound cues at different times.

So when she spreads on the
like, Sparkles on her eyelids.

You get a nice, like beautiful chime.

Uh, there's that time where it
switches from night to day and the moon

comes on with like an audible sound
effect, like it's the sound in this

was astounding at different times.

It was so good.

Emily: Well, the sort of magical realism
that was going on with like the kind of

childlike sparkles and stuff like that,
that were just kind of a projection of.

Cecilia.

And it wasn't like too much that it,
broke the reality, but it wasn't just

enough for that style, which I thought was

Emmanuel: it.

It

Emily: yeah.

Jeremy: Yeah, I, I think
like right in line with that.

And speaking of Hannah Barlow,
this movie's incredibly.

Like the, the directing, the sound, the
like way that everything is put together.

And some, there's a lot of places where
there's just things that happen that

you're like, if I was making this movie,
I wouldn't have thought to do that.

But it's done incredibly well.

Emily: This would've been
a fantastic drama film.

But then when they added like a,
the fucked up kills and be like the

weird horror like the sound cues.

It was, you know, it's, it's like
when you see a movie that you

think should be a horror movie, but
it's not, you're really confused.

And in this case, this movie knew
exactly what it was, and it was

like, the bullying was almost as
traumatizing as the head popping.

I will say that.

And then like Cecilia and I think that
they did a fantastic job with, with

Cecilia's casting because she could
make this so it's such an innocent,

like, smile, like when she smiled,
you could see the 12 year olds and

And then like, there was a cognitive
dissonance when she was just killing

people because she looked so sweet.

Ben: Aisha D is incredible.

Like this is legit.

A tour de force performance from Aisha d.

This is like, a star in the making.

Like she's got it.

Like, watch this person blow the fuck up.

Cuz she is so good in this movie.

But I do think the best acting
performance in the movie goes to the

pregnant lady in the store who's fucking

incredible.

Emmanuel: own movie,

she.

Ben: Oh yeah.

Oh

Jeremy: I, I

love that she threw in
the, I'm walking here.

It's as she's going through the
parking lot, almost getting hit.

Ben: No.

She's like, oh no,
it's, I'm just pregnant.

It's fine.

And then just grunts as she like the
groan as she bends over to pick up some

stuff.

Jeremy: I, I, it's
interesting to like, see this

and think,

Ben: Just, just stop

Jeremy: and think like,
Aisha D is so, so good.

And like previous to this, her other
two biggest things are TV shows.

She was in the Bold Type, which ended in
2021, and previous to that uh, she is also

one of the, the main girls from the Saddle
Club the uh, girls Riding Horses TV show.

which she was, uh yeah.

I believe it's an
Australian thing, but like

it's,

Emily: sure.

Jeremy: it's uh, very
accessible on online.

Morgan: Well, lesbians love
their horse stories, so.

Jeremy: yeah.

Emmanuel: No, I

think you're right that like Aisha
D is obviously incredible, and then

her working with Hannah Barlow, who
directs it, is one of the co-stars.

She also sings one of the credit songs.

And so you just get like, yeah, the O to
Narcissa is uh, Hannah Barlow singing.

And so you just, she's, she's incredible.

They're both great.

Like I wanna see more
stuff for most of them.

Emily: A, a real Rebecca Sugar over
here, just doing all sorts of stuff.

Jeremy: I think everybody in
the main cast is really good.

They, the rest of them have less to
do than I h d and, and Anna Barlow.

But like, yeah, I think it is.

Like, they're all really solid.

And the movie, the movie
itself is really solid.

We talked a little bit about like the,
the race stuff in there, the class stuff

in there, but also like, obviously it,
it's probably one of the better movies

like that we've seen about handling
L g B T Q I A plus People and Themes.

It does it seemingly effortlessly by
them being real people and like, it

not being like we especially compared
to like they, them, which feels the

need to like overexplain everything.

This, this movie is very
much like they're lesbians.

It's fine.

Emily: There was a moment where
I thought that I, I was tricked.

They, them had tricked me because
I had thought that Cecilia may

be non-binary because nobody was
able to see her for a little bit.

And she was using her non, her magical,
non-binary powers of invisibility

as established, and they them.

But then I realized a straight
people, only straight people see in

binary queer people can see and bs.

And b I don't think she
was quite there yet.

But, I hope that she finds herself on
her journey, whether it'd be a non-binary

journey, a gender journey, or, or what.

As long as she doesn't kill anybody.

Nice.

Morgan: Yeah.

Everyone who died kind of deserved it.

Emily: I mean the, the bullying I think
that, okay, let me start over here

cuz I'm just so brimming with emotion
about this because I think one of the

important things about this movie as Ben
said, is that the characters didn't feel

burdened by the weight of representation.

Right.

A lot of um, American directors are
very, a aware of the tropes and of

the stigmas and things like that.

And so they try to dance around
these things or address them and

really, really, Hack need ways.

So, the fact that all these characters
were alternately funny initially,

like rather likable and then very
realistically shitty, I felt was a

really noteworthy representation of how
tight-knit groups of people can just

become almost deadly assholes to each
other and to the, to the people outside.

Because even inside the group,
people were assholes and

nobody was saying shit to Alex.

It wasn't like Alex was, was getting
some jabs under the radar or whatever.

Like everybody was thinking that
Alex was funny because she was being

shitty, but like she was completely.

Unreasonable because she gave, she
gave Cecilia no room, and then she

would not explain it like there
was no communication going on.

And Emma, when she was younger
also didn't really do anything.

You know, whether or not she,
she felt guilty about that.

She obviously didn't feel guilty
enough about it to remember that that's

why they weren't friends anymore.

Right.

And she obviously didn't notice
that as much as Alex is shitty, she

didn't notice that this would be
like such a triggering situation.

And it's so funny now, like, thinking
about this versus they, them, which

is also like a revenge fantasy, but
it, it is so dissociated from itself.

Because it has no understanding of
what it, of who it's talking to.

But then this movie knows exactly
who it's talking to and you know,

understands that fantasy of being
the person ostracized for no good

reason by a bunch of shitty people.

And I think that's neat.

Jeremy: I think it's, interesting to
me like that, I feel like part of the

central conflict is that as a 12 year
old kid, like Cecilia is, isolated from

her peers, and, and pushed away and
treated horribly starting with being

weird and clingy to her female friend.

And those people get to go on and like
live lives where they themselves are

weird and queer and, you know, having
their own like lives, but like Cecilia

doesn't, doesn't get to move on.

And I think like it's really interesting
the way that they play Emma in this,

because like the idea that Emma
doesn't even realize that this would

be an issue for either of them.

Like that.

Like she just doesn't remember
that this is why she isn't

friends with Cecilia anymore.

And like, that this is a thing that would
be triggering for, you know, Alex no

matter how, no matter how shitty Alex is.

Like it is obviously like a,
anything that sets her off.

So like the, the fact of of Emma,
this sort of like, You know, pretty

blonde character who's everybody's
friend and doesn't stand up to anybody.

Just sort of like being, carried
along by all of her friends.

Well, not realizing all of the shit that
everybody else is going through is uh,

it's a really interesting portrayal to me.

And I, I think, speaks to, it speaks to
a lot of people on the internet who like

just don't seem to realize that any of
these things are problems until they come

up in conversations or they get told on
Twitter that they shouldn't say a thing.

Cause it would bother people.

And they think, oh, people
are so sensitive now.

It's like, no, those people have
always been bothered by this.

Emily: Yeah,

Jeremy: first time you've ever noticed.

Emily: Yeah.

Like these problems have
been here a long time.

Emmanuel: I remember thinking,
watching this, that if this were

Denzel Washington or John Kaczinski,
you would direct it right?

And also star in it.

You wouldn't be a co-star, you
would be the central figure.

And so it's kind of interesting that she
puts herself in this unlikable position,

Emily: She understands what is unlikable
about it, which I think is really I

could always, I always get respect from
an actor who plays, who understands

how shitty the character they are is.

And like, even when it's cartoony, like
when Dave Batista was the, the like m

r a guy in glass Onion and I was like,

get it.

Ben: Yeah.

Emily: Get it.

Ben: fucking batista's.

The

M R A guy

Jeremy: that.

Ben: and then his mom
just fucking slaps him.

Jeremy: I, I think it's interesting
that she does cast herself as this

character who would definitely think
she is the protagonist of this story.

Like, this is her, this is her
bachelorette weekend, her her hens

thing, and she like, Just wants
to be friends with everybody.

She just wants everybody to get along
and, you know, invites these people

along without actually thinking about
like what any of this would mean

to them and what it'll do to them.

You know, she just, in her mind,
she's just trying to like be good to

everybody and she's not really thinking
about anybody's feelings at all.

Emily: Which is interesting because
Cecilia's doing the same thing with

her, her social media, but she doesn't
have any, like personal bonds that that.

Involves, right?

Like there's a real quick bit earlier in
the movie where somebody suggests that,

you know, what, if someone reached out to
you and that you weren't able to chat with

them in their dms, and then they killed
themselves, wouldn't you be at fault?

And these people, including,
well, Fran doesn't make any

like, doesn't voice any uh,

Jeremy: has a moment of
like, well, come on, go.

Hold on guys.

But

Emily: yeah.

But

Jeremy: as she gets,

Emily: yeah, like the second that
someone says, well, I'm a, I'm not

really a psychological advisor.

They didn't ever say that, but like, I'm,
I'm more of like a spiritual advisor.

You know, I think they would all be down.

But the fact that Cecilia was like forced
into this corner of being branded as

a con artist's like therapist, which
is not what she is, she just says

things like, Hey, let's imagine a rope.

Which is that, that was a bit of a, a
loaded I was expecting that rope to,

to circle around other things at some
point in the movie, but it, it never

did, which I'm kind of glad for because
that's kind of triggering imagery.

But her like rope boundary around
herself with her pink bespoke rope

that she uses as part of her, like,
meditation sessions and like, that's

just somebody being like, you know
what I think is cool about flowers?

This, you know, flowers can see because
they reflect light in a certain way.

And now that's kinda like seeing, right?

Like, nobody's gonna fucking tell
her that she's doing fake news.

Right?

Like, there's a difference between
that and like actually saying

like, flowers will cure cancer.

And she's not saying that, but the
fact that they all jump on her,

you know, that's also a very, like,
big thing that's going on with like

more progressive cliques, right?

There's a lot of competition and,
and disruption that goes on with

between people who've gone through
it, who, you know, have been,

going through their queer identity
crisis and all that kind of stuff.

And they still are very quick to
react and quick to, to label because

they want to be on the right side of
the argument and you know, it's valid

to wanna be part of the solution.

But there is this like, social
dog piling that is going on.

Emmanuel: On the heels of that.

I think we've all kind of come
across these influencers on

TikTok and Instagram and such.

I know my whole feed is just
stuff about parenting and food.

None of these people are experts.

They're all just kind of enthusiasts who
have in a lot of ways kind of logical

tips of, Hey, you should do this, not
that, or have you considered trying

this if this is a problem for you?

And I wonder if part of
the commentary is the.

The someone is wrong on the internet of
the, I, I want to say these things to

these people, but not as just a comment.

I wanna like put them in their place.

And so I wonder if this is the
whole group kind of saying, well,

what, like, what do you know?

You're not, you're not trained.

You're just someone telling
people to do stuff with rope.

Uh, And so since she is the only
person they kind of have access to,

she bears the brunt of their criticism,
but she is not, any way more culpable

than other people in the internet.

She's, again, just someone who's trying
to help or trying to share what she's

learned or just sort of, I don't know.

I, I thought that was kind of interesting.

Morgan: Yeah.

Emily: Yeah.

And it's kind of like what Morgan said
about the toxic positivity is that I feel

like Emma really exemplifies a like of.

More of a microcosmic toxic
positivity within a friend group.

her inaction is incredibly toxic.

And she is thinking that she's being
neutral in all of this is the right thing

to do when it obviously isn't, you know?

And she also didn't like, she didn't
tell anybody, well, she didn't tell

Alex that she was inviting another
person to her hens party too.

So like, yeah.

Emma, as much as Emma is idealized,
who the eyes of Cecilia, we very much

know that she is not a perfect person.

Morgan: Well, and the fact that she was
friends with a bully in the first place,

Emily: yeah.

Morgan: like and didn't stand up
for her friend or do anything.

Emily: I mean, when she was 12...

and, you know, she's probably terrified
of, I mean, I'm doing a lot of

projection here, but that's one of the
things I love about this movie is that

it does respect the audience to see the
intricacies of these social situations.

Like, Emma's terrified of Alex you
know, and Alex is trying to terrify

Cecilia, and then Alex is upset when
Cecilia fights instead of flights, you

Morgan: Yeah.

Well, I mean it, like you said, it's, they
were 12, but it's one thing when you're

12, it's another thing when you're adults
and she knows, she, presumably she knows

that Alex is a bully, and we are, we see
the act as still a bully as an adult.

And she kind of like,
just goes along with it.

Emily: That's

Morgan: Um, there's a thing that
people say about how, like if you

choose to be neutral, then you're
like signing with the oppressor.

And she's like, oh, I'm just gonna be
neutral and I want everyone to get along.

And like, that isn't gonna happen.

And she needs to, like, she, she
needs to basically pick a side.

either.

She needs to say that like, I shouldn't
invite Cecilia because she stabbed

my best friend and that's gonna be
incredibly traumatizing for Alex.

Or I need to stop being friends with Alex.

Cause she was a bully
who tortured Cecilia.

And she's hasn't really changed
that much since she was a child.

Emily: Mm-hmm.

Morgan: But she doesn't, she thinks that
everyone can just like, get along and

that she doesn't have to pick a side.

Cause it's like she doesn't
wanna be the bad guy.

Emily: Yeah.

Although I feel like she's also trying
to get, she wants everyone to get

along because it's her hens weekend,

you

Morgan: fair.

That's fair.

So,

Emily: But I mean, that's not an excuse to
watch your friends get bullied and pushed

around and, and like traumatized and shit.

Like she told Alex that she forgot
that she invited Cecilia, but

they had like a four hour drive.

Ben: Right call also again, man,
fucking Alex is stealing her

phone and being like, I'm just
gonna post a video on the channel.

That is your livelihood.

Emily: her with a power crystal too.

Morgan: Yes.

But also, why did she not
have like a screen lock?

Why did she not have a lock on her phone?

Ben: right.

Morgan: This whole situation would've

been

Jeremy: to quick

draw.

Morgan: just locked her phone.

Emily: Yeah.

Or I mean, she may have,
well, I don't know, but yeah.

This, a lot of these phones
seem to not have auto lock.

Morgan: Yeah.

Jeremy: Yeah.

Put your locks on your phones, kids.

Emily: Yeah.

Auto lock saves lives or saves good lives.

Jeremy: Yeah.

All right.

I feel like we've, talked
about all of our points here.

I feel like I know the answer for this
for all of us, but uh, would you guys

recommend this movie for other people?

Emmanuel: Absolutely

Emily: Yeah, absolutely.

Absolutely.

You know, mind the content, because
it is very rough content wise, you

know, there's the animal, cruelty
of the, you know, it's not real.

Um, but.

Very public kangaroos.

Yes.

Morgan: Stop being said, it is
a really funny movie as well.

I mean, it's horrifying,
but it's also hilarious,

Emily: Yeah.

Ben: Yeah, no.

Do I watch this movie?

This movie's great.

Jeremy: Yeah, the, the only thing
I'd caution people about is the,

the, deaths in this are very gory,

Emily: Yeah.

Ben: Oh, yeah.

Gore gore for days

Morgan: over

the top.

gore

Emily: yeah.

Ben: If you're squeamish,
you're gonna be "squeaming".

Jeremy: I think maybe that's where
I, I came down on the, like Fran

thing that I was like, Fran is,
is more or less blameless because

f Fran gets the worst death.

Like Fran's death is horrible and usually
like, Usually in a slasher like this,

people's deaths are in some way, like
consummate with how awful they are.

Which I, you know, ultimately Alex gets a
really bad end in that she ends up killing

her own friend without realizing it and
then getting shot in the head after being

half bludgeoned, half to death and having
to drag herself through the wilderness.

But yeah, Fran gets a very
gory and horrifying death.

Emily: Well, I think that there
might be some uh, reflection upon her

treatment of the kangaroo earlier, cuz
she was the one who suggested that.

Yeah.

That the, that the kangaroo be put out of
its misery under a tire, which is like,

Jeremy: I mean, it's also, you know, it
is Australia, so they don't just have guns

handy to shoot it or anything like that.

But, yeah, it's,

Emily: Kroos are terrifying.

I just wanted to get that out.

Kangaroos are terrifying.

Their

Ben: Don't fuck with

Morgan: Was it a

Emily: K

Morgan: Cause it was so small, it
kinda seemed more like a wallaby.

Emily: Yeah.

Well I think it was a like
a female or something.

Cuz the males get so they like,
I, yeah, they're so jacked.

Like, I have not seen other
than a, than a, like a gorilla.

I have not seen an animal with pets.

And kangaroos have pecs like, you
know how in Kang girl in the movie,

they had to like make kangaroo
people and make that make sense.

In the comics they were just kangaroos.

Like that was just what they were they
just happened to wear jackets, like

tank go straight up fucks the kangaroo.

there's no human in there.

Although apparently Booga was,
you know, in the movie part dog.

But I'm really happy that
you're all with me on this.

Jeremy: I feel like this commentary
has taken a turn into from don't fuck

with kangaroos to maybe fuck kangaroos.

I don't know.

Emily: If you're tank girl,
certainly you can fuck a kangaroo.

Emmanuel: That is a

wild pull quote.

Ben: that is,

Emily: I'm saying like, if you can

Ben: and, and,

Emily: fuck a kangaroo.

Ben: and also an accurate description

Emily: Yeah.

But seriously, folks, unless you're
tank girl and you're not, because

she doesn't listen to podcasts

Jeremy: I feel like that's the

Emily: fuck kangaroos.

Jeremy: listen to podcast.

Yeah.

So e everybody else is on the
uh, recommending sissy train.

It sounds

Emily: Yes.

Jeremy: em, Emily recommends
sissy and also fucking kangaroos.

So,

um,

Emily: girl.

Ben: recommend Bridesmaids.

Emily: girl.

Ben: That's my recommendation.

Go check out Bridesmaid starring
Kristin Wig Amaya Rudolph.

Rose Burn and Melissa

McCarthy.

Morgan: movie.

Jeremy: It's been a while since I've
seen bridesmaids, but I really remember,

I really enjoyed it when I watched it.

do you, uh, Morgan, do
you have a recommendation?

Morgan: Not off the top of my head, but
I have a lot of great recommendations on

my blog if people wanna check that out.

Jeremy: People should check
that out regardless, um,

whether they want to or not.

Uh, What about you, Emmanuel?

You got anything?

Emmanuel: I had a couple, I think the
most obvious one is body's bodies.

Bodies.

it's, does the whole, like queer thing.

It does the whole isolated thing.

It's gory.

It's humorous, it's fun.

It, it.

was worth it.

So,

Morgan: That's a great

Emmanuel: yeah, it was, it was a

good time.

Yeah,

Jeremy: cool.

Emily, what have you got?

Emily: Oh, I was I can't think

of

Jeremy: girl.

Emily: May maybe actually tank roll cuz
Like also the other thing about the tank

row comics nothing really to do with

Jeremy: vendetta against the
movie is what you're saying?

Emily: Absolutely not.

Morgan: Okay.

Emily: Jeremy, don't do this to me.

Jeremy: Emily hates the Tank Girl

Emily: No, I don't, I don't, I
don't, hate, there's plenty of

kangaroo fucking in that movie, Dr.

Jones is in that movie as of a
kangaroo who fucks, but like,

anyway yeah, I'm just gonna say

take girl.

Watch this movie again.

Jeremy: The movie I'm gonna
recommend, it's been actually

on my mind a lot recently.

It is also sort of a social media
and internet related horror movie.

That's really been something I've
been thinking about with all the,

like, AI stuff that's going on.

It's a movie cam which is about a, a cam
girl you know, a a sex worker who, you

know, meet meets in some people in person,
but mostly does her stuff online, through,

you know, one of these Camgirl websites.

And begins finding somebody who is
impersonating her, posting online that

appears to look like her, who is you
know, basically stealing her livelihood

and doing these things without her.

And she can't figure out who
it is or why they're doing it.

And, you know, finds herself being
sort of like erased from this and

having her identity taken over.

Which I feel like at the time it
came out felt like science fiction.

And feels a lot less like science
fiction these days given what is

possible and seemingly constantly
happening with, you know, AI and

deep fakes and things like that.

So, yeah, that's a good
one for people to watch.

Now, I'm sure I've recommended at
some point before um, but it feels

more relevant now than ever and is
another example of a movie that like,

has social media as part of it and
actually seems to understand social

media rather than being like social
media, bad, scary there's a ghost on

Ben: Yeah, I do like it's not
as simple as just social media

bad, and you shouldn't be on it.

It almost treats it like almost like a
force of nature, like it's just a fact of

life.

That has its effect on people that like
is used responsibly or irresponsibly,

but it's never quite as simple
as, well, just don't use it Then.

Jeremy: Yeah, cuz I mean, it is shown, you
know, in this movie and, and in Cam as, as

something through which, you know, people
make their livelihoods which, you know,

they, they survive based on this thing.

So yeah, definitely
that's worth checking out.

Cissy is very good, so
check that out first.

Like we said, it's on Shutter right now.

Shutter did the international
distribution outside of Australia,

so, definitely check that out.

All right.

That about does it for us.

Morgan, can you remind people
where they can find you online

and find out more about your work?

Morgan: Of course you can find me at
my blog, diversity in Horror, which

is diversity horror.blogspot.com.

You can also find me at Diversity
Horror on Twitter and on Instagram.

Jeremy: Fantastic.

And Emmanuel, what about you?

Emmanuel: I'm on Twitter at ellips.

Come to.

Jeremy: Fantastic.

As for the rest of us, you can find Emily
at Mega Moth on Twitter mega underscore

moth on Instagram and@megamoth.net.

Ben is on Twitter at Ben the Con and
on their website@benconncomics.com,

where you can pick up all their
books, including pre-ordering.

L Campbell wins their weekend, their
debut middle grades novel from Scholastic.

And finally, for me, you can find me
on Twitter and Instagram at j Rome five

eight on my website@jeremywhitley.com.

You can go buy the Dog Night by me
and Brian to go right now in stores.

Go do it currently.

Uh, It is available now.

And if you enjoy this,
you will enjoy that.

They're in no way similar other than me

Emily: Be

there or die death

Jeremy: Yeah, and of course the podcast
is on Patreon It progressively horrified

on our website at progressively horrified
transistor fm and at Prague Horror

Pod where we'd love to hear from you.

Speaking of loving to hear from
you, we would love it if you

would rate and review this podcast
wherever you're listening to it.

It will help other people find
it and help us continue to grow.

Thanks again for Morgan and
Emmanuel for joining us.

Emily: Thank you guys.

Morgan: Of

course.

Emily: is awesome.

Thank you for

joining

Emmanuel: a pleasure.

Morgan: Thank you for having us.

Emily: Anytime.

Jeremy: Absolutely.

Ben: Thank you so much for coming on.

Jeremy: And thanks as
always to Ben and Emily for.

So hosting and thanks to
all of you for listening.

Until next time, stay horrified.