A weekly deep dive, script to screen analysis of everything from streaming gems to current theatrical disasters. We break it all down!Content warning: podcast contains subjective humor, wry sarcasm, and strong opinions.Story Matters!
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Episode 055: This week on Story Punk, we continue our recent Christopher Nolan streak by going back to his 2014 science-fiction epic starring Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, Michael Caine, Matt Damon, Casey Affleck, and John Lithgow. Earth is slowly becoming uninhabitable, humanity is running out of options, and former NASA pilot Cooper is asked to leave his family behind and travel through a wormhole in search of a new home for the human race. Simple enough, except every decision comes with a cost, and sometimes that cost is measured in decades. We get into all the big t
Episode 054 (PART 2): Our journey through Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey continues, and this time we’re getting into the technical aspects and theatrical presentation. In Part Two, we pick up where we left off and dig into how Nolan and cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema pulled off a movie of this scale, including the decision to shoot the entire feature with IMAX cameras. We talk about what that actually adds to the experience, how the movie feels different on a standard screen, and whether you really need to see The Odyssey in IMAX to appreciate it. We also get into Nolan’s determination to
Episode 054 (PART 1): How do you take a story people have been telling for thousands of years and turn it into a Christopher Nolan movie? This week on Story Punk, we start a two-part deep dive into The Odyssey, Nolan’s massive 2026 adaptation of Homer’s epic, with Matt Damon as Odysseus. After ten years at war, Odysseus is finally trying to get home to Ithaca, his wife, his son, and the life he left behind. Of course, this is The Odyssey, so getting home involves monsters, temptation, violence, terrible decisions, angry gods, and a journey that becomes about a lot more than simply reaching a d
Episode 053: This week on Story Punk, we kick off a new season and celebrate one year of the podcast with Rebel Ridge, Jeremy Saulnier’s tense, tightly constructed 2024 thriller starring Aaron Pierre, Don Johnson, AnnaSophia Robb, David Denman, and Emory Cohen. Aaron Pierre plays Terry Richmond, a former Marine riding into the small town of Shelby Springs with a single purpose, post bail for his cousin before it is too late. But when local police seize his cash through civil asset forfeiture, Terry finds himself trapped in a corrupt system where the law is being used less as protection and mor
Episode 052: This week on Story Punk, we close out Psycho Summer with Normal, Ben Wheatley’s 2026 action thriller starring Bob Odenkirk, Henry Winkler, and Lena Headey. Odenkirk plays Ulysses, an interim sheriff assigned to the quiet town of Normal, Minnesota, a place that seems peaceful, friendly, and almost aggressively ordinary. But after a botched bank robbery exposes something hidden beneath the town’s polite surface, Ulysses discovers that Normal is not just a name, it's a performance. And almost everyone in town is part of the act. We dig into how Normal fits into Psycho Summer’s theme
Episode 051: This week on Story Punk, Psycho Summer continues with the French genre thriller Vincent Must Die, Stéphan Castang’s strange, unnerving 2023 film about one man who suddenly becomes the target of almost everyone he meets. Karim Leklou stars as Vincent, an ordinary office worker whose life turns violently upside down when people begin attacking him for no apparent reason. The rules are simple enough to be terrifying: once someone makes eye contact with him, they may instantly become murderous. Coworkers, neighbors, strangers, police officers, random people on the street, anyone can b
Episode 050: This week on Story Punk, Psycho Summer continues with They Will Kill You, the 2026 horror-action bloodbath starring Zazie Beetz, Patricia Arquette, Heather Graham, and Tom Felton. Zazie Beetz plays Asia Reeves, a woman who takes a housekeeping job in a strange New York high-rise known as The Virgil, only to discover that the building is controlled by a demonic cult of wealthy immortals who have been feeding on sacrifice, power, and the kind of fine print no employee handbook should ever contain. We dig into why They Will Kill You feels like a deranged cocktail of Ready or Not, Kil
Episode 049: This week on Story Punk, Psycho Summer continues with Ready or Not 2: Here I Come, the 2026 sequel that picks up almost exactly where the original movie left Grace: covered in blood, surrounded by burning wreckage, and apparently nowhere near finished with homicidal rich people. Samara Weaving returns as Grace, whose escape from the Le Domas family has triggered a much larger and more dangerous game. Four powerful families are now competing for control of a supernatural throne, and whoever kills the surviving bride before dawn inherits enough influence to shape world events. Unfor
Episode 048: This week on Story Punk, we kick off Psycho Summer, a month devoted to movies where seemingly everyone wants the protagonist dead, with Ready or Not, the 2019 horror comedy from Radio Silence directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett. Samara Weaving stars as Grace, a new bride expecting champagne, romance, and perhaps a few uncomfortable conversations with her wealthy new in-laws. Instead, an old family tradition forces her into a game of hide-and-seek where being discovered means being sacrificed before sunrise. We unpack why Ready or Not works as both a tense survival th
This week on Story Punk, we conclude our international cinema series by going gloriously over the top with RRR, S.S. Rajamouli’s 2022 Telugu-language action epic starring N.T. Rama Rao Jr. and Ram Charan. For me (Scott), it was my first experience with Indian cinema. For Drew, it was another chance to celebrate one of the most joyous, sincere, and spectacular blockbusters ever made. Inspired by the lives of Indian revolutionaries Komaram Bheem and Alluri Sitarama Raju, during British colonial rule, RRR imagines the two men meeting, becoming friends, and unknowingly pursuing individual secret m
Episode 046: This week on Story Punk, we continue our June international cinema series with a trip to 1977 Brazil for The Secret Agent, Kleber Mendonça Filho’s sprawling and unsettling political thriller starring Wagner Moura. Moura plays Armando, an engineer living under the alias Marcelo after a confrontation with a powerful businessman forces him into hiding. He travels to Recife hoping to escape the country with his young son, finding refuge among a community of ordinary people whose lives have been disrupted by political persecution, corporate influence, and a government that can make its
Episode 045: In this episode of Story Punk, we put Parasite under the microscope, the 2019 South Korean film directed by Bong Joon Ho. Winner of Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best International Feature Film at the 2020 Academy Awards, Parasite follows the struggling Kim family as they infiltrate the wealthy Park household by posing as unrelated skilled workers. The episode explores why the film remains one of the most acclaimed movies of the 21st century. We discuss Bong Joon Ho’s direction, the film’s class commentary, its shifting tone, the shocking basement reve
Episode 044: This week on Story Punk, we begin our June international cinema series with a trip to Norway for Sentimental Value, Joachim Trier’s 2025 family drama about art, absence, memory, and the complicated wreckage parents leave behind. The film follows sisters Nora and Agnes as they reconnect with their estranged father, Gustav, a once-celebrated filmmaker hoping to mount a comeback by turning deeply personal family history into a new movie. When Nora refuses the role he wrote for her, Gustav casts an eager Hollywood star instead, setting off a quiet emotional collision between career am
Episode 043: This week on Story Punk, we revisit Wonder Boys, Curtis Hanson’s 2000 literary comedy-drama starring Michael Douglas, Tobey Maguire, Robert Downey Jr., Frances McDormand, and Katie Holmes. Based on the novel by Michael Chabon, Wonder Boys follows Grady Tripp, a once-celebrated writing professor whose life has stalled somewhere between a never-ending manuscript, a collapsing marriage, a complicated affair, and one increasingly chaotic weekend. What begins as a story about writer’s block quickly becomes something stranger, funnier, and more human: a movie about people standing at th
Episode 042: In this episode of Story Punk, we focus on Marty Supreme, the 2025 film directed by Josh Safdie and starring Timothée Chalamet as Marty Mauser, a fiercely ambitious young table tennis player trying to become a legend. The episode explores how Marty Supreme works as a sports movie, character study, period piece, and chaotic portrait of obsession. We discuss Marty’s reckless pursuit of greatness, the difference between ambition and self-destruction, and how the film turns the niche world of professional table tennis into a larger story about ego, masculinity, myth-making, self-promo
Episode 041: In this episode of Story Punk, we review and analyze Outland, the 1981 science fiction thriller directed by Peter Hyams and starring Sean Connery, Frances Sternhagen, Peter Boyle, and James Sikking. Set on a mining colony on Io, one of Jupiter’s moons, Outland follows Federal Marshal William O’Niel as he investigates a series of suspicious worker deaths and uncovers a corrupt corporate drug operation designed to push miners beyond human limits. The film is often compared to High Noon, using the classic western setup of a lone lawman waiting for hired killers, but reimagining it as
Episode 040: This week on Story Punk, we launch into Project Hail Mary, the 2026 sci-fi crowd-pleaser based on Andy Weir’s novel and directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller. Ryan Gosling stars as Ryland Grace, a middle school science teacher who wakes up alone on a spaceship with no memory, no crew, and one tiny problem: the sun is dying, Earth is in danger, and he may be the only person who can help stop it. No pressure. Scott and Drew dig into why Project Hail Mary works as more than just another “save the world” space movie. They talk about the film’s emotional core, its clever science
Episode 039: This week on Story Punk, we unpack No Other Choice (2025), the latest razor-edged thriller from acclaimed director Park Chan-wook, and it might be one of the year’s most unsettling examinations of desperation, morality, and the machinery of modern capitalism. When a man loses his job, his solution isn’t to reinvent himself… it’s to eliminate the competition. Simple premise with complicated implications. In this episode, we take a closer look at how No Other Choice transforms economic anxiety into psychological horror, exploring the terrifying logic of a system that can convince or
Episode 038: What happens when the system quietly breaks a man and he decides to break it right back? This week on Story Punk, Scott and Drew reunite after Drew’s vacation to dive into the darkly satirical corporate thriller A Shock to the System (1990), starring Michael Caine in one of his most chillingly understated performances. Beneath its polished corporate surface, this film unravels into a sharp critique of ambition, office politics, and the quiet desperation that builds when loyalty goes unrewarded. What starts as workplace frustration evolves into something far more dangerous and oddl
Episode 037: This week on Story Punk, we do something a little different. Scott is joined by a special guest co-host, his wife Jane, for a first on the podcast: a deep dive into a documentary. With Drew away on vacation, the show shifts gears to break down Untold: Crime & Penalties, part of the Untold series on Netflix. The episode explores the unbelievable true story of a minor league hockey team backed by controversial ownership, turning what should have been a straightforward sports story into something far more chaotic, emotional, and entertaining. Blending sports, crime-adjacent intrigue,
Episode 036: This week on Story Punk, we are talking about No Way Out (1987), the political thriller starring Kevin Costner, Gene Hackman, and Sean Young. We break down why No Way Out remains one of the most effective suspense thrillers of the 1980s, blending political intrigue, murder mystery, and psychological tension into a tightly constructed narrative. As the story unfolds inside the highest levels of government, the film builds a gripping sense of paranoia, where every character could be hiding something and the truth is constantly shifting. In this episode, we discuss: Kevin Costner’s b
Episode 035: This week on Story Punk, we take in the spectacle of The Running Man (2025), a modern reimagining of the classic dystopian story originally inspired by Stephen King’s novel. This new version updates the concept for today’s media-driven world, where entertainment, surveillance, and violence collide in ways that feel more relevant than ever. We break down how The Running Man (2025) compares to the original film and what changes were made to bring the story into a modern context. From its depiction of a society obsessed with spectacle to its commentary on media manipulation, reality
Episode 034: This week on Story Punk, we look back at Amadeus (1984), directed by Miloš Forman and starring F. Murray Abraham and Tom Hulce, the Academy Award-winning historical drama about the rivalry between Antonio Salieri and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. We break down why Amadeus remains one of the most celebrated Best Picture winners of all time, and how the film blends classical music, dark comedy, and psychological drama into a story about jealousy, talent, mediocrity, faith, and obsession. Told through Salieri’s perspective, the movie becomes less of a biography and more of a character stu
Episode 033: This week on Story Punk, we go the distance with The Smashing Machine (2025), directed by Benny Safdie and starring Dwayne Johnson, Emily Blunt, and Ryan Bader. The film tells the story of real-life MMA and UFC legend Mark Kerr, focusing on his rise in combat sports, his struggle with opioid addiction, and the damage caused by his volatile relationship with girlfriend Dawn Staples. In this episode, we discuss Dwayne Johnson’s most serious dramatic performance to date, the Oscar-nominated prosthetic makeup that transforms him into Mark Kerr, the emotional power of the Mark Kerr and
Episode 032: This week on Story Punk, we head into the streets of Baltimore for Jay Duplass’s Baltimorons (2025), a tender, funny, and unexpectedly moving Christmas Eve odyssey about sobriety, loneliness, and the strange ways people find each other when they need it most. The film follows Cliff Cashin, a newly sober sketch comedian whose emergency dental disaster turns into an all-night Baltimore adventure with his older dentist, Didi. What starts as awkward necessity gradually becomes something warmer, deeper, and far more complicated than either of them expected. In this episode, we talk abo
