On this week's episode, Megan talks about M3GAN 2.0 (2:58), the sci-fi action sequel which sees the return of the murderous robotic doll, directed by Gerard Johnstone and starring Allison Williams, Violet McGraw, and Jenna Davis. Flawed yet intermittently fun, it's inferior to the sharply crafted and delightful original horror film.

Then, Megan talks about RENT FREE (17:17), Fernando Andrés's indie comedy about two queer best friends (Jacob Roberts, David Treviño) attempting to live for a year without paying rent in Austin, Texas.

Lastly, Dave and Megan discuss MY MOM JAYNE (29:01), Mariska Hargitay's emotional documentary about her mother, actress and icon Jayne Mansfield, as she explores her grief, delves into her mother's life, and reconciles her mother's image and legacy. It's a compelling and vulnerable film that we both recommend.

And on our Patreon bonus episode, we discuss 1986 sci-fi thriller THE MANHATTAN PROJECT, starring John Lithgow, Christopher Collet, and Cynthia Nixon!

Evan is off this week, so it's Dave and Megan as a duo. First, Megan discusses THE QUEEN OF MY DREAMS (1:42), Fawzia Mirza's comedy-drama about a Bollywood-loving queer Pakistani-Canadian woman (Amrit Kaur) navigating her complicated relationship with her mother (Nimra Bucha) after a tragedy. It's a lovely film with great performances, vibrant costumes and production design, and a clever narrative structure.

Then, Dave delves into 28 YEARS LATER (12:27), the long-awaited third film in the post-apocalyptic zombie horror series. Directed by Danny Boyle and written by Alex Garland, it stars Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and Ralph Fiennes. Following a group of survivors on an island, does it live up to the iconic first film? Dave has lots of intense feelings about this one.

Finally, Dave and Megan talk about ELIO (38:20), Pixar's animated sci-fi adventure written and directed by Adrian Molina, Domee Shi, and Madeline Sharafian. It follows Elio (Yonas Kibreab), a space-loving boy living with his aunt Olga (Zoe Saldaña), who gets his wish when aliens abduct him. One of us was delighted by the adorably sweet, wonderfully weird film. But it just didn't work for one of us.

And on our Patreon bonus episode, we dive into 28 DAYS LATER (2002) and 28 WEEKS LATER (2007)!

This week, Megan took in MATERIALISTS, written and directed by Celine Song. Don't be fooled by the poster: It's not a romcom (though it does have some of those elements); it's much more than that. Megan really loved it. Then Evan and Dave joined her for BEST WISHES TO ALL, a bizarro Japanese horror film about what one family does to maintain it happiness, and whether one of the family members will accept the horrifying realities of that choice or reject them. Then they watched ECHO VALLEY, a thriller in which widowed horsewoman Julianne Moore's junkie daughter Sydney Sweeney makes Moore's already difficult life much, much worse when she shows up with a dead body in her car. Over on Patreon, we watched the 1985 this-kid-is-a-robot! comedy-drama D.A.R.Y.L.