HONEY, DON’T: a film title that reviews itself? + Sam Riley on ISLANDS
Kermode & Mayo’s Take
Thursday, 4 September 2025 - 1 hour 10 minutes
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Grab the popcorn, because we’ve got a load more sweet and salty reviews for you this week on the Take. We’ll let you find out which are which. First up, ‘Honey, Don’t’, the neo-noir crime comedy from Ethan Coen that follows ‘Drive-Away Dolls’ as the next in a soon to be trilogy. Plus, two new indie flicks: Cork-set drama Christy, following two brothers forging a new life outside the care system, and the odd-couple holiday drama ‘Signs of Life’. There’s ‘The Conjuring: Last Rites’ too... but is it really really the last one this time?
Our guest this week is the ever-excellent Sam Riley—a stalwart on British screens since his breakout role as Ian Curtis in the Joy Division singer’s biopic ‘Control’. This time he’s starring in ‘Islands’, a mysterious sun-soaked thriller out next week. He plays tennis coach Tom—who seems to have the perfect life hitting rallies all day and chasing holiday flings all night—but things get complicated when he gets wrapped up in a dodgy family drama. Sam sits down with Simon to unpack his role in the movie, plus they talk middle-aged angst, holidays in the German Skegness, and that time he almost got arrested in Aberdeen... Keep an ear out for Mark’s review of the film next week too.
There’s top correspondence from you Wittertainees as always too, as we dive ever deeper into the cinema seating debate and beyond. Don’t miss another top Take!
Timecodes (for Vanguardistas listening ad-free):
Honey, Don’t: 08:15
Box Office Top Ten: 14:00
Sam Riley Interview: 26:15
The Conjuring: Last Rites: 38:49
Signs of Life Review: 52:33
Christy Review: 58:13
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