TRON: ARES: “It was like my brain was atrophying” + Kathryn Bigelow & Rebecca Ferguson
Kermode & Mayo’s Take
Thursday, 9 October 2025 - 1 hour 16 minutes
Vanguardistas have more fun—so if you don’t already subscribe to the podcast, join the Vanguard today via Apple Podcasts or extratakes.com for non-fruit-related devices. In return you’ll get a whole extra Take 2 alongside Take 1 every week, with bonus reviews, more viewing recommendations from the Good Doctors and whole bonus episodes just for you. And if you’re already a Vanguardista, we salute you.
Simon is off galivanting this week, so our supersub Ben Baby Smith is back—and ready to run down another big week of big screen action with Mark. We’ve got reviews of all the most exciting cinema coming up this weekend:
First up, the foul-mouthed and warm-hearted drama ‘I Swear’, which tells the true story of Tourette’s activist John Davidson’s struggle with the condition after a teenage diagnosis. Another indie gem this week, ‘Plainclothes’ starring Russel Tovey and Tom Blyth, depicts the dilemma of an undercover cop discovering his sexuality after being assigned to arrest gay men at cruising spots. Finally, the biggest, shiniest and blockbuster-iest release of the week is TRON: ARES—and we’re not exactly sure how to pronounce that, so we’re going with TRON: HAIRIES. We can’t reveal Mark’s verdict before you listen... but we can say it stars Jared Leto, and that Mark treats it with the respect that it deserves. Strap in for this one—it’s a corker.
Plus, if you heard Mark’s review of ‘A House of Dynamite’ last week, you might be excited to hear that its star Rebecca Ferguson—of ‘Mission: Impossible’, ‘Dune’ and many more—and its director—none other than the legendary Oscar trailblazer Kathryn Bigelow—are our very special guests in this week’s show. They unpack this super-tense nuclear thriller with Ben, and he gives them a little nugget of British 1980s nuclear panic to take away with them too.
Plus the box office top 10, the Laughter Lift, and all your top correspondence answered!
Don’t miss our upcoming LIVE Christmas Extravaganza at London’s Prince Edward Theatre. Tickets here: fane.co.uk/kermode-mayo
Timecodes (for Vanguardistas listening ad-free):
I Swear Review: 10:43
Box Office Top Ten: 18:46
Kathryn Bigelow & Rebecca Ferguson Interview: 33:09
Plainclothes Review: 50:33 -
Laughter Lift: 55:36
Tron: Ares Review: 1:00:28
You can contact the show by emailing correspondence@kermodeandmayo.com or you can find us on social media, @KermodeandMayo
Please take our survey and help shape the future of our show: https://www.kermodeandmayo.com/survey
EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal ➼ https://nordvpn.com/take Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee!
A Sony Music Entertainment production.
Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts and follow us @sonypodcasts
To advertise on this show contact: podcastadsales@sonymusic.com
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Subscribe to this podcast
Latest Podcast Episodes!
-
The Musical Circle
A Soul Experience IV (4) (Episode 96)
Welcome to Episode 96 of the Musical Circle, hosted and directed by Ben Charles. This is a showcase episode of all R&B and Soul music, making this episode the 4th edition of the Soul Experience showcase series as a part of the Musical Circle. Ben also showcases a few new R&B songs and even debuts some musicians, including Kehlani, Kareen Lomax, and Jenevieve. Ben also teases a special surprise for episode 98 of the Musical Circle coming in 2 weeks. Here are all the songs in this episode in order:1. Best Of Me - Anthony Hamilton (from his 2009 album Back To Love) 2. Never Stop - The Brand Ne...
-
The Daily‘He Knew’: What Epstein Said About Trump in New Emails
Thousands of pages of newly released emails between Jeffrey Epstein and his associates have put the convicted sex offender’s relationship with President Trump back in the spotlight.David Enrich and Michael Gold, who have been covering the story, explain what the new documents tell us and discuss whether they could prompt the release of the rest of the Epstein files.Guest: David Enrich, a deputy investigations editor for The New York Times.Michael Gold, a congressional correspondent for The New York Times.Background reading: Mr. Trump said the Democrats were bringing up the Epstein “hoax” to...
-
RedHandedRobert Wone - Forensics, Fetishes and Fluids: Part Two | #425
In our final episode on the murder of Robert Wone, we examine the most shocking autopsy we’ve ever come across. Complete with what they found on and inside Robert…Which together with the nightmarish sex toys discovered in the DC townhouse, painted a new and even more bizarre picture of what took place just before Robert’s death.And it’s time to lay out what we really think happened that night.Exclusive bonus content:Wondery - Ad-free & ShortHandPatreon - Ad-free & Bonus EpisodesFollow us on social media:YouTubeTikTokInstagramVisit our website:WebsiteSources available on redhandedpodcast.com...
