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
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