A+Z Movie Review Podcast · Alex Long and Zach Cavanagh

Episode 28 - Tár

·1 hr 18 min·5 clips

A Juilliard student tells Lydia Tár, “you’re a bitch,” after she attacks his Bach objection.

Alex and Zach open with their usual movie-night banter. They land on Tár and note that it is streaming on Peacock. Cate Blanchett is the clear center of gravity. They frame Lydia Tár as the movie’s driving force and admit that the film is harder to pin down than a simple logline suggests. The conversation moves into Lydia’s life in Berlin. From there they unpack the classical-music world around her, especially the blind cello audition and the way the orchestra puts the players behind a partition so the ears make the call. That detail clicks for them. They tie it to Lydia’s constant hand-washing and the movie’s repeated sense that she is always trying to keep herself, and everything near her, under control. The bathroom scene matters. Lydia notices a pair of shoes under a stall, later sees the same shoes leave, and then erases what she has written down after the audition, which sends the conversation toward Olga and the way power gets asserted in small, eerie moves. Olga becomes the new name in the room. They talk through how she lands the concerto spot and how quickly Lydia seems drawn to her. The lunch scene stands out. Zach and Alex read it as a moment where Lydia expects to steer the conversation, the meal, and maybe the whole social temperature, while Olga stays more her own person and does not seem easy to manage. They also bring up the Juilliard student. That earlier exchange helps them trace the same pattern of authority, pressure, and self-importance that keeps surfacing around Lydia. The tone stays loose. Even when they are serious about the movie’s themes, they still let the jokes, interruptions, and small reversals do their work, which keeps the discussion from feeling sealed off or overly formal. Near the end, the episode shifts toward awards-season chatter. They wrap by looking at the home stretch to the Oscars and glancing at what is coming next, including Mario and Shazam: Fury of the Gods.

As heard by us

A relaxed, thoughtful take on control, cleanliness, and the details that make Tár stick.

Alex and Zach treat Tár as a study in control, with Cate Blanchett at the center and the blind cello audition as the sharpest anchor. They track Lydia's cleanliness and her urge to manage the people around her, especially in the restaurant scenes and in her interest in Olga.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

You want a fast, thoughtful read on Tár without the critic-speak.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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