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Kermode and Mayo's Film Review · BBC Radio 5 Live

Emma Stone, Cruella, First Cow, The Conjuring III and Demon Slayer

·1 hr 51 min·5 clips
Will Gluck admits he wrote scenes addressing Mark Kermode's brutal Peter Rabbit review.
Mark Kermode and Simon Mayo host this film review episode from Kermode's temporary, echoey office setup. The episode features reviews of *Cruella*, *First Cow*, *The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It*, and *Demon Slayer: Mugen Train*, plus interviews with Emma Stone and director Craig Gillespie about *Cruella* and director Will Gluck about *Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway*. Kermode reviews *First Cow*, starring last week's guest Toby Jones, and *The Conjuring* sequel, while also covering *The Surge* with Ben Whishaw and the animated *Earwig and the Witch*. The hosts discuss the UK box office, where *Peter Rabbit 2* surprisingly beat *Nomadland* for the top spot, and share listener emails about cinema snacks and a Luxembourg cinema near a national border. They read contrasting listener reviews of Zack Snyder's *Army of the Dead*, with one praising its opening and Tig Notaro's performance and another calling it bloated and unoriginal. A memorable email connects *Nomadland* to a listener's personal road trip memories with his late grandfather. Director Will Gluck reveals he directly responded to Kermode's scathing review of the first *Peter Rabbit* film by incorporating meta-commentary and critic jokes into the sequel. Gluck admits filmmakers obsess over bad reviews and that studios hate self-aware humor, but he included it anyway. The tone is conversational and humorous, filled with the hosts' trademark banter about office acoustics and listener anecdotes. Film enthusiasts who enjoy critical analysis and behind-the-scenes filmmaker insights will appreciate the interviews and review debates. Listeners seeking a straightforward, serious film critique might find the digressions and humor distracting.

As heard by us

A film chat anchored by a room move, an echo, and a blunt take on critics.

Mark's office move becomes the episode's best running bit: he has been pushed out of his own space and into the professor's office, and the cleaner setup leaves an echo that makes the old clutter feel like more than a mess; it was also carrying the sound.

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Why you'd press play

A lively filmmaker-critic exchange about what movies are for, why reviews matter, and how disagreement can still be good company.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →
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