Episode 8: Hereditary

Join us as we continue our A24 Series with "Hereditary", directed by Ari Aster and starring Toni Collette. Is it real? Or all in her head?

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Trigger warning. This episode of Split Screen contains discussions on death, grief, and substance use. Listener discretion is advised. There is cynical path. There is an associate. There is cynical path. There is an associate.

SPEAKER_01 0:30

Before we get into the nitty-and-gritty. Hello, everybody, and welcome back to Split Screen. My name is Kyle Clark.

SPEAKER_00 0:36

And I'm Angelica Clark.

SPEAKER_01 0:37

And this is a podcast where we do deep dives in the minds and lives of horror movie villains, suspense thrillers, and true crime stories.

SPEAKER_00 0:44

And I am a licensed clinical therapist, and I will be essentially diagnosing the main character or characters of whatever movie, book, or TV show that we are discussing.

SPEAKER_01 0:55

And before we get into that today, there is something I would like for you to listen to.

SPEAKER_00 1:03

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 1:04

Ready?

SPEAKER_00 1:05

Sure. Yes, I'm ready. As long as it's not hereditary, I won't touch that. I won't touch that movie with a 10-foot pole.

SPEAKER_01 1:14

It's really hard to uh to kind of take anything back when you can hear it in your own voice, huh?

SPEAKER_00 1:20

That's uh a little awkward. I will in my defense, someone presented me with a 10-foot one-inch pole. I said ten-foot pole, and this one was longer. That being said, we are obviously going over Hereditary today.

SPEAKER_01 1:42

Yes. And so we are definitely going to be diving into one of the most disturbing and thought-provoking horror films in recent years. Hereditary. And that is also directed by Ari Astor.

SPEAKER_00 1:58

Part of our A24 series that we are continuing.

SPEAKER_01 2:00

Yeah, and then and no, this is not your typical horror movie. There's no cheap jump scares carrying the story. There are some jump scares. They're not meant to do anything but just give you a little jump. But instead, it slowly builds. It's like a sense of dread that just sticks with you. It's very similar to, man, what was that one? It just like I guess I'll just compare it to Midsommar, like the way Florence Pugh kind of made you feel on how she was acting when it, especially when it comes to the very beginning of the film.

SPEAKER_00 2:38

Oh, yeah, with like her grief.

SPEAKER_01 2:40

Yes. And this is basically along the same lines. This director really likes to focus on this specific emotion. So I guess let's go ahead and kind of break down a little bit of what the film is, what it's about. And uh this film follows the Graham family. They're dealing with the death of their matriarch, Ellen, the grandmother. Right away, we get a sense that she was a very private and possibly manipulative person. Her daughter, the main actress, the mom of the movie, struggles with it hard. Her daughter Annie, played by Tawny Collette, is a miniature artist. She builds incredible detailed models of real-life scenes, including moments from her own life, which get darker as the movie kind of goes on. And since we're kind of in that topic real quick, when it comes to the filmology and how this movie was shot, I mentioned it to you when we were when we were researching this episode, and I really enjoy not being able to tell some of the backdrops if they're real life, yeah, or if they're one of her models.

SPEAKER_00 3:57

Transitions are amazing in that movie. I will give it that.

SPEAKER_01 3:59

I mean A24 is really good with transitions, though. So she lives with her husband Steve, her teenage son Peter, and her daughter Charlie. Charlie is different. And it's not quite apparent why. In the very early stages of the film, you know, she's quiet, socially withdrawn. But she has this weird kind of eerie connection with her grandmother that is kind of like it's not necessarily like in your face, but it is talked about to where you do get that sense. And it is kind of a slow build, but it's it is definitely more about grief than it is about horror. And for I think a lot of us, it's kind of one and the same. Grief is not something fun. It's also something that can stick with you forever if you don't have the proper support system or the training.

SPEAKER_00 4:57

Or the tools.

SPEAKER_01 4:59

You know, it it's it's all about getting into therapy. And you know, the mom in this film, she does a good job of trying to at least do that. Unbeknownst to her, the universe was gonna tell her no the whole time. So what did you what did you think after your beautiful, very brutal statement? Mm-hmm. That you would never watch this movie. So going going into the film with already having that in mind, what was your experience this time?

SPEAKER_00 5:36

Well, we watched it twice. We watched it once just as a refresher, and then the second time we watched it for research purposes, and so just so everybody kind of has um an idea of why I decided to go ahead and touch the movie, even though I said I wouldn't. So just so everybody kinda has an idea of why I changed my mind, because people are allowed to do that, okay? People are allowed to change their minds. Um, one of my staff, I'm gonna give her a shout out, her name is Michelle. Um, she asked me about the podcast. Hey, how's the podcast going? And I was like, Oh, it's doing good, you know, this is what we're doing right now. And she mentioned hereditary, and I was like, hate it. She's like, Do you think everything that happened in that movie was really happening, or do you think it was all mental health? And I was like, Well, damn it, now I have to watch it again because it really made me think. I'm like, you know, if you think about it that way, I guess I'm okay with doing it again. So that's where this started. And it I think for me, it was like mid-sumar. Like I hated mid-somar the first time I watched it. Hated it a little bit less the second time, a little bit less the third time. I think each time I watched it it got better. With Hereditary. This is gross, but I liked it. Probably by the third time that I watched it. Just because there's a lot more that I caught in it this time versus watching it the very first time. But also being a mom, being a parent, I think I figured out why I didn't like it. And I think it's because of that, like it's almost like as a mom, I could feel her grief and I didn't like it. So I was like, nope, not doing that, but also it's super weird. So but I did enjoy it. Um, and I'm honestly really glad we're doing the episode on this tonight because I feel like it's it's a very good one to do the episode on.

SPEAKER_01 7:47

Yeah, and in in in your defense though, too, like when I first watched Hereditary, I hated it as well. I was really into it up until the very end. And there will be spoilers in this episode, so be prepared for that if you have not seen it. But I was perfectly fine with it up until they started floating up into the treehouse.

SPEAKER_00 8:11

We were both like, mm-mm, that's stupid, we ain't watching this shit again.

SPEAKER_01 8:15

But I I definitely went into it this time with a completely clean slate, and I really enjoyed it. And I enjoyed it even more during the research part of this episode. Uh, it's j just because we got to finally break it down, and that's what's been really fun about this series is A24 is really good about throwing a thousand different things at you at once, and it it almost forces you to re-watch their films. The replay value of these movies are are incredible. With that being said, though, I have a question that's on everybody's mind.

SPEAKER_00 8:58

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 8:59

So, what did you really think? Well, we have a lot to unpack here.

SPEAKER_00 9:05

Yes, there is a lot, and I'm gonna do my best to, you know, sum it up. Okay, so for anybody who has not seen her editary again, here comes the spoilers. So basically, Charlie, she's different. Her brother is taking her to a party that her mom forced her to go to, she doesn't want to go. She ends up dying a very tragic death, and that is kind of the basis for the whole movie, where then after that, weird things start happening in the family, and it's just a whole thing. So the movie itself technically has a supernatural end to it, and that's another reason I was like, we can't even do this episode because it's supernatural. I can't diagnose supernatural. So if we completely take out the supernatural aspect of things, right, then I can break it down. We here in the movie, it's very prominent in the beginning that Annie, um, Tony Clett's character, she talks about her mom and how her mom was a narcissist, and her mom had actually said that she had D.I.D. I think we've talked about DID before um with psycho. We talked a little bit about it.

SPEAKER_01 10:19

Yeah, and she also mentioned dementia.

SPEAKER_00 10:21

Yes, dementia and DID. Mom just had a slew of problems. Uh, there's a family history, she talks about a family history of schizophrenia. She says her brother had quote unquote psychotic depression, which technically would be like schizoaffective disorder, depressive type, or depression with psychosis. Both of the things, both of those things exist.

SPEAKER_01 10:45

Can you do me a quick favor and give us a couple examples of what that would be like if you had it?

SPEAKER_00 10:52

Yeah, so it's really difficult to distinguish between the differences between like major depressive disorder with psychotic features or schizoaffective disorder, depressive type. Both of them have psychotic features. When I say psychotic features, that includes hallucinations, whether that's you hear things, you see things. Some people have like they smell things that aren't there. Some people feel like there's like there's textile, like people are touching them, you know, or paranoia, delusions. Hey, this person's out to get me, these people are stalking me. Um, so there's that piece of it, but then there's also symptoms of depression, sadness, suicidal ideation, you know, not sleeping, not eating, just no no motivation, lack of interest. Combining the two. The difference is that in order to meet schizoaffective disorder, depressive type, you have to have full criteria for schizophrenia and full t full criteria for major depressive disorder. But the symptoms both are co-occurring together all of the time. Whereas major depressive disorder with psychosis or with psychotic features, people who are depressed enough can start to have thoughts of, you know, someone's telling me to hurt myself, or someone is in my head talking to me, or I'm seeing things, I'm hearing things, but it's only present because of a depressive episode. If you're not depressed, it's not there. Versus schizoaffective, the psychosis at least is always there, and sometimes there's some depression. So that's what those things are. So that's what she's talking about with, you know, my brother had, you know, psychotic depression. But yes, DID and dementia. We know grandma had DID for sure. And then one thing I immediately noticed when she said grandma had DID is she talks about sleepwalking herself. Like Annie herself talks about she has these sleepwalking episodes, right? Do you remember anything significant that happened during any of these what she calls sleepwalking episodes?

SPEAKER_01 13:12

So in the film, we learn that at some point she sleepwalks into her kids' room and douses them with some sort of flammable liquid, and she has matches. Her son Peter wakes up, starts freaking out, justifiably so, and even that aspect, you can you can almost feel that Peter's will always have this resentment.

SPEAKER_00 13:46

And fear.

SPEAKER_01 13:47

And fear that his mom is going to do this. That's also something that the supernatural aspect of the film uses to continue to break down the people inside this home.

SPEAKER_00 14:02

Yes. So D.I.D. or dissociative identity disorder, which used to be called multiple personality disorder. One of the biggest aspects of that is lapses in time or lapses in memory. And that's why immediately I'm like, there's gotta be a reason she talks about her mom having DID and she has these sleepwalking episodes, right? Because that's pretty significant. Just so we kind of have an idea. If you're okay with it, I want to read the actual verbatim definition of DID in the DSM.

SPEAKER_01 14:38

Please do.

SPEAKER_00 14:39

Okay. So the what we call diagnostic criteria for DID, and this is the part, like the first criteria, which is criteria A. It gave me goosebumps because we just you'll know which part I'm talking about. Disruption of identity characterized by two or more distinct personality states, which may be described in some cultures as an experience of possession. The disruption in identity involves a marked discontinuity in sense of self and sense of agency, accompanied by related alterations and affect behavior, consciousness, memory, perception, cognition, and or sensory motor functioning. These signs and symptoms may be observed by others or reported by the individual. Part that got me is in some cultures an experience of possession. She's supposed to be possessed throughout this movie. But is she really? Recurrent gaps in the recall of everyday events, important personal information, and or traumatic events that are inconsistent with ordinary forgetting. Her lapses in time. We have the one incident where she potentially set her kids on fire, could have. But then throughout the movie, when weird stuff's happening to Peter specifically, she just happens to be there, like, I don't what's going on? What's what's happening? Are you okay?

SPEAKER_01 16:00

Well, you she even sleepwalks so hard to the point that she goes to her mother's grave and digs her body up.

SPEAKER_00 16:07

And she has no memory of that.

SPEAKER_01 16:09

None whatsoever.

SPEAKER_00 16:11

The symptoms cause clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning. Obviously, it's causing problems in her family life and her home life, and then eventually it does cause problems in her work, where she destroys everything she's ever done. That takes months and months and months to do. Um, so it's it's causing distress in at least two environments. We know that. The disturbance is not a normal part of broadly accepted cultural or religious practice, and the symptoms are not attributable to this physiological effects of a substance, like um blackouts or chaotic behavior during an alcohol intoxication or another medical condition, such as complex partial seizures. That's a lot, but in laymans, DID is typically caused by trauma because what happens is your brain's responsibility, like your brain's sole responsibility obviously is to keep you alive, to keep all of your organs pumping, doing what they need to do, but it's also supposed to protect you. Like there's almost this, we'll call it like a lid in your brain, where this lid is open and allows information to come through and allows you to, you know, your memories, your personality, all of that. If you experience a trauma, that lid almost shuts and it kind of blocks away anything that was traumatic because that's why with PTSD, a lot of times people are like, I don't remember certain parts. Like I myself, I don't remember certain parts of my childhood. I just don't. Like they're parts of my life. I'm just like, yeah, I don't remember anything that happened, you know. But it's because trauma when your brain tries to protect you from the trauma. So DID is caused when someone has a significantly traumatic event that causes them to almost repress into their brain so badly that it creates an alter, what we call an alter personality, as like almost a protective factor of the person that is like the original identity. Yeah. So we know that Tony's mom was a narcissist, she was neglectful, she was potentially abusive, she wasn't a very nice person. Um so we know that plus, and then her mom died, and then her daughter died, but she's had this these sleepwalking episodes for who knows how long, but then you notice they increase as her grief increases, all of her symptoms start to happen. So of course, during most traumatic times in her life, she almost turns into another person. If you really pay attention, she if you even look at her face, whenever she is like like when she's in Peter's room and he's like, Why do you why do you hate me so much? or something along those lines. And she goes from like concerned mom to her face instantly changes to like this person with no emotion. Like her face softens, her eyes almost go black, her mouth just goes straight, and she's like, I never wanted to be her mother. Cause I and we know this is like according to this, it's a dream that she's having, but is it really? Like I think all of these things that are happening, she keeps saying sleepwalking, she's not sleepwalking. I think she's doing these things as an alternate personality, and I think eventually that personality becomes Charlie. One of the she adds a personality, and I think the personality she adds is Charlie. That's why this is another cool thing about DID, is it's been studied that people with ha that have multiple personalities, um, again, I've talked about this in psycho, but one personality wears glasses, one can have an accent, one has um diabetes, or has different blood pressure um issues, or has cholesterol issues, can have a completely different voice, and her voice changes to Charlie's voice during the seance. I don't I think it's bec she's she's got DID just like her mom. And I think when you hear the word hereditary and you watch the movie for the first time, what did you think hereditary was referring to?

SPEAKER_01 20:47

Okay, so I'm going to be absolutely transparent and say I had no clue at all why it was called hereditary.

SPEAKER_00 21:00

Yeah. So I think when I first watched the movie they called it hereditary because it's assumed that Charlie gets this trait passed down from her grandma or King Payman is what she is supposed to be. Um, which again, back to the movie itself, the supernatural aspect of it is that her mom was in a cult and worshipped this demon called King Payman. He's one of the what eight lords of hell or eight kings of hell or something. And the very end is implied that, you know, Charlie's spirit, which was King Payman, goes into Peter. And that's the whole part of the whole cult. But so you think hereditary is about that, like the clicking and everything. I think hereditary is referring to Annie getting the same Having the same dissociation problems as her mother. That's what I think.

SPEAKER_01 22:06

I'm I'm almost kind of inclined to agree with you, just solely based on the DID conversation in the film is one time. Yeah. And it's never spoken of again.

SPEAKER_00 22:21

And I think Ari specifically, it's he wouldn't put that in there if it didn't mean something.

SPEAKER_01 22:28

No, no, and then and it's also it's A24. Yes. Ari Aster has this way of adding little tiny breadcrumbs. Yes. And it's extremely subtle. And if you're not necessarily diving deep into the symbolism, you're not gonna necessarily catch that. And you're gonna watch this film and get to the end thinking maybe something similar to what I was thinking. Like, pardon my language, but what the fuck did I just watch?

SPEAKER_00 23:01

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 23:02

Like, it starts off rough, it gets even worse in the middle, and then all of a sudden uh the devil gets involved, and it's like, what what what did I just watch? That's why I hated it the first time I'd seen it.

SPEAKER_00 23:20

It's so confusing. You're like, what is that? You're like really, because we've watched so there are so many movies out there of like demonic possession, right? So they're all the same. I feel like a lot of them are the same. And I I think for me, part of the reason I hated it, I'm like, oh great, now we know it's another freaking demon movie, you know, like woo-hoo. Like, I think I kind of lost interest that time. But one thing that's interesting, if we're looking at this as if, okay, this didn't really happen, because we're looking at it as did everything, it's like it's like my my staff said, did that really happen, or was it the mom's mental health? So if hereditary were entirely an ante, let's say that it's her entirely an Annie's head, it is a psychological tragedy about untreated PTSD, severe grief, and intergenerational psychosis. Instead of demonic cults, the film acts as a metaphor for mental illness, with the possession representing an inescapable decay of the family unit. And I read that from definition on, you know, Google. Um, where payment or the cult, these are manifestations of the trauma and paranoid delusions stemming from Annie's abusive mother. She those are again protective factors. That's how her brain is helping her to understand her trauma or to cope with her trauma, which is what another personality does. Help someone to cope with their trauma. Back to the definition of D.I.D. I looked at you whenever it said that in some cultures could be considered possession. Looking at this from mental health perspective, I 100% do not believe any of this actually happened the way that it looked like it happened. And I think Annie has D.I.D. And severe trauma and the grief just exacerbates all of that. I don't think she has psychosis like her brother. I don't think I don't think that she is really experiencing a demonic possession, but I think it's supposed to look that way. But it's really she has DID, and that's why she misses gaps of time, doesn't remember what she did with her son, and it's why she is now almost takes on the personality of Charlie when Charlie dies. It just it's another trauma and it adds to her grief, it adds to the trauma that her brain is coming up with to, you know, to create another personality. I also think she kind of adopted her mother's personality when her mom died.

SPEAKER_01 26:01

So I I have two questions. And I will ask question two if question one goes the way I want it to.

SPEAKER_00 26:11

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 26:12

Is this all happening in her head or is it not?

SPEAKER_00 26:16

I think it's up for interpretation. Um from a if you actually like read what the movie's about, it will tell you that it's not. Like this is the ritual is the whole purpose is for King Payman to come alive in Peter's body because he's a good host instead of this this child girl's body, you know. But I do I mean it's it's A24. It's kind of like Midsommar. You don't really know. Is this really happening? Or is this all in my opinion, I do think that it's all a part of Annie's mental illness. I because I I truly don't believe there would have been any other reason for that subtle detail about her mom having DID and like the family unit having history of all these mental disorders if it didn't mean something, if there was no significance to it. Unless you're trying to throw us on.

SPEAKER_01 27:12

Let me kind of it's kind of a question and a statement at the same time. But I definitely agree that she is going through something, and everything points to DID.

SPEAKER_00 27:24

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 27:26

I do not think it's Annie's DID.

SPEAKER_00 27:31

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 27:33

I think it's Peter's.

SPEAKER_00 27:35

You think it's Peter that has D.I.D.

SPEAKER_01 27:37

No, I know it's a kind of a small theory.

SPEAKER_00 27:39

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 27:41

Because Annie dies.

SPEAKER_00 27:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 27:44

We watch it happen. The only living person is Peter.

SPEAKER_00 27:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 27:52

It would almost have to be Peter. Because you gotta also look at it from that perspective as well, that a lot of this film is also from his perspective. We see a lot of what's going on in his life just as much as we are seeing what's going on in Annie's.

SPEAKER_00 28:08

Yeah, and I guess I can kind of see that, but I it is definitely something I will not die on.

SPEAKER_01 28:16

This is I it's just a theory.

SPEAKER_00 28:18

I don't think you're wrong, but I don't think you're right either. Because I I think it's both. Because I thought about that too. I think again, that's why there's so much emphasis on one hereditary. It's called hereditary, but just the mentioning of DID.

SPEAKER_01 28:41

Like oh, I I agree that we are experiencing both of their.

SPEAKER_00 28:46

I think there's both habit. But I think it's the whole movie itself, it does mainly focus on Annie, but I think toward the end, whenever he's King Payman or however the hell you say his name. Um yeah, I think either well, and then there's parts of the movie where he hurts himself because he sees himself as like a like he's looking at himself in his hutch in school and he's not smiling, and then his reflection is smiling. Almost like a demon, you know, and then he falls asleep in class and banks his own head on the on the desk and breaks his nose.

SPEAKER_01 29:22

Which very well could have been a seizure.

SPEAKER_00 29:25

Or it could have been altar. And that's why he don't rem he doesn't remember doing that himself. I think they're using sleepwalking and like if we're really see, I'm glad you I'm glad you said that because sleepwalking, but nobody mentions Peter's daydreaming. It's almost kind of like Annie's thing is sleepwalking, but he constantly is daydreaming in school. But if you but then again you gotta think. There's only he's only ever in one classroom in this entire movie, and what are the chances that this instructor in his classroom is one of the naked people that ends up in the freaking treehouse?

SPEAKER_01 30:15

Well, and for and with Peter as well, he he partakes in cannabis use throughout the film, which could suppress or enhance what's going on. So maybe it's not affecting him as hard as it's affecting Annie in the beginning because he was smoking. But after Charlie dies, he shuts off completely and everything goes down. And then when his mom wakes him up to try to do a seance to talk to Charlie, I think that's the moment in the film where we switch from seeing her DID to now we're watching Peter's.

SPEAKER_00 31:02

And I knew there was a correlation between drug use, specifically marijuana and DID, and I had to look it up. Listen to this. So marijuana is significantly or significantly affects DID by often increasing dissociation, inducing depersonalization, and affecting system communication. While some users report improved communication, reduced anxiety, or easier switching, others experience dangerous rapid switching, increased paranoia, flashbacks, and worsened dissociation. All of those things Peter experiences. He experiences flashbacks when he looks up and sees his sister in the back of the car through a rearview mirror, but he's in his classroom.

SPEAKER_01 31:57

Yeah, and you can even consider when he sees her in the room before the ball drops on the floor.

SPEAKER_00 32:02

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 32:02

That could also be just seeing her in his room as a flashback.

SPEAKER_00 32:06

But then like the rapid switching, like he's sitting in his desk one minute, and then the next he's banging his own head on the desk. Increased paranoia. I mean, marijuana causes paranoia anyway, but can you imagine already having like a dissociative disorder? How that would I mean, underneath the football stadium. He's like having a panic attack.

SPEAKER_01 32:28

Right after he smokes.

SPEAKER_00 32:30

And and oh my god, I just got goosebumps, goosebumps. What does he say in that moment? What does he say? What are the words he uses?

SPEAKER_01 32:39

My throat feels like it's swelling.

SPEAKER_00 32:41

He says, My throat feels like it's getting bigger. Who else said those exact words verbatim?

SPEAKER_01 32:48

Charlie.

SPEAKER_00 32:49

Yep. What if he's what if he's switching right there?

SPEAKER_01 32:55

Maybe.

SPEAKER_00 32:58

That is crazy. Yeah, I'm I'm glad you brought that up because yeah, I I think DID just runs rampant in this family.

SPEAKER_01 33:06

Yeah, and then that's probably why it's so all over the place, is because and then you get this poor dad who isn't involved in anything when it comes to mental health-wise. I mean, he is a technically he had to look it up, but he is a therapist.

SPEAKER_00 33:22

He is a psychiatrist, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 33:25

Um which also just kind of fuels the the fire that we are watching a movie about mental health that is trying to disguise itself as a demonic cult film.

SPEAKER_00 33:46

Well, and this is also in the script, like the original script, but not in the movie, where um it's implied that the dad was Annie's psychiatrist before they got married. Why why would she need to see a psychiatrist other than, you know, obviously trauma? But if anybody for anybody who doesn't know the difference, like a psychiatrist can provide therapy services, but they are most known for prescribing mental health medications. Some provide a short, like a therapy session along in tandem with medication, but most places, you know, that you go to, if you're going to see a psychiatrist, you're going to prescribe medications. So besides, you know, maybe taking something for depression for a PTSD, what else would you take psych meds for?

SPEAKER_01 34:45

You know, that's a very good question.

SPEAKER_00 34:47

So I think I really wish that they would have kept that part in the movie and that they would have told you what he does in the movie.

SPEAKER_01 34:56

It almost feels very deliberate though. Yeah. Like this even the fact that they just took something out that could have been a simple two-second conversation and you wouldn't have to worry about it for the rest of the film. They decided to take it out completely. And I almost wonder if Ari did that on purpose because he knew that people like us would try to figure this film out. Yeah. And I almost feel like we need to in a year redo this episode and see what we come up with after we've been doing this a lot longer, and you know, everything's just gonna get better from there, but this was a really fun experience. Yeah. Apart from the horrific grief part of the film.

SPEAKER_00 36:03

And it does hit different being a parent.

SPEAKER_01 36:06

Yeah, I mean, yeah, it really does.

SPEAKER_00 36:08

Because like when we first watched it, we weren't parents, and then you watch it now and you're like, oh god, there's no way. There's no way in hell I could do that.

SPEAKER_01 36:13

Yeah, like I th I know exactly I mean, she's yelling and screaming and describing what she's feeling and like I just need to die, and I'm like, seems like that. Yeah, like I I probably would feel the same way.

SPEAKER_00 36:27

Yeah. But no, I thank you, Michelle, for you know, I guess pulling giving me the extra, you know, the ten foot one inch pole, if you will, to start the movie again. And then thank you to to you for you know, you, I'm looking at you, the other person talking in the mic. Um for making me watch it again. Because I I do feel like I think where I'm at in my career too, and doing what I do for a living, I think it made the movie more interesting for me and more 'cause if like for me, this whole experience, it's like if if I know I get to play therapist with my husband on a microphone for a little bit I'm gonna enjoy the movie because I get to play therapist because I love I love what I do. So I think kind of having that has like helped me watch this movie because I'm like, okay, I'm watching this from I'm watching this from a shrink's perspective, you know? Like I get I get to try and diagnose someone, cool, let's do it. Instead of like, oh this is just a stupid movie. Like it it's almost like gives me that motivation. It's my why, if you will.

SPEAKER_01 37:43

Yeah, yeah, and I I just like even, you know, just I'm pretty much I think I say it like every episode, but I love films and I love watching films, and I I love being able to experience somebody's story. And the more I I do this, the more I I think I realize in myself that I watch way too many films. But doing this and following a director's path and being able to finally sit down so far and say, right now, Ari Aster has not put out anything I have disliked so far. Hereditary was the very first one that I I hated it. It was I just but I wasn't looking at that film the way that I look at films now. Yeah. And it does not take away the love I have to watch. I honestly think it's actually enhanced it for me. Cause I'm even analyzing our kids' movies.

SPEAKER_00 39:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 39:09

And that's been extremely fun and realizing that there is a lot of good, incredible kids' movies.

SPEAKER_00 39:19

Oh yeah. And TV shows Bluey, shout out.

SPEAKER_01 39:23

You know, maybe maybe we can start diagnosing those for um like a Patreon thing. Who knows? I don't know. But I would definitely like to get some feedback from you guys. Anyone listening, if you could please like us, follow us, comment if there's an area where you're listening where you can give us five stars. And if it whatever you gotta do to get to a comment, and just let us know. I would really like to start hearing from you guys, and maybe we can start a segment where we can start getting emails from you. And we'll read them on the podcast, and we will have an episode on it, or we will do a few, depending on how long they are. If it's even if it's something that you want to be recognized for enjoying films as much as I do, or you're a therapist like my wife, and enjoy listening and having that conversation, and who knows, maybe have you on the show one of these days to help analyze a film with us. I mean, anything we kind of just can do whatever we want right now.

SPEAKER_00 40:48

Yeah, and I mean you can find us on Instagram, you can find us on um now Apple. You can find us on Apple now. I finally got that shit, you know, taken care of. But I also have my Instagram connected to my personal Facebook, um, and you can email us at splitscreenict at gmail.com.

SPEAKER_01 41:09

Yes, and please do. I would really like to hear from you guys and see how everybody's doing and um give out shout-outs to anybody who emails us or reaches out to us on Instagram, especially if you have a question or anything that can help. But I really appreciate you guys for being here and hanging out with us. And I had a incredible time watching this this film with you, and I cannot wait to continue. I will say, as kind of a future thing, A24 is coming up with a movie called Backrooms, and I simply cannot wait for that. I actually might request that day off from work so I can go see that in theaters.

SPEAKER_00 42:05

Am I invited?

SPEAKER_01 42:06

Yes, of course. But but I hope everybody's doing okay. Thanks for listening.

SPEAKER_00 42:15

I hope everybody had a good Easter and we will talk to you next time.

SPEAKER_01 42:18

Thanks, everybody.