Todd Haynes, May December, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, The Marvels & Saltburn

Simon meets director Todd Haynes to discuss his thorny, new offering ‘May December’, which stars the powerhouse duo of Julianne Moore and Natalie Portman, and tells the story of a seemingly perfect married couple’s marriage buckling under the pressure when an actress arrives to do research for a film about their notorious tabloid romance twenty years prior. Mark also weighs in on the film, along with giving his thoughts on ‘The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes’, the latest instalment of the dystopian kids franchise, which sees Rachel Zegler star as a defiant female tribute from the impoverished District 12; ‘The Marvels’, the second instalment for Brie Larson’s titular superhero Captain, which sees Carol Danvers get her powers entangled with those of Kamala Khan and Monica Rambeau, forcing them to work together to save the universe; and ‘Saltburn’, Emerald Fennell’s class-skewering psychological thriller, which she was on the show to talk about last week. Plus, Mark and Simon take us through the Box Office Top 10 and the film events worth catching in this week’s What’s On. Time Codes (relevant only for the Vanguard - who are ad-free!): 09:53 Hunger Games The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes Review 21:55 Box Office Top Ten 30:37 The Marvels Review 35:43 Todd Haynes Interview 56:26 Laughter Lift 01:00:15 Salburn Review 01:11:44 What's On You can contact the show by emailing [email protected] or you can find us on social media, @KermodeandMayo 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: [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices