The Movie Mull

Happy New Year… 2026 has arrived and with it the promise of great cinematic potential. 
Neil, Richard, Darren and Justin are putting the finishing touches to their Top Ten lists of favourite movies from 2025 in readiness for the annual review of the year podcast (coming out in a couple of weeks). While you wait for that episode, the gang got together to look ahead, rather than back, to consider the best movies heading our way in 2026.
From their most highly anticipated to those they feel have the biggest box office potential; the upcoming films which intrigue or baffle them. 
Listen in and then get in touch to let us know what movies you’re most excited about in 2026. 

Here on the mull, we're huge fans of the first two murder mysteries featuring the self-proclaimed "world's greatest detective" - Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig). And so, with the latest and third film of the series dropping on Netflix just before Christmas, we couldn't resist getting together to watch and talk all about it. 
As it's a mystery, the less you know going in the better - so we'd recommend watching the film first and then tuning into the episode to hear all about our thoughts.  

For our Christmas special episode this year, we thought you might not need to hear us talk about how amazing Die Hard is again... or how wonderful Muppets Christmas Carol is.  You know this stuff already, right?
Instead, in the grand tradition of UK TV seasonal specials, we're bringing you a quiz!! 
That's right, it's mulls versus mulls, with special guest quiz master, Amy Clayton, coming in to test their movie acuity and find out who reigns supreme in film geekdom.  
Listen in and don't judge us too harshly!! :)
Happy Christmas everyone - have a great one however and with whoever you celebrate and keep an eye on your podcast feed. We'll be back very soon with a look ahead to the great films coming out in 2026, and then in a few weeks time we'll have our full review of our favourite cinematic achievements of 2025.  

This week, our host Neil invites us to consider the role of the robot in movies.
Whether loyal droids, menacing cyborgs, sentient AI or giant mechs, whether comedy relief or terrifying villain, we talk about our favourite - and least favourite - movies featuring robotic characters from recent cinema releases to 20th century classics. 
As always, there was more to discuss than we could squeeze into one episode - so if you have a favourite robot character on screen that didn't get enough of a mention (or was missed out completely!), do let us know. We'd love to hear from you.

This week, the mulls are back with four more reviews to help you make those tricky decisions about what to watch next.
First up, Justin reviews the serial killer sequel - Black Phone 2.  Does it live up to the original which many of the mulls enjoyed back in 2021? 
Then, Richard catches up with Jake Johnson's directorial debut, the comedy thriller Self Reliance.  Originally out in 2023, it's now available to watch on Netflix.
Neil tell us all about the brand new comedy-tinged horror, Coyotes, starring Justin Long, which screened at FrightFest earlier this year and will be more widely available soon.
And, finally, Darren manages to see the highly acclaimed comedy-drama from Eva Victor - Sorry, Baby. Will it live up to the hype? (Spoiler: it's quickly become one of his films of the year!)
Listen in - and don't forget to get in touch and let us know what you've been watching recently. 
 
 

This week, our host Richard invited us to look back at the extraordinary screen history of a cinematic and comedy legend: Robin Williams. 
From his early ventures into film (such as Popeye and Moscow on the Hudson), to breakout hits like Good Morning Vietnam and Dead Poets Society, and then on through his incredibly prolific output in the 1990s and 2000s, like The Birdcage, Good Will Hunting and Insomnia... not to mention his iconic voiceover work... and much, much more. 
We loved revisiting such a rich and varied collection of movies, and we hope you do to! After listening, get in touch and let us know your favourite Robin Williams memory.

On this week's What We've Been Watching episode, the team have another four reviews for you - helping you to decide what to watch next!
We start off in horror territory with host Justin visiting 2016's Stephen King adaptation, Cell, starring John Cusack and Samuel L Jackson, and Richard heading to Sweden (most dangerous country in Europe according to the IMDB log line!) for 2017's The Ritual.
Then Neil tells us all about Good Fortune, the guardian angel comedy starring, written, and directed by Aziz Ansari, as well as featuring Keanu Reaves and Seth Rogen.  Finally, Darren wraps things up with a review of the latest film from director Paul Thomas Anderson - One Battle After Another - which stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Sean Penn, among many others. 
Listen to hear what we thought, and then get in touch to let us know your thoughts about these movies or anything else that you've been watching.

For this week's episode, we have the fourth of this year's special episodes recorded live at Grays Town Park Cafe - a great place for coffee, cake and plenty of (movie) chat!
This week's host Richard decided to use this episode to find out a little more about his fellow mulls and prepared 5 questions for us to answer:
If you could only watch one genre of movies, what would it be and why?
What is a movie that no one seems to talk about but you think everyone should watch?
What is a film that everyone loves, but you just don't get?
Which film sequel should NEVER have been made? 
What movie has the best ending?
Listen in to find out our answers, but we'd also love to hear your own! Get in touch and let us know... especially those films that have flown under the radar - we love a recommendation!

"Paris is always a good idea," said Audrey Hepburn.  And who are we to disagree?  
This week's host, Darren, is taking his fellow mulls on a (sadly imaginary) world tour to visit some of the globe's great movie locations.  And what better place to start than the city of light, romance and great food: Paris.  
Together, the mulls share their favourite movies that take place in the city, and -  alongside some listener responses - share what has been collectively voted as the greatest Parisian movie of all time.  
But did we get it wrong?  After listening, we'd love to hear about your favourite Paris movies... as well as any other world locations that you think we should stop off at in future episodes of the pod.
Until next week - au revoir!

This week the mulls are back with four more reviews for you of films that can be seen at your local cinema as well as via streaming.  
First up, Justin tells us all about the Dwayne Johnson starring biopic of UFC fighter Mark Kerr: The Smashing Machine.
After that, Neil reviews the new Darren Aronofsky film - a crime thriller starring Austin Butler and Zoe Kravitz - Caught Stealing. 
Next up, Darren has seen Steve - available now on Netflix.  This is the latest film collaboration between director Tim Mielants and Cillian Murphy who plays the eponymous character in this adaptation of Max Porter's novel 'Shy'.  
To wrap things up, we head out on a luxury cruise with Keira Knightley and Guy Pearce.  Richard shares his views on this latest mystery novel movie adaptation with a title that starts 'The Woman in...'!  This one is The Woman in Cabin 10 - and is also available to watch now on Netflix. 
After listening, use the comments or find us on social media to let us know what you thought about any of these films - or what you've been watching recently.