The Homeward Film Podcast

In late August, Josh and Othneil reunited (over Zoom) to record a belated Top 10 of 2024. It's finally ready for release, just in time for the rest of the film world to celebrate 2025, but we think it's fitting to celebrate the incredible film year that  was , before diving into what we loved about the one that is . (Also, yes, after much ado in the episode about 2025 lacking Great films...

Josh & Othneil brave the wilderness (and a heated disagreement about the central character's motivations!) in one of the best films of 2024 - Danish director Nikolaj Arcel's masterful frontier tale The Promised Land.

Season 2 is here! Josh and Othneil explore a Bhutanese film about the advent of Democracy in the country, through the eyes of a rural community, the government agents attempting to hold a mock election, and a local monk who believes that sending his apprentice to find guns will "make things right". 

Josh (in SC) and Othneil (in OH) continue the podcast from afar as they discuss Kelly Reichardt's new film Showing Up, a quiet character study about the social, familial, and mental struggles of a Portland sculpture artist.

Othneil and Josh break the hiatus with one of the year's most fascinating indie films - a speculative, intimate, micro-budget sci-fi tale about the (possible) future of crime and consciousness.  (TW: Film contains intense discussions of child abuse, and we mention this in the episode.)

Josh and Othneil discuss bar mitzvahs, murder, homesteading,  Spielberg, aliens, orchestras, and Everything else.

Othneil and Josh share their honorable mentions and their #10 through #6 films of the past film year - plus, a few bonus questions!

It's a COVID episode! Over Zoom, Othneil (sick) and Josh (not sick) chat about this new and surprisingly introspective Dreamworks adventure! Audio quality is not the best on this one due to recording at different locations etc., but we hope you enjoy anyway!

Brazil is at it again (creating great films)! Josh and Othneil discuss a (non-science-fiction!) film about the everyday struggles of a working-class family navigating an entire planet's worth of relational, social, and economic shock waves.  NOTE: We recorded this before Brazil's "January 6th", which is why we don't reference it. Also, as we record right after the film and...

Othneil & Josh react to one of the most surprising films of the year - an ostensibly family-aimed film that covers a massive range of social and philosophical territory. But of course, we'd expect nothing less from Guillermo Del Toro.

Josh and Othneil discover the keys to friendship, civil resistance,  and possibly even parenting, as they discuss this delightful indie comedy from British comedians David Earl and Chris Hayward.

Othneil and Josh discuss their favorites of 2022 so far!  We also share our least favorite film of the year and our 3 most anticipated from the months to come. (It's important to note we recorded this in September, meaning some of the "anticipated films" have now been released). 

Josh gets Othneil to watch a party movie (because it's not a party movie).

Vengeance, grief, trauma, and causality - Othneil and Josh discuss all of these and more as they explore the 2021 film Riders of Justice. The film is currently available on Hulu (at the time of publishing).

 Nitram is an Australian character study that depicts the  personal descent and harrowing circumstances which led to one of the nation's darkest days.  Content Warning: It's important to note film is a true story that deals with gun violence and domestic terrorism that may be triggering to some, especially in light of recent mass shootings in the United States. We recorded before this re...

Josh and Othneil discuss horror and the immigrant experience in 2020's His House.

Othneil and Josh discuss a comedy documentary made by a daughter-father team, designed to celebrate his life before he loses his memories to dementia.  In the latter half of the episode, we discuss the 2021 Oscar season and our favorite films of 2020!

Josh and Othneil's first episode! Here, we discuss the 2019 (2020 US) Brazilian film Bacurau. Imperialism, corruption, cycles of violence, and flying saucers ensue! We do get into spoilers pretty quickly, so here's your warning. Spoilers for Parasite as well.