The Next Best Picture Podcast

For this week's main podcast review, Josh Parham, Giovanni Lago, Larry Fried, and Ben Langford join me to review and discuss Curry Barker's "Obsession" starring Michael Johnston, Inde Navarrette, Cooper Tomlinson, Megan Lawless, and Andy Richter. The story follows a young hopeless romantic who breaks the mysterious "One Wish Willow" to win his crush's heart. However, he soon discovers that some desires come at a dark and sinister price. The film had its world premiere in the Midnight Madness section of the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival, where it received positive reviews for Barker's script and direction, as well as Navarrette's unhinged performance. What did we think of it? Please tune in as we discuss all of these points and more in our SPOILER-FILLED review. Thank you for listening, and enjoy!

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"The Wizard Of The Kremlin" is a 2025 English-language French political satire film directed by Olivier Assayas, who co-wrote the screenplay with Emmanuel Carrère. It is based on the 2022 novel by Giuliano da Empoli. It follows the fictional government official Vadim Baranov (Paul Dano) during the final years of the Soviet Union and the turbulent early years of the Russian Federation, as a young Vladimir Putin (Jude Law) rises to power. It also stars Alicia Vikander, Will Keen, Tom Sturridge, and Jeffrey Wright. Dano and Assayas were both kind enough to spend some time talking with us about their work and experiences making the film, which you can listen to below. Please be sure to check out the film, which is now playing in theaters from Vertical Entertainment. Thank you, and enjoy!

Check out more on NextBestPicture.com

Please subscribe on...

Apple Podcasts - https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/negs-best-film-podcast/id1087678387?mt=2

Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/7IMIzpYehTqeUa1d9EC4jT

YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWA7KiotcWmHiYYy6wJqwOw

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"LifeHack" is a 2025 British screenlife action thriller film directed by Ronan Corrigan, starring Georgie Farmer, Yasmin Finney, Roman Hayeck-Green, James Scholz, Jessica Reynolds, and Charlie Creed-Miles. It follows a group of friends who hack for fun, pranking online scammers. Seeking a bigger thrill, they target billionaire Don Heard through his daughter Lindsey's social media, stealing his cryptocurrency. It premiered at South by Southwest (SXSW) in 2025 and received positive reviews for its direction of screenlife, writing, editing, and performances. Farmer, Finney, Hayeck-Green, Reynolds, and Corrigan were all kind enough to spend some time talking with us about their work and experiences making the film, which you can listen to below. Please be sure to check out the film, which will be released in theaters on May 15th. Thank you, and enjoy!

Check out more on NextBestPicture.com

Please subscribe on...

Apple Podcasts - https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/negs-best-film-podcast/id1087678387?mt=2

Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/7IMIzpYehTqeUa1d9EC4jT

YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWA7KiotcWmHiYYy6wJqwOw

And be sure to help support us on Patreon for as little as $1 a month at https://www.patreon.com/NextBestPicture and listen to this podcast ad-free
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"Obsession" is a 2025 American supernatural horror film written, directed, and edited by Curry Barker. The film follows Bear (Michael Johnston), a music store employee who buys a supernatural toy and wishes for his childhood friend, Nikki (Inde Navarrette), to fall in love with him. The film premiered at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival as part of its Midnight Madness section, where it received positive reviews from critics. Navarrette, Johnston, and Barker were all kind enough to spend some time talking with us about their work and experiences making the film, which you can listen to below. Please be sure to check out the film, which will be released in theaters on May 15th from Focus Features. Thank you, and enjoy!

Check out more on NextBestPicture.com

Please subscribe on...

Apple Podcasts - https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/negs-best-film-podcast/id1087678387?mt=2

Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/7IMIzpYehTqeUa1d9EC4jT

YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWA7KiotcWmHiYYy6wJqwOw

And be sure to help support us on Patreon for as little as $1 a month at https://www.patreon.com/NextBestPicture and listen to this podcast ad-free
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THIS IS A PREVIEW PODCAST. NOT THE FULL EPISODE. Please check out the full podcast episode on our Patreon Page by subscribing over at - https://www.patreon.com/NextBestPicture

The Next Best Series Podcast is back as Alyssa Christian, Daniel Howat, and Megan Lachinski join me to discuss the latest series, shows, and awards season updates for all things television! On this new episode, we discuss the 2026 Gotham TV Award nominations and which of those nominees are in serious contention for Emmy award nominations. We also make sure to touch upon "Widow's Bay," "The Pitt," "Beef," "DTF St. Louis," "Half Man," "Bait," "Your Friends And Neighbors," and more! Please tune in as we go through our current Emmy predictions as of today, as we continue to catch up on the shows we believe will be in contention for this year's Emmys! Thank you for your continued support. We hope you enjoy this episode and all the others still to come this Emmy Awards season.

Check out more on NextBestPicture.com

Please subscribe on...

Apple Podcasts - https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/negs-best-film-podcast/id1087678387?mt=2

Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/7IMIzpYehTqeUa1d9EC4jT

YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWA7KiotcWmHiYYy6wJqwOw

And be sure to help support us on Patreon for as little as $1 a month at https://www.patreon.com/NextBestPicture and listen to this podcast ad-free
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