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All of it is supported by Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. In a small groundbreaking clinical trial, 100% of participants with a specific type of rectal cancer saw their tumors disappear using immunotherapy alone. Researchers at MSK are now studying this approach in cancers of the stomach, liver and more. And a majority of tumors are disappearing. For MSK Giving Day, all gifts will be tripled. Learn more@msk.org all of it.
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This is all of it on wnyc. I'm Alison Stewart. Today is the first full day of summer 2026. Let's talk summer movies. Will audiences show up for Christopher Nolan's epic take on the Odyssey? Or will Spider man swing back to the top of the box office with Brand New Day? But when it comes to film, there's one thing that's very different. This year we've seen moviegoers flocking to the cine to see low budget horror films made by gen zers like the hits Obsession and Back Rooms. To talk about it, we're joined by New York Times reporter and awards season columnist Kyle Buchanan. Hey, Kyle.
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C
Hey, Allison.
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B
So last week, Star wars, the Mandalorian and Grogu was projected to be number one at the box office when it opened. It did. But the following weekend, Obsession and Backrooms, it was behind them in terms of the amount of people who went to the theater. First of all, tell us what Backrooms
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C
and Obsession about Backrooms is about. These people who find themselves stuck in this kind of liminal space, this alternate dimension of hallways that seem to go on forever, that are governed by dream logic and, and they kind of have that feeling of like a really strange, eerie, abandoned break room at your job. And Obsession is about this young man who really would love it if his best female friend was as interested in him as he is in her. So he makes a wish on a novelty toy and you know, be careful what you wish for because she becomes so obsessed with him that anybody who gets in their way is in mortal danger.
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B
So as a reporter, what did you find intriguing about the themes and the tones of both of these films?
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C
You know, I think, I think both are very strong feature directorial debuts by these, by these directors. They're working in a format horror that's still of obviously resonates with young people because they are going in droves to see it. I do think that there's stuff under the surface that maybe speaks to things that feel particularly Gen Z or at least like speaks to the anxieties they have about relationships and the future and even capitalism. Those things are all sort of bubbling under, but they're also really effective movies that are made, you know, in a way that doesn't seem like they're talking down, that doesn't seem like they're franchise hand me downs as Star wars might have felt.
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B
Tell me about if you were surprised that they were as big hits at the box office as they were.
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C
I think everybody was surprised.
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B
Amazing when you think about how much money they made.
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C
Those directors and those studios not even in their wildest dreams, because we're seeing things happen at the box office that we haven't seen before. I mean, backrooms, for example. That movie outgrows absolutely everything that the Studio 824 has ever put out in 10 days. And. And to put that in perspective, that's films like everything, everywhere, all at once. Films like Marty supreme and Backrooms, you know, made it seem like it was no trouble at all. And. And then you've got Obsession, which truly we haven't ever seen films do things like Obsession has done, which it opened, you know, fairly well for a horror film. It made about 17 million and then it just continued to go up for several weekends afterwards, which is unheard of. Usually there's a little bit of attrition. You know, everybody goes and sees it the first week. But this indicated a power of word of mouth from Gen Z that I think all of Hollywood is going to be rushing to replicate because there had been some anxiety over can we get young people to go to the theaters? Maybe they're over them. There's TikTok, they're streaming. And I think these two films proved in a major way that young people want to go. You just have to give them a good reason.
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B
We're gonna play a clip from Obsession and we'll talk about it on the other side. As you said, the protagonist really wants this girl to like him. He's got a big crush on her. He makes a wish, but as she finds out, she isn't exactly quite herself. Once he makes his wish, let's listen and we can talk about it on the other side. This is from Obsession. You love me more than anyone in the world?
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D
Yes, more than anyone.
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B
Nikki?
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D
Yeah?
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C
Does your dad really have cancer?
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E
No,
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D
No, no, no.
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F
What?
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D
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Don't do that. I thought we were having a nice day. Why does it matter? I thought we were having a nice day.
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B
Okay, so this was shared on TikTok millions of times. They made a viral meme out of it. How much does social media have to do with the films. Like you said, it's a good film.
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E
But does it, Is it.
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B
Is that the way people are getting word of mouth about the film?
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C
Yeah, yeah, it is. I mean, I do think that the old fashioned ways still apply. You know, I know my niece and nephew went to go see it more than once because they had different friends who wanted to go and they said, hey, why not? Let's go a second or even a third time. But yeah, I'm glad you mentioned social media, Allison, because I do think it's a major part of the way that, you know, Gen Z consumes movies or even goes to the movies you want to go because you want to feel part of a cultural moment. And increasingly that is happening online. You're seeing people do TikTok reaction memes based on how they feel as they're coming out of, you know, an intense horror movie like obsession. So people want to get in on that. You know, they want to say, I'm taking part too. I'm not lost, I'm not. This cultural moment is not leaving me behind.
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B
It's sort of like the monoculture on social media.
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C
Yeah, it is. I mean, the thing that I would also liken it to is, you know how in New York people love to take a picture of their playbill when they go to the theater and post that. Like, yes, I too am seeing the big play or the big musical. This is like the Gen Z movie going version. And I. And I love it, and I love it for encouraging that movie love. The only thing I don't love is when they're doing it from inside the theater because we're seeing reaction videos as some of these moments go down in a crowded theater. And truly, you do not need to be creating your own content and making that moment all about you as people are trying to enjoy this film.
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B
It's interesting because coming up this summer are a lot of. You would normally call them sequels. Toy Story 5, Brand New Day, Supergirl, but Variety, somebody wrote a piece in Variety saying the words like reboot and remake and sequel have become kind of taboo. Why would sequel, reboot and remake become verboten?
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C
I honestly think it's part of the effect of these two films hitting in a major way. It's proving that young audiences want something that feels fresh. And I don't think that rules out, you know, major expected studio hits this summer. Toy Story 5 just opened and it opened to huge numbers. Spider Man, Brand New Day is going to be a significant hit. And that's sort of the Fourth film in that saga, but the million, you know, the umpteenth Spider man film that we've gotten. I do think that those two films, specifically Spider man and Toy Story 5, are still speaking to a generation and still sort of like giving a fresh reason for being that doesn't feel obligatory. But then you've got something like the live action remake of Moana, and I'm very curious to see how that does. I mean, you know, just recently, Lilo and Stitch, the live action remake of that made, you know, huge numbers, was a gigantic hit, and seemed to further this idea that Disney has, which could be, you know, interpreted as somewhat cynical of saying, okay, let's just make live action versions of all of our, you know, animated classics. Let's double dip. But in this case, they're doing it with a franchise that's still ongoing. And I wonder if that same, you know, generation that was so eager to rush out and be part of a new cultural moment with backrooms, with Obsession, might smell a rat in this case.
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B
It's interesting. I went to see Toy Story this weekend by myself. This is the fifth installment of that series. And I thought, and I looked around, there are people like 30s and 40s in the theater. And I thought that it dealt with a moment, whether they have kids or they know kids, because it's about tech invading the Toy Story universe, that it really spoke to adults and children.
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C
Yes, very much so. In fact, I'd argue a lot of the recent Pixar films have, you know, almost done away with the idea of metaphors to really directly talk to the anxieties about child rearing and also being a child these days. You know, if you look at films like Inside out two or Turning Red, I think a lot of these movies are trying to tackle that moment head on. And definitely, yeah, there were, there were moments just seeing the poor little girl get cyberbullied in Toy Story 5 that, you know, this is. This is a movie franchise, though it's ostensibly aimed at families that has its fair share of emotional or gripping or even harrowing moments. But still, still, that ranks right up there.
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Receiving. We're, We're. We are going through a summer movie preview with Kyle Buchanan from the New York Times. Hey, listeners, time for you to get in on the conversation. What movies are you looking forward to seeing this summer? Have you seen a film you can't stop recommending? Our phone lines are open at 2124-3396-9221-2433. WNYC. You're to all of it on wnyc. I'm Alison Stewart. Along with me is Kyle Buchanan from the New York Times. We're getting a summer movie preview from him and from you listeners. What movie are you looking forward to seeing this summer? Have you already seen a film that you can't stop recommending? Our number is 212-433-WNYC. 212-433-9692. We've talked about Spider man, we've talked about Moana. Let's talk about the Odyssey. This is really interesting. A gabillion year old storyline, yet Hollywood keeps coming back to it. Why do you think they keep coming back to the Odyssey?
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C
I mean, it's an epic for a reason. It's the original epic, really, this sort of one that so many things have drawn from. And I'm curious to see the Chris Nolan spin on this. You know, this is that director's first film since Oppenheimer. This is ostensibly a more sort of like mystical, magical story. But I'm sure he will tell it in his same sort of like grounded, visceral way. It's got this incredible cast. I mean, it would take me the whole rest of the broadcast to say everybody in it. But I'll give you pause, please. Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway, Tom Holland, Zendaya, Robert Pattinson and yeah, this is my most anticipated of the summer by far and I would imagine a lot of listeners as well.
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B
It's kind of interesting because I think Christopher Nolan is the director who said he doesn't use email.
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C
Yes. Which is not the same as saying he doesn't receive email. There's probably somebody else who's, who's reading them and telling him all about them. Yeah, Chris Nolan is sort of in that tradition of, I'd say James Cameron, you know, who directed Titanic and Avatar. And not just simply because, you know, they're major studio directors who make, you know, epic blockbusters, but because even though their films rely on, you know, incredible technology and all of this, there's also sort of like a phobia there, a skepticism. I kind of feel like that that juxtaposition gives their, both of their works kind of like this frisson. But yeah, for Chris Nolan to be as anti tech as he appears to be, I mean he's, you know, he's not, he's not glued to his iPhone, he's not playing Candy Crush. But also, you know, his films are incredibly top of line. Yeah, I kind of like that, that discordant feel.
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B
Yeah, me too. Let's talk to Ann calling from Elmsford, New York. Hi, Anne, thank you for taking the time to call. All of it. You're on the air.
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F
Oh, Allison, love, love, love your show. Everybody's got to go see the Sheep Detective. It's a British movie. It's feel good, it's well acted, it's well written. You laugh, you cry, and the end is a. Oh, didn't see that coming.
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B
Oh, wow, that was. That's great. Tell us about the Sheep Detectives. Exactly. Put that on the poster. It's like you didn't see that coming. Tell us about the Sheep Detectives.
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C
Yeah, the Sheep Detectives. It's in that tradition of films like Babe, you know, the, the talking animal films with heart. And it stars Hugh Jackman in the live action part, but also a whole bunch of sheeps. Sheep. Sorry, I didn't mean to pluralize that. I'm out of practice with my sheep terminology. One of which is voiced by Julia Louis Dreyfus. And they basically have to solve a murder. And what I like about this film is it's sort of what we were talking about with Toy Story 5 earlier, which is this is ostensibly a film aimed at the whole family, but at the same time, it's not afraid to kind of dive into darker and more troubling stuff. And I don't know about you, Alison, but I was raised on Disney movies that would screw me up, you know, watching films like Bambi and Old Geller.
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B
Mom Dies, Trauma.
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But, you know, sometimes you have to, sometimes you have to take a little bit of that and learn from it. And I do think that maybe after you know, a few, maybe a decade of children and family material, that felt sort of hands off, I'm kind of glad to see that these family films appear to be grappling with things again.
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B
The Invite, it's about a dinner party kind of gone sideways. When a couple struggling in their marriage invites their upstairs neighbors to come over for a meal or extra. Co writers Rashida Jones and Wilma Carmack were on the show last week. Let's listen to a clip of them and we can talk about it on the other side.
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E
I think it's about, you know, the big turns. Like we always had our eye on the big turns. That being the uncovering of a secret. The invite. The second invite.
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B
Invite squared. Invite squared.
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E
That's a sequel. Sequel, yes. And then. And unexpressed emotions. And also, like, you know, Will was saying the sort of like the heartbreak of like being in a long term relationship, plus seeing yourself as you are now in opposition to the person you were when you first met the person you were, you're with. And that. That sort of, like, unraveling through the course of an evening. Like, that's. That is emotional tension, you know, like, it's never going to be. It's not a jump scare movie, but it has this, like, really, this sort of like, bubbling tension because you're like, are they gonna make it?
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B
Are people gonna go see Polyamory in a comedy?
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C
Are people gonna go see a comedy, period? This is my big question, because this film was a major hit at Sundance this year, was bought by. Bought for a ton of money by A24, who just released Backrooms. It has a very starry cast. It's directed by Olivia Wilde, who stars alongside Seth Rogen, Edward Norton, Penelope Cruz, and it's quite the crowd pleaser. But can you get the crafts? You know, I think right now we're seeing this moment where it appears that people are really gravitating towards original films. And here you have one. But it's in a genre comedy, where I feel like that's kind of been consigned to streaming services. And it's going to be incumbent on 824 and everybody else to sell this comedy as an event, as something, again, a cultural moment that you're going to want to see and talk about and not be left out of. And I'm very curious and hopeful about whether they can do that.
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B
And finally, I wanted to end with Tony about Anthony Bourdain's early years.
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A
Cometstown.
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How does this film showcase a young Bourdain?
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C
It cast him with Dominic Sessa, who you might remember from his breakout role in the Holdovers opposite Paul Giamatti. I remember seeing him in that and thinking, who is this kid? He's fantastic. You know, not getting off the screen by Giamatti or by Davon Joey Randolph, who won the Oscar for that movie. And so I'm really excited, you know, not just because I'm interested in Anthony Bourdain, but I'm interested in, you know, this fledgling star, Dominic Sessa. And I think this is gonna give him a really meaty biopic role to dig into.
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B
And before we go, we didn't talk to you when you were at Cannes. Is there anything special from that festival that we should keep our eyes open for?
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C
Yes. Yeah. Two major movies that I think people are going to be really excited for. One is the Movie Club Kid. It's written, directed, and stars Jordan Firstman, who people might know from his Instagram comedy videos, but also the HBO series I Love la. It's about this gay club promoter who is reunited with a son he never knew that even existed, which almost sounds like kind of like a hackneyed premise. But it's really smart, funny, and was truly the crowd pleaser of Cannes. A24 picked it up. And I also really love this Spanish film called the Black Ball or La Bola Negra. Netflix picked that up. It's this incredible three story epic set against the Spanish Civil War. And I think that's gonna be a big Oscar player.
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B
I like that one. You danced when you said that, Nan.
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C
Yeah. Well, you got to. It's really good. And it's very musical, too.
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B
The New York Times, Kyle Buchanan, thanks for joining us.
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C
Anytime.