Blank Check with Griffin & David
Episode: The Last Wave with BenDavid Grabinski
Release Date: March 22, 2026
Guest: BenDavid Grabinski
Main Theme:
A deep-dive into Peter Weir’s enigmatic 1977 film The Last Wave, its place in Weir’s career, and its uncanny blend of existential dread, colonial critique, and cosmic horror, all filtered through the hosts’ trademark blend of rapid-fire banter, meta film nerdery, and personal digressions.
Episode Overview
The Last Wave marks Peter Weir’s third feature and the subject of this installment in the “Podnik at Hanging Cast” miniseries. Griffin, David, and returning guest BenDavid Grabinski unpack the film’s haunting atmosphere, its unique approach to genre, and its peculiar spot in both Australian cinema and international film culture.
The conversation (which remains light in tone despite the film’s heavy themes) jumps playfully between insightful analysis of the film’s craft, its allegorical power, Peter Weir’s biography, cult movie tangents, and the trio’s personal obsessions—from VHS group watches to New York City trivia to the perpetual wetness ranking of movies.
Key Discussion Points and Insights
1. Accents, Wet Movies, and Initial Banter
-
[00:05–08:21]
The episode opens with comedic riffing on Australian/South African accents (Richard Chamberlain’s character origins), digressions about movie “wetness”, and an extended inside-joke about titles featuring “The Last,” which leads into The Last Wave.
- Memorable Quote:
- “Only so many movies where it rains inside, you know? ...But it rains inside. In this movie, many times.” (David Sims, [07:10])
- “Waters the villain.” (BenDavid Grabinski, [07:21])
-
[11:13]
Ben texts: “Y’all. This movie wet as hell.”
2. Respect for Peter Weir & Why The Last Wave?
-
[13:20–37:28]
BenDavid explains his emotional connection to Weir and how The Last Wave hit a nerve (via a Richard Kelly/Donnie Darko rabbit hole, and his upbringing in apocalyptic-obsessed Christianity), framing the film as a rare masterpiece of mounting dread.
- Notable Quotes:
- “Growing up super Christian... they made you feel 24/7 like the world was going to end at any moment.” (BenDavid, [37:04])
- “This movie is kind of about the peeling back of a Judeo Christian societal structure that was imposed upon a stolen land.” (Griffin, [38:31])
- “It's a little bit about whatever's up with his bland ass as well as the wider, you know, implications of colonialism.” (David, [39:38])
3. The Last Wave and Its Place in Weir’s Career
4. Blurring Genre: Detective Story, Cosmic Horror, or Folk Mystery?
5. Aboriginal Collaboration and Cultural Care
-
[57:38–63:41]
Weir’s process: learning from Aboriginal co-stars (incl. Gulpilil), openness to re-writing and co-creating scenes to avoid colonial gaze/voice. They note reluctance to use real tribal symbols and emphasize scenes built around Aboriginal perspectives, notably the dinner sequence.
- “Everything you read... it felt like he was very open in that of, I can write the white man part of the movie. I do not want to impose something on here. You tell me what this should be.” (Griffin, [93:40])
- “Their, the law of their tradition superseded everything.” (BenDavid, [91:55])
6. Water as Cosmic & Cinematic Element
-
[72:05–76:05]
Filmcraft insight—discussion of Russell Boyd’s blue-washed cinematography, Weir’s intent to define the film visually as “cold” compared to Picnic’s “golden” palette, and the physical rain effects. Plus, analogies to the elemental dread of Ryan Coogler’s Wakanda Forever.
- “Water’s the villain... when the water is pulling out of the car radio. Just the eeriness of like water flooding through in places it shouldn’t with a looming dread.” (Griffin, [75:27])
7. The Plot, The Vision Quest, and the Ending
-
[88:21–118:14]
They walk through the film’s core structure: Chamberlain’s character is jolted into a mythic world via legal aid assignment, dream-visions, and a slow descent into literal and symbolic tunnels beneath Sydney. The ambiguous, apocalyptic conclusion (“the wave”) is unpacked and praised for its commitment to mood and uncertainty rather than literal resolution.
-
“The whole movie is the aboriginals warning him not to go deeper into this... The end of the movie is him literally just going down the rabbit hole, going so deep down the tunnel... and then he walks out and he sees a fucking wave. And you don’t know if it is in fact dream.” (Griffin, [123:39])
-
“At the end, he kills the shaman... he’s the one who’s in the wrong.” (BenDavid, [129:05])
8. Thematic Crossover With Other Weir Films
-
[100:05]; [128:09]
They identify a recurring Weir motif: a collapse or confrontation of reality experienced by a straight-laced, rational protagonist (e.g., The Truman Show, Fearless, Picnic at Hanging Rock).
-
“There’s exactly a little bit of a David Dunn thing in this movie of, like, maybe it wasn’t murder. Maybe it was just puddle drowning.” (Griffin, [120:01])
-
“They’re all sort of about the friction between cultures and realities placed very close together in one way or another.” (Griffin, [129:10])
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
- “This is a miniseries on the films of Peter Weir. I regret to inform you the miniseries is titled Podnik at Hanging Cast.” (Griffin, [21:45])
- “He leaves and sees a big wave.” (Sims, [116:25])
- “I do miss the era of someone being like, ‘This [franchise] sucks. Can you come up with something?’” (BenDavid, [134:00])
- “[The film is] a spiritual movie. It's ambiguous.” (Weir, cited by Sims, [64:23])
- “Water... generally cool.” (BenDavid, [135:32])
- Running meta-joke about inserting Stitch (from Lilo & Stitch) into every movie for a box office guarantee ([64:04], [64:16], [125:52], [131:01]).
Timestamps for Key Segments
- Intro/Accents/“Wet Movies” – [00:05–08:21]
- “Last”-titled movies banter – [08:07–11:13]
- Peter Weir’s early career / Why “The Last Wave”? – [13:20–37:28]
- Aboriginal perspectives / Collaboration – [57:38–63:41]; [91:38–94:10]
- Craft & Cinematography of Water – [72:05–76:05]
- Plot walkthrough / Ending Analysis – [88:21–123:39]
- Box Office Game – [136:23–144:58]
- Rodney Dangerfield, Nintendo sequels, etc. – [146:15–151:00]
- Subway talk – [118:07; 151:18–152:27]
- Promos (Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice, Scott Pilgrim, etc.) – [152:15–155:55]
- Final Thoughts / Rain Machine story – [135:43–136:21]
- Outro – [158:48+]
Additional Highlights
Tone & Style
The hosts strike a playful, self-lacerating, reference-heavy form, peppering critique with personal stories, inside jokes, and loving irreverence for both the subject matter and for each other. Their affection for Weir comes through even as they admit the film’s impenetrability and difficulty to pitch. Guest BenDavid Grabinski weaves in personal and creative connections, mixing vulnerability, hyperbole, and comedy.
Takeaway for New Listeners
This episode delivers a deeply contextual, digressive, and passionate exploration of Peter Weir’s The Last Wave—its ambiguously mystical narrative, critique of white rationalism and colonialist arrogance, and its unique atmospheric horror in 1970s Australian cinema. Through spirited tangents and affectionate teasing, the hosts champion Weir not as a “household name auteur,” but as a master of heady, disorienting, culture-clash cinema that rewards curiosity…and maybe a tolerance for getting a little wet.
“The Last Wave” in Summary (as told by the hosts):
“A movie about a white pragmatist who, through the legal defense of Aboriginal defendants, is forced to confront—through dream and reality—the existence of supernatural, cyclical disasters that colonial society has tried (and failed) to suppress, culminating in a vision (or reality?) of an apocalyptic wave. Less a whodunit than a film about allowing oneself to be unmoored from certainty.”
