Welcome to the second Off the Record of 2026! This time, Stewart, Rastislav and Ken have an assortment of films and shows with timely topics.
Stewart brings us his feature review of 2025’s Oscar nominee Bugonia, directed by Yorgos Lanthimos. He was pleasantly surprised by this film’s conspiracy angle, involving aliens and the mass death of bees. Emma Stone as a “suit” is victimized by Jesse Plemons and Aiden Delbis, playing brothers who raise bees off the grid and believe that Stone’s company is bringing aliens to earth and consequently poisoning their bees.
Ken follows with a look at 2009’s US immigration drama Crossing Over, directed by Wayne Kramer. Harrison Ford, Cliff Curtis, Ashley Judd and Ray Liotta are some of the actors. Ken felt there were some story problems, but one sequence in a convenience store and a thoughtful examination of the immigration process help counter this.
Rasto then leads us to The Path, a 2016 Hulu series created by Jessica Goldberg. Aaron Paul, Michelle Monaghan and Hugh Dancy are the leads in this cult-themed drama; Rasto found Dancy’s performance worthy of particular praise. He enjoyed the examination of how different cults or sects operate and attract followers.
Starting into the lesser picks, Stewart shines (moon)light on 2020’s The Wolf of Snow Hollow, written and directed by its star Jim Cummings. Robert Forster, Riki Lindhome and Chloe East also star. Stewart doesn’t think this werewolf-themed comedy/drama is worth howling over, but appreciated the practical effects and unexpected creation of suspense during the daytime.
Ken’s lesser pick is another Oscar nominee and also immigration-themed, 2025’s One Battle After Another directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. Leonardo DiCaprio, Teyana Taylor, Benicio del Toro, Chase Infiniti and Sean Penn. Ken felt that Anderson’s quirky style didn’t mesh well with the examination of immigration and white supremacists; however he did enjoy the action and some of the performances.
Rastislav second cult-themed entry is unfortunately disappointing; the 2025 Netflix miniseries Wayward, created by Mae Martin and starring Martin alongside Toni Collette. Rastislav didn’t feel this Toronto-area set drama was as substantive in its examination of cult activity as The Path was, choosing instead to focus on topics that have already been looked at in better films.
