Is Stephen Graham another bad boy in THE GOOD BOY?

Kermode & Mayo’s Take

Sony Music

Film Reviews, Film Interviews, Tv Reviews, Tv & Film

4.3 • 2.9K Ratings

🗓️ 19 March 2026

⏱️ 93 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Some exciting news—The Take is now on Patreon: www.patreon.com/kermodeandmayo. Become a Vanguardista or an Ultra Vanguardista to get video episodes of Take Two every week, plus member-only chat rooms, polls and submissions to influence the show, behind-the-scenes photos and videos, the monthly Redactor’s Roundup newsletter, and access to a new fortnightly LIVE show—a raucous, unfiltered lunchtime special with the Good Doctors, new features, and live chat so you can heckle, vote, and have your questions read out in real time. On this week’s episode of Kermode and Mayo’s Take, Stephen Graham joins us to talk about his new film The Good Boy. It’s an unsettling thriller where he plays a father fixated on a strange rehabilitation ritual for a violent young man who he takes in and…erm… chains up in his basement. Stephen chats to Simon about navigating the film’s darker emotional undercurrents, finding the human intrigue in morally murky territory, and being his usual lovely Liverpudlian self. You’ll be able to hear Mark’s full verdict on The Good Boy in this week’s show too, alongside a packed slate of other new releases. First up, Project Hail Mary finally lands—bringing big ideas, bigger stakes, and one very lonely astronaut to the big screen. Then there’s Ready or Not 2: Here I Come, which ups the ante on the original’s gleefully gory game of survival. And finally, Dead Man’s Wire, a tense thriller starring Bill Skarsgard that sees a desperate act spiral into a gripping standoff. Elsewhere, we’ll have all the usual Take treats: the box office top 10, a Laughter Lift that may (or may not) brighten your week, and your ever-wonderful correspondence. Thanks for listening! Timecodes: 00:00:00 Show starts 00:09:44 Dead Man's Wire review 00:18:12 Box office top ten 00:30:51 Stephen Graham interview 00:44:11 The Good Boy review 00:53:37 Laughter Lift 00:57:06 Ready or Not 2: Here I Come review 01:04:42 What's On? 01:09:21 Project Hail Mary You can contact the show by emailing correspondence@kermodeandmayo.com or you can find us on social media, @KermodeandMayo Please take our survey and help shape the future of our show: https://www.kermodeandmayo.com/survey 🌎 Get an exclusive 15% discount on your first Saily data plans! Use code [Take] at checkout. Download Saily app or go to to https://saily.com/Take ⛵ A Sony Music Entertainment production. Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts and follow us @sonypodcasts To advertise on this show contact: podcastadsales@sonymusic.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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1:03.8	This episode is brought to you by Mooby, the global film company that champions great cinema.
1:10.3	From iconic directors to emerging
1:12.1	hauteur's, there's always something new to discover. With Mooby, each and every film is
1:16.8	hand-selected so you can explore the best of cinema. Yes, a new to Mooby in the UK this
1:22.5	March is the brilliant, no other choice from Park Chanwick. If you're a regular listener
1:26.6	at the show, you will have heard me reviewing the film and raving about it, actually kind of struggling to describe it because it's a black comedy, it's a thriller, it's a social satire, it's about a man whose life starts to fall apart and he takes unreasonable measures to correct things. I was absolutely fascinated by it. I thought it was a terrific film. And as I said,
1:50.2	it's coming to Mooby in the UK from March the 13th. You can try Mooby free for 30 days at mooby.com slash curmud and mayo. That's Mubi.com slash Kermudemayo for a whole month
1:56.6	of great cinema for free. There really is no other choice.
2:05.8	Before we begin, a quick reminder that you can become a Vanguard Easter and get an extra episode every Thursday.
2:08.6	Including bonus reviews.
2:10.4	Extra viewing suggestions.
2:12.1	Viewing recommendations at home and in cinemas.
2:14.8	Plus your film and non-film questions answered as best we can in questions,
2:18.7	Schmestians.
	...

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