Hi, this is Dana Stevens, Slate's movie critic, and I'm here with a Slate Spoiler Special podcast on

Shudder Island, the new Martin Scorsese film. And here with me in the Slate studio is Troy Patterson.

Hello, Troy. Hey, Dana. Who is our beloved TV critic. And Troy, I'm very, very glad to have you

here to spoil this movie with me, although we didn't get to see it together, unfortunately, but this is a movie that really, really needs a spoiler special podcast.

Because in the review, essentially, you'll have to start giving away twists the minute you

start talking about the movie. It's that twisty of a plot. So listeners, you should just regard

this as my true review and whatever appears on Slate will be some sort of a trailer teaser for

the movie. So, Troy, first of all, what's your just emotional reaction to the movie? Like it,

not like it, recommend it, not? I like it with substantial reservations. That is, I think I like it.

But you don't know that you would recommend it? No, it's an eccentric film. Although eccentric

might even be slightly dignified but we'll

afford the movie some dignity because it's directed by martin scorsese i guess that the movie

succeeds on its own terms but those terms are pretty goofy right yeah i would agree with you i almost

feel like it's better on paper or maybe i feel sort of the reverse i feel like I couldn't really recommend it to people. I didn't enjoy it while I was

watching it, but I like thinking about it, and I'm looking forward to talking about it. It's a

movie that sort of reads better in one's mind or one's memory or on paper than I think it did

on the screen. And yet it's smart enough and tricky enough that I think some of my criticisms were actually answered and you know the rug was pulled out under from under me enough that at times arguments that

I was building up against the movie sort of came back to bite me and I think when we explain

the story you'll see what I mean do you want to start explaining the story and I'll jump in

uh why don't you explain the story since you, I saw this movie at the end of December.

Oh, that's right.

That would be unfair.

...