Total Recall

Unspooled

Paul Scheer & Amy Nicholson

Tv & Film, Film Reviews

4.5 • 5K Ratings

🗓️ 16 April 2026

⏱️ 77 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Paul and Amy jack into Total Recall, the gonzo sci-fi that turned a memory implant into a full-blown identity crisis. From Arnold Schwarzenegger’s forceful push to bring it to life to Verhoeven's mind-bending twists, they unpack the film’s practical-effects spectacle, its biting satire of power and propaganda, and the question at the center of it all: is any of this real, or just the perfect vacation? You can join the Unspooled conversation on Paul’s Discord at https://discord.gg/ZwtygZGTa6 Follow Paul and Amy on Letterboxd for more of their movie hot takes! https://letterboxd.com/paulscheer/ https://letterboxd.com/theamynicholson/ Paul’s book Joyful Recollections of Trauma is out now! Find it at https://www.harpercollins.com/products/joyful-recollections-of-trauma-paul-scheer Check out more of Paul's writing on his Substack https://substack.com/@paulscheer Episodic Art by Kim Troxall: https://www.unspooledart.com/ Learn more about the show at Unspooledpod.com, follow us on Twitter @unspooled and on Instagram @unspooledpod, and don’t forget to rate, review & subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or where you listen to podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	The year is 1990.
0:03.0	Now this is the plan.
0:06.0	Get your ass to Moss.
0:08.0	Then go to the Hilton and flash that Brupé Guy at the desk.
0:11.0	That's all there's to it.
0:13.0	I'm counting on you, buddy.
0:15.0	Don't let me down.
0:17.0	The film, Total Recall.
0:19.0	Oh, I'm so on the The film, Total Recall. Hello, everyone, and welcome to Unspooled.
0:32.6	Yes, welcome to Unspooled. This is a podcast about good movies, critical hits, fan favorites, mustsies, and in case you missed them.
0:42.8	We have checked off the AFI top 100, and now we are checking off movies from three major lists.
0:48.5	The Letterbox top 250 films with the most fans, the IMDB top 250, and the New York Times 1,000 essential films.
0:57.3	And you know what? We also will be chasing our own curiosity as well. We've gotten into this
1:03.1	wormhole of, is this life that we're living real? We talked about the Truman Show, and that led us
1:10.0	into a conversation about this
1:11.8	Paul Verhoeven classic. So that's what brings us here today. I am Paul Shear. I am an actor,
1:18.1	writer and director, and I have such a clear memory, Amy, of reading the Total Recall novelization,
1:24.8	which I thought was the actual text that total recalls based on when I was
1:33.9	home with chicken pox. And what's so funny is it is based on a book, but I read the novelization
1:40.8	of the movie, not the actual book. Well, only one of them has a lady with
1:45.1	three breasts, although Philip K. Dick did have women who just, instead of wearing shorts,
1:48.7	painted their breasts and changed them different colors from orange to blue. So at least there
	...

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