Kay Cannon's Blockers really surprised me. While I went in expecting a grossout comedy after catching the trailer (which caused Stevie to bow out), what I discovered instead was a sincere and sharply witty film about our attitudes to sex. 

Concerned more with the hang-ups of parents played by Leslie Mann, John Cena and Ike Barinholtz than their onscreen children (Kathryn Newton, Geraldine Viswanathan and Gideon Adlon), Blockers does indulge in scenes with bodily fluids flying hither and thither - but it's also an interesting investigation of the pressures we put on young women when it comes to sex. 

Next we discuss Alex Garland's long-awaited Annihilation, adapting the first novel of Jeff VanderMeer's The Southern Reach trilogy to the...well our smallscreen as it turns out. 

This episode we discover the playful (yet terrifically black) comedy The Death of Stalin from director Armando Iannucci. 

This is a fantastic piece of political satire that challenges the safe revisionism of historical dramas onscreen through the choice to have the actors use their actual accents. 

We also talk about the Marimekko exhibition currently on at Bendigo Art Gallery and Altered Carbon on Netflix.  

Also - let us know for an upcoming episode what films personally disappointed you. Email hopfriday@gmail.com, or drop us a line on social.