The Minimum Commitment: Film Theory in Small Doses

NOTE: This episode contains MAJOR spoilers. If you haven’t seen the film yet, you might want to hit pause and come back when you’re ready.John Milius’s Conan the Barbarian is more than just a sword-swinging adventure; it is a myth told through the power of muscle, blood, and silence. In this episode of The Minimum Commitment, we examine Conan’s epic journey through the lens of Joseph Campbell’s monomyth, then dive deeper into semiotics and formalism to reveal how concepts of power are crafted, challenged, and reshaped.Steel symbolizes strength. Flesh embodies belief. Fire signifies transformation.But what occurs when the myth turns its reflection back onto the one who wields it?Through sinister serpent cults, blazing resurrection fires, and imposing temples of obedience, Conan the Barbarian immerses us in a brutal world where the gods fall silent, leaving only the indomitable will to survive to carve out the story..Recommended Reading:“Myths to Live By” by Joseph CampbellA powerful collection of essays that explores how ancient mythologies continue to shape human behavior, belief systems, and cultural identity. Campbell’s work offers a vital framework for understanding how films like Conan the Barbarian reinterpret classical motifs for modern audiences.

NOTE: This episode contains MAJOR spoilers. If you haven’t seen the film yet, you might want to hit pause and come back when you’re ready.Matthew Robbins’ Dragonslayer is more than a monster movie. It’s an elegy. A tale of collapsing systems, vanishing gods, and the quiet transition from wonder to order. In this episode of The Minimum Commitment, we explore how the film reflects the dying breath of magic in a world slowly overtaken by belief, power, and institutional control. Using structuralist theory and the lens of cultural hegemony, we’ll break down how symbols change as they pass from myth to machinery. The dragon is more than a beast, it’s a metaphor for the old ways. Ulrich’s death is more than sacrifice, it’s the extinguishing of mystery. And Galen doesn’t become a legend. He becomes a witness. One who understands that history doesn’t remember magic. It replaces it.Recommended Reading:“The Uses of Enchantment” by Bruno BettelheimA landmark work in myth and psychology, Bettelheim’s book explores how fairy tales help children understand moral conflict, identity, and cultural transition. For viewers of Dragonslayer, it provides insight into why stories of sacrifice, transformation, and magical inheritance still resonate, and what they teach us about the systems that raise and rule us.

NOTE: This episode contains MAJOR spoilers. If you haven’t seen the film yet, you might want to hit pause and come back when you’re ready.David Lowery’s The Green Knight offers a fresh and intricate retelling of a classic myth, weaving unfamiliar consequences into the narrative fabric. This episode explores the story through the lens of post-structuralist theory, presenting Gawain’s journey not merely as a straightforward triumph of courage but as a complex exploration of performance, fear, and the elusive construction of meaning. Through distorted symbols, fragmented timelines, and a world crafted from poetry and peril, The Green Knight compellingly reminds us that stories do not provide definitive answers—only a series of pivotal choices that shape our understanding and destiny.Recommended Reading:“The Postmodern Beowulf” (ed. E. L. Risden)Includes essays examining how mythic texts are reinterpreted in contemporary culture and media, including comparisons between Beowulf and The Green Knight.

NOTE: This episode contains MAJOR spoilers. If you haven’t seen the film yet, you might want to hit pause and come back when you’re ready. John Boorman’s Excalibur transforms the Arthurian legend into a mythic opera—grand, poetic, and soaked in metaphor. In this episode of The Minimum Commitment, we explore how the film uses visual spectacle and semiotic design to breathe new life into the monomyth, while also forecasting its collapse. Through the lens of post-structuralism and symbolic formalism, we’ll examine how Excalibur treats magic as a language—one that loses power as its users forget what their words mean. From Uther’s violent rise to Arthur’s tragic decline, Excalibur traces the failure of meaning itself: when myths are no longer believed, all that remains is theater.This isn’t just a story about swords and kings.It’s a reflection on what endures after the magic fades.A world still trying to rememberwhat the sword once stood for.Recommended Reading:“The Mabinogion”, translated by Jeffrey GantzA vivid collection of ancient Welsh myths and folktales that predate and inform the Arthurian legend. These stories offer a glimpse into the symbolic world Excalibur draws from—where swords, kings, and prophecies speak to deeper cultural truths. For anyone curious about the roots of Merlin, magic, and the shifting shape of myth, this is essential reading.

NOTE: This episode contains spoilers. If you haven’t seen the film yet, you might want to hit pause and come back when you’re ready.Robert Zemeckis’s 2007 animated film Beowulf offers a modern reimagining of the ancient epic, blending cutting-edge digital animation with a reinterpretation of traditional myth. The film presents a world where formidable digital bodies collide with fractured mythologies, revealing a story that challenges conventional notions of heroism. Beneath the dazzling golden armor and the shimmering illusions lies a narrative rooted in deeper themes of consequence and moral complexity. Using post-structuralist theory, this episode explores the legendary tale of Beowulf and how it begins to crumble under the oppressive weight of denial, temptation, and the silencing of multiple generations. We analyze how identity becomes fragmented under the pressure of mythic expectations and how the monsters we dread often symbolize the uncomfortable truths we refuse to confront or acknowledge.Recommended Reading:“Mythologies” by Roland BarthesA cornerstone of post-structuralist thought, Barthes dissects how cultural myths are constructed and what they conceal. Essential for understanding how stories like Beowulf sustain power by hiding the truth in plain sight.

NOTE: This episode contains MAJOR spoilers. If you haven’t seen the film yet, you might want to hit pause and come back when you’re ready. Jordan Peele’s film Us intricately deconstructs the American dream, portraying it as a distorted hall of mirrors that reflects the complex interplay of class, privilege, and identity. Through the meticulous use of symmetry, deliberate sound design, and compelling performances, Peele reveals the subtle horror of recognition — the unsettling realization that our deepest fears are not external threats or strangers, but the unacknowledged parts of ourselves. This episode explores themes of duality, the phenomenon of othering, and the film’s precise formal craftsmanship, which collectively form a social anatomy that exposes the underlying guilt and primal instincts of survival embedded in American society.At its heart, Us isn’t a story about invasion.It’s a story about recognition and the cost of pretending we’re not connected to what lives beneath us.Recommended Reading:“The Souls of Black Folk” by W.E.B. Du Bois. An essential exploration of “double consciousness,” a concept that deeply informs Peele’s portrait of divided identity.

NOTE: This episode contains MAJOR spoilers. If you haven’t seen the film yet, you might want to hit pause and come back when you’re ready.Ari Aster’s Hereditary is less a story about grief than it is about inevitability. Evil doesn’t stalk from outside; it festers within the walls of family, passed down like memory or blood. In this episode, we explore how the film dissects generational trauma, control, and the illusion of choice, using formal precision and psychological collapse to expose the darker side of inheritance.By the end, Hereditary reminds us that horror doesn’t need monsters or ghosts. It only needs a home and a family willing to repeat the pattern.Suggested Reading:The Family Romance by Sigmund Freud – A foundational text in understanding the psychological patterns that shape family identity and repetition.Dedicated to Ace Frehley. You will be missed.

NOTE: This episode contains MAJOR spoilers. If you haven’t seen the film yet, you might want to hit pause and come back when you’re ready.William Friedkin’s The Exorcist isn’t just a story of demonic possession; it’s a powerful and haunting collision of faith and reason set against a backdrop where the world seems to have forgotten how to accept and understand true mystery. This episode explores how the film forces both science and religion to confront the uncomfortable limits of their own understanding and beliefs. Using Regan’s possession as a visceral reflection of cultural doubt, spiritual crisis, and human suffering, the narrative explores the profound tension between doubt and faith. Through a postmodern lens, we’ll analyze how the institutions that once promised absolute certainty—medicine, psychology, and the Church—struggle and sometimes fail to make sense of the unexplainable, revealing broader questions about belief, knowledge, and the nature of reality.At its core, The Exorcist is not about a girl possessed by a demon.It’s about a culture possessed by doubt.Recommended Reading:“Faith and Doubt in the Modern World” by Charles TaylorAn insightful exploration of how secularism has reshaped the Western understanding of faith, belief, and transcendence, making it a perfect companion to Friedkin’s crisis of meaning.

NOTE: This episode contains MAJOR spoilers. If you haven’t seen the film yet, you might want to hit pause and come back when you’re ready.Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining isn’t merely a straightforward haunted house story; it’s a richly layered, postmodern exploration into a chaotic universe where traditional notions of meaning and perception continually dissolve and escape understanding. Through innovative cinematic techniques such as Fragmentation: a disjointed narrative structureHyperreality: blurring the line between illusion and realitySimulation: creating an artificial sense of authenticityThe ominous Overlook Hotel transforms into a haunting mirror of Jack Torrance’s fractured, unstable psyche. This eerie environment reflects his psychological unraveling in visceral, visual terms, emphasizing the instability of identity and perception. This episode examines the intricate interplay between Architecture: its oppressive, labyrinthine designPersonal identity: its fragile, shifting naturePrimal fear: core human terrorintertwining them into a labyrinthine maze that has no clear center or exit. This complex spatial and psychological structure embodies a universe where certainty is illusory, and ambiguity reigns supreme, immersing the viewer in a world devoid of stable ground or definitive meaning.

NOTE: This episode contains MAJOR spoilers. If you haven’t seen the film yet, you might want to hit pause and come back when you’re ready.Beneath the surface of shark attacks and summer screams lies a profound and thought-provoking film that explores the complex themes of institutional collapse, mounting disillusionment, and a society that has gradually lost its ability to understand and interpret the world around it. Spielberg didn’t merely terrify audiences with a monstrous creature; he masterfully illuminated the devastating consequences of cherished myths and perceptions failing to withstand scrutiny. The film serves as a powerful commentary on societal fears, the fragility of collective belief, and how the breakdown of institutions can lead to chaos and despair.

NOTE: This episode contains MAJOR spoilers. If you haven’t seen the film yet, you might want to hit pause and come back when you’re ready.John Carpenter’s Halloween revolutionized the horror genre not through an abundance of gore and shocking violence, but through its masterful use of quiet, subtlety, and atmosphere. This episode explores how minimalist techniques, extended long takes, and meticulous sound design work together to evoke genuine fear in plain sight, turning the mundane suburban landscape into the perfect backdrop for mounting dread. Additionally, we will analyze Laurie Strode's character through the lenses of gender and survival, exploring why the relentless, shape-shifting presence that haunts her becomes even more terrifying when it chooses not to run or react.Men, Women, and Chain Saws by Carol J. Clover The origin of the “Final Girl.” If you want to understand how horror films reflect gender and survival, this book is essential. Smart, sharp, and still cited in nearly every serious discussion of slasher cinema.

In Denis Villeneuve’s Arrival, the most profound discovery isn’t merely the revelation of extraterrestrial life, but the profound transformative power of language to fundamentally reshape our understanding of time, perception, and reality itself. This episode examines the captivating Sapir–Whorf hypothesis, highlighting how language shapes thought and perspective. It also highlights Amy Adams’ luminous and emotionally resonant portrayal of Louise Banks, a linguist caught between human emotion and cosmic mystery. Additionally, the film’s intriguing central paradox is examined: would we choose love and human connection, knowing fully well how our story might unfold in the grand tapestry of time?

NOTE: This episode contains spoilers. If you haven’t seen the film yet, you might want to hit pause and come back when you’re ready.In Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey, the director masterfully transforms the narrative of human existence into a profound visual language that encapsulates themes of evolution, advancing technology, and the mysterious unknown. This film episode meticulously employs pure imagery and soundscapes to portray the profound leap of humanity from primitive survival instincts to a state of cosmic transcendence and enlightenment. Every carefully composed frame is imbued with deliberate intent, and even the silence between scenes conveys meaning, creating a rich tapestry of sensory experience. By applying formalist techniques and posthumanist theory, we analyze how Kubrick’s exacting craftsmanship elevates a simple bone into a groundbreaking spacecraft, transforms an ordinary machine into a deadly killer, and depicts a journey that serves as a meditation on humanity's future trajectory and destiny in the universe.

NOTE: This episode contains spoilers. If you haven’t seen the film yet, you might want to hit pause and come back when you’re ready.This episode explores Interstellar, examining it through the complex scientific principles of Einstein’s relativity as well as the profound emotional humanism that underpins its narrative. Nolan’s expansive space epic masterfully bends the fabric of time and space, creating a mind-bending voyage across cosmic horizons. Yet, amidst the vastness of the universe, the story remains anchored by what truly matters—the enduring love we carry with us and the hope we send ahead into the unknown. In Interstellar, it becomes clear that what ultimately saves us isn’t raw force or technology but the depth of our feelings, connections, and hope that propel us forward.If you’d like to read more about Vivian Sobchack’s approach to phenomenology, her landmark texts are: • The Address of the Eye: A Phenomenology of Film Experience (1992) • Carnal Thoughts: Embodiment and Moving Image Culture (2004)Both works dive deep into how film is not just a story we interpret but a lived, bodily experience we inhabit.

NOTE: This episode contains spoilers. If you haven’t seen the film yet, you might want to hit pause and come back when you’re ready.In Logan’s Run, life is programmed to end at the age of thirty, a brutal societal norm that is unquestioned by its citizens. This episode explores the film from Michel Foucault’s perspective on biopolitics, examining how rituals surrounding death, a techno-theocratic government, and a society founded on artificially constructed belief systems serve as tools of silent control. The society manipulates perception, turning gentle light into an instrument of subdued authority. Obedience to these rules is mistaken for purpose, rebellion is deemed heresy, and death is transformed from tragedy into a ceremonial act, a dark celebration of societal order.

NOTE: This episode contains spoilers. If you haven’t seen the film yet, you might want to hit pause and come back when you’re ready.This episode offers a deep exploration of the movie Blade Runner, analyzed through Alison Landsberg’s compelling theory of prosthetic memory. Set in a futuristic world where memories are not naturally experienced but artificially manufactured, and personal identity is constructed from fictional narratives, the central question posed is no longer whether your memories are authentic. Instead, it asks whether the memories, regardless of their origin, feel sufficiently real to hold importance and emotional weight. In the world of Blade Runner, even if the soul is artificial and synthetic, the sorrow and human emotion it evokes remain undeniably authentic and profound.Learn more about prosthetic memory in Alison Landsberg’s Prosthetic Memory: The Transformation of American Remembrance in the Age of Mass Culture.

NOTE: This episode contains spoilers. If you haven’t seen the film yet, you might want to hit pause and come back when you’re ready.In Alex Proyas’ Dark City, reality is portrayed as a fragile construct, meticulously crafted and easily manipulated. Memory, within this dystopian universe, transforms into a potent weapon, used to control, deceive, or conceal the truth. This episode explores the film's themes through the lens of sci-fi existentialism, examining questions about the nature of identity when memories are deliberately altered, erased, or fabricated altogether. As John Murdoch begins to unravel the hidden truths embedded within the mysterious city, we are confronted with a haunting question: if all that you hold as memories are illusions, then who are you truly beneath the veneer of falsehoods?

NOTE: This episode contains spoilers. If you haven’t seen the film yet, you might want to hit pause and come back when you’re ready.In this episode, we explore the intricate tapestry of Chinatown, examining it through the provocative lenses of Marxist political theory and existentialism. Jake Gittes embarks on a labyrinthine journey, grappling not only with the pervasive corruption that envelops him but also unearthing a deeply entrenched system where the very notion of truth is rendered powerless. In this bleak landscape, justice assumes a haunting irrelevance, and the noble pursuit of righteousness ultimately leads to a chilling silence. In the world of Chinatown, resolution is not an outcome; it is a concession. The mysteries that Gittes confronts remain unresolved, leaving an unsettling void that echoes the futility of his quest for clarity in a place where shadows loom larger than light.

NOTE: This episode contains spoilers. If you haven’t seen the film yet, you might want to hit pause and come back when you’re ready.This episode dives deep into David Lynch’s *Blue Velvet*, a haunting film that peels back the shiny, sanitized surface of suburban life to reveal the dark, chaotic underbelly lurking beneath. We explore provocative themes of voyeurism, repressed violence, and the false veneer of innocence, analyzing how Jeffrey Beaumont’s tumultuous journey mirrors our own uneasy confrontation with uncomfortable truths. In the idyllic town of Lumberton, where birds serenely chirp and lawns are meticulously tended, the pervasive rot and darkness remain hidden just beneath the surface, waiting to be uncovered.

NOTE: This episode contains spoilers. If you haven’t seen the film yet, you might want to hit pause and come back when you’re ready.This episode explores the film Out of the Past, providing a detailed look at themes such as fatalism and the often complex, misleading nature of memory. We follow Jeff Bailey as he moves through different times, experiencing flashbacks, false starts, and fleeting moments of hope. In the end, we see that in film noir, history doesn’t just repeat itself. Instead, it pulls you deeper into its dark, unchanging grip, dragging you into its depths.