Homoerotic Boarding School.
April has been a month of alien slugs (Slither – listen), Universal Monsters (The Mummy – listen), disaster “comedies” (The Happening – listen), and character studies (One Hour Photo – listen). Horror Queers ushered in May with an underseen co-production between the UK and Australia: a bizarre little 2006 psychological thriller called Like Minds, written and directed by Gregory J. Read and starring the one and only Toni Collette.
In the film, Alex Forbes (Eddie Redmayne in his film debut) is arrested and questioned by police for the suspicious death of his schoolmate, Nigel Colbie (Tom Sturridge). Detective Inspector McKenzie (Richard Roxburgh) is convinced of Alex’s guilt, but he needs the help of forensic therapist Sally Rowe (Collette) to charge the teenager.
What begins as a simple case quickly spirals into a complicated backstory involving taxidermy, night trains, absent parents, and ritualistic murder. Can Sally trust Alex’s story that Nigel corrupted him? Or is the teenage boy a masterful liar who’s using her sympathy to get away with literal murder? Only the Knights Templar know for sure!
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Episode 385: Like Minds (2006)
Pack your taxidermy kit and catch the night train because we are discussing writer/director Gregory J. Read’s Like Minds (2006).
The film explores the Gestalt relationship that develops between two boys, Nigel and Alex (Tom Sturridge and Eddie Redmayne – in his feature debut) at a boarding school, as well as a series of murders that forensic psychologist Toni Collette (and her bangs) is investigating in the present.
It’s a wild ride, filled with way more bizarre shit than expected. Expect plenty of debate about what exactly is going on here! Big thanks to listener Rachel for bringing this odd little Aussie/UK co-production to our attention!
Cross out Like Minds!
Coming Up Next: We’re “celebrating” the 20th anniversary of Wolfgang Petersen’s Poseidon with a look at the 1972 film that kick started the disaster movie trend: The Poseidon Adventure.
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