As often as possible, Animus founder and editor Elena Lazic catches up from London with her twin Manuela, who can usually be found across the pond in Paris. Expect animated conversations about cinema, digressions into unrelated topics, and trivial facts from our personal lives. Do NOT expect to immediately be able to tell us apart.
Hard Truths is made possible by True Cinephile paying members who, for £3.50/month or £35/year, access all instalments of the advice column for cinephiles Psycho., all eps of The French Dispatch podcast, and more: https://animus-magazine.ghost.io/#/portal/signup
In this catch up episode, Elena and Manuela discuss Dolly Parton and the fantasies of 9 to 5 (Colin Higgins, 1980), the undeniably dystopian One Night Only (Will Gluck, 2026), the butt of the joke in Nathan Fielder’s The Rehearsal (2022-), trust in Oasis of Fear (Umberto Lenzi, 1971), stifling social codes in La Règle du jeu (Jean Renoir, 1939), identity and choices in At Close Range (James Foley, 1986), and much more.
Hard Truths is an Animus film podcast. As often as they can, Animus founder and editor Elena Lazic catches up from London, UK, with her twin Manuela, who can usually be found across the pond in Paris. Expect animated conversations about cinema, digressions into unrelated topics, and trivial facts from our personal lives. Do NOT expect to immediately be able to tell us apart.
16 Sept 2026
Obsession / Bad Timing
When Curry Barker’s Obsession (2025) came out in cinemas a few months ago, a small debate emerged online about audience reactions and the director’s intentions. Was this a film about dating a “crazy” girlfriend, or about misogynistic fantasies of domination and control? Although most online discourse could do with more nuance, in this case it is important to be categorical: Obsession is unambiguously a film about a r*pist.
A few weeks after the film came out, Elena happened to organise a screening of Nicolas Roeg’s masterpiece Bad Timing (1980), and she noticed a parallel with Obsession: here too, the male protagonist thinks he is the good guy, even as he psychologically and physically tortures the woman he is with. But even more striking was a Letterboxd review from a user who seemed to misunderstand Roeg’s film in the same way that some people missed the point of Obsession: Bad Timing, to this viewer, was highly relatable as a film about the horrendous experience of… dating a “crazy” girl.
In this episode, Elena and Manuela discuss the ways in which Barker’s and Roeg’s films approach a painful topic, wrongfoot their audience, and progressively give viewers the information they need to understand what is really going on.
Hard Truths is an Animus (https://animus-magazine.ghost.io/) film podcast. As often as they can, Animus founder and editor Elena Lazic catches up from London, UK, with her twin Manuela, who can usually be found across the pond in Paris. Expect animated conversations about cinema, digressions into unrelated topics, and trivial facts from our personal lives. Do NOT expect to immediately be able to tell us apart.
2 Jul 2026
Bologna catch-up
Elena and Manuela try on a looser podcasting style in Bologna, at Il Cinema Ritrovato. Among the topics they cover are: Curry Barker’s Obsession and Kane Parsons’ Backrooms, libraries, file sharing, budding cinephiles, Ari Aster’s Beau is Afraid, F.W. Murnau’s Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans, and much more.
Hard Truths is an Animus (https://animus-magazine.ghost.io/) film podcast. Every other week, Animus founder and editor Elena Lazic catches up from London, UK, with her twin Manuela, who can usually be found across the pond in Paris. Expect animated conversations about cinema, digressions into unrelated topics, and trivial facts from our personal lives. Do NOT expect to immediately be able to tell us apart.
4 May 2026
Peter Weir
As Elena’s season Finding Your Way: The Films of Peter Weir (https://whatson.bfi.org.uk/Online/default.asp?BOparam::WScontent::loadArticle::permalink=peter-weir&BOparam::WScontent::loadArticle::context_id=) was winding down at the BFI Southbank in London, she joined Manuela to talk some more about the cinema of this fascinating Australian filmmaker, from Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, to Fearless, Witness to Gallipoli, Dead Poets Society to The Truman Show and more.
Hard Truths is an Animus (https://animus-magazine.ghost.io/) film podcast. Every other week, Animus founder and editor Elena Lazic catches up from London, UK, with her twin Manuela, who can usually be found across the pond in Paris. Expect animated conversations about cinema, digressions into unrelated topics, and trivial facts from our personal lives. Do NOT expect to immediately be able to tell us apart.
Hard Truths is made possible by True Cinephile (https://animus-magazine.ghost.io/#/portal/signup) paying members who support all things Animus by paying £3.50/month or £35/year.
27 Feb 2026
Maurice Pialat
French filmmaker Maurice Pialat initially wanted to be a painter. He did not fulfil that dream, and it’s hard not to trace at least part of his legendary anger and bitterness back to this early frustration. Centred on protagonists who can be brutal with one another as they cope with violent waves of emotion, his films are nevertheless marked by undeniable beauty and heartbreaking gentleness. They have the same gripping immediacy and moving grace as works by some of his most cherished artists, chief among them Vincent Van Gogh – and Pialat’s biopic of the Dutch painter may well be his masterpiece. In this long gestating episode, Elena and Manuela get emotional talking about the work of one of their favourite film directors.
Hard Truths is an Animus (https://animus-magazine.ghost.io/) film podcast. Every other week, Animus founder and editor Elena Lazic catches up from London, UK, with her twin Manuela, who can usually be found across the pond in Paris. Expect animated conversations about cinema, digressions into unrelated topics, and trivial facts from our personal lives. Do NOT expect to immediately be able to tell us apart.
Hard Truths is made possible by True Cinephile (https://animus-magazine.ghost.io/#/portal/signup%E2%81%A0) paying members who, for £3.50/month or £35/year, access all instalments of the advice column for cinephiles Psycho. two days early, and more.
30 Dec 2025
The Before Trilogy
Hosts Elena Lazic and Manuela Lazic analyze Richard Linklater's Before Trilogy, exploring themes of love, destiny, and the nature of meaningful connections in an interview.
31 Oct 2025
Meta Chills
Film critics Elena Lazic and Manuela Lazic analyze films that blend comedy and terror, including *Man Bites Dog*, *Wes Craven’s New Nightmare*, and *High Tension*, in a discussion about meta-narratives.
1 Oct 2025
Joachim Trier
Hosts Elena Lazic and Manuela Lazic examine the filmography of director Joachim Trier, focusing on "Oslo, August 31st," "The Worst Person in the World," and "Sentimental Value," in this film analysis episode.
7 Sept 2025
Jukebox; or, You’re Not the Only One With Problems
Hosts Elena Lazic and Manuela Lazic explore men's pain and entitlement in films like Sidney Lumet's The Offence, Milton Moses Ginsberg's Coming Apart, and Darren Aronofsky's Caught Stealing.
26 Aug 2025
Julia Ducournau
Elena Lazic and Manuela Lazic explore the shocking yet insightful cinema of French director Julia Ducournau, discussing her unique approach to filmmaking.
27 Jul 2025
Ari Aster
Film critics Elena Lazic and Manuela Lazic analyze Ari Aster's filmography, including *Beau Is Afraid*, *Hereditary*, and *Midsommar*, and preview his upcoming neo-western *Eddington* in this interview episode.
13 Jul 2025
‘F1’ and ‘Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning’
Elena Lazic and Manuela Lazic analyze the cinematic value and moral compromises of the summer blockbusters *F1* starring Brad Pitt and *Mission: Impossible* starring Tom Cruise in this film podcast episode.
29 Jun 2025
Il Cinema Ritrovato
Podcast hosts Elena Lazic and Manuela Lazic explore Il Cinema Ritrovato film festival in Bologna, Italy, and discuss the timeless theme of the plight of women in films, ranging from 1925 to 1977; this is a discussion episode.
16 Jun 2025
Love Hurts: Four by Max Ophüls
Hosts Elena Lazic and Manuela Lazic analyze director Max Ophüls' films, including *Letter from an Unknown Woman*, exploring his views on passion, suffering, and the beauty of life amidst heartbreak in this interview episode.
1 Jun 2025
Bleak Week: London
Hosts Elena Lazic and Manuela Lazic analyze three films—THE LAST LAUGH, HENRY: PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL KILLER, and BREAKING THE WAVES—featured in the UK edition of Bleak Week, exploring themes of despair in cinema; this is a discussion episode.
15 May 2025
'Sinners'
This third episode of Hard Truths, about Ryan Coogler's Sinners, is a lot less about twins than we expected — but that's only because the film is so rich. Elena and Manuela talk about Coogler's far-reaching vision for the possibilities of IMAX and cinema in general, his handling of tone and genre, and much more.
Hard Truths is an Animus (https://animus-magazine.ghost.io/) film podcast. Every other week, Animus founder and editor Elena Lazic catches up from London, UK, with her twin Manuela, who can usually be found across the pond in Paris. Expect animated conversations about cinema, digressions into unrelated topics, and trivial facts from our personal lives. Do NOT expect to immediately be able to tell us apart.
Hard Truths is made possible by True Cinephile (https://animus-magazine.ghost.io/#/portal/signup) paying members who, for £3.50/month or £35/year, access all instalments of the advice column for cinephiles Psycho. two days early, and more.
1 May 2025
Three Westerns
In this second episode of Hard Truths, Elena and Manuela discuss three fantastic, very different films, all of them westerns: FORTY GUNS (Sam Fuller, 1957), THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE (John Ford, 1962), and RIDE LONESOME (Budd Boetticher, 1959). They recently screened in Paris as part of the Cinémathèque Française season “Le Western, en 25 films indispensables”, which ran from 9 to 27 April. Whether you love westerns or have never seen any, we hope this episode makes you excited to watch a few and gives you some idea of the genre’s variety.
The programme for the Cinémathèque Française season “Le Western, en 25 films indispensables”: https://www.cinematheque.fr/cycle/le-western-en-25-films-indispensables-1364.html (https://www.cinematheque.fr/cycle/le-western-en-25-films-indispensables-1364.html)
Terrence Rafferty’s essay on RIDE LONESOME and the Ranown cycle, for Criterion: https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/7487-the-shock-of-the-old-seven-men-from-now-and-the-ranown-cycle (https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/7487-the-shock-of-the-old-seven-men-from-now-and-the-ranown-cycle?srsltid=AfmBOopK5QBn6N1-NtGKC5qyCqYLavGIrTT1rdC9u_OzWztDxnoFdWyk)
Hard Truths is an Animus film podcast. Every other week, Animus founder and editor Elena Lazic catches up from London, UK, with her twin Manuela, who can usually be found across the pond in Paris. Expect animated conversations about cinema, digressions into unrelated topics, and trivial facts from our personal lives. Do NOT expect to immediately be able to tell us apart.
Hard Truths is made possible by True Cinephile paying members who, for £3.50/month or £35/year, access all instalments of the advice column for cinephiles Psycho. two days early, and more: https://animus-magazine.ghost.io/#/portal/signup (https://animus-magazine.ghost.io/#/portal/signup)
17 Apr 2025
‘Holy Cow’ and ‘Misericordia’
In the first episode of Hard Truths, we come up with the name of the podcast on the spot, and go on to discuss two differently delightful French films, both of which stand out from the usual French output for being set in the countryside: Alain Guiraudie’s MISERICORDIA, and Louise Courvoisier’s HOLY COW. Both films premiered at the 2024 edition of the Cannes Film Festival: MISERICORDIA in Cannes Premiere, HOLY COW in Un Certain Regard.
MISERICORDIA is released in the UK via New Wave Films, in the US via Sideshow and Janus Films.
HOLY COW is now in UK and Irish cinemas via Conic Films, and in the US via Zeitgeist Films.
Hard Truths is made possible by True Cinephile paying members who, for £3.50/month or £35/year, access all instalments of the advice column for cinephiles Psycho., all episodes of The French Dispatch podcast, and more: https://animus-magazine.ghost.io/#/portal/signup
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
2 ratings
Spotify
5.0 / 5
5 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 8 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
16
Social presence
0
YouTube
0
Engagement
0
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Guest appearances
Does not typically book guests
Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.
Questions about Hard Truths - an Animus film podcast
Who hosts Hard Truths - an Animus film podcast?
Elena Lazic and Manuela Lazic host the show. Published by Animus Magazine.
How often do new episodes come out?
The show publishes monthly, based on its RSS feed.
Does Hard Truths - an Animus film podcast take guests?
The show does not typically feature guests, based on episode analyses.
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