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For this Out Takes, we reviewed a new Aussie musical that brings, the latest television show from Dan Levy and two of the local films on offer for ACMI Drag Week plus an interview for you with one of Australia’s favourite comic actresses and a global movie star. First up was ‘The Deb’, an original musical comedy about two teenage cousins who dig deep to find self-acceptance and a date to the Debutante Ball in a small country town in Australia. We thoroughly enjoyed this truly Aussie and wildly original movie musical that is also Rebel Wilson’s hotly anticipated directorial debut so who better to tell us about it than the star herself. Alaisdair caught up with Rebel online where they discussed why she wanted to tell this story, her musical inspirations, the importance of queer representation in this film and more. Next was ‘Big Mistakes’, the latest project from Dan Levy which is streaming now on Netflix. Described as a bold, new comedic family saga within a high-stakes crime thriller. Big Mistakes follows Nicky (played by Dan Levy) and Morgan (played by Taylor Ortega), two deeply incapable siblings who are in over their heads when a misguided theft for their dying grandmother accidentally pulls them into the world of organized crime. Blackmailed into increasingly dangerous assignments, they clumsily fail upwards, sinking deeper into chaos they’re ill-equipped to handle. This one divided the OT team but it’s fair to say if you’re needing a Dan Levy fix then this should satisfy your cravings. We finished up with reviews of two local films featured in ACMI Drag Week which is a week long celebration of queer films that highlight the wonderfully diverse world of drag from April 17 – 23. The first film is the rarely screened 1984 camp short film ‘XOS A Cry for Help’ about two sisters (both played by Doug Lucas) fighting over their recently departed grandmother’s final wishes. This was followed by our review of ‘Victorian Queens’ which explores Melbourne’s unique drag community through four very intimate and distinct portraits of four drag artists and showcases their progressive leadership through artistic expression while they push for cultural change and inclusion. The post The Deb with special guest Rebel Wilson, Big Mistakes and ACMI Drag Week reviews appeared first on Out Takes.

For this Out Takes Extra, we had the pleasure of speaking with Rebel Wilson, the local comedy legend who has gone on to become an incredibly successful international movie star who is now launching her feature film directorial debut with a story that is near and dear to her heart. Bold, outrageous, and funny, ‘The Deb’ is a vibrant Australian musical about two wildly different teenage cousins who start out at odds, but ultimately find common ground, and unexpected friendship, at their town’s annual debutante ball. It’s in Australian cinemas now and we got to speak to Rebel in the lead up to its local release about why she wanted to tell this story, her musical inspirations, the importance of queer representation in this film and more. Enjoy this Out Takes Extra then go see ‘The Deb’ on the big screen this April!  The post Out Takes Extra: Rebel Wilson for ‘The Deb’ appeared first on Out Takes.

For this Out Takes, we put the spotlight on Drag Week which is coming to ACMI this April which allows you to experience a super-sized week of films that walked so Drag Race could run … in heels! Our special guest was Spiro Economopoulos who has recently joined the team at ACMI to help bring great cinema to the masses in Melbourne and he’s kicking it off with a week long celebration of queer films that highlight the wonderfully diverse world of drag. From April 17 – 23, ACMI will screen twelve films about the art and artists of drag who blazed a trail in this irreverent, outrageous and unapologetic performance style. Spiro helps to break it all down for us including the special screening of ‘The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert’ as you’ve never seen it before, performed with a live shadow cast of local drag queens Lazy Susan, Zelda Moon, Pashion Couture and Art Simone plus a special live JOY 94.9 outside broadcast from ACMI featuring the Out Takes team from 6 – 7pm before the screening kicks off at 7.30pm – see you there! We also revisited our reviews of ‘Jimpa’ and Pillion, two of our favourite queer films of 2026 that are now available to rent or buy online. The post ACMI Drag Week with special guest Spiro Economopoulos appeared first on Out Takes.

With International Day of Transgender Visibility being celebrated on March 31, we took the opportunity to spotlight ‘Homebodies’, a brand new digital series that is streaming now on SBS on Demand that highlights local trans and queer talent on screen and behind the scenes including its creator AP Pobjoy. Fresh from its selection for this year’s prestigious Series Mania in France, ‘Homebodies’ stars Claudia Karvan, Luke Wiltshire and Jazi Hall, and follows Darcy, a trans man who reluctantly returns to his regional hometown to care for his estranged mother Nora. But home isn’t as he left it. Nora has been living with a secret housemate: Dee, the teenage ghost of Darcy’s pre-transition self. As old wounds resurface, Darcy must confront the parts of himself he tried to leave behind or risk losing himself entirely. The creator, lead-writer and one of the directors of the series is AP Pobjoy, a Sydney based creative who was in Lille, France when we spoke for Series Mania where ‘Homebodies’ had its world premiere. We discussed how they got into filmmaking, the importance of trans representation on our screens and much more. We also reviewed the latest film from indie American film director and musician Jim Jarmusch. ‘Father Mother Sister Brother’ is constructed in the form of a triptych and includes a beautiful performance from Indya Moore along with a cast that includes Cate Blanchett, Charlotte Rampling, Tom Waits and Adam Driver. The three stories all concern the relationships between adult children, their somewhat distant parent (or parents), and each other. Each of the three chapters takes place in the present, and each in a different country. The film is described as a series of character studies, quiet, observational and non-judgmental – a comedy, but interwoven with threads of melancholy and is in Australian cinemas from April 2nd.   The post Homebodies with special guest AP Pobjoy plus Father Mother Sister Brother review appeared first on Out Takes.

If you listened to our show in June 2023, then you know we absolutely loved season 1 of Deadloch and we were very excited to hear that a second season was in the works. Nearly three years later and its fair to say that the return of Deadloch to our small screens was well worth the wait! Not only do we get to spend more time with Eddy and Dulcie, this time the unlikely cop duo are in Darwin investigating the death of Eddie’s former policing partner Bushy, but when the body of a Top End icon is discovered in a remote town, they are flung into a sweatier, stickier investigation with crocodiles and chaos following them every step of the way. To coincide with the release of season 2, we had the pleasure of speaking with Kate Box and Madeleine Sami about all things Deadloch and had a wonderful time talking about their experiences on set in the Top End, the importance of representation in the show and much more. Enjoy this Out Takes Extra with Madeleine Sami and Kate Box for Deadloch season 2 with all episodes streaming now on Prime Video. The post Out Takes Extra: Madeleine Sami and Kate Box for Deadloch season 2 appeared first on Out Takes.

For this Out Takes, we celebrated the return of two homegrown television shows that represent the best of Aussie queer talent across the board, and we took a look at five LGBTQIA+ short films that highlight some of the best global queer cinema on offer for free this March. First up, we welcomed back Deadloch which saw its second season transported from the cool Tasmanian climate up into the balmy Top End for a wild ride full of murder, mystery, crocodiles and that brilliant trademark comedy we loved the first time around. Not only did we get to review season 2 which is streaming now in full on Prime Video (spoiler alert – we LOVED it!), we also got to speak with the two fantastically funny and whip smart leads of the show, Madeleine Sami and Kate Box. We also said hello and goodbye to the kids from Hartley High for the third and final season of Heartbreak High which is streaming from March 25, plus we take a look at the Five Films for Freedom online short film program from the British Council that celebrates global stories in support of LGBTQIA+ communities across the world that are available to watch online for free until March 29. The post Deadloch s2 with special guests Madeleine Sami and Kate Box, Heartbreak High s3 and Five Films for Freedom appeared first on Out Takes.

For this Out Takes Extra, we got together 24 hours post-Oscars for a debrief and to see if any of our winner predictions were spot on or way off (spoiler – we did pretty well). Let us know what you loved and loathed about the 98th Academy Awards via email or on our socials. Happy Awards Season to all who celebrate! The post Oscars Recap 2026 appeared first on Out Takes.

With Awards season wrapping up for another year, we thought we’d celebrate some of the winners at this year’s GLAAD Media Awards (LIZA!) and revisited our interview with the team behind ‘A Nice Indian Boy’ who took home one of the big prizes of the night. We also threw our Oscar predictions into the mix with varying degrees of success and as always, we congratulate everyone who was nominated – everyone’s a winner baby! The post 2026 GLAAD Media Awards, A Nice Indian Boy interview encore and our Oscar predictions appeared first on Out Takes.

For this Out Takes, we welcomed the return of the Melbourne Women in Film Festival. Running from March 19–23 across ACMI and Fed Square, this year’s program continues to bring together bold works from Australia, Aotearoa New Zealand and Pasifika. Over four days, audiences can look forward to premiere screenings, restorations, creator conversations and hands-on workshops—an immersive celebration of diverse perspectives and the homegrown visionaries shaping the screen industry’s future. The Melbourne Women in Film Festival recently unveiled its landmark tenth-year program, marking a decade of championing women and gender-diverse filmmakers from Australia and beyond. We caught up with Festival Director Dr Sian Mitchell to discuss this year’s program and much more. We also reviewed ‘The Moment’, a new film that turns the spotlight on Charli XCX as we go behind the scenes for a hilarious look at the life of a popstar as she navigates the complexities of fame and industry pressure while preparing for her arena tour debut. Finally, we took a look at ‘A Friend of Dorothy’, a new short film that is delightfully queer and in the running to win an Oscar too. The post Melbourne Women in Film Festival 2026, The Moment and A Friend of Dorothy appeared first on Out Takes.

With ‘Scream 7’ finally out in cinemas around the world after various delays and controversies, we took the opportunity for this Out Takes to review this latest instalment in the 30+ year franchise and also explore its queer legacy across this incredibly popular and at times very camp slasher film series. From those iconic early days of high-profile scream queens being killed off in the opening scenes of the films to the enduring and contentious relationship between Sidney and Gail across the years, we celebrate the queer connection between the films and its fans along with the impact it’s gay creator Kevin Williamson has had on the horror genre. We then took the program in a different direction by taking a look at the new Netflix docuseries that has everyone talking about Tyra. ‘America’s Next Top Model’ was created and hosted by supermodel Tyra Banks and began in 2006. It ran for 24 seasons and created spin offs around the world including here is Australia. The show featured up and coming models from across the USA vying to win the competition by competing in challenges, doing photo shoots and commercials and living in a shared house all while being filmed 24/7. The show was always controversial and with more contestants sharing their stories online it was only time before someone decided to take a look back at the people involved and what actually went on behind the scenes on this massively popular reality television juggernaut ‘Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model’ packed a lot in to its three episodes and we were keen to join the conversation on this series too. Finally, with Award’s season nearing the finish line before the Academy Awards in mid-March, we took the time to reflect on the recent BAFTA Awards and see if there are any clear favourites or surprises coming through in the recent winners and to also provide an update on our picks for Oscar glory in 2026. The post Scream 7, Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model and a 2026 Award Season update appeared first on Out Takes.

For this Out Takes, we celebrated the release of two highly anticipated queer films for February that celebrate the diversity of our community, the importance of representation and the ability for LGBTQIA+ folks to tell our own stories in an authentic way while still been given the opportunity to have them out in the mainstream. First up was ‘Jimpa’, the latest film from Adelaide based writer, producer and director Sophie Hyde. Inspired by Hyde’s own life with a direct link to her gay activist father Jim, this film is a multi-generational queer family story starring award-winning favourites Olivia Colman and John Lithgow plus it introduces us to the extraordinary talents of Aud Mason-Hyde. Along with our review of ‘Jimpa’, we were delighted to be joined in the JOY studios by Sophie and Hyde where we covered a wide range of topics and themes including how this very personal story developed into a feature film, how audiences have responded to the performances and characters, plus we discuss the connection that their father and grandfather Jim Hyde had to JOY and his impact in the queer community. We then reviewed ‘Pillion’, the debut feature film from British director Harry Lighton that tells the story of Colin (Harry Melling) who lives a small, carefully ordered life with his parents until Ray (Alexander Skarsgård), the charismatic leader of a gay biker gang, claims him as his submissive. Drawn into Ray’s world of leather, ritual, and unspoken codes, Colin awakens to intoxicating new dimensions of desire and belonging and the film traces the ecstatic and uncomfortable contours of a dom-sub relationship that evolves into something far deeper – a meditation on identity, control, and the unsettling shapes devotion takes when boundaries dissolve. The post ‘Jimpa’ with special guests Sophie Hyde and Aud Mason Hyde plus ‘Pillion’ appeared first on Out Takes.

For this Out Takes Extra, we had the pleasure of speaking with Sophie Hyde and Aud Mason-Hyde at the JOY studios in the lead up to the Australian release of ‘Jimpa’ which is in cinemas now. Sophie Hyde is an acclaimed Adelaide-based film director, writer, and producer. Following on from her debut feature ’52 Tuesdays’, she has gone on to work on projects here and around the world including ‘Good Luck to You, Leo Grande’ with Emma Thompson and ‘Animals’ with Alia Shawkat. Her latest film ‘Jimpa’ is based on her own family story after her father, Jim Hyde, came out to his wife as gay when they were married with young children, and explores a fictionalised version of their unique path forward in keeping their family connected while also living their own lives. The film stars Olivia Colman, John Lithgow, and introduces us to the extraordinary acting abilities of Sophie’s very talented child, Aud Mason-Hyde.With Sophie and Aud at the JOY studio’s to discuss ‘Jimpa’, we took the opportunity to cover a wide range of topics from film-making to gender identity through to Jim Hyde’s connection to JOY and the experience of being in a bath with Olivia Colman on set! ‘Jimpa’ is in Australian cinemas now so visit your local cinema listings for details and also visit the Queerest Part of Us project to celebrate, recognise and remember our stories and connection to community. Also, keep up to date with everything Out Takes on Instagram, BlueSky and Facebook and thanks for listening to this Out Takes Extra. The post Out Takes Extra: Sophie Hyde and Aud Mason-Hyde for ‘Jimpa’ appeared first on Out Takes.

For this Out Takes, we had a stack of reviews to cover some of the films on offer in cinemas and online this February. We started off by saying bon retour to the 37th Alliance Française French Film Festival which kicks off again across Australia from March 3rd. One of the queer highlights in this year’s program is ‘The Little Sister’ which tells the story of Fatima (played by Nadia Melliti), who is the youngest daughter of a Franco-Algerian family living in the suburbs of Paris. Surrounded by her sisters, she grows up in a warm, loving household shaped by strong traditions and Muslim faith. A gifted student, she graduates high school and enrols in a philosophy program in Paris, where she is suddenly exposed to a world far removed from everything she knows. In the capital, new encounters and ideas unsettle her certainties, specifically her exploration of her sexuality and connection with the queer community. This beautiful film was selected for the Official Competition at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, where Nadia Melliti won the Best Actress award and the film received the Queer Palm and is a must-see. We then took a look at ‘Cashing Out’, a new documentary that is streaming now online for free from The New Yorker that tells a little heard story about an insurance scheme that had a huge impact in the early years of the AIDS epidemic in the U.S. ‘Cashing Out’ was shortlisted for this year’s Best Documentary Short Film and was executive produced by Matt Bomer and RuPaul’s Drag Race alumni Angeria Paris Van Michaels and is another incredible story of the resilience of our community in the face of an epidemic. We then moved on to ‘Wuthering Heights’, the latest film from celebrated writer and director Emerald Fennell who brought together Margot Robbie, Jacob Elordi and a Charli XCX soundtrack for her ‘horny’ interpretation of the classic novel by Emily Bronte. Everyone has a lot to say about this new version, so we jumped on the bandwagon to give you the Out Takes take on this one. We ended the program by spotlighting ‘She’s The He’, the closing night film at this year’s Mardi Gras Film festival, plus we paid tribute to two wonderful talents and LGBTQ allies, Catherine O’Hara and James Van Der Beek, who both sadly passed away recently. The post The Little Sister, Cashing Out and Wuthering Heights appeared first on Out Takes.

For this Out Takes, we celebrated the recent success of Leela Varghese at the 2026 AACTA Awards for  ‘Lesbian Space Princess’ and ‘I’m The Most Racist Person I Know’ (which were two of our favourite queer films of 2025) by revisiting our interview with her from last year along with our review of LSP which is available to watch locally on Netflix now. We also reviewed ‘Christy’, the latest film from Aussie director David Michôd that stars Sydney Sweeney in the lead role that chronicles the rise of former professional boxer Christy Martin and her incredibly tumultuous life in and outside of the ring, including accepting her sexuality, along with her abusive and coercive relationship with her coach that led to an attempted murder on her life. We also had an encore presentation of an excerpt from our interview from March 2025 with actor Arka Das and the founder of the Indian Film Festival and film producer Mitu Bhowmick Lange to discuss ‘My Melbourne’ which features four unique stories that celebrate diverse voices and talents from four Indian filmmakers who worked with emerging creatives from underrepresented backgrounds to create a multicultural Australian film about identity and belonging based on authentic migrant experiences and is available to watch now on SBS on Demand. The post Christy, Lesbian Space Princess, I’m the Most Racist Person I Know and My Melbourne appeared first on Out Takes.

Now that we’re well in to this new year, we’re starting to see the return of some of our favourite film festivals and we were excited to take a closer look at the fifth edition of the Europa! Europa Film Festival which is back in cinemas across Australia and New Zealand  from February 19 to March 19. To take a deep dive in to the program, we welcomed back the festival’s Artistic Director Spiro Economopoulos to tell us more about the 43 films on offer and some of his personal recommendations too. We also reviewed one of the highlights of this year’s program called ‘Maspalomas’, a beautiful Spanish film that tells the story of Vicente who came out as gay at the age of 50, leaving his wife and daughter back home in San Sebastián, to enjoy the sun-drenched gay resort town of Maspalomas in the Canary Islands After recently splitting up with his partner Esteban in his mid-seventies, Vicente is making the most of his newly single life until one night he suffers a stroke and ending up in a coma. Upon waking up, Vicente finds that he’s been moved to a care home by his estranged daughter and to make matters worse, he finds himself back “in the closet”, since he hasn’t told anyone at the home about his sexual identity. We ended the show with a recap on the recent award nomination announcements for the GLAAD Media Awards, the 98th Academy Awards and the BAFTA’s including some of the LGBTQIA+ nominees we’re hoping to see pick up a win this award season. The post 2026 Europa! Europa Film Festival  appeared first on Out Takes.