High-Rise (2015, Ben Wheatley, Tom Hiddleston, Sienna Miller): SPOILER Episode 23

“I don’t work for you. I work for the building”

This week we’re watching Ben Wheatley’s film adaptation of J.G. Ballard’s supposedly "unfilmable" dystopian thriller ‘High-Rise’ and the team are at odds again, though not about Tom “so handsome it hurts” Hiddleston. With Andy occupying Paul’s usual spot on the fence, Paul wonders how anyone could possibly put themselves through this film more than once, while Rachael advocates reading the original novel as a possible way to unlock the film’s appeal. While Andy compares ‘High-Rise’ to the music of The Fall, Paul experiments with a new way of saying Rachael’s name while Rachael tries to find a point of entry, causing everyone else to look for a point of exit! Despite Paul’s hankering for some politically-inspired vandalism, everything remains fairly harmonious until the subject of ‘No Country for Old Men’ comes up.

Elsewhere in two very different features, Rachael takes a dreamy look at the highs and lows of being a Hiddlestoner while Andy plunges headlong into the nightmare world of screen violence.

This week’s scale: Soft, delicious mashed potato or 1980s robot-advertised instant mash