When Brett Goldstein started Films To Be Buried With in 2018, he was a gigging stand-up comic, sporadic actor and writer on British TV and independent films. At the time, the peak of his career had probably been his starring role in 2015’s Superbob, the charming but low-budget and little-seen superhero movie that he also co-wrote.
In the last seven years, he’s won two Emmys for his beloved performance as Roy Kent on international megahit Ted Lasso, written a show (Shrinking) that Harrison Ford said had the “best script [he’d] ever read,” and is about to star in an upcoming rom-com as Jennifer Lopez’s love interest. Quite the journey he’s had.
Though it’s been a life-changing seven years for him, throughout his huge professional ascendancy, the central format of his podcast has remained the same. In each show, Goldstein tells his guests that they have died, asks them to imagine how it could have happened (the responses are often hysterically creative and gory), then a set of questions about their lives through the movies they’ve loved: “What’s the film that made you cry the most?” “What’s the film you most relate to?” etc. Essentially, it’s an absurdist, movie-centered take on Desert Island Discs.
Because the host is foremost a comedian, and the majority of his interviewees are too, Films To Be Buried With is a very funny podcast. The magic of it, though, is how readily Goldstein’s comic and emotional intelligence allows for deep, fascinating conversations that head into some truly unexpected areas, and how he navigates them from humor to pathos, and back again. One of the many pleasures of long-term listenership is hearing Goldstein meet his guests where they are: merrily indulging in a surreal, sometimes grotesque riff if they are up for it, dialing it back if not, whilst still managing to nudge even the reticent into being the most entertaining they can be.
While Films To Be Buried With has gotten slightly more well-produced over the years, it’s remarkable how little the show has changed since its first episode, recorded at Goldstein’s kitchen table. His first guest was comedian and friend James Acaster, whose observations on his film choices — specifically the inherent comedy in the Final Destination movies — are as wryly astute as fans of his would expect. Goldstein has invited him back on every hundred episodes, and each time Acaster sounds more bemused that the podcast is still going strong.
Succession was right in the middle of its run when Sarah Snook’s episode aired, but that barely factors in here. She and Goldstein were in Madrid when they recorded, working on the short-lived TV show Soulmates, and they clearly built a rapport — this edition is full of the kind of giggly energy of a couple of school kids sitting at the back of a classroom, ignoring their teacher. Highlights include an argument about the logistics of oxygen deprivation in space, Snook’s guide to crying on cue, and her evolving reaction to being labelled, “Australia’s Emma Stone.”
Most of the guests that Goldstein has on Films To Be Buried With are very much on his comedic wavelength — most, but not all. Sharon Stone never seems to understand the type of show she’s on, yet she makes a terrifically engaging raconteur regardless, who is certainly not inhibited when it comes to expressing her opinions (and has some great, unusual movie picks to boot). Listening to Goldstein gently, charmingly trying to keep her on track is what makes this episode so enjoyable.
Episodes 132 and 133: Nish Kumar (Films of 2021 Special)
Political comedian extraordinaire Nish Kumar appears on the podcast for an annual recap of the best films from the previous year (a running joke is that that episode keeps arriving later and later – the 2023 edition arrived in the summer of 2024!). Although he and Goldstein are tremendously funny comics, these episodes are a yearly highlight because both of them care deeply about movies and watch a whole load of them. As such, their banter is as insightful as it is hilarious.
Every one of Kumar’s appearances is a treat, but the way this one covers cinemagoing during that first frightening stage of the pandemic, and dives into how strange it was for Goldstein to have the biggest year of his career occur during a period spent mostly in lockdown, makes it even more interesting than usual.
Though she was clearly unfamiliar with the concept and had even forgotten her answers (Goldstein asks her the questions and then tells her the responses she’d e-mailed through earlier for her to expound on), comic Sarah Kendall’s dry Australian humor works surprisingly well with Goldstein’s brand of macabre whimsy. This episode was filmed in front of a live audience at London’s Underbelly Festival, and their audible appreciation adds further to the listening experience.
Goldstein opens each episode with an effusively overblown introduction to his guests that often leaves them blushing. Long-time listeners of the podcast will know that, if anything, when it came to Oscar-winning director Barry Jenkins’ intro, Goldstein was playing it cool — and what nearly sends him off the edge is hearing how Jenkins is a big fan of his too. Besides the appreciation the two have for each other, this episode is mainly centered around Jenkins’ fascinating TV and filmmaking insights – as you might expect from such a masterful director, his movie choices are first-rate.
Episode 202: Bill Hader
In another craft-centered edition, Hader hopped straight from writing the fourth season of his hit dramedy Barry onto the Zoom call with Goldstein. He apologizes for sounding tired, but soon warms up; the sound of his wonderfully infectious laugh peppers the whole episode, as Goldstein quizzes him about the process of directing himself, and how he goes about writing a continuing series like Barry when he doesn’t know how long it’s going to last. Those just familiar with Hader from his eight seasons on SNL might be surprised by the breadth of his cinephilia — his movie picks span from Ikiru to Teen Wolf Too.
Although there are joys to be found in pretty much every episode of Films To Be Buried With, the podcast is always at its best when the guest is a) Familiar with the premise, and b) Actually likes movies. Adam Scott delivered big time on both fronts, from the obvious thought he puts into his delightfully grim death, to his genuinely heartfelt and eloquent love of the movie In Her Shoes. Recorded during the lengthy break between the first two seasons of Severance, there are plenty of tidbits about the hit show, too.
“This is so fun!” says ex-SNL star Leslie Jones, after catching her breath mid torrent of laughter — and indeed, few episodes match hers for the sheer volume of hilarity. Opening with a warm bout of mutual adoration, segueing into one of the most X-rated deaths the podcast has ever heard, and then straight into a serious discussion of her thoughts on the afterlife, her edition is a fantastic encapsulation of the wild tonal pivots that make Films To Be Buried With so great. She and Goldstein have such instant effervescent comedic chemistry, here’s hoping that one of the many projects they propose transpires soon.
Some guests don’t really get the concept, some do – and then there’s Tony Hale. The comedy legend has a ball turning Goldstein’s usual questions back at him, and wondering why he doesn’t use his ability to talk to dead people to do something more useful than ask them about the movies they like. Though he also engages with the usual questions on both a humorous and an emotional level, his determination to make his appearance an unusually meta edition means it is a particularly memorable listen.
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Chloe Walker is a writer based in the UK. You can find her work at Culturefly, the BFI, Paste, and her Letterboxd page.