The Take

The Take

This is the Take. It's where you come to understand more about your favorite movies, shows and culture. Our video essays make the story worlds you enter richer and deeper. Think: Endings Explained, Character Studies, Hidden Messages and Symbols Revealed, Actor and Director Profiles, and more. We want to share our love of visual culture with the world. So here's our Take.

Episodes

In the Mood for Love, A Cinematic Analysis | Total Take

February 24, 2026 • 17 mins
Wong Kar Wai’s 2000 masterpiece In The Mood For Love has captivated audiences since its (rather chaotic) premiere at Cannes Film Festival. A meditation on not just a feeling but the atmosphere of an era, the film managed to capture a haunting, mournful truth within its beauty. It continues to place in the top five of ‘best films of all time’ lists around the world, and continues to pull in new fans year after year. But what is it t...
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Six Feet Under: the Best Kept Secret of TV's Golden Age? | A Cinematic Analysis

February 21, 2026 • 17 mins
HBO's Six Feet Under pretty much always comes up in discussions of the best tv shows of all time, but also somehow doesn’t seem to have been able to stake its spot in the larger cultural memory in the same way as hits of the same era like The Sopranos or The Wire. So today we’re taking a deeper look at this insightful, darkly hilarious show and what made it work so well – but also why some of those same traits that made it a criti...
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Titanic, A Cinematic Analysis: Why A Romance-Adventure Became the Biggest Movie of All Time

February 10, 2026 • 17 mins
A cinematic analysis of Titanic | Go to http://greenchef.com/50thetake and use code 50thetake to get 50% off your first month, then 20% off for two months with free shipping! Over a quarter of a century after its release, Titanic continues to hold its place in the hearts of audiences across the world. Branded a sure flop during its hectic production with an ever bloating budget, the film ended up proving the critics wrong in more w...
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Nicecore, Explained: The Cultural Power of Hopeful Movies and TV

February 7, 2026 • 10 mins
Nicecore films and shows are on the rise again – from KPop Demon Hunters to Heated Rivalry to Abbot Elementary and beyond – but... are they good for buoying our hopes, or just causing us to ignore larger issues? Let’s take a deep look at the Nicecore trend, why it’s only becoming more and more popular, why its boundless positivity makes some people so angry, and how their uplifting stories can actually help push us towards positiv...
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Arrival, Still Brilliant 10 Years Later | A Cinematic Analysis

February 1, 2026 • 12 mins
A cinematic analysis of sci-fi film Arrival | Go to http://factormeals.com/thetake50off and use code thetake50off to get 50% off your first Factor box PLUS free breakfast for 1 year! Arrival, Denis Villeneuve's 2016 first contact drama uses its fantastical premise to tell a very human story. Rather than whisking us away to a far off galaxy, the film instead stays close to home and unpacks one of our oldest ‘technologies’: written...
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Analyzing The Cinematic World of Her - Why It Feels Even More Relevant Now | Total Take

January 28, 2026 • 17 mins
Her, Spike Jonze’s sci-fi romantic drama, seems to feel even more relevant today than when it was released in 2013. The film follows Joaquin Phoenix’s Theodore as he forms a deep connection with his computer’s new AI, played by Scarlett Johansson. Since the film’s release, we as a society have become ever more intertwined with our own technology and AI has started working its way into all facets of our life, making much of Theodore...
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Euphoria, A Total Analysis | Visual Storytelling, Writing, Symbolism & More

January 26, 2026 • 16 mins
Euphoria is a show that people can’t help but talk about – from the wild clothes to the even wilder storylines, this HBO teen drama has made its mark on audiences’ minds and hearts. While the show is over the top in pretty much every imaginable way, it also manages to find a relatable core that keeps it tethered to Earth. But what is it, specifically, that makes the show so engaging and somehow, despite it all, relatable? This is t...
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Marty Supreme, Explained - Story, Symbolism, Ending & More

January 20, 2026 • 10 mins
Marty Supreme: Story, Symbolism & Ending Explained || Go to http://thepetstable.com and use code thetake55 for 55% off your 1st box PLUS 10% off your next 2! Marty Supreme has already raced its way into pretty much every best movie of the year list and seems like it might be the career-defining performance that nabs Timothée Chalamet his first Oscar. But why are people so into this film – and does it really live up to the hype? Le...
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What Deepfakes Reveal About Control, Consent, and Identity

January 17, 2026 • 11 mins
The deepfake problem, explained || Go to http://www.groundnews.com/take to make sure you're getting the full picture of every story while also supporting The Take! Subscribe through our link to get 40% off unlimited world wide coverage for less than the cost of a single bag of candy at the movie theater! Deepfakes have been a growing problem for a long time – but now it seems like none of us are safe. But while this specific iter...
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After The Hunt: Provocative or Pointless?

January 2, 2026 • 10 mins
Go to http://factormeals.com/thetake50off and use code thetake50off to get 50% off your first Factor box PLUS free breakfast for 1 year! After The Hunt was poised to be the provocative drama of this year’s Oscar’s race – but it didn’t get the reception everyone was expecting, and has ended up dividing audiences for very different reasons. This prestige drama from a renowned director starring some of Hollywood’s biggest stars shou...
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The Heated Rivalry Phenomenon Explained in Under 15 Minutes

January 1, 2026 • 13 mins
How did Heated Rivalry, a hockey romance drama, become such a huge cultural phenomenon?! The unexpectedly mega viral hit combines humor, sports, love and self-discovery in a way that's captured audience's hearts and minds. So, let's take a closer look at Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov's stories, their relationship, the truth about Heated Rivalry's alleged fanfic origins, why the show's ending is so important, and what might be co...
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Friends: The Truth About Rachel's Life, Money & Friendships Then vs Now

December 24, 2025 • 11 mins
On Friends, Rachel Green’s life was so aspirational in many ways – but would it be totally impossible to have now? From the giant apartment she splits with Monica, to her rocketing career trajectory, to the fashion and lifestyle she’s able to have in one of the most expensive cities in the country – it’s definitely interesting to imagine how things might be quite different for Rachel today (and how watching her story might have set...
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The *Real* Reasons AI Slop & The Blandness Epidemic Have Totally Taken Over Media, Explained

December 16, 2025 • 12 mins
Go to http://greenchef.com/thetakegraza and use code THETAKEGRAZA to get started with 50% off Green Chef + FREE Graza Olive Oil Set in your 2nd and 3rd boxes! Have we passed the point of no return with AI Slop and bland content? We’re going to dive into the four major aspects of this issue: businesses like Disney and Coca-Cola embracing AI (and possibly destroying their own brands), the financial reasons behind the blandness epide...
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The Rich Girl Plot Armor Problem , Explained | Trope Analysis

December 5, 2025 • 14 mins
Go to http://uncommongoods.com/thetake for 15% off your next gift! Money can solve a lot of problems, but… what happens when nearly every character seems to be protected by a bubble of invisible wealth (even ones that are meant to be “just like us”?!) While “Rich Girls” have always had a certain amount of plot armor (on screen and in real life,) in movies and TV shows even average, supposedly down-to-earth characters can feel like ...
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Wicked For Good, Explained: Why Its So Polarizing, Why They Changed The Ending & More

December 4, 2025 • 11 mins
Wicked: For Good, the sequel to last year’s hit film starring Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, has smashed box office records – but even though it’s winning at the box office, for many viewers some of the magic seems to be missing in this installment. Bringing the stage musical’s second act to the screen was always going to be an uphill battle. The question now is: is the film really a miss, or is it just not what some people were ...
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Stranger Things Season Five, Volume One, Explained

December 2, 2025 • 11 mins
Go to http://monarch.com/thetake and use code THETAKE for 50% off your first year! Stranger Things is finally back, so what have we learned from these first episodes of season five? We're taking a look at the story so far, the symbolism, and deeper meanings to begin to get an idea of what it all means and where things might be headed in the finale! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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One Battle After Another: Ending Explained, Symbolism You Missed, That One Controversy & More

November 25, 2025 • 13 mins
One Battle After Another, Explained || Go to http://www.groundnews.com/take to make sure you're getting the full picture of every story while also supporting The Take! Subscribe through our link to get 40% off unlimited world wide coverage for less than the cost of a single month of a streaming service. || Paul Thomas Anderson’s new action thriller One Battle After Another has already become one of the most talked-about films of ...
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Why We Can’t Have A Modern Carrie Bradshaw...

November 18, 2025 • 11 mins
Head to https://Greenchef.com/50THETAKE and use code 50THETAKE to get 50% off your first month, then 20% for two months with free shipping! Rewatching Sex and the City, we can’t help but wonder… is it even possible to live like Carrie Bradshaw nowadays? Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda’s stories were all aspirational (to varying degrees…) but of the core four, Carrie’s life (especially in the beginning) seems to be the mo...
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Bugonia: Symbolism, Ending & Deeper Meaning Explained

November 14, 2025 • 12 mins
Go to http://uncommongoods.com/thetake for 15% off your next gift! Bugonia, the new Oscar-contender from director Yorgos Lanthimos starring Emma Stone and Jesse Plemons, is simultaneously out of this world and very of our world. Effortlessly shifting between hilarious and horrifying, the film constantly keeps you guessing, and uses its zany story to raise some complex questions around our place in the world (and the cosmos) and i...
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Are Parasocial Relationships Making Us Miserable, On Screen & In Real Life?

November 7, 2025 • 14 mins
Go to http://monarch.com/thetake and use code THETAKE for 50% off your first year. When does being a fan go too far? And could these intense attachments actually secretly be making us miserable? It’s actually a surprisingly complex problem, because while being a fan can undoubtedly bring joy into our lives, there’s also a dark side that’s been growing more and more intense in recent years. How do we know where the line with paraso...
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