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
July 15, 2025 • 12 mins
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James Gunn’s new take on Superman was up against the odds from the beginning – and initial reviews weren’t very kind to it. But now that it’s been released to the public, it’s become a smash hit! While the film has already sparked a lot of discourse, the reasons that it’s co...
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June 21, 2025 • 11 mins
A recent viral TikTok of a woman who believed her grey couch was actually blue has people yet again thinking about how color plays a huge role in our lives, and how differently we can all see the same thing. Colorblindness and monochromatic-ness have long been used symbolically in film and TV as metaphors for larger ideas. And as we’ve all become more and more connected to visual mediums, many people are beginning to realize the im...
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Money has long equaled power – but does it also equal intelligence? Many people seem to think so, regardless of any evidence to the contrary… Both in movies and TV and in real life we’ve seen a number of recent examples of the problems big and small that can arise when immens...
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June 14, 2025 • 11 mins
While work has never necessarily been fun, recently the “grind” has been truly grinding us down – and, terrifyingly, trapping us in. As the world of employment has become ever more dire, we’ve begun to see this total imbalance between work and a healthy, safe life play out on screen in a variety of ways – from the psychological in Severance, to the physical in Mickey 17 and Paradise, and beyond. So, what do these kinds of stories t...
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June 12, 2025 • 14 mins
While Summer Roberts may have began The O.C. as a ditzy mean girl, she quickly became a beloved fan favorite (and even found the smart girl persona she had been forced to hide for so long!) In this video, we're unpacking how Summer went from a stereotypical side character to a multifaceted star!
The O.C.’s Summer first appeared on the show as a stereotypical mean rich girl ditz – she wasn’t even a part of the main cast but instead...
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June 9, 2025 • 11 mins
Modern Family’s Cameron Tucker was criticized for dramatic, over emotional, and generally over the top. But as melodramatic as he may have been, Cam provided a very important counter to the Pritchett family’s more uptight, closed off ways. He’s a dreamer that’s unafraid to go after what he wants, try new things, and think big. Cam’s mindset might cause him (...and others) some problems here and there, but it also allows him to buil...
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June 7, 2025 • 10 mins
Sinners has become the surprise smash hit of the year, breaking records and raking in over $300 million dollars so far at the box office. Starring Michael B. Jordan, Miles Caton, Hailee Steinfeld, Jack O’Connell and more, and directed by Ryan Coogler, the film has managed to take things that are usually seen as harbingers of low audience turnout (like an R rating and the horror genre) and mold them into a film that’s wildly success...
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June 4, 2025 • 11 mins
The new Lilo & Stitch live action remake has been a huge box office hit, but reviews have been mixed... While it’s definitely a cute film with some bright spots that (at least attempts to) stay true to the original film, it falls flat in some important areas. While some of the changes to the film are minor, others seem to lose sight of the entire point of the story itself. One major change to the ending of the film has people parti...
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May 23, 2025 • 14 mins
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There’s one big fear hiding at the heart of many relationships: that you love your partner more than they love you...
We all want our relationships to feel equal, but so often it seems that one person ends up more dedicated to the relationship. This can happen for a number of reasons – from fear of commitment t...
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May 13, 2025 • 16 mins
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There’s a problem that’s become more and more prevalent across social media, popping up in nearly every comment section and thread... it seems that personalized algorithms have caused people to forget that not everything they encounter online is made exclusively for them. From the Bean Soup ...
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May 9, 2025 • 12 mins
Thunderbolts has become a hit with audiences because it went back to what works and managed to meet the moment. In this episode, we're unpacking what it got right about one of the biggest battles of our time: mental health.
Thunderbolts is a welcome change of pace from recent MCU fare. One of the biggest reasons it resonates so much is that it wasn’t afraid to actually be about something. While a lot of superhero films and shows a...
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May 3, 2025 • 14 mins
Are dating apps and the internet (and now AI) really the reason why dating is often so miserable now?
Many people have been wondering if the apps we use to help us in the arena of romance - like Tinder, Bumble and Hinge - might actually be ruining everything. There are some aspects of dating that are just miserable now, and many of those problems do seem to stem from how we use technology to connect. But in reality, the problem ...
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April 30, 2025 • 17 mins
Sinners, the new horror movie from director Ryan Coogler starring Michael B. Jordan, has completely blown expectations out of the water. While everyone knows that Coogler is an adept director who makes great movies, no one quite expected just how successful his R-rated vampire horror would turn out to be. And the film isn’t just great because of its well done horror, it also packs some really deep messages into the 24 hours of its ...
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April 22, 2025 • 11 mins
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A Minecraft Movie, starring Jack Black, Jason Momoa and Danielle Brooks, has completely upended expectations – it not only didn’t flop, it’s become a huge success (pulling in over $700 million in just a couple of weeks!) While not everyone loves the movie (and it’s already caused its own share of issues,) the film and its success does actually tel...
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April 11, 2025 • 11 mins
Desperate Housewives' Edie Britt was shamed for her sexual confidence and freedom (by audiences and the other characters) back when the show premiered in 2004, but from a modern perspective, her story looks a lot different. And what’s more, Edie was… kind of a badass, if we’re being honest! So, let's take a look at why Edie got so much hate at the time, and why she might just be the secret hero of Desperate Housewives!
Learn more ...
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April 9, 2025 • 17 mins
The Handmaid’s Tale is back for its sixth and final season after a long break. The story’s dystopia always felt unnervingly close to our modern era, and that continues to hold true as we’re dropped into the first three episodes of its final run. Over the show’s previous five seasons, some viewers felt that the show had lost its spark – so does it seem like it’s finally getting it back now for this final round? Let’s unpack what’s h...
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April 3, 2025 • 12 mins
Disney’s new live action remake of Snow White was hit with problems from the very beginning, and its problems have only grown since its release. In many ways it seemed set up to fail, and was never able to overcome the various hurdles in its way. Many fingers are being pointed at star Rachel Zegler, but the real problems with the film are much deeper. So, how does this film actually compare to the original? And what really went wro...
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March 30, 2025 • 15 mins
Most all of us like to be nice, but some people just feel like they were born to help others. They’ll take any chance to provide assistance, big or small – unasked for (and, often, unthanked…) While being helpful is a good thing, it can also evolve into a people-pleasing attitude that can have surprisingly negative effects on the helper themselves (and sometimes even the people being “helped”!) So let’s take a closer look at what’s...
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March 28, 2025 • 11 mins
How I Met Your Mother is a sitcom filled with all kinds of drama – miniscule to major – but one big fight that’s stayed a topic of conversation even all of these years later is the blowup between Lily Aldrin and Ted Mosby. It’s not necessarily the most dramatic or consequential fight of the show but it is surprisingly important. Taking a second look at their battle after some time allows us to see it in a new light, and gives us in...
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March 25, 2025 • 15 mins
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Do you ever find yourself finishing a rewatch of a favorite show and wishing you could find more to watch that had the same vibe? Us too! That’s why, in this new series, we’re going to be taking a look back at some of our favorite shows to break down the key elements that keep us coming back, and branching out to find other shows that also match t...
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