Most people watch a movie. Some people can't stop reverse-engineering the decisions inside it. Don't Encourage Us is for the second group. Each episode takes a film, series, or creative property and examines it the way you'd examine any high-stakes decision: what problem was being solved, what trade-offs were made, where the execution landed, and what you'd do with it from here. Not a review show. Not a fan podcast. A forensic examination of creative and strategic choices, by people who can't turn that part of their brain off. If your best conversations about fiction happen after everyone else has moved on — this is where they continue.
The Adam Project (2022) + The 'Is It Cake' Algorithm Trap
The Adam Project (2022) · Mar 18, 2026
Captain America: Brave New World — Why the MCU Can't Handle More Filler & the Case for Isaiah Bradley
Captain America: Brave New World (2025) · Mar 17, 2025
Deadpool & Wolverine: Did It Un-F*ck the MCU?
Deadpool & Wolverine (2024) · Jul 28, 2024
The List: No One Can Save You, Late Night with the Devil, 1984, X-Men '97, & How to Actually Prompt AI
Late Night with the Devil (2024) · Jul 22, 2024
Godzilla Minus One - Balancing Character, Spectacle, and Story
Godzilla Minus One (2023) · Jul 16, 2024
Fallout (2024): The Wizard of Oz Template. Plus, Is Netflix Making Bad Shows on Purpose?
Fallout (2023) · Jul 1, 2024
Road House (1989) vs. Road House (2024): Why Killing Breaks One Film and Makes the Other
Road House (1989) · Jun 19, 2024
Road House (1989) vs. Road House (2024): Why Killing Breaks One Film and Makes the Other
Road House (2024) · Jun 19, 2024
The Happening, Our Origin Story & Reality TV Pitches
The Happening (2008) · Jun 10, 2024
I Saw the Devil: The Revenge Film Where the Hero Is Also the Monster
I Saw the Devil (2010) · Apr 29, 2024
League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: The Avengers Before Anyone Was Ready for It
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003) · Apr 8, 2024
Oscars: Barbie's Real Achievement Isn't Cinema — It's the Greatest Brand Flip Ever
Barbie (2023) · Feb 23, 2024
Oscars: Barbie's Real Achievement Isn't Cinema — It's the Greatest Brand Flip Ever
Oppenheimer (2023) · Feb 23, 2024
Notorious (1946): Hitchcock's Best Spy Film Is Actually a Romance
Notorious (1946) · Feb 19, 2024
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny: Why a Science MacGuffin Breaks the Character
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023) · Jan 15, 2024
Wes Anderson's Asteroid City: Yearbook Movie or Masterpiece?
Asteroid City (2023) · Jan 1, 2024
Paradise (2023): Zero Science, and Everyone Wins Except the Innocent
Paradise (2023) · Dec 18, 2023
Pontypool (2008): What Happens When Language Becomes a Virus?
Pontypool (2009) · Nov 27, 2023
Occult (2009): How a J-Horror Film Uses Genre Confusion as a Weapon
Occult (2009) · Oct 30, 2023
Doctor Sleep: How Do You Write A Sequel To Incompatible Versions of The Shining?
Doctor Sleep (2019) · Oct 16, 2023
Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning — Are Ethan Hunt and the AI the Same Character?
Mission: Impossible (1996) · Oct 9, 2023
One Cut of the Dead: Why a $27K Zombie Film Has 100% on Rotten Tomatoes
One Cut of the Dead (2017) · Sep 11, 2023
We Have a Ghost: Why Muting Your Lead Actor Breaks the Movie
We Have a Ghost (2023) · Sep 4, 2023
Remo Williams The Destroyer: What a Pulp Franchise Reveals About Building IP
Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins (1985) · Aug 7, 2023
Chrysalis: Should a Machine Avenge Humanity? The Ethics of AI Retribution
Chrysalis (2023) · Jul 31, 2023
Aniara (2018): When a $40K Swedish Film Answers the Big Questions Hollywood Won't
Aniara (2019) · Jul 10, 2023
Top Gun: Maverick (2022) The Billion-Dollar Paint-By-Numbers Hit
Top Gun: Maverick (2022) · Jun 19, 2023
The Lost City (2022): The Romancing the Stone Blueprint
The Lost City (2022) · Jun 5, 2023
Pulse (2001) vs. Pulse (2006): What Happens When You Remake a Film That Isn't Trying to Entertain You
Pulse (2006) · May 29, 2023
Pulse (2001) vs. Pulse (2006): What Happens When You Remake a Film That Isn't Trying to Entertain You
Pulse (2001) · May 29, 2023
Brightburn (2019) Deep Dive: Evil Superman & Why a Great Concept Failed
Brightburn (2019) · Apr 24, 2023
Lights Out (2016) Explained: Is the Creature a Manifestation of Depression?
Lights Out (2016) · Apr 16, 2023