The Asian A.V. Club returns with a new format of our What to Watch podcast and invite our fave guest co-host Patrick Heidmann on to talk about all the TV and movies that are on our radar at the moment!

In this April 2026 episode we break down the pod into various categories.

Tried and Tested: We talk about cult hit series Paradise Season 2 (Hulu / Disney+) and the Rachel Weiss black comedy Vladimir (Netflix)

This is New: I create the genre Michelle Pfeiffer-naissance because she's doing such great work on The Madison (Paramount+) and also in Margo's Got Money Troubles (Apple TV). Patrick is a big fan of the award winning film My Father's Shadow (In theaters now / Mubi) and explains why it's been one of his favorite films since last year.

This BETTER Be On Your Radar: You get to hear about my obsession over the reality series Battle of Fates (Hulu / Disney+) and Patrick's love for the latest season of Top Chef (Bravo)

Speed Round: I've gone ahead and created a genre called "Rich people are all corrupt devil worshippers and we need to take them DOWN" only cause the films Ready or Not 2 (In theaters now) and They Will Kill You (In theaters now) tell me so! We also talk about the excellent Half Man (Hbo Max / BBC), the final season of Hacks (Hbo Max), the latest comedy thriller by Dan Levy called Big Mistakes (Netflix), a brand new Beef (Netflix), our mutual love of the British crime thriller Code of Silence (Britbox / ITV+), the return of the unsung detective series Criminal Record (Apple TV), the joys of LOL - Last One Laughing UK (Prime Video) and the return of The Muppet Show (Disney+)

The goal was to keep it breezy but BOY do we pack in ALOT this episode!! Tell us if you like this revamped version of the podcast and hope you keep coming back for new episodes!

Welcome to the Asian A.V. Club interview podcast HANG! As you all know, we LOVE to HANG with our directors, and this time we’re sitting down with a fresh new voice making her debut with a film that’s bold in its premise and keeps you guessing all the way through.

Australian-born director Amy Wang brings us her first feature Slanted, a film that begins in a grounded space before gradually shifting into something far more unexpected.

The story follows Joan Huang, played by Shirley Chen, a young Asian teenager navigating school, family, and her own sense of identity. As she struggles with where she fits in, she becomes fixated on the idea that her life might be easier and more successful if she could exist in a white body. What begins as a quiet insecurity slowly builds into something much more extreme.

That turning point comes when Joan emerges from her choices as a completely different person, played by Mckenna Grace, pushing the film into body horror territory. From there, Slanted explores that uneasy space between trying to become someone new and losing yourself in the process, as Joan attempts to navigate this new version of herself.

The film is also grounded by the presence of her parents, played by Vivian Wu and Fang Du, whose perspectives bring in themes of generational tension, cultural expectations, and the complexities of identity within an immigrant household in a foreign country.

While Slanted leans into body horror, it also uses that framework to explore ideas of identity, assimilation, and self-worth. Wang balances these themes with a distinct sense of dark humor, allowing the film to move between discomfort and satire in a way that feels really sharp and effective.

The film premiered at SXSW Film Festival, where it received the Narrative Feature Grand Jury Award, marking it as one of the standout titles of the festival.

We had the chance to HANG with Amy Wang to talk about the film that first inspired her to become a director, her transition into screenwriting, and how her widened creative background allowed her to shape Slanted into a film that clearly carries her distinct stamp.

If you like this HANG, please check out some of our other ones either where you listen to podcasts or watch the visualized version of this chat on our YouTube channel. Please also subscribe to our SUBSTACK where you get to read up on all the things the Asian A.V. Club are getting themselves into!

Thanks and join us on our next HANG!

On the eve of the Academy Awards, Asian A.V. Club got to HANG with documentary director Geeta Gandbhir as she not only celebrates her two Oscar nominations for her short The Devil Is Busy (which she is co-director with Christalyn Hampton), but also the feature The Perfect Neighbor.

With a background in narrative filmmaking, Geeta's documentaries are at once compelling, immediate and filled with humanity that people can relate to instantly!

In The Devil Is Busy, we follow a day in the life of an abortion clinic in Atlanta, seen through the eyes of Tracii, their head of security. Across a single day, the short observes the routines of the staff as they try to provide the best safest healthcare, inside an environment where they operate under the daily threat of danger.

Meanwhile, The Perfect Neighbor unfolds in a completely different way. Constructed largely from body-cam footage, the film pieces together a year-long neighborhood dispute that escalates into the fatal shooting of a young Black mother. As the footage accumulates, the film reveals how race and systemic bias are weaponized by the white shooter in an attempt to justify her actions, leading to a conclusion that is both shocking and heartbreaking.

As the first female director to get nominations in both the short and feature Documentary categories, we were really honored to get the chance to HANG with the filmmaker so press play!

If you enjoyed our chat, remember to press SUBSCRIBE and please check out our SUBSTACK where we have online exclusives that you can also get right in your inbox by joining there too! See you soon!