242: V for Vendetta:" It had to be now."

This is Akafe.

This episode has spoilers for V for Vendetta, with mentions of 1984, Animal Farm, The Mandalorian, and Sherlock.

For full list, please see show notes.

There's also discussions surrounding sexual assault and sexual assault on minors.

Please be advised.

Hi everybody!

Welcome to Akafe, your weekly deep dive into the fantasy literature and fandoms that we love.

I'm Laura Marie, and I'm Jessica Marie.

And today we are discussing the 2005 classic V for Vendetta, which is based off of a DC comics, like their vertical Vertigo series, limited series from the 80s.

And here we are talking about it now, definitely.

I'm excited that we get to explore it a little bit more, something that was supposed to be dystopian, not so dystopian.

But this came out, it was supposed to come out on the anniversary of Guy Fox Day, and it came out March 17th, 2005.

So here we are, 20 plus years later, having the conversation and sharing kind of like where we're going, what happens next.

And our first experience is watching this, because per usual, this is, I watched it for the first time for this episode.

I watched it twice, but Laura, you have more of a history with this a little bit.

Well, it's very funny, because Jessica Marie told me my history before she is very funny.

Before we started recording, she goes, Laura Marie, and you saw this in the theater, I know that.

And I was like, damn, she goes, yeah, and I know the person that she saw it with.

And I know, like after when you came back, like, I know, I was like, okay, you do know, you do know.

I saw this in the theater, specifically it's a theater behind Gators, if you know you know, it's probably not there anymore, but whatever.

And I saw it with a specific friend that's not a friend anymore, and a bunch of dudes, man, and it was fun.

It was fun. It was one of those fun movies where it was very enjoyable to kind of go on this journey.

It felt very different and fresh at the time.

It felt like fantasy. It felt like escapism.

It felt like this alternate universe, you know, dystopian England. That's different. That's fun.

It was really just an amazing experience.

And one that didn't take very seriously at the time.

Because why would you? Why? Why? Why? I was not at an age.

Actually, you know, honestly, I was at the perfect age to dissect this when it came out.

Absolutely perfect age. But the times were good during that time.

It was a nice time to be alive. Things were nice.

And so this like doom and threat and this feeling of really relating to the subject matter that I feel now didn't exist then.

So it is just as you say, interesting and fun to talk about it now when it is so relevant that it is horrifying sometimes.

Yeah, sometimes a lot of times because I feel like the first time I was watching this.

I wanted to stop so often because I wanted to just kind of write everything that we are main character.

One of our main characters is saying because he he goes on his monologues as he should.

And you're getting and you stop and I would have to sell myself.

No, just keep going with it. I know you're angry because again, this is set.

And then, you know, I think they describe it as a dystopian near distant future in the UK.

And at the same time when it's released in 2005, you're like, okay, quote unquote near future.

This is one of those things that feels like it's from the past from previous dictatorships, previous, you know, fascist regimes.

But not now. We've we've moved beyond that. Or so you're thinking I assume in 2005.

I did not watch this then. And also again, in 2005, I wasn't in a headspace that I was even thinking about politics.

It was just something that was there. I wasn't even a voting age. So so it was just very, very different.

And now, watching here for the first time, as I'm writing all my quotes down, I go, this isn't dystopian.

This isn't theoretical. This isn't fun. Or it's to what Laura said.

Fun question mark that we're able to dissect it now because of how applicable it is.

And of course, when you don't learn from history, you're doomed to repeat, repeat itself.

So here we are in 2026 trying to get our kicks.

Trying to get our kicks in 2026. I want it stated now that when just come re and I are recording this, it's a Sunday.

And the next week, next Sunday, we are recording 1984.

And I want to say that now because next week, I'm going to reference this episode.

And I'm going to say, Jess Camry, right? And you're going to go, oh my god.

And this is going to be a fun full circle moment. And I'm planting the seed now.

Well, I already felt that way when I read my first George Orwell with animal farm.

And I was just like, hello, is anybody am I going crazy? You're like, no, you're supposed to be upset.

That is actually the point. And then you're just sitting here like, I can't believe I didn't read that this was not my required reading growing up.

And you know, in true fashion, most of the time, we're like, okay, that's something of the past.

I'm very excited to read 1984 for our episode next week.

I'm also kind of scared as you should be as you should be.

Now here in Vifer Vendetta, there is something wonderful that has happened in the years since this movie has come out.

And Jess, you have experienced it because we talked about it before we started recording.

Vifer Vendetta has kind of transcended its life as a movie and has moved into, you know, this symbolic could.

It's symbolic now. Even if you have never seen the movie, Jess, you had never seen the movie.

You knew that the mask and the movie were related.

Oh, yeah, I knew it was related. I knew the iconology behind this.

I also knew when I say the barest of bones, I mean, I knew the title and then I knew vigilante.

That's all I needed to know. So it felt like that seems like a pretty badass movie.

And then I just kind of kept on with life.

At the same time, sometimes I'm like watching it and I go, I understand where he's coming from.

I don't know if I am hating on any of his decisions. I don't know what that means about me.

And the other part of this too is the other symbol that, and it starts off the movie perfectly, too, is we have the symbol of V and his mask.

And when you step away from the movie, everybody knows that.

And then you have not only Portman being bald as fuck. And when you step away from this movie and into the general pop culture of zeitgeist,

everybody associates bald Natalie Portman with this movie.

So those two things have become symbols of this movie, which is wonderful because the whole thing about this movie is like an idea.

And how like ideas like transcend the person that start them and ideas can't die. They live on.

And I love that those two things have, you know, transcended what this movie is and like really permeated into the culture.

And that is just like really fun because, and just you got to experience that when you pull it all back in and watch it and you put it all together, you're like, oh, oh, I see.

And then at the end, spoiler, when the whole populous has the masks on and they're marching, you feel it.

You feel it. You're like, yes, yes. And you know, he's giving his speech to empty houses because everybody is marching.

You're like, yes, yes, more of this. This is, this is what it is. This is what we should be doing.

And you really feel that because Hugo weaving, Hugo weaving in a mask.

I should not be giggling. I've been talking about this before we started getting my feet are.

We were talking about this before we started recording. And I was like, the V for vendetta to mask kink pipeline is not very long.

I can see if this was someone's awakening to be like, oh, and you're spewing poetry that I am eating off.

I get it now. And again, there were moments where I go, there's this going to be this romantic subplot.

And then I would have to reel it in. I'd be like, shame on you, Jessica. This is a movie about anarchy.

There is no room for romance in anarchy. We are rising in resisting our government. And then we still got rights. And I go, okay, I was right. Yay.

Well, it's impossible to resist all these words that Hugo weaving are saying because I mean his voice, his cadence, just the, the way that.

Okay. Look, I know it's not a new thing. I know Pedro Pascal is doing it in the middle. I get it. Right people.

The Ninja turtles. When we were, I get it. Like I understand acting. I understand. But it's.

There's something about like a theater trained. There's something about it. You can, you can just like I want that man to recite Shakespeare kind of thing.

I feel the same way with Patrick Stewart. I feel the same way with Ian McClellan. Just recite to me. You have it.

That's how I felt the whole time. I was just basking in everything that he was saying. Not only Portman folded way longer. I would have been like.

Oh, see, and that was there was certain parts where I even, she really resisted because even when he goes, look, you're going to have to live with me for a year.

Okay, we're going to have some Stockholm syndrome going on here. No. Then when he saved her from trigger warning, the rapist bishop.

And she still was like, at that point, I would have been like, go get him. I could not that she did not.

I don't want to say she's better than us. No, like I would have been on that trail. We are a duo now. Very much so.

But to what you said, I think there's like, it almost feels like you have a level of acting. And then there are the spines. And that's what he feels like in this.

And that's necessary because you have to like really permeate that mask. And I know it's like dubbed or whatever because they tried all the different ways to like record everything and it didn't work.

But like just just to just to have that, I mean, the level of skill is just amazing. Again, as I say all the time, Laura Marie, I can never be an actor.

It's important. But let's let's get it. Let's get into this movie. You know, the 1812 overture is very important here. Our music, the music is very important.

And the story of Guy Fox. I don't know what they teach in social studies or civics anymore. But I hope they still teach this and they still teach the rhyme of Guy Fox 1605 trying to blow up parliament parliament on the 5th of November.

Natalie Portman's voice over. I have to say she's got this fuck ass English accent. And I hate it. I hate this fuck ass English accent that she does. She does it.

She does the same one in the other Bolin girl when she plays Ambulin in 2008. I think maybe it's the same one. It's just it's like she's throwing the words at the back of her teeth. It's just it's it's painful for me.

Even Jess was like, I think she's struggling a little bit with it. It's like, yeah, you're being generous. Yeah, I did. Yeah, it's definitely there are certain, you know, actors out there where you don't get pulled away from the role. You're just kind of in it. And I did not feel in it with her.

That's just that's the nicest thing I could say. It's just like it's threw me off granted. It does movie. I can we know I don't I don't need a lot of highbrow things to enjoy a movie. So I kind of went with it, but it was very interesting when you have when you're amongst this prestigious

cast cast Laura, you love to say there's only so many actors in England. There's only so many actors in England. There really are so many actors in England. Oh my God, John hurt. Oh my God, RIP RIP.

But that's that's the thing though. And it is unfortunate that the like only like woman character in this is not quite up to par with all these men, but like whatever she holds her own for what she's got here. And what she has is a storyline where she works

at the news essentially and the news is a government entity a part of the branch of the government and just has a fantastic quote about that.

I mean, one of the open and quotes when when we know because I didn't also realize that this I think initially I thought it was going to be like a period piece, like very count of Monte Cristo kind of thing.

And then I when we go into the newsroom, I go, Oh, it's it's modern. Okay, this is interesting. But we have, you know, we have somebody, one of the producers in our broadcast segment saying, our job is to report the news, not fabricated. That's the government's job. That's the government's job.

So it really, it really sets the tone and our voiceover are new there, you know, there's news playing in the background as both V and Natalie Portman get ready for their nights, which is just, you know, really lovely. These two are, we see our two characters.

Mask on makeup on clothes on dress on shoes on knives on it's just, you know, I love the contrast but they're like both wearing their armor at the same time.

Exactly. It's lovely. But the news is telling us that the former United States is begging for medical supplies and they will trade wheat and tobacco. And, you know, we think that we should say fuck all to the colonies.

And, you know, because England prevails, strength through unity, unity through faith. And that really sets the dystopian, you know, alternate kind of universe that we're in here.

And of course, we're in London. And it is dark. It's rainy. There are police. It the way that it is filmed is, I was thinking, it's kind of Dr. Strange love asked.

But, you know, we will get to 1984. We will see. But again, the news reports are like, you know, the gaze, the immigrants, the Muslims, they all had to go, you know, we, what do we do?

We're straight through this and it's setting the background for everything. And it's like, huh, that was, that was fantasy.

I mean, again, watching it in 2005. It's very much a in 2005. If you're watching it, you're thinking, this is the thing of the past. I've learned about World War II. We're never going to go back there. Flash forward to February 2026 when we're having this conversation.

Yep. So there's a curfew. Obviously, of course, there's a curfew. Of course, it's not a free society. But Natalie Portman is, she's on her way to go see her boss. But that is like kind of revealed later and is evident on a second.

Like watch when you know what's going on and why she's like sneaking over there. But Evie is caught by the finger men and they're called the finger men because the police are like the hand and like the government is the body and it's all these different parts.

And it is. We'll see that again. And that's a motif. We'll see that again. But she is going to be assaulted by these finger men. Yes, they make that perfectly clear. Everybody knows this and V steps in and saves her and goes on.

And it's like monologue where he uses what is it? Like 48 V words in this monologue. Yeah, you know, I have never known pros the way he's done this, the alliteration. I'm impressed when people use two or three in a sense. His monologue, I was like, this is impressive, impressive.

And I was trying to look for the script to be like, am I going to recount this for this episode? I am not. I am not. But it is definitely take the time. Take the time. I'm short to memorize this amongst many other reasons where you and I always say like I could never be an actor. This is one of them as well.

Yeah, this is one of them as well because it's amazing because he's also sassy. He's also said, who are you? I'm a man in a mask that should be obvious. Right. Right. I like like, why would I tell you who I am? Clearly, I don't want you to know. I'm obsessed. She's like point.

Point. Take it.

Take it.

Hot mask man.

Are you crazy person? Are you crazy person? I'm doing it because that's her accent. That's what she sounds like.

Don't probably say that.

Which again is already continuing to set up the conversation that the government, as we know, is controlling all of the narrative.

So of course they're going to go out and say, yeah, I am probably crazy.

And something that I really love to is that is Evie Nali Portman is really real here because this man just gave her this intense monologue describing essentially his life's goal in purpose.

But like she doesn't know that yet in all the words. And then when he's done, he's like, how do you call me V? And then he's like, hey, do you want to go like listen to some music with me?

You want to like go like, you know, on this like date with me essentially? And she's like, sure. Yeah. And she's real for that.

She's real because she's looking around. She's like, you know what? Like, yeah. And then she gets up there in a very fight club-esque scene.

Watches the Bailey explode. And I mean, the feeling that you can tell in her face.

I mean, Nali Portman's a fantastic actress where she's like, oh my god, what did I get into? Like, oh my god.

What? But that was a crazy moment. And she, it's that moment too, where she's like, he didn't just bring me up to see this.

He orchestrated this, which is like magical question.

Yeah. I mean, it's real. It's nuts. So it's November the 5th. So he's telling Nali Portman about November the 5th.

And 1812 starts playing over the speakers. You know, he hacked in. He's playing over the speakers. And we get kind of introduced to like side characters that we will see briefly through the rest of the movie, including the girl.

It pops her head out. You know, she says like, oh my gosh, you know what's playing whatever.

A detail here is that the justice that is on top of the Bailey is not wearing her blindfold into being that justice is not blind here.

So that's just kind of like a dystopian little situation. And then it explodes.

Oh, because I focus on the part interesting with the statue with not just like justice not being blind, but they went to the children's hospital first like they went to the moniker of St. Mary's.

And then they went to the, you know, justice, the statue. And I took it. I didn't even like put the two together that she's not blinded. I took it as she saw that.

And still look at the world that we live in. What do I mean? Is it literally, but I didn't even, it's the same thing, but I didn't even realize and process that, yeah, that's right, justice is usually mass. That's how you have an equal balance.

It's just little little little details, little details. It's really good. Then we have the government meeting, which is the introduction to all of the like branches of our government in our head chancellor, John hurt who so scary here.

Oh my God, he's so scary as the chancellor yelling at all of these men. And the way that they are lit makes them look evil. It's like all black around them and like a spotlight right on their faces. Like this is very reminiscent of of other like old timey movies.

And it goes around saying like, what are we going to do? How are you going to spend this? What is going on? You know, can we find this person to all of these heads of government.

And then we have the inspector who is going to be our good guy who ends up turning for Natalie Portman, you know, who revolution at the end.

But we see like the his colleagues and they're all scary as hell.

I mean, all of the colleagues are scary. They're and it's not a mockery, but in the movie Austin powers, you know how we have our evil villain layer.

That's what this feels like except this is not satire. This is very much lived in. We're controlling the government. We're creating the narrative.

We are going out and also I mean it's it's fascism and it's authoritarianism and you're ruling with fear.

And not only is that fear being ruled amongst the populace, it's being ruled within the positions of government.

And in those branches, everybody is always capitulating to dictator settler, which is so scary because he has this ultimate power.

And later on, we get his rise to power, which is similar.

If there are any similarities, you are drawing those conclusions to yourself.

We are just talking about a movie.

We're talking about the movie.

So then we are then we're in the news room. And this is this is important. This is where Evie gets taken.

This is where the broadcast gets put out for everybody to see. This is where the masks get delivered to the news room.

This is where everything kicks off and and separates Evie from everybody else. This is like the first, the first like moment of that.

Just describe this movie as two hours, one hour Nally Portman with hair, one hour without. We are still within the with hair section.

It's like BCVCE.

Yeah, it's fun. It's fun. Nally Portman, she's like a intern. I don't know what she does. They make her run coffee in the news room.

And it is implied. They're like, oh, did you go see daddy Dietrich last night? That is Gordon. That's her boss. That is Stephen Fry, people that is David Fry.

And that that will play out a little bit later. But while Nally Portman, Evie is at work, the cops are starting to raid her house.

And they find her like blacked out ID. And then they start going through her like family history and figuring out what is going on with her.

Because she's a person of interest, which is just like so crazy. But I mean, it's the government. They can do whatever they want in this universe.

Well, clearly because they made her the fall guy for so many that we need to we need to create a villain. Let's create it.

It's got to be her. Her parents are political. It's this whole thing. You know, her brothers connected. She's connected at works. It works. It works.

But through the course of this V infiltrates the news room and puts his broadcast out for the whole country to see.

And that is a moment. And the government officials are screaming with a chance or being like, well, hey, it's the emergency network. You wanted it on every single screen.

You said that it's foolproof. We can't stop it. Like you set this up. And V has infiltrated it. And it's a call to action.

But V kind of says like, look, I understand why you let this tyrant take power. You were afraid all of these things.

But enough is enough. And in one year, we're going to march on the government and we're going to take it down. And essentially, I'm going to blow up parliament.

And we're going to remember what November 5th means for this country. And it's all going to change. And I will see you one year from now.

Boom, gauntlet thrown down. And everybody is like in shock with this. Everyone's like, huh?

Huh? And the government is like, we need to kill this person. Post taste. Post taste. Post taste.

Post taste. This person needs to fucking die. So they film. They film part of the takeover of the newsroom and like the rescue that happens in there.

And then through an accidental shooting from one of the police and somebody else in the mask, they put that out to the broadcast people and say, look, we got him. He's dead.

He said, don't worry about it. You don't have to go amazing. We are. We're the government. Look how on our shit. We are protecting you. No need to be concerned or scared citizens. We are doing this.

And it just like all of it, especially when I noticed it the first and then definitely in the second, because I knew what was happening.

It was reminding me of like the propo videos that we were doing and mocking Jay part one, the movie, I don't know based on the calendar if that episode is out yet.

But it did remind me of that moment because I love what we have V doing as he is taking over like Laura said and saying like, this is my mission.

He's also putting, I don't want to say putting thoughts into people's head. He's reminding people, this isn't right.

What does he say? And the truth is there is something terribly wrong with this country isn't there. He'll go on and say cruelty and injustice intolerance and oppression.

And where once you had the freedom to object to think and to speak as, as you saw it, you now have sensors and systems of surveillance coercing your conformity and enlisting your submission.

So he's having these very impactful, very poignant notes and speeches that he's delivering on the news network.

The only one, the emergency broadcasting system and has ingrained these thoughts.

So I'm obsessed. I love it.

Somebody do it to us.

So yeah, come on, come on, we see the example.

Come on, I see what you've done for others.

Like, come on.

Like, please, please.

Fantastic stuff. Now, if you have watched, I'm going to say two things.

If you have watched Sherlock with Benedict Cumberbatcha Martin Freeman or if you have watched one of my favorite TV movies, Cleopatra with Timothy Dalton and Billy Zane, then you will know Rupert Graves,

who is D.I. Inspector Lestrod in Sherlock and is also Octavian in Cleopatra.

Here, he is, he's like the district and I don't know, he's like a, he's a guy.

He's a guy here. He's an assistant to the inspector.

I love him. He's got these like black eyes, just like gray hair. He's like spunky. He like kind of comes around and is a good guy.

You know, he starts to really question things and put it together and you know, has a guilty like conscious when he's like, I can't understand like why everybody would do all of this.

Like, I just love him and I am, I was so happy to see him here having, after having not watched this movie in a really long time.

Because they're like, oh my god, there he is. Oh my god. I haven't thought about him. It's so lucky. So great. I love him.

So that, that was very fun, just like as an aside for me, but he's the inspector that even knocks out in or like maces and he knocks her out during this scene where Evie is trying to flee the police who are after her because they're looking, you know, they're looking for her as an accomplice to the Bailey explosion because they have her on camera up there with V.

And she knocks out the inspector. He knocks her out and V is like, huh, well, I'm going to take you. You're coming with me, ma'am.

Come to my layer, which is awesome, awesome layer. She's acting like a wife is so she's like up. I got it. I'm going to be again. Why is she fighting?

I was a mail room assistant. Now you're going to close me. Feed me. Your food is delicious. Oh my gosh. Why does it taste so good? Oh, because this is, this is like a subtle.

It's not out there, but this is the dystopian part. I use it like air quotes. Why does this taste so good? Oh, this is made with the food that goes to the dictator. This goes to subtler.

This isn't, and it's not outright. But if you know your history and you know little nuances and details, I love where she goes.

That's where you put together. Oh, she's not getting the same stuff. The people are not getting the same quality that our dictator and the people in our government are getting.

So I love like those like you're going to feed me. I don't have to work. I get to kind of hang out with you and learn more about the revolution sounds like a time surrounded by forbidden art and relics and all of the history that was probably in the British Museum that got like censored a destroyed or whatever.

They don't like say that outright in the movie, but like probably well, I mean when we, I mean spoiler this whole movie, but when you get to de-tricks when he has his hidden historic art layer.

Yep. And not just art like rich history.

Okay.

And then we're on from the 1300s is and that's the one that really gets them into that really does them in, you know, with everything, but we'll get there.

Yeah, like Evie, Evie's mad about it. She's like, why do I have to live here for a year?

Then what to her credit the next morning when he's making her an eggy and eggy in toast. She apologizes. She's like, look, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I freaked out. I freaked out.

I understand what you're doing for me. I get it and I very much appreciate it. I'm on board.

I did think that there are a couple of times where I thought she was trying to do one over on V and that was one of them where she was going to be where she was just going to use her coat feminine wiles and

use that to kind of get out of the situation. But I love that he does bring up the point he goes, they know where you work.

If they know where you work, don't you think they know where you live? How else would they have found out and followed that track?

If anything, I'm protecting you and he keeps protecting her and she's fighting it because he protected her in the alley.

He protected her here. He continues to protect her and she's fighting it. She's fighting it while he's dropping bangers.

He's dropping bangers. People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people.

Full stop. Full stop. And she's like, word, word, word, word. I get it. I get it. And she comes to him and she's like, you know what? Actually, I'm on board.

Actually, do you need help? Actually, I will tell you my backstory and I want in. And he's like, all right, when I need you, I will come to you.

And we'll work together and then she fucks him over, which I'm so mad how she fucks him over. And I mean, the whole scenario, I mean, because she's also, she's in it because she also drops the line as she's giving her history of artists use lies to tell the truth while the politicians use them to cover up the truth.

And fucking hell. Hello, it's all over her turn on the news. You don't even have to go far. You can go on the local news.

And she is because then we get to our, you know, we have while this is happening in our underground layer, we have above the soil, our detectives who are like trying to piece things together.

What's the connection? What are some other things that are happening in our government that seem kind of off? Because why is a pope getting $200,000 or pounds, whatever their currency is a month from the congregation?

And you later find out he has children and minors on retainer to do what he wills because he has one of his assistants come up, hey, the agency has sent for, has sent a girl.

She's a little older than your used to, which it was like gross, gross, gross, gross, gross. I cannot, like, I am disgusted.

And I think I like, I really wanted to just fast forward to that part. And then she's all dolled up. She's all dolled up.

They have her looking very innocent and minor and just it was just the whole thing is gross. And then he thinks that she's like cosplaying into this, like this scene.

Again, he's like, well, you still look young for me. So he's already a pedophile. And she's trying to tell him everything. She's trying to tell him what V is up to.

I'm like, girl, what are you doing? What are you doing? This is awful. I thought we were, we were going to ride on this together. So then you have V out for the bishop because now it's like a, you're up against the time.

You know, you have the detectives who figured this, you know, piecing together this stuff that's going on with the pope slash slash bishop.

You have V who is a vigilante and he was like, I know what this motherfucker is up to. I'm going to, you know, take him down personally.

And then he goes again, like this whole movie is just disgusting and trigger warning government at this point and politics.

Um, but she still tells him and the, he goes to rape her and then gets pissed at her because she self-defense because of course men. And then you have V comes in, saves her ass.

And then she's like, I'm sorry and dips the fuck out that she foiled, quote unquote, foiled his plan. Granted, we still get a movie still.

V still kills the bishop. He cannot, you know, harm victim, you know, survivors anymore and onto the next, but I'm so pissed that even then she, at that point, I would have been like, actually he's right here.

And I'm not running. Let's do this together. Why are you apologizing?

Very angry with her in her character in this moment.

And, and the issue of like, oh, you use my, my key card to get in to kill my, you know, pro, uh, pro thorough at the news.

You know, you stuck into his, you know, all of this stuff. You, you did all of that with my key card. It's like, that is an assinine reason for you to give away his scheme to a rapist.

Like, what? A pedophile, not just a rapist, like a pedophile rapist. Like it's just a double down. It's just so gross because he took your key card.

Honey, you weren't going back. You were already on the government's shirtless. You were not going back into that newsroom. You're, you're a person in on grotto.

And they've already shared the watching count of money, Christo on the couch together. They've already shared that moment. And she still betrays him here.

Uh, it's so upsetting. It's so upsetting. It's so upsetting.

Uh, you know, violence can be for good. Violence can be used for justice. She's like, man, man, shut up.

Yeah, because I, you know, when he was like, you work complaining when I saved your ass. Yeah. You were complaining when all these people that were attacking you that I killed.

It's like, it's different. It's not. It's not. Oh, I'm very, I'm glad that she comes around. But in these moments, I go, you're a sense of justice. And I use that in air court because it's what works for her.

Like she said, she's like, oh, it's different. Why? Because you chose it. You can't be, you can't decide until she eventually does. She's like, we're going to send a message.

And, and she flees and she goes to Gordon's and Gordon takes her in, you know, Stephen Fry. And this is when Gordon reveals that like he was never, he's gay.

And he was never going to do anything with her and him inviting her over after hours is like this weird, gross thing that is expected of men like him.

And so to keep the fact that he's gay and also has this extensive collection of like art that he shouldn't have.

He keeps this ruse going, but like he was never, it was never going to be a thing. Like please, no, it was never going to be a thing. Evie.

It's not like that. It's not like that. And, and he also says, you know, Bonjour, Mademoiselle and makes her an eggie the same way that V does. Like the parallels here, you know, are just really something.

Well, I think she was also like, is are they the same person? Like it's bizarre. He also has like a secret layer like he's also sharing this with me.

But Gordon is a white man and so and, you know, in charge of a television network. So when he decides when he decides that they're going to air something really racy and saucy and against the government.

When he decides to do that, he's like, what are they going to do? Like I am the most important, you know, da, da, da, da, da, da.

Find me please, whatever. And so when they break down his door in the middle of the night and fucking murder him and drag him out, he is shocked and he does try his damnedest to warn Evie to hide.

But like, yeah, I mean, I think he was at that point to think like, you know what, you gave me or not you, but like you and V-ish reminded me what's right.

And I think he was like, you know what, better late than never for me to use my privilege, you know, and he and he has a whole skit, like a whole satire skit on his show.

And you have, and of course the whole country is laughing, the whole government, you know, populist is laughing. And that's also what irritates everybody because now you have everybody in the joke.

That's going to make an insecure person, specifically an insecure man feel even worse and use his position of power.

But then we have V using his position of power to absolutely decimate everybody that was involved. And what was they, what were they involved in? The government is evil. And after the uprising, after the purges, after everything when they were settling everything down.

They had a detention center where they basically did experiments on people and V was one of these subjects and he survived was the only one that survived took revenge on everybody in the facility burned it down and then spent the next 10 years tracking down everybody that was related to it and has been methodically executing them.

We have picked up in his story as he's executing him. So that is the newsman that is the bishop. That's also our, our woman scientist that he kills who changed her name and became the coroner.

And she is grateful for death. She says, Oh, thank God. Oh, thank God. And then it is from her that we get the journal. The journal goes to the inspector. And that's kind of what radicalizes the inspector.

He has this like hard evidence right in front of him that he's read. And then he presents that to the chancellor. And the chancellor is like, if you talk about that, I'm going to kill you. The inspector is like, Oh, okay. Ask me what radicalized me.

Because this is the moment, my guy. I was already sick to my stomach about all this shit. But now because facts don't lie. And when you start hiding the facts, that's why you have, I mean, again, yeah, it was 2005. But here we are in 2026. Why do you think people are pissed? Why do you think people don't want to be quiet? Why do you think you have to say publicly?

Myself included. I am not suicidal. I am not taking any medications. I am not actively standing by any high surfaces. I you have to have all of these disclaimers. And now again, now when we're recording, you have government officials saying these on public forums. So yeah, this is 2005. Yeah, it was dystopian. It was in like, it's not dystopian anymore.

It's not dystopian anymore. So when Gordon is dragged out, Evie is also taken. And this is this is where things get murky for us, the viewer, because a rewatcher like, Oh, this is Hugo weaving acting. He's acting all of getting into our Natalie Portman, no hair era. Yeah, this is Natalie Portman, no hair era.

Hugo weaving, she's her, you know, we're shaving hair. We're being interrogated. We are asking all of these quite just give them up. Just give them up. Like, you know, you can stop all of this. Just tell us where it is. All of this stuff. And she is tortured through all of this. And she finds Evie finds strength through reading a letter from Valerie that she finds in the stones in her cell.

And it is through her reading her story, Valerie's story of being a gay woman in the beginning of this uprising and then dealing with the encroaching, you know, arms of fascism and, you know, when did different become dangerous kind of situation.

And then she's taken her lover is taken, you know, and she says I'm going to die here. And she has the infection marks because the government is doing biological experiments on all of these people. That that's the thing. There are like three, three biological sites, the school, the water and public transit.

And yeah, and the inspector is putting all of this together and he's piecing all of this together. And it so that part of the plot is happening as Natalie Portman is getting radicalized and it is through her finding strength through Natalie's story that when

in her final interrogation, they say, take her out back and shoot her like a dog. She accepts her fate completely with utter calm. And in that moment, he will even let's her go. Like he lets her go.

Is fucking crazy. And I think that was her that was also a mind fuck for her too. She's like, it was you because then she also goes into manic laughter. And I think she's even lost like, is this relief? Yeah, because she walks out of the cell because he walks out unlocks the cell.

She walks out the guards in the cell are dummies. All the doors are unlocked. She walks up and she's back in, you know, like the jukebox kind of lobby room with with V. And she's like, it was you the whole time.

You know, you did this to me like, I hate you. She has a breakdown. And he's like, you know, go back to that feeling. Go back to that calm. Go back to that numb feeling. Like no one can stop you now.

She takes her up to the roof. And she has her arms up in the rain moment, which is again, mirrored with the with his fire roaring moment.

Like there are two pieces, you know, water fire all of this symbolism again.

Right? Like the symbolism is just wonderful. And so, you know, all all of this. And she has her moments. And then she, she comes back out and she's like, okay, thanks. Bye.

Bye. He goes, where are you going to go? She's like, I don't know. Bye.

This was the other part that I thought she was trying to dupe him over when she goes, I'm feeling dizzy. I need air.

I mean, and essentially it is what she did because she says bye after being out in the rain. But I also feel that they were.

She's had acceptance in this moment. Whereas before she was running from him. And now she's just running towards the next thing.

And V says like, all right, you can go. Of course, there are no more locked doors here for you. But please, can I see you again before everything happens on November the 5th?

And she says, yes, absolutely. They almost have like a little bit of a mask kiss right here, almost, almost, almost. And then and then she leaves.

She leaves. And he does this wonderful, wonderful freak out. And this is when you know it's kind of a love story because she leaves. And he does the classic beauty and the beast thing.

And like he rips off his mask and he starts roaring and like, trashing the place. And he's like, he's like sobbing into his hands. Like, I love that shit.

Go off king. Like, express your emotions. I get it. I get it.

And that's great. Like that, that's when it's like, oh, there really is like another side to this. Just like you were right all along.

The vibes were always there. Like you were correct. And usually I love and I told it like I was like, I told me so. But I think I had suppressed the romance.

And I was just like, yeah, and I was like, oh, wait, it's back.

So not only for when it goes on little side quests, like whatever. But V is busy. V puts on his makeup and his fake beard and his hat.

And he goes to Saint Mary's, you know, memory memorial. And he tells the inspector a story.

And that story connects all of the people places and things that were rolling around in the inspector's head and organizes it all for him and tells him like, you know, the chancellor and the pharmaceuticals and the courts and like, you know, all of this and the surveillance.

And it's all together and all of this is, you know, Saint Mary's and it's all related.

Everything is, you know, really bad. It's all really, really bad. And they're trying to do like the super soldier kind of thing and it the biological weapon to test on the people.

It's all bad. The government is corrupt. And now they're working with big pharma. That was another thing. I was like, of course they fucking are because this isn't dystopian anymore.

Yep. Yep. And and they say what? What? So what are we going to do? And and V says put surveillance on a treaty. And when you have surveillance on treaty, I will be in contact with you again. So they do that.

And treaty goes in his greenhouse, creepy, creepy, and V cuts a deal with him. And V goes in there and he's like, hey, hey, hey.

You're creepy, by the way. But you're going to be the fall guy, right? You know that. You know you're going to be the fall guy. Okay.

So let's, let's kind of like undercut you being the fall guy and let's double cross the chancellor. And I will let you go if you bring me the chancellor. And treaties like.

Yeah, but yeah, that's fine. We have a deal. Sir, give, give me him. And he's like, okay, I mean, that's, that's fine. And then we have a timeline, which you know I love.

Well, we've had a timeline since the beginning of the movie. And I know we have a check in though. And it's 347 days. It has been 347 days. So we have just a few, like a few, a few days left.

And this is important because when we have 300, when it has been 347 days, we only have these few days left. We have our girl who was leading out the window in the very beginning. Say, hey, do you hear the music starting to, you know, do graffiti.

The populace is really starting to get antsy.

No, continue because I know that because it's like how we've seen this girl because you know, it's the, I don't want to say movie magic.

You knew she was going to be important because we have been seeing her since the beginning of this when she's engaging with the news, when she's watching TV, when she's laughing at the satire. So this is and she is a girl. She is a young, she is like teen tween age.

But she, this is a message that's impacting the youth. She is a symbol of youth. And it can, she continues to be in like, I don't want to get caught because not only, you know, not only Portman sees her, TV sees her and she runs away because she doesn't want to get in trouble.

But as a symbol of youth and as people are talking and as people are getting antsy, she's losing that fear because she gets caught, she's wearing the mask and she gets shot.

It's just, it's, it's the natural progression. Yeah. Yeah. It's a natural progression and also to say at this point hundreds of thousands of masks have gone out to the city.

So everybody is wearing them. Nobody knows. Of course, we have, you know, law enforcement, who's very trigger happy and feel threatened for no reason because all she was doing was graffitiing on a wall.

And then once the mask is removed, it amplifies the ansiness and the frustration and the anger and the what the fuckness for lack of a better word that people are holding their government accountable and the government doesn't like that.

And they don't know what to do with that because now everybody saying you just openly murdered a child in broad daylight in public.

Now we are asking, we are holding you accountable. We are asking you for answers and they don't have any.

But this is just, just, just to be a love event.

There's a really sick ass domino kind of seen here. I guess pretty bad ass. And then, you know, there's like the linch, the little little piece.

Yeah, it was like, it's the clear day. There she is. Excellent stuff. Okay. So here's the day where it's November 5th. It's the day. It's the day.

Evie's at the jukebox. I miss you. I thought of you, you know, all the time. And then Evie says, essentially, I'm a different. I'm a changed person.

She says that I had my colleague was behind me at the store and I was so nervous. I dropped my money and she picked it up. But she gave it back to me. She looked me in my face. She didn't recognize me.

That's when I realized that you have changed me more than, you know, da, da, da, da, da. She's been rather classed. Awesome.

Will you dance with me? Yes, absolutely. They dance. I love it. It's amazing. Fantastic. He goes, I have a gift for you.

And he takes her to the underground and he gives her the gift of deciding to blow up parliament or not. I mean, I, the standards people, like, come on.

It's good stuff. He's like, I, I realized that, like, you know, I, I had more to live for than just my, like, revenge and my vengeance. Like, you are here.

And like, you are just a part of this too. Like, you can make the decision.

You know, all, all of these feelings that I have. And, um, there's a confession. Right? Like, I mean, there's a confession from, I mean, he loves her.

And, well, this isn't the part where she confesses her love either. But this is a kiss. Yeah, we get, we get our mask kiss.

We get our mask kiss. And this is where I was like, yeah, I'm right. Um, but he can't, he goes, I can't, I can't.

Yeah, you can. It's very dramatic. It's very dramatic. Of course, he's a thuspian. Of course, he's, he's about the theatrics. I mean, he's walking around with a mask and a cape and a wig. Of course, he's into the theatrics.

Um, but yeah, she has this decision. She thinks that's all this like, you can't put this on me. I'm just supposed to be kind of, I don't even want to say a free agent.

I'm just passionate about the cause. I don't want to actually act on said radicalism yet. Um, but at the same time, they, they part.

And they also, you have V meeting up with the rest of the government who tried to kill him and he goes, tell you what, you can kill me.

But if I survive, it's over free motherfuckers. And he survives. And I was like, of course, he's wearing kevlar or something. I mean, he isn't, he is wearing something strong enough that holds like it's not bulletproof because he dies from the wounds that they eventually, that they eventually shoot him from.

But not before he fucks everybody up, kills everybody. And then he's like, oh, thank God, I don't have to say face anymore.

Goes back to his layer tunnel section of this, of the tube that has been abandoned for years. And Evie confesses her love for him as well. And she's like, don't leave me. And he's like, you gave me the gift.

This is actually the only gift that I really wanted. And he dies in her arms.

Like just, you know, and she doesn't unmask him, which I find very respectful. She's not even a thought. She doesn't even, it's, I love it.

Because it's, it's also like, I love who you are as a person and what your beliefs are, which is interesting because at the beginning, she's like, I don't know anything about you.

And you know all these things about me, but I think it's also, you know, you want to talk about symbolism. Sometimes you don't need to know all of the nitty gritty.

But you can still know who a person is at their core of the type of being and, you know, how they carry themselves and how they live through life. And that was enough for her.

It was enough for her. It's enough for me too. Damn. While this is happening, the entire populace is marching on Parliament.

And because all of the government is dead, there is nobody to give the army command. So it's like, do we shoot on these people?

Or are we not shoot on these people? They don't shoot on the people. Everybody is in the square. And the inspector now has made it.

Because the inspector knew it was going to be the train. He always was going to be the train. Everyone dismissed him and said it was not going to be the train.

He went to the train anyway. And so the inspector goes to the train. He sees Natalie Portman. He pulls his gun on her. He says, stop. She goes, fuck off. He goes, stop. She goes, stop. She goes, I'm going to do it. He goes, okay, do it.

I mean, his resistance was like, no, he folded quicker than she did.

I think he was, I don't even want to say he folded. I think he felt like obligated to be like, don't do it. You know, when you're, when you're, and I want to see, you know, when you're raised a certain way.

And I say this as women, where we're always taught to always apologize and say, I'm sorry, even if you're not sorry, that is where I feel like he said, like, you should stop because I'm a detective.

And then she said, no, and he's like, oh, you're right. Okay. Cool. Yeah.

I feel like he felt like he had to say it. He didn't actually want to stop. Stop. Stop.

So she pulls the lever. Of course, she does. And she likes to get out of the train. Yeah.

She pulls the right lever. And these body is in there with all the roses. There's a shit ton of roses. We don't know where they came from. She got them quickly, whatever. It looks great.

And off he goes, this enormous train, his body packed to the gills with explosives. And she and the inspector are just looking at each other like, well, we did that.

And he goes, you know, who was he? You know, he goes, he was the count of Monte Cristo. He was my father, my mother, my brother, my sister. He was me. He was you. He was all of us.

And Parliament explodes as 1812 place.

Revolution. It's amazing. More of that, please. More of that, please. And you know, that's the end of the movie.

Just can we thoughts, feelings, reactions? This is your first, your first time here. How do we feel?

I am so glad that I didn't watch it in when it came out. I'm so glad I'm glad that I watched it now.

I'm glad that I didn't watch it last year or the year before. I feel like this is a movie that if you haven't watched recently, watch it again. Watch it now.

This is a movie that you want to talk about. Physical fucking media. This is one of them. Absolutely should have.

It was amazing. And I can absolutely see why it will not be re-released in theaters for its anniversary.

Because that would be something.

I'm worried it's like my door is going to get like knocked in any second.

Um, yeah. I mean, how are you feeling?

Because I know this isn't one of those movies that you've watched on repeat, but you had watching it for the, for this episode, the purposes of this episode.

And then from your first watch, how has that? I mean, obviously the experiences that have changed, but what was, what was something that stood out to you more in your feelings?

It was fun. The first time I saw it, you know, it was fun. It was, it was escapism. It was, it was out in the same year as Sin City, which is another fucking banger movie.

Um, but so it was, it was very much like those were kind of the two things that were bumping around at the time.

And it was fun. It was different. It was dark. It was edgy. It was not something that everybody was seeing. It was, it was like kind of niche. It was kind of, you know, you had to know.

It was cool. It was, it was just like one of those things. It was not like mainstream yet to had not.

V for vendetta had not like permeated the culture and the way that it has now.

Um, so again, it is, I cannot wait for you to read 1984. I really just keep, keep sticking to that because this and that are just two peas and a pod and, and it is going to be magnificent to have this kind of comparison and to be, um, feeling this way.

Because, uh, this thing that started off as a fantasy, you know, kind of fun in 2005 is now too real. Just, just like the Hunger Games is now too real.

And it makes us uncomfortable. And of course, that is kind of the enduring trait of good art is to make you feel a certain way into, and a lot of it is to make you feel uncomfortable in a way that is thought provoking.

And, and, um, you know, beneficial to, to change and ideas and, and that kind of thing. So in that way, um, make sure you have a goddamn DVD player or something because they, this is one that they'll take from us, right?

Like this is one that's going to go, um, physical media. This one because it is so important to have things that make you think and make that spark inside of you, you know, flare because there is so much out there that is trying to smother that that it is something that we need to cultivate that revolutionary spark.

Um, because if you don't feed that, it will die. And it is so important to keep that fire going and to keep feeling like you can do something because it is in complacency that we really lose all of it.

No, I love it. And that's exactly the message that V was saying. He goes, Hey, remember, you've been forgetting Guy Fox Day. Remember who he was, what he stood for. And here's some quotes as a reminder from me to stimulate those interest and passions.

Um, but with all of that being said, feel free to follow us on Instagram or at acafé podcast or also both on TikTok, acafé Laura, acafé Jessica, feel free to rate us five stars on whatever listening platforms you are enjoying us on. We'd greatly appreciate it.

Thanks so much and we'll talk to you all soon. Bye. Bye.