Some films change every time you rewatch them — not because they shift, but because you do.

The mark of a great film is that it can meet you again — and offer more. Not just because your perspective has changed, but because the film is rich enough to hold what you couldn’t yet see.

This year marks the tenth anniversary of Andrew Haigh’s 45 Years — and we’re celebrating it on the podcast because it’s one of the best films of the century.

I’ve watched it at least once a year over the past decade, and each time, it lands differently.
This time, I brought a mic.

Today on the Seventh Row Podcast, I’m joined by Lindsay Pugh (Editor-in-Chief of Woman in Revolt) to unpack why 45 Years only gets richer with time.

We talk about:

• How age and experience reshape how we receive the film
• What makes Rampling's and Courtenay’s performances two of the century’s most vulnerable and precise
• How Haigh’s script and direction work together to reveal what’s unsaid — through really thoughtful dialogue and exceptional blocking (more on what that means on the ep!)
• And what happens when a ghost from your partner’s past makes you privately question your marriage, just as you're about to publicly celebrate it

Whether it’s your first time watching or your fifth, or you're just starting to realize it's a film you could return to again and again, this episode is for you.

🎧 Listen now to Episode 177​

If this conversation resonates — or makes you want more like it — I talk a bit at the end of the episode about Reel Ruminators, my membership for film lovers who want to sit with what they’ve watched, unpack how it works, and maybe see it again with new eyes.

This episode is a great place to start.

Happy listening,

Alex