On this week’s 100% politics free episode of the Empire podcast, the release of Ti West’s eagerly anticipated X trilogy closer Maxxxine — which sees the series’ instantly iconic porn star-turned-Final Girl Maxine being stalked by a shadowy killer on the streets of mid-80s LA — brings star Mia Goth our way. The decidedly less shadowy and less killery Chris Hewitt sat down with Goth over Zoom for a lovely chat about all things Maxxxine, getting drenched in prosthetics, being a non-screaming scream queen, and much more besides [41:11 – 53:59 approx].

Then, back in the non-political pod booth, Chris is joined by Helen O’Hara and James Dyer for an episode in which they don’t talk about politics, even though it was recorded on General Election Day, and even though this week’s listener question is specifically about movie politicians. What were the chances? Elsewhere, the team also discuss this week’s movie news (Just news — no politics!), including Inside Out 2‘s billion dollar box office success, our first look at Gladiator 2, Fantastic Four teasers, a shooting update on Henry Cavill’s Highlander reboot, and an exciting new as-yet-unnamed-but-probably-Dune: Messiah Denis Villeneuve movie announcement. And as if that ain’t enough, we also find time to review Hollywood slasher Maxxxine, action-comedy reboot Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F, Zac Efron and Nicole Kidman sex comedy A Family Affair, and Unicorns — the movie, not the mythical beasts. All while not talking about politics. Impressive, really. As ever, please do enjoy!