119. 1986 in Film

Steven, Benjamin, and Sean wind the clock back to 1986 and take a month-by-month wander through one of the most eclectic, chaotic, and fondly remembered years in modern cinema.

From summer blockbusters to cult oddities, we revisit our first watches, reassess our long-held opinions, and shamelessly don the nostalgia goggles as each of us picks a favourite from every month of the year. Along the way, we celebrate the era-defining highs of Aliens, Highlander, The Fly, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Big Trouble in Little China, and gleefully tangle with the stranger corners of the year such as House, Troll, and The Golden Child.

There’s plenty of love for Labyrinth, Little Shop of Horrors, and The Three Amigos, and plenty of irritation from Steven when The Wraith inevitably enters the conversation.

We also take a detour through the 1986 awards season (what won, what didn’t, and what absolutely should have), alongside notable births, deaths, and the broader cultural context of the year.

A nostalgic, opinionated tour through a year when cinema swung for the fences, and often hit something wonderfully strange.