Birth: David Thomson talks Jonathan Glazer’s second film

A podcast to accompany the release of my book Darkness Visible: the Cinema of Jonathan Glazer, available HERE

Jonathan Glazer has created some of the most unforgettable images in twenty-first-century cinema. From the dreamlike menace of Sexy Beast to the haunting abstractions of Under the Skin and the chilling banality of evil in The Zone of Interest, his films blend surreal intensity with razor-sharp formal control. But Glazer’s world doesn’t stop at the cinema screen-it extends into commercials, music videos and short films that have redefined visual storytelling. In Darkness Visible, critic and author John Bleasdale guides readers through the full scope of Glazer’s career, offering a vivid, provocative and deeply informed portrait of a filmmaker who resists interpretation even as his work demands it. With chapters on each feature film, along with Glazer’s groundbreaking work in advertising and video, this is the first comprehensive account of a visionary whose cinema explores the dark undercurrents of modern life-and leaves audiences changed.

John Bleasdale is a film critic and writer whose work is regularly published in Variety, Sight and Sound, The Economist, The Financial Times and The Guardian. He is also a contributing editor of The New World and hosts the podcast Writers on Film podcast. His book The Magic Hours: The Films and Hidden Life of Terrence Malick (2025) was published by the University Press of Kentucky.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices