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TV & Film

Voiceover: Movies that Move Us

What movies taught you about life? Showed you truths you didn’t know you needed to hear?

Join Heather Bigley, a former academic and film teacher, and the host of Voiceover: Movies that Move Us—the podcast where films have an impact. Each episode, our guests share the cinematic moments that changed their lives. We want to learn from those silver screen experiences, and so we share those moments with you, looking at the films from a whole new perspective.

With a Doctorate in Film Studies and a passion for storytelling, Heather brings a little history, a little philosophy, some behind-the-scenes know-how, and her whole life to the movies she watches.

From Wild Strawberries to The Wiz, Terminator 2 to Tree of Life, we’re finding the films that moved us when we least expected it—golden age classics, recent blockbusters, and even the tiny indie film that barely anyone noticed. While Cosmo Brown might just want to Make ‘em Laugh, we’re interested in the films that make you cry, too. Movies that revealed something about ourselves. Mentored us when we needed mentorship. Maybe even illuminated the Divine.

Join us for Voiceover: Movies that Move Us for cinematic epiphanies, reel recommends, and maybe some self-revelations. Don’t miss a moment. Subscribe to us now on BYUradio, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Latest Episodes:

Dr. Strangelove Aug 24, 2026

Show notes

Dr Strangelove was supposed to make nuclear war look absurd. Decades later, one of its darkest inventions no longer looks like fiction. Nuclear disarmament activist Jim Thomas revisits Stanley Kubrick’s legendary Cold War satire and explains what the film got frighteningly right. From nuclear deterrence, mutual assured destruction, Golden Dome, the Doomsday Clock and the renewed nuclear arms race, this conversation explores why Dr Strangelove may be more relevant now than many viewers realize. Jim also reflects on Peter Sellers, George C Scott, Daniel Ellsberg, Hanford plutonium production and the silent theatrical performance that changed his life. Ultimately, Kubrick’s warning still matters to a generation that did not grow up under the shadow of the Cold War.

Hotel Rwanda: Constrained Choices Aug 17, 2026

Show notes

Chelsea Allen, a producer at Ninth Mode Media, revisits Hotel Rwanda with Heather, discussing how she's changed since she first saw the film as an idealistic high schooler. Hotel Rwanda (Terry George, 2004) asks a question most viewers think they can answer—until fear, family, and survival enter the room. Rewatching the film as an adult reveals why “Never Again” is not merely a promise but a test of how much we are truly willing to risk for another person. Heather and Chelsea revisit the film, while bystander apathy, dehumanizing propaganda, colonialism, and the international community’s failure to act inform their discussion. Chelsea Allen has worked with non-profit organizations such as Impact Experience, the Guild of Future Architects, and the San Diego Symphony to create community through arts-based social impact initiatives. Chelsea holds a B.A. in Political Science from Yale University. Subscribe for more thoughtful film analysis, classic and contemporary movie commentary, and conversations about the films that change how we understand the world.

Spartacus: Vicious v Virtuous Aug 10, 2026

Show notes

Philosopher Barry Lam joins Heather for a chat about Spartacus (Kubrick, 1960). Spartacus is remembered as a massive Hollywood epic, but its most dangerous idea has little to do with gladiator battles. This conversation reveals why Stanley Kubrick’s 1960 film is really about human dignity, political power, freedom, and something Roman elites can never understand. Starring Kirk Douglas, Laurence Olivier, Jean Simmons, and Woody Strode, Dalton Trumbo’s screenplay emerged from the Hollywood blacklist. This might be why the slave rebellion represents more than political resistance, and the film contrasts Roman power with family, tenderness, art, education, and community. The discussion also considers Stanley Kubrick’s relationship to the film, the legacy of classic Hollywood epics, the politics of the Roman Empire, and why Spartacus still speaks to modern culture wars. Barry Lam is a professor of philosophy at UC Riverside and the Host/Producer of Slate's Hi-Phi Nation podcast.

Red Turtle: Trapped by Beauty Aug 03, 2026

Show notes

Kelly Loosli, co-founder of the BYU Animation Program, discusses The Red Turtle (Dudok de Wit, 2017) and how it's a film with "spirit." The Red Turtle looks like a survival story, but its real escape may have nothing to do with leaving the island. This Studio Ghibli co-production uses almost no dialogue to turn loneliness, nature, love, and loss into a mystery that keeps changing the longer you sit with it. Heather and Kelly also discuss The Red Turtle meaning, its ambiguous ending, Michael Dudok de Wit’s minimalist visual storytelling, and why wordless animation can create such intense emotion. The conversation also challenges the assumption that animation is only for children, connecting The Red Turtle to Studio Ghibli, adult animation, and other films that tell profound stories through images, movement, sound, family, and nature. Kelly has worked extensively in live action and animation for commercials, television, and feature film for leading companies including DreamWorks Feature Animation and Buena Vista Motion Pictures. Subscribe to Voice Over for more film analysis, animation commentary, and conversations about the movies that change how we see cinema.

Apollo 13: Career Day Jul 27, 2026

Show notes

Sarah Ruiz, aerospace engineer, describes how Apollo 13 (Ron Howard, 1995) propelled her toward a career with NASA. Apollo 13 was nominated for 9 Academy Awards and won for Best editing and Sound. Based on the 1994 book Lost Moon: The Perilous Voyage of Apollo 13, the film details how the three astronauts on Apollo 13 were forced to abandon their mission to land on the Moon and instead return to Earth because of an equipment failure that lead to reduced oxygen and electrical power. The film stars Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon, Bill Paxton, and Gary Sinise as astronauts and was a huge career boost for Ed Harris who played the Houston Control Center Flight Director. Sarah Ruiz currently works in private industry on a new rocket program. In December 2025, she retired from NASA’s Johnson Space Center, where she worked for more than 28 years, including as a flight controller for the space shuttle from 2005-2011.

Empire of the Sun: Fantasy & Erasure Jul 20, 2026

Show notes

Jenny Chan of Pacific Front Untold podcast joins Heather to discuss Asian representation--they focus their remarks on Empire of the Sun (Spielberg, 1987). Empire of the Sun stars a young Christian Bale in a historical war drama about the Japanese invasion of Shanghai in 1941 and a boy caught in a concentration camp with other British colonials. But the film is emblematic of challenges in other American films that should include characters from a variety of Asian nations but instead uses Asians as background set dressing. Jenny Chan is Director at Pacific Atrocities Education. Based in the Bay area, she is an alum of University of Illinois.

The Hunger Games: Gen Z Canon Jul 13, 2026

Show notes

Two Gen Z all-stars join Heather to discuss whether the Hunger Games influenced them or not as young people. Claire and Cyrus were once members of the high school chess team and they bring with them a long-term friendship that informs today's chat. Watch them react to each each other as much as they react to the films under discussion. Claire Cirelli is a software engineer in Phoenix, with a Bachelors from Arizona State University. Cyrus Kirby is a philosopher turned data engineer in Boston who just finished a MS in Computer Science from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Ikiru: Sustaining Change Jul 06, 2026

Show notes

Gareth Higgins, a Reconciliation scholar from Belfast, Ireland, talks to Heather about Akira Kurosawa's Ikiru (1952), a film about a city bureaucrat who decides to build a playground for a local women's group. While Akira Kurosawa is best known for his samurai films, Ikiru won the Silver Bear at the Berlin Film Festival. Gareth Higgins' most recent book, co-authored with Kathleen Norris, is A Whole Life in Twelve Movies: A Cinematic Journey to a Deeper Spirituality. He also helped found the Wild Goose, New Story and Movies & Meaning festivals. Gareth leads retreats in North America and Ireland; he co-founded The Porch community, and is deeply involved in transformative men’s work through The Storyteller and the Firekeeper. He holds a PhD in Sociology from Queen's University Belfast.

Bonus. Chief of War: Hawaiian Spirituality May 25, 2026

Show notes

Kawika Allen and Leone Saaga joined Heather for a bonus discussion about Chief of War (2024) and Hawaiian spirituality. Chief of War is a limited series created by Jason Momoa for Apple TV that tells how the Hawaiian islands were unified under Kamehameha in the face of encroaching Western colonialism. Chief of War has won multiple awards, including from the Critic's Choice for Social Impact. Leone Saaga teaches Hawaiian Language courses at Brigham Young University. Previously she has taught in multiple Hawaiian Language Immersion programs. She holds a Masters in Education with an emphasis on Teacher Leadership. Kawika Allen is the founder of and leads the Polynesian Psychology Education Research Team at BYU’s McKay School of Education. He is a co-editor of the Handbook of Spiritually Integrated Psychotherapies from the APA. He holds a PhD in counseling psychology from the University of Missouri-Columbia.

Rebecca: Twisted Fairy-Tale May 18, 2026

Show notes

Nina McConigley talks to Heather about her new novel How to Commit a Post-Colonial Murder (Pantheon, 2026) and how her feelings have changed about Alfred Hitchcock's Rebecca (1941). Rebecca is an adaptation of Daphne du Maurier’s 1938 novel, which is itself a reworking of Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre, from 1847. And we only just realized that in this interview! Nina McConigley's short story collection, Cowboys and East Indians, won the 2014 PEN/Open Book Award and the High Plains Book Award. She was also a 2022 recipient of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Creative Writing Fellowship. She teaches at Colorado State University.

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