Battle Royale (25th Anniversary)

"So today's lesson is, you kill each other off till there's only one left. Nothing's against the rules."

25 years ago, Kinji Fukasaku brought the infamous novel BATTLE ROYALE to life, and essentially invented a new subgenre of dystopian teen cinema. In honor of the film's anniversary, The Wives Colangelo are exploring the incredibly bleak messaging the film has about generational division, government-sanctioned violence, and the disposability of youth. Don't worry, this week's episode will also get into the discourse surrounding the film's connection to THE HUNGER GAMES, and why Quentin Tarantino doesn't know what he's talking about.

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Rainbow Railroad (https://www.rainbowrailroad.org)

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Sweethearts (2024)

"I... have a girlfriend. She lives in Ohio."

The first fall break after leaving your hometown and going off to college is one of the weirdest adjustment periods in a young person's life, and it's weird that SWEETHEARTS is one of the only movies to talk about it! This week The Wives Colangelo are heading back to the Midwest to discuss "Turkey Dumps," taking the jump without the safety net of familiarity, and the importance of intergenerational queer friendships in small towns.

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Seventeen Again (2000) w/ Aaron Perine

"I am gonna do what I wanna do! And you know what? I don't need your permission to do it!"

What if your grandparents magically turned back into teenagers, and they were so hot that it caused chaos in your high school? And what if you look exactly like your grandma did at your age, so this magical regression inspires some twin magic hijinks? This week, The Wives Colangelo are joined by Aaron Perine of Free Space to talk about the only movie to feature all three Mowry siblings, SEVENTEEN AGAIN. Let's talk about the Tia/Tamera/Tahj trifecta, the lack of "fun" coming-of-age movies with Black protagonists, and outline all of the moments that explain why this movie was made by Showtime and not the Disney Channel.

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The Pregnancy Pact (2010)

"So this is what it feels like to be Jamie Lynn Spears."

There are two types of people in this world: People who love Lifetime Original Movies and people named Harmony Colangelo. This Ends at Prom is finally embarking on the wild world of LMN originals and starting with THE PREGNANCY PACT, a ripped-from-the-headlines drama with massive creative liberties taken. What actually happened to these girls? Why are so many people obsessed with stories about teen girls behaving "badly," and where is the line between entertainment and exploitation?

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Article Referenced

Inside the Gloucester Pregnancy Pact: https://www.marieclaire.com/politics/news/a2055/teenage-pregnancy-pact-gloucester/

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The Brady Bunch Movie, 30 Years Later

"Put on your Sunday best, kids. We're going to Sears!"

The Brady Bunch is one of those fascinating TV relics that helped shape American culture for decades, so in the 1990s, they lovingly spoofed it with THE BRADY BUNCH MOVIE and gave us one of the great cult-hits of the decade. To sweeten the deal, the film is also centered on the middle teen girl of the group, the incomparable Jan Brady. Join The Wives Colangelo on a trip down memory lane on a sunshine day!

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The Rocky Horror Picture Show: 50th Anniversary w/ Chelsey Weber-Smith

"Don't dream it. Be it."

50 years ago, a midnight movie was unleashed on the American masses that changed the lives of outsider teenagers forever. The Wives Colangelo would not be the people we are today without THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW, and neither would Chelsey Weber-Smith of the American Hysteria podcast. For the final episode of the Halloween season 2025, let's all do the time warp, give ourselves over to absolute pleasure, and tackle arguably the greatest movie ever made about liberating yourself from the standards of the status quo.

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The Ugly Stepsister (2025)

"That's the whole point. I'm going to marry the Prince."

THE UGLY STEPSISTER is Emilie Blichfeldt's first feature, and it is unfathomable that a first-time feature filmmaker was given the space (and budget) to make such a biting, daring, and monstrous creative swing. The reason Cinderella is a fairy tale is that to be a woman so pure and beautiful that a rich prince takes you away from your terrible existence is a fantasy. The painful truth is that for the majority of us, we will never be Cinderella and have far more in common with "the ugly stepsister."

This movie is extreme, so proceed with caution!!

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Hausu (1977)

"The girls will wake up ... when they are hungry."

Is Hausu secretly the most honest coming-of-age teen girl horror movie ever made? This week, The Wives Colangelo are diving into the wild, weird, and wonderful world of Nobuhiko Obayashi's 1977 masterpiece, HOUSE. Hell truly is a teenage girl, and this week the show is discussing seven young women who were eaten before adulthood had the chance to destroy them.

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Articles Referenced

House - The Housemaidens: https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/1634-house-the-housemaidens

Heart of Weirdness - The Story Behind HAUSU: https://www.austinfilm.org/2018/10/heart-of-weirdness-the-story-behind-hausu/

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Bit (2019)

"We're made to be monsters, so let's be monsters. Let's be gods."

BIT is the intersectional, trans-inclusive, vampire girl gang movie of your dreams, and The Wives Colangelo are here to talk about it for the most wonderful month of the year. How do you exist in a world that makes you out to be a monster just for existing, and what do you do when you're given the kind of power that cis straight white men have been abusing for years? Well, it's time we all found out! This week features an especially political discussion, so strap in and get ready to kick some ass, take some names, and bite some necks!

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Pearl (2022)

"Please, Lord, make me the biggest star the world has ever known so that I may get far, far away from this place. Amen."

The Wives Colangelo are kicking off the Halloween season by discussing a young woman who will not accept a life she does not deserve, the titular PEARL. Discussions include the liberating excitement of seeing an adult film for the first time, the weird ways repression can manifest (like that scarecrow), how hard it is to accept when strict parents have a point, and the soul-crushing reality of your best not being enough. It's okay, Pearl, you'll always be a star to us!

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BJ's Interviews for Pearl:

Ti West: https://www.slashfilm.com/1009440/ti-west-talks-pearl-mia-goths-mesmerizing-performance-and-the-horror-of-ambition-exclusive-interview/

West, Mia Goth, & David Corenswet: https://www.slashfilm.com/1009401/mia-goth-david-corenswet-and-ti-west-want-you-to-care-about-the-tragic-motivations-of-pearl-exclusive-interview/

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Can't Hardly Wait (1998) w/ Niko Stratis!

"Fate! There is such a thing as fate, but it only takes you so far. Then it's up to you to make it happen."

Everyone loves that one last house party after high school before everything changes, especially when it has a banger soundtrack, introduces the next generation of Hollywood superstardom, and gives us all a reason to believe in fate. This week, the Wives Colangelo are finally tackling CAN'T HARDLY WAIT, and are joined by the incomparable Niko Stratis to do it! Did you know a Kenny in high school? Can you believe that Carlisle Cullen plays such a jerky jock in this? Are Preson and Amanda actually meant to be? LET'S OPEN UP THIS LIVING ROOM PIT AND FIND OUT!

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Dirty Girl (2010)

"If it's a man's world, God wouldn't have made me."

This week, The Wives Colangelo are championing the young women who were ever called a "bad influence" and celebrating the rural queer kids fighting for a chance to exist in a world that tries to literally straighten them out by talking about DIRTY GIRL. This criminally underrated and underseen road trip comedy is the exact kind of subversive comedy This Ends at Prom loves to highlight, and hopefully, you'll be able to sit in a little necessary discomfort to grow with these wild and wonderful characters, too. It's not every day that a person loses their virginity at the drive-in movies or learns that their dad is Tim McGraw!

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What a Girl Wants (2003)

"Why are you trying so hard to fit in when you are born to stand out?"

This week, The Wives Colangelo are hopping the pond and showing up to merry ol' England to find their long-lost rich dads and talk about the Amanda Bynes classic, WHAT A GIRL WANTS. Discussions include dissecting why so many movies post-9/11 were overseas adventures, the glory of Colin Firth in leather pants, and why the statement "straight kids don't have to come out" is untrue when we're talking about the prison of wealth.

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KPop Demon Hunters (2025) w/ Laura Sirikul

“That’s the funny thing about hope. Nobody else gets to decide if you feel it. That choice belongs to you.”

We're goin' up, up, up! It's our moment! You know together we're glowin'! KPOP DEMON HUNTERS has quickly become a phenomenon, and we are loving every second of it. This week, The Wives Colangelo are doing a deep dive into the world of K-pop with film journalist, culture critic, host, and K-pop superfan, Laura Sirikul! Why is everyone so obsessed with this movie? What makes this animated film one of the best of the year? Will "Golden" rightfully earn an Oscar nomination? Will Harmony finally become a K-pop fan?! Let's get into it!

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Interviews Referenced

Laura interviews Arden Cho for Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurasirikul/2025/08/28/kpop-demon-hunters-reignited-arden-chos-love-for-acting-again/

Laura interviews EJAE for Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurasirikul/2025/07/01/kpop-demon-hunters-songwriter-reveals-music-and-song-inspirations/

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30 Years of Clueless and 5 Years of This Ends at Prom

"UGH. AS IF!"

Back in 2020, the recently married Wives Colangelo sat down in their Cleveland apartment to kill some time during quarantine and talk about teen girl movies. Now, five years later, in a different apartment in Los Angeles, they're returning to the movie that started it all and celebrating how it has changed culture in the last 30 years -- CLUELESS. A film this monumental deserved revisiting and a proper This Ends at Prom episode backed by the expertise forged out of over 500 hours worth of weekly film analysis.

Thank you for five years of This Ends at Prom, supporting teen girl cinema, and validating movies that "filmbros" ignore.

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Interview Referenced

Clueless at 30 (The Guardian): https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/jul/19/clueless-movie-30th-anniversary

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Freakier Friday (2025)

"My face looks like a Birkin bag that's been left out in the sun to rot!"

The long-awaited sequel to 2003's FREAKY FRIDAY is finally here, and The Wives Colangelo are thrilled to finally have a movie in theaters that they can cover on the show. Is FREAKIER FRIDAY a worthy follow-up to the absolute best film in the franchise, or was it another cheap bid for nostalgia that no one needed? Is a four-way body swap too confusing for audiences to make sense of, or is the promise of Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan getting to be partners in crime enough to look past the plot conveniences? This week's episode will attempt to answer all of these questions and so many more. Tune in, you won't want to miss it!

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Now & Then (1995)

"As we grow older, it becomes difficult to just believe."

In honor of the film's 30th anniversary, The Wives Colangelo are stuffing their bras with pudding, trying to find the truth about a tombstone, having an existential crisis about coming back to their hometowns, and falling in love all over again with the movie NOW AND THEN. Let's talk about the sapphic energy of Sam and Roberta, the chokehold Devon Sawa had on a generation, and why male critics comparing the film to STAND BY ME is lazy film criticism.

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In Memory of Margo Donohue, Heaven Help Us (1985) Re-Release

"I've been kicked off the track team, and without track, my grades will be based on ...my grades."

The world lost a wonderful woman this month with the passing of Margo Donohue. In honor of her life and legacy, we're re-releasing our episode with her on HEAVEN HELP US, the 1985 Catholic school boys film filmed in Brooklyn. At the time of the episode, Margo had just released the book FILMED IN BROOKLYN, all about movies set in her stomping grounds. We also read a bit from Mike McPadden's TEEN MOVIE HELL, had the chance to examine how teen boys function differently around women compared to all-male groups, and tried to figure out why we love Kevin Dillon's Rooney so much, even though he says the f-slur more in this movie than any others combined.

We miss you already, Margo.

For more of her work, check out the books FILMED IN BROOKLYN and FEVER: The Complete History of Saturday Night Fever, as well as her podcasts What a Creep!, Dorking Out, and Book Vs. Movie.

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Light of Day (1987)

"Music is all that matters. One hour on stage makes up for the other 23."

The Wives Colangelo are heading back to the Midwest for a trip, so it's only fitting that they'd cover an underrated shot-in-Cleveland story starring Joan Jett and Michael J. Fox about a pair of musical siblings trying to find their places in the world. Directed by Paul Schrader and featuring music by Bruce Springsteen, LIGHT OF DAY is an odd little slice of life in the Rust Belt that might be more interesting to talk about than it is to actually watch.

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Dumplin' (2018)

"As far as I'm concerned, a swimsuit body is a body with a swimsuit on it."

This week The Wives Colangelo are heading to Texas, signing up for a pageant to piss off our mothers, and learning from drag queens what it means to be a beauty queen with DUMPLIN'! It's time to discuss the insecurities our moms imprint on us, why seeking external validation while existing in a marginalized body is not anti-feminist, and why Dolly Parton truly is the North Star for anyone who has ever felt like they were too much or not enough.

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