The Holdovers (2023) - A Guest Review by Chad Dixon

Nearly twenty years after collaborating with the ever versatile, Paul Giamatti with Sideways (2004), Director Alexander Payne brings us The Holdovers (2023), now available to stream on Netflix.

Cynical and sardonic Classical History Teacher Paul Hunham (Giamatti), draws the short straw and is instructed at short notice by the Headmaster to be the designated faculty chaperone for the festive recess. Also staying over at Barton Academy is Mary Lamb (Da'Vine Joy Randolph), The Cafeteria Manager, who is still in mourning from the tragic loss of her 20 year old son and Barton alumnae in the Vietnam War. Angus Tully (Dominic Sessa) becomes the third stayover boarder. The four other remaining students get whisked off by one of their fathers in a helicopter at the last minute, when he comes to collect his sport-obsessed son.

As the fortnight painfully plods on, the walls slowly start to come down between the angst-ridden, but decently academic Tully and the teacher and subject he initially hates the most in Hunham. The grating unease is soothed somewhat by the freshly-cooked hot meals provided by straight talking Mary.

The stark and massively empty school campus seems like an excruciatingly lonely place, but soon there are a few changes of location. A Christmas Eve party at the Headmaster's Assistant, Miss Lydia Crane's, house (Carrie Preston) - and a 'field trip' to Boston for some historical museum crawling (while Mary stays with her pregnant sister). Oh and watch out for an incredibly cringeworthy scene at a local hospital.

I really enjoyed this straightforwardly told story. By the look and feel, it could easily have been made in the era in which it is set. A beautifully-paced and brilliantly-written tale of three very different souls, whose individual family circumstances threw them together at a prestigious all-male New England boarding school over the extremely snowy Christmas holidays of 1970. Wonderfully played by all and definitely deserving of the many plaudits it has already received.

CMF Watch Pro 2 with Nothing Phone vs Moto

Having got myself back into the whole Nothing Phone thing again this week with the arrival of Nothing OS 4.0 for my Nothing Phone (2a) I thought I'd whip out my CMF Watch Pro 2 again! I have been using the Moto Watch Fit with the phone, which works perfectly well (with Moto's app) but maybe a CMF product might work even better with a Nothing Phone, I mused.

In June of this year, I reviewed and wrote about the Moto Watch Fit - A Smart Dumbwatch while hooked up to a Moto phone, so feel free to read that in conjunction with my thoughts here. It really doesn't need to be hooked up to a Moto phone - as I said, armed with the Moto app, it works feature-for-feature with any Android/iOS phone that you might want to pair it with. It looks very iPhone watch-like with it's oblong shape, whereas, the CMF Watch Pro 2 is quite the opposite - round!

There is a new CMF watch on the market - an upgrade to this one, CMF Watch 3 Pro - but having reviewed the differences, I really didn't feel the need to upgrade mine. It's a bit bigger all-round, it has a slightly bigger screen, it's slightly thicker, has a slightly brighter OLED panel, slightly better heart-rate sensor, slightly better battery - you get the idea. Slightly everything! And they took away the ability to hot-swap the aluminium bezel, now fixed. So you can probably see why, even for only £70, I decided to stick with this one.

Helpfully, both of these aluminium watches have a 22mm pin size so straps are universal and hot-swappable between units, CMF or Moto (and many more). They both come with a totally dedicated charging cable with magnetic pins on the end which clamp onto the back of the watch. The Moto's cable is USB-C, the CMF's USB-A. Measuring the screens is easier on the CMF watch, being round, so it's 1.32" across the screen. The Moto's screen is measured corner-to-corner (like a phone) and is 1.9".

Both 'feel' about the same size in terms of usable space but there is something more logical about the Moto's oblong I guess - and something more 'traditional' about CMF's round. The Moto's panel is technically significantly brighter, peaking at 1000 nits vs 620 but they both look bright and cheerful especially with CMF's vibrant orange accents here and there. The CMF's screen does look a little sharper with a higher pixel-count per inch but there really doesn't feel to be much in it.

Both watches last much, much longer than so-called smartwatches (which in my experience need charging every day - or at best every other day) heading towards weeks rather than days. Moto claim that the Watch Fit will do 16 days, but for my use pattern, I've never seen that kind of performance. I think that means with no always on display on, notifications at minimum and not heading for the gym! My real-world use (having now tested it over weeks/months, not days) is more like 4 or 5 days. The CMF claims 11 days, but again, it feels like an ideal projection - the reality being more like the Moto's.

The CMF watch has a rotating 'crown' on the right side, offset (at "two o'clock") whereas the Moto has a button, central, along the right side - so all navigation is screen-touch. Having said that, the rotating crown doesn't really do much except scroll menus. It doesn't even switch between the 'widgets' (card, left/right from 'home') so it's more like a button really - press to get to/from the menu list and 'home' or wake the screen. In reality, not really that much different to Moto's with most stuff controlled by touches. The cards can control all the things that you would expect on both watches and systems - so apart from health related data/detection, Music Playback controls, reminders, calendars, world clocks, notifications, weather and so on - and there are oodles of deep-down controls for vibration alerts (though I do think that the 'strong' vibration alert on the Moto is stronger) and other stuff.

Both watches run a proprietary Real-Time Operating System (RTOS) rather than WearOS. So there's no app ecosystem as such - it's a more simple, focused affair, supplied by the OEM, with much, much better battery life potential. The CMF however does have one big advantage over the Moto for those who want to use it for voice calls. The Moto doesn't have a microphone and only has a speaker for system noises, whereas the CMF has a microphone and speaker so the user can, yes, use the watch's Bluetooth as a satellite instead of the phone for calls. One advantage the CMF watch has is integration (via the phone app if installed) for ChatGPT, though the Moto watch gets a leg-up with MotoAI and cross-device features such as Update Me. There does seem to be more (and better) control of the elements via the Moto's app and it's better thought out (if perhaps not so stylish for those who like the Nothing/CMF vibe)!

The supporting software/apps are much simpler on the Moto. I had no end of trouble getting the CMF watch set up even on a Nothing phone here. They seem to be transitioning away from the CMF Watch app and getting people to use the Nothing X app instead. Transitioning data is a confusing mess in my experience here. The phone and watch get confused (alongside this user!) as to what is going on. Even armed with Gemini's advice it was clearly messy for all. In the end I reset the watch 3 times, uninstalled the CMF Watch app completely, told Bluetooth to forget the watch, applied to import data from CMF Watch to Nothing X (which might take a month, apparently) and eventually got it working.

Furthermore, I tried to make a custom watch face from the settings and that was a confusing mess too. I didn't like any of the pre-set ones (though have to admit that there are more than Moto offer) so tried to make one using their on-board tools. It was very unclear - again, roping in Gemini to help - we got there in the end. It seems that even if you want a 'black' background for your 'custom watch face' you have to still import it from the gallery, photos or camera. In the end I took a photo of nothing (black - held the lens against my trouser leg) which was then selectable from the tool, then add the clock options, then in. Moto's custom AI option might be much less clever in terms of options, but at least it isn't a confusing mess for users. Still - perhaps I'm just thick. And Gemini.

Both watches have built-in GPS for those who want to leave their phone at home whilst lolloping around the neighbourhood, so that it can sync up with the app when you get back. Similarly, each offers loads of 'sports modes', step counters, heart rate and blood oxygen tracking and sleep stuff with analysis. I have been using the sleep tracking and have found it reassuring to wake up and see that one's blood oxygen and heart rate have been unproblematic through the night - and even data like deep sleep, light sleep, REM, awake and so on.

Talking of heading out into the elements, both watches have IP6/8 rating so no problem unless you're going swimming in the sea or deep pools, I guess - and fine for kicking about on the beach in sand. I've worn both watches freely whilst showering and have had no problems. Probably not wise to start turning crowns whilst wet or pressing buttons, but I get the impression that it's pretty good.

Both watches are about the same price in the UK £60-£80 at time of writing but the CMF unit is much easier to get hold of from mainstream sellers. The Moto watch still tends to come from 3rd party sellers on Amazon or having to order direct from Motorola UK (at greater cost). Not sure why that is so different, but guess it's supply chain stuff. After Moto released their watch, it took me ages to get hold of one.

I think I prefer the Moto Watch Fit over the CMF unit, partly because of the much more simple approach to the software/app. I have had a bad experience with the CMF watch here with them switching apps/data as explained above - and I can see no real advantage, even for those using a Nothing (or CMF) phone - in using the CMF watch over the Moto one along with their simple app. Unless of course you want a round watch, not oblong. There's also a clean and clear backup/restore data option in the Moto app, where they afford users data held on their servers - and it works brilliantly well (speaking as a serial-swapper of phones)! So unless Nothing/CMF get their finger out and make the software experience supporting their 'house brand' as smooth as Moto do, I'm recommending the Moto Watch Fit over the CMF Watch Pro 2 - Nothing/CMF phone or not!

Nothing OS 4.0 (on Nothing Phone (2a) Plus)

Good as their word recently, Nothing dropped the OTA upgrade to a number of their phones including the (2a) Plus which I still have here, so I thought I'd get it installed and see what the changes bring. Just a reminder that the (2a) Plus was the last phone in the line which did NOT come with an Essential Space button on the side. So outside of what Google offer and/or the user downloads, pretty much no AI or hardware buttons getting in the way!

I say that like it's an advantage to NOT have it, but I do know some enjoy the function - and to be fair, Nothing are working to get the data from it out beyond the confines of the device and its world. At this stage, mostly via the Share menu options, but in time, maybe more. Anyway, for now, I don't have to think about that!

The Nothing Phone (2a) Plus arrived with Android 14 and was promised 3 OS updates. Nothing OS 4.0 brings Android 16 with it, so yes, one more to go - and Google Security patches guaranteed to 2028. So still plenty of life left in it. I did a comparison piece between the Nothing Phone (2a) and Nothing Phone (3a) when the newer model was en route to me but never actually got to review the (3a). I was disappointed with the blocky shape and size-hike compared to the (2a) Plus so lost enthusiasm really quickly. Nothing have continued to make phones big, square-cornered and bulky. Carl Pei has gone on record saying that he likes smaller phones and one day hopes to create one for users. In the meantime, I much prefer the size/shape of the (2a) Plus than anything newer.

To the update, then. And the OTA Nothing OS 4.0 update for the Nothing Phone (2a) Plus weighed in at 2.09GB with Android 16 of course and Google's November Security patch. Here, ahead, lies the data lifted straight from the ongoingly excellent changelogs that Nothing provides, that few other do these days in quite the same detail and manner.

New Features

Hiding apps directly from the home screen and App drawer is now supported. Find hidden apps via: Home screen > App drawer > Hidden icons. They sit as a placeholder then want your biometrics to open when tapped. Same as what everyone else has been doing for yonks. Not something I feel the need to use!

Managing the search scope is now supported in App drawer to display results within a specific scope. Time needed to assess this one I guess.

Added more size options for Weather, Pedometer, Screen Time widgets. Yes - present and accounted for!

2x2 size is now supported for most Quick Settings tiles. I can't seem to make any of them work other than the connectivity one - so maybe it only works with certain ones.

Pop-up view now supports two floating icons for easier switching. Yes, this seems to be working as described. Accessed via the Recents and Pop-up option.

System upgrade supports app optimisation to improve startup speed. Path: Settings > Apps > App optimisation. Apparently this is ODEX Optimisation. I thought I'd ask Gemma to explain more on this. (Of course, she might not be right!) Hopefully the payoff is not blocking notification speeds! Anyway, here's what she said.

ODEX optimisation is the process of creating Optimised Dalvik Executable (ODEX) files for Android applications to improve their performance by pre-compiling parts of the app. This speeds up app startup times by reducing the work the Android runtime has to do when the app launches, but it can also make apps harder to modify and consumes some additional storage space.

How it works

Pre-compilation: When an app is installed, Android converts the .dex code inside the .apk file into an ODEX file, which is an optimised version.

Faster startup: Because some parts are already pre-compiled, the app can start and run faster than if it had to perform the optimisation from scratch every time.

Device-specific: ODEX files are optimised for a specific device's hardware and therefore cannot be easily transferred to a different device.

Storage: The ODEX file is stored separately from the original APK file, which can take up some extra space.

Why it's used

Performance: The primary goal is to improve app performance, especially during the initial launch and boot-up.

System stability: Having these pre-optimised files can contribute to a more stable and efficient system.

Security: ODEX files can make it more difficult for malicious actors to tamper with an application's code because the optimised code is in a separate file.

Modern alternatives

ART and dex2oat: Modern Android versions use the new Android Runtime (ART) and a tool called dex2oat for optimisation. dex2oat is more advanced and can perform ahead-of-time (AOT) compilation to create ODEX files, but it can also be used for more detailed optimisations.

Profile-guided optimisation: Newer methods like profile-guided optimisation (PGO) can compile only the most used parts of an app for maximum performance.

Essential Innovations

Introducing Playground (Alpha) - come to experience unique creations from the Community, including Essential Apps, Camera Presets, and EQ Profiles. Essential Apps (Alpha) are now open for download. Enjoy the Al-powered, community-crafted apps that blend creativity with efficiency. For more details of Playground & Essential Apps, visit Nothing Playground. I had a play with some of the Essential Apps in the Nothing Playground and some work OK, some are glitchy, most are pretty minimalist and of dubious value - but there might be some really useful widget or other in there for some folk. And we'll see how easy it is to create one when they let me - I have registered and asked for access but have to wait.

Visual Enhancements

Nothing app icons have been redesigned with an all-new, fresh look. For those who like the very Nothing look/feel of black/white/red.

Updated status bar icons with a more intuitive look. Yes, this is very much Android 16 and something like how the Pixel Status Bar looks - though not exactly. For example, the battery percentage on the Pixel is inside the Battery Icon but here, should you choose to have it on, is outside. The battery icon does turn green when the phone is charging in the same way.

Added 2 new lock screen clock faces in Customisation. They're not very exciting!

Extra dark mode is now available, bringing a more immersive dark style. Path: Settings > Display > Dark theme > Extra dark mode. This, I prefer. The blacker the blacks, the better. But for those who prefer the grey/black, there's the option. Nice one.

Glyph Interface

Added a setting to choose whether Flip to Glyph switches your phone to Silent or Vibrate mode. Useful, yes, little improvements like this - attention to detail.

Glyph Progress now uses Android 16 Live Update notifications for improved compatibility with third-party apps. OK - yep, that seems to work, progress tracking.

Camera Enhancements

Presets: Updated default list with new popular styles. Some of these Camera Presets seems to work but others report that they were designed for a later OS version(?!) so I don't quite understand that! Here's one I took of my (needing a clean) coffee machine in the Amelie pre-set. You can see what the person was trying to do with those orangey/yellow/sepia tones all over the Amelie film!

Filters: Added intensity adjustment and exclusive 'Stretch' styles.

Motion Photos: Supports longer recording times and audio capture.

Watermarks: Introduced new Nothing brand watermarks and artistic frames. Not sure why anyone would want to use watermarks, especially Nothing-branded ones, but OK.

Interface: Refreshed camera Ul design with optimised interactions. All looking very nicely done.

I noticed that Android 16's Notification Cooldown is on by default, so watch out for that one. For those who have a Nothing Phone 3, there's more of this stuff and I shall point you here to my Phones Show Chat co-host Joe Hickey's YouTube video as he highlights, summarises and demonstrates 26 Changes on the newer, more flagship-level phone. Nothing OS 4.0 - What's New?

As for the phone itself, the Nothing Phone (2a) Plus, is great. Works perfectly well still, feels fast-enough and fluid across the UI, it's got an (almost) great Always on Display (almost, because it could be brighter or have user-controls to decide whether to make it so or not), unlike the new phone it also has the 3 big Glyph bars on the back that (apart from anything else) dance along with music, has a perfectly-adequate 256GB storage and excessive 12GB RAM, battery performance is great, the sound from the stereo speakers is remarkably good for its price-point on release, it feels great in the hand, has a nice bright and colourful OLED screen and, with Nothing OS, has a fun-factor missing from most every other phone outside of their stable (and CMF). The cherry on the cake, for me and the only thing that I can honestly say would improve the offering, would be wireless charging - but with 50W wired it kind of offsets that. Oh and I guess for those who use cameras on a phone, perhaps a 2 or 3 x optical zoom. So yes - let the fun go on as Nothing continue to make their mark on the smartphone industry and evolve their software offerings.

Eden Lake (2008)

This was one I'd been meaning to watch for a while and now got to it. It's a brutal, disturbing social commentary regarding youth crime, no consequences to behaviour and the fear, at the time, in Britain of the 'hoodie' culture. It's a made-up story, but reflects real concerns between the haves and have-nots, monied people and those living and being socialised by a negative culture with damaged role models.

Director/writer James Watkins' base story is about a rich couple (played by Michael Fassbender and Kelly Reilly) who go off to Eden Lake for the weekend with a view to buying a house on a new development, not yet built. When they get there, there's a bunch of local teens they clash with.

Things go from bad to worse until the teens, larking around with and teasing the rich couple to start with, turn it into more like terrorising behaviour which they are looking to shoot video of - again, the beginning of the culture of teens videoing everything on phones.

It all gets out of hand quickly and the group get to a point of no return. They have done too much and have been too nasty to let it end peaceably. So the film depicts an end-story which I won't spoil for you. Puts me in mind of films like I Spit on Your Grave, but very much British - and here.

It's very well acted by all the cast and shot mostly hand-held as the panic sets in and chase/survival takes hold. Edge of the seat stuff at times, always gruesome and eye-opening. It kicks around on various streaming services but is now on AppleTV I see. Or you might find the DVD in cheap second-hand outlets like Music Magpie.

The Running Man (2025) - A Guest Review by Chad Dixon

As a big Arnie fan, of course I've seen the 1987 film adaptation of the novel by Stephen King which amazingly is set in 2025. As a result, I was always going to be thinking of that when I first heard that there was a remake on the cards. British Director Edgar Wright (The Cornetto Trilogy), brings this version to the big screen now and is also it's Producer and co-writer. Here, the USA has become an anarchistic police state ruled by greedy corporate media networks. Most people are living in poverty with little or no access to affordable healthcare. So absolutely not a realistic timeline at all!

Trapped in the Boston slums and with few prospects, Ben Richards (Glen Powell), is a blue collar worker, with a very sick two year old daughter, struggling to make ends meet. He is currently blacklisted so cannot get a job and buy the precious influenza medicine his child desperately needs. His wife, Sheila (Jayme Lawson), is a hostess at a posh gentlemen's club but although working more shifts than she'd care to, is not making enough money on her own to support the family. At home the next day, a demoralised Ben is watching TV game shows and notes down all the possible prize monies on offer.

When Sheila finally comes home after another extended shift, Ben says he knows how to get the family out of poverty and goes to the big network building in the the city centre to queue up and try out to be on one of the many extreme game shows with determination to win the money that they need. After the many extensive grueling tryouts, a couple of other hopefuls and Ben are taken to meet slick Executive Producer Dan Killian (Josh Brolin), to be offered the chance to play in the biggest and most popular game show on TV. After much persuasion from Killian and against the wishes of Sheila, Ben signs up to be a contestant in The Running Man. The premise of which is, if successfully evading the Hunters for 30 days, a grand prize of $1 Billion is the ultimate offer!

In the original Schwarzenegger version, the scope was much smaller as all the action was more gladiatorial and took place in pre-arranged arenas. Here, there are no boundaries as Ben's evasion from the Hunters takes us all over the city and beyond, with good use of current unusual architectural locations to backdrop the futuristic dystopian cityscapes. I got well invested from the very beginning as there's no long buildup to establish the family's situation. The set pieces are well choreographed and keep the core of the film moving at a nice pace. But even though the 2 hour and 13 minute runtime seemed a tad long, I did feel a bit let down in the final act as it seemed a little hurried leading to a fairly disappointing resolution.

However, Glen Powell definitely meets the criteria of 'Leading Man' as the camera laps up his big screen persona. One is definitely swept along throughout, empathising with his struggle. There's a few other good supporting roles of note too. Colman Domingo as the charismatic showman host Bobby T in the studio is effervescent. William H Macy as Ben's first ally, Molie, gives a solid, down to earth performance and Michael Cera (almost unrecognisable with a grizzly goatee), as the kooky rebellious sympathiser that Ben encounters later on.

Ultimately I think this is one of the better remakes/updates of a 1980's science fiction action film that I've seen recently. Although I really couldn't tell you if Edgar Wright has placed his discernable stamp on it, no doubt Glen Powell will get more roles as a rugged, intrepid leading man - so it looks very much like his mentor, Tom Cruise, seems to have done a good job.

Meat Kills (2025)

Known in its home market of Holland as Vleesdag, this film has also been marketed as Meat Day too (and maybe other titles on the theme)! The point is though that it's a day full of meat! Specifically pigs and the events around a farm in Holland being watched by an Animal Activist Group.

Our story starts as we witness some grizzly-looking activities on the pig farm where the animals are being fattened for slaughter and sale. A young girl, Mirthe, schoolfriend of the farmer's son Jonathan, gets taken on part time by his dad to help out so she can earn some cash. Little did they know, however, that she had designs on exposing the farm as a place acting outside the law in terms of their practices and being cruel to the livestock.

One day, the family catch her filming the alleged cruelty on her mobile phone, fire her, smash up (what they think is) the phone in question and sling her off the premises. Jonathan is upset because he had, since school, had a bit of a crush on young Mirthe. Anyway, next thing we know is that she's reporting into the local Animal Activist group via what appears to be her boyfriend, though she seems to be more interested in a place within the group than by his side.

The group is led by Nas and Ish, a couple of ruthless and seemingly bonkers individuals who appear to be capable of stopping at nothing in order to meet the aims of the group. So they form a posse and head for the farm, pig-masks on faces! They swoop in, in order to generally disrupt things, initially by spraying slogans on the walls of the farm. However, things soon get out of hand as we see what the nutty Nas and Ish are capable of! One of the group checks out the house and finds a little girl upstairs in bed, surrounded by bottles of medicine, clearly very unwell. Neither of these characters play a huge part, but we find out later why they are there!

This is the point at which it turns into a complete bloodbath as gruesome and grizzly scenes follow each other, group tackling the family running the farm - with dad turning out to be the most bonkers of the lot! The pigs are used as weapons against the invaders along with pretty much any piece of farm machinery the family can lay their hands on. Most of the characters at one time or another end up being tortured by the other side, strung up, marmalised and treated with acid and it becomes a bit of a survival film as we wonder who is going to make it to the end, breathing, and who is going to have their life hacked away by those around them!

It's all good horror/terror fun of course but it's really taking itself seriously in the quest! There's no tongues-in-cheeks here and everyone's in it for the gore, guts, blood and flying body parts! The first half of the film is actually pretty slow, feels quite low-budget (which it probably is) - and much like someone's hired a farm, a dozen unknown actors and a special effects team to play out an idea. But actually, when the tone switches to the more macabre and dark about halfway through the 90 minutes, it suddenly feels much better. The director who I've never heard of, Martijn Smits, seems to draw more convincing acting out of everyone, especially Caro Derkx and Emma Josten in the leads, as they head towards the blood-soaked finale.

It's a completely bonkers gore-fest, but hang on in there for it to kick up a gear part way through. I thoroughly enjoyed it and thought very much of Mason Verger and Hannibal in this kind of setting. I'm sure you'll get the reference and meaning there! Enjoy! At them moment if you're not in the USA you'll need to try some VPN style trickery to get to see it, available there via various streaming services.

Locked (2025)

This low-budget thriller has now arrived on Amazon Prime Video and it's, well, alright. Apparently it's a remake of the Argentinian thriller 4x4 (2019), which most reviewers seem to report as being much better. I'll try and track it down.

I think that most of the budget on this one went on engaging Anthony Hopkins, well, his voice anyway (until the last 10 minutes). He's a rich bloke who has this car which he can totally remotely control and is built like a tank. He leaves it in a carpark in a rough area of town with the door unlocked, goading some petty thief to get in and try to nick it or its contents. Which, spookily enough, is just what happens.

He then terrorises the thief by not letting him out, depriving him of food and water, zapping him with taser-equipped panels and seats as he tries to teach the yob life lessons around actions having consequences. He tries and tries to find ways out of the car but can't. He even has a gun and it won't break through - he merely ends up injuring himself with it.

Hopkins' character is clearly a fruitloop who we find out later has cancer, has faced trauma of his own and is prepared to behave anarchically on his way out. He doesn't care what he does to whom and uses his remote control car in order to do much of that.

Bill Skarsgård plays the trapped (Locked) chappie down on his luck, thieving from people in order to try to turn his life around, with a wife who has thrown him out and daughter who he keeps letting down - mainly because he is poor and can't get up on his feet. We see him trying, but circumstances are against him.

So it's a bit of a thrill ride, wondering what on earth William (Hopkins' character) will do next as he talks to him via the car's phone, teasing, abusing. It's a hugely dialogue-driven film, survival story, revenge tale which keeps the viewer entertained and on their toes.

It's all a bit extreme - hard to imagine that there really isn't a way out of this vehicle. I would be all for ripping out the dashboard between being zapped of course! It's fairly well shot, a lot of it dark and certainly claustrophobic. Moving at times as the stories of the two men unfold - and a fairly bonkers finale! Enjoy the ride!

How the UK Might Look Now... A What If Scenario...

I asked Gemini to give me an educated guess as to how the UK would look now if Germany had won WWII. I guessed that for a start we'd all be speaking German. And highly likely that I wouldn't be here at all as the chances of my mum and dad meeting and following the same path would be tiny. I bet the trains would run on time!

That is a truly profound "what if" scenario, and your initial thoughts are very much aligned with what historians and speculative fiction have explored. It would certainly be a profoundly darker and vastly different reality for the UK and the world. Here's an educated guess on how the UK might look, drawing on known Nazi plans (like Operation Sea Lion and the New Order) and the nature of the regime...

UK Under the Third Reich

🗣️ Language and Culture

Your guess about language is very likely correct, at least for official use and education.

• German Language: German would likely be the official language of state, administration, and higher education. It would be compulsory in schools, much like English was in parts of the British Empire.

• Cultural Purge: British culture would be heavily censored. Art, music, literature, and media would be purged of anything deemed "degenerate," "Jewish," or politically undesirable. German cultural products would be heavily promoted.

• Education: Schools would be completely restructured to indoctrinate children with Nazi racial and political ideology.

🏛️ Political Structure and Governance

The Nazis had a complex (and sometimes contradictory) view of the British people, seeing them as "Nordic" but also as a political obstacle.

• Puppet State: The UK would not have been fully integrated like some Eastern European territories. Instead, it would likely have been a highly controlled puppet state with a facade of self-governance, similar to Vichy France or the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia.

• Leadership: Oswald Mosley, the leader of the British Union of Fascists, would have likely been installed as a puppet Prime Minister or key collaborator. There were also plans to potentially reinstate the sympathetic Duke of Windsor (former King Edward VIII) as a figurehead monarch.

• The Crown: The actual Royal Family (George VI and Elizabeth II) would have either been captured, killed, or forced into exile (Canada was the plan in our timeline).

• Repression and Control: The Gestapo and other SS units would operate freely. A network of informers, surveillance, and arbitrary arrests would crush all political opposition, trade unions, and resistance movements.

📉 Society and Daily Life

This is where the darkest aspects of the regime would be felt.

• Racial Policy (The Horror): This is the single most defining and terrifying change. The full genocidal policies of the Nazis would have been implemented. Jewish, Romani, disabled, and LGBTQ+ people would be systematically rounded up and deported to extermination camps. Being here, as you said, would be a tiny chance for anyone with a "non-Aryan" background, and a life of terror for many others.

• Deportation and Slavery: Early German plans for an occupied Britain suggested deporting all able-bodied men between 17 and 45 to the continent for forced labour to prevent sabotage and use British industry for the German war machine. This would tear apart millions of families.

• Economy: Britain would be Germany's "main war workshop" (as per a directive by Field-Marshal von Brauchitsch), with resources and industries entirely geared toward the Nazi war effort and the greater German Reich.

🚆 The "Trains Running on Time" Myth

Ah, the common trope! It's a fun thought, but the reality of a totalitarian economy might be different:

• Short-Term: In the initial, iron-fist phase of occupation, the regime might have enforced a strict schedule.

• Long-Term: Nazi Germany's focus on military spending, forced labour, and pervasive corruption actually led to severe logistical inefficiencies and resource shortages in their own infrastructure. The British rail network would likely be run-down, overworked, and prioritised solely for military transport, leading to poor service for the general public, despite the threat of severe punishment for any delay.

So yes, the overall result would be an island nation, economically subjugated, culturally repressed, and under a brutal, genocidal dictatorship, completely cut off from its traditional allies in the Commonwealth and the United States.