Life of Pi S3E19 Cade and Kit

In this episode of Season Three: Stories That Stick, Cade and Kit move into the final stretch before their full-season recap by sharing one of Kit’s most personal picks: Life of Pi, her all-time favorite film. With the season focused on the movies that shaped how they see cinema, this episode becomes less about agreement and more about perspective—why certain stories stay with us, and why others don’t.

Kit explains that Life of Pi earns its place as her favorite not just because of its story, but because of its cinematic ambition. She’s drawn to the film’s visual scale, its three-year post-production process, and its immersive use of CGI and color. More than that, she connects deeply to the film’s themes of isolation, spirituality, survival, and meaning. For her, it’s a movie that doesn’t just tell a story—it asks the viewer to sit with uncomfortable questions about belief, truth, and what we choose to hold onto when everything else is stripped away.

The episode walks through the film’s framing device—a writer visiting an older Pi in Canada—before revisiting Pi’s childhood in India, his upbringing in a zoo, and his early exposure to multiple faiths. Kit and Cade discuss how Pi’s spiritual curiosity, encouraged by his mother and challenged by his father, becomes foundational to the way he later survives unimaginable loss. The move to Canada, the ill-fated ship voyage, and the storm that takes Pi’s family set the stage for the film’s central survival story.

Much of the conversation centers on Pi’s time at sea with the animals—most notably the tiger, Richard Parker—and how the film balances fear, grief, endurance, and resourcefulness. Cade acknowledges the technical skill and emotional weight of these sequences, especially the sense of isolation and the bond that forms between Pi and the tiger. The discussion also highlights the film’s ambiguity, particularly its final act, where Pi offers two versions of his story and leaves the audience to decide which one they believe—and why.

That openness becomes one of the film’s most divisive elements between them. Kit loves that the story invites interpretation, tying directly back to the film’s spiritual themes and the idea that belief can be both protective and meaningful. Cade, on the other hand, struggles with the film’s length and its meditative pace, finding it more artistic than engaging for his personal taste.

When it comes to ratings, their differences are clear. Kit gives Life of Pi a 9.5 out of 10, calling it nearly perfect for its emotional impact, visual achievement, and the way it stayed with her long after leaving the theater. Cade rates it a 5 out of 10, acknowledging its beauty and strong performances but admitting it isn’t a film he’d revisit. The contrast underscores one of the core ideas of the season: a movie doesn’t have to land the same way for everyone to matter deeply to someone.

The episode closes with a reflection on how taste, personality, and life experience shape the stories that stick with us. Even when they disagree, Cade and Kit emphasize that these differences are what make the conversations—and the season—worth having.

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