Introducing: Smell That Movie

The first-ever podcast — about our favorite films and the scents they evoke — from HALOSCOPE Media.

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Hi, I’m Carly. Come smell some movies with me. 

Early during the pandemic, while quarantined in New York, I was in a group chat with some friends. To keep ourselves occupied, connected, and distracted, we’d ask each other fun, big, ponder-y, questions. One day, I asked: “What movie would you want to smell like?”  

The answers poured in: The VVitch, In The Mood For Love, Roma, Suspiria, Y Tu Mamá También. It got us all talking. Partners were asked, roommates were asked, and picks were debated. Soon, it became an opener for me on Hinge (note: this did not work well). Over time, it spread to other group chats and more answers accumulated: The Great Beauty, Fire Walk With Me, Marie Antoinette, Portrait of a Lady on Fire, and Paris, Texas. I finally joined Letterboxd mostly to track the answers I received (although now I’m fully hooked). The question continued post-pandemic, and I got to actually sit on couches with friends to watch their pick, aghast I hadn’t seen Coco Before Chanel. It made me smile when I first asked my partner and, taking the question seriously, he answered Force Majeure. In response, I gifted him a travel bottle of Zoologist’s Snowy Owl.

All of this has led to the release of this podcast: Smell That Movie — a project that combines three of my very favorite things: movies, perfume, and chatting. I wanted to hear about the beloved flicks and scents of perfume experts, beauty & fashion folk, culture writers, and comedians. Each episode involves me, Carly Silverman (Writer! Producer! Film & fragrance LOVER!), talking about sensory connections and tracking a movie's fragrant notes. 

In these ten episodes, you’ll hear culture writer Kate Lindsay wax poetic about the high stakes of marriage in Pride & Prejudice; perfume expert Maddie Phinney talk about gym bag fragrances and Jerry Maguire; comedian Dylan Adler do his Lin-Manuel Miranda impression while discussing Moana, and much more. 

Ultimately, the question I thought I was asking was: “What movie — if you were plunged inside it — would smell like a beautiful perfume?” But I learned that was not always the question that was being answered. Sometimes the answer reflected a character that seemed like they smelled good. Sometimes it was interpreted as “Which of my favorite movies would smell best?” Sometimes it was: “What is the movie that best represents the way I want to be perceived in all senses?” And very often it was simply a chance to talk in a new way about a movie that a person has always loved. This affirmed something I’ve always believed: we are all a collection of our experiences, memories, senses, and the art we love. So, if I can help someone bottle up their favorite movie, that sounds just great. If I get a chance to talk to them about it for 45 minutes — even better. 

To paraphrase High Fidelity: “Books, records, films, perfume — these things matter.”

You can listen to the very first episode of Smell That Movie tomorrow on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Podbean, or wherever else you get podcasts. 🌀