NOW PLAYING · Issue 5
Snowpiercer’s Unlikely Masterpiece Has a Portishead Heart
Here’s the TL;DR upfront: Snowpiercer is a TV show based on a film, and it’s surprisingly impressive. Jennifer Connelly carries the show with her talent and understated star power. There are riveting moments throughout — including several live musical performances built directly into the plot.
One of them is a cover of Portishead’s “Glory Box.” 🗺️ Treasure Hunt: the answer is on the Back Page.
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Portishead is a late ’90s trip-hop group from Bristol — textured, down-tempo, cinematic, and built around the voice of Beth Gibbons, who sounds like she’s singing from somewhere most people aren’t allowed to go.
Funny story: I used to play their albums on repeat way back when, and most people either didn’t know who they were or, worse, made fun of me for listening — calling me weird and saying it was “too dark.” And now? It’s completely normal to love this band.
The ’90s are having a full glow-up moment in culture right now — things that were considered niche or strange are getting the recognition they deserved all along, just twenty-plus years late. Portishead is one of those.
The show itself works surprisingly well given how unlikely the premise sounds — a world where a climate intervention goes catastrophically wrong and freezes the planet. The last survivors live on a massive train that never stops moving. A class-based society forms, followed by a fascinating portrayal of struggle, politics, and violence. It’s genuinely well-executed, especially considering how easily such an ambitious concept could have failed. Though fair warning: it is quite violent.
The scene in this clip features the Glory Box cover performed by Miss Audrey (played by Lena Hall), who runs the train’s nightclub. She sings it to the show’s main antagonist, Joseph Wilford (played by Sean Bean) — and she, not entirely by choice, was once something like his girlfriend.
The song really hits different when you understand what’s underneath it (the plot dynamics and the Portishead homage).
Check it out. And next issue, we go deeper on Portishead. I promise 😉
You can watch the first episode here: