SMR 408: They/Them

1 Comment

1. 

   Sean

   08/27/2022 at 3:46 AM

   While I agree that this movie wasn’t the best movie ever, I think that the (A) story was pretty solid.

   By (A) story, I am referring to the psychological horror. From the tenseness below the grooming stage (which did last a little long), to the horror of the blatant torture this story was intense and well done. Hats off to Bacon for being a true horror villain.

   The (B) story, coming of age / coming out story, was sometimes good, sometimes over the top and cliché. The Veronica / Kim romance was solid, while Stu’s storyline was an inexplicable mess. The “Glee moment” fits into this type of story, but felt out of place for the overall movie.

   The (C) story, revenge fantasy, led to some confusing advertising. It is hard to pull off a good revenge fantasy, but hiding it as the (C) story in a psychological horror would have been possible if it had been a little better obfuscated. The fractured self mask would have worked better with better lighting and a little more contrast between the two parts, but I do agree that the Scream knockoff outfit could have been better. At least go with a ghillie suit to give a reason for the bulkiness.

   Overall, I thought that this movie was good, but could have been great with a little more risk-taking and advertising. The complexity of the story made it interesting, but hard to peg. And, selling it as a slasher is like selling Eternals as a superhero movie. Eternals is a really good Epic story, but people expecting another Marvel film are gonna be disappointed because of the way it was sold.

   Thanks for your solid show and love from Japan.

   Also, are you planning on doing a SMR of J-L Cauvin’s HBF special when it gets released (hopefully some time before 2036)?

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