gonna watch this just to spite the angry white man in the comments who's upset about black people and gay shit being on tv
let's get the important stuff out of the way
onto the actual review:
do you like mike flanagan? do you love incredible actors getting to give intense monologues that make you kind of want to die? are you okay with the fact that literally everything is going to be sad (of course you are, if you said yes to the first question)?
then watch this. you'll enjoy it, no question. just be down for a slow pace, bleakness and intensity, and the usual not-quite-horror vibes. flanagan's work never rests on horror laurels and i feel like it makes his pieces stronger.
also: i spent the entire time leading up to the actual release having no idea that hamish was the Mysterious Charming priest character and spent the whole first episode going ZACH WHY ARE YOU SO SAD AND NOT MYSTERIOUS but tbh it all made sense soon enough.
anyway, for those of you wondering who shouldn't watch this: a LOT of talk of death. alcoholism. small town trapped feelings, and loss of life that gradually picks up pace throughout the series. i'd say skip this if bleak content puts you in a bad place. i also have a relative recently diagnosed with alzheimer's and that made the first couple episodes a bit harder.
since it's pretty obvious from the first or second episode, the rest of my comment isn't technically a spoiler BUT if you like going in totally blind, stop now!!
i think the way this show handles vampirism mythology is actually quite unique. it focuses far less on the vampire lore itself and far more on how easy it is for people desperate for answers to the universe to fit everything from completely ordinary occurrences to an actual batwinged monstrosity into a religious context if they just quote the right piece of scripture.
since the episode didn't include any kind of note at the end, i want to give anyone else watching a quick reminder that those police officers did in fact speak like that to the operator and that their homophobia was not dramatized. if anything, this series has had to play down some of the details of the actual events for the sake of palatable television.
sandra smith and nicole childress were black women, konerak simthasomphone was from laos, and these officers and dahmer were white. there is a reason that konerak was brought back to dahmer's apartment that night. there's a reason those police officers didn't bother to investigate the smell of decomposition in dahmer's apartment. this was racism and homophobia, plain and simple.
"fun" fact: officer balcerzak was made president of the milwaukee police department in 2005, and retired in 2017 with full benefits and pension. the milwaukee department even posted a tweet congratulating him on his "service."
some things of note because i've made it a habit to point out things that half-assed critiques get wrong before saying what i actually think about a film:
this was not directed by jordan peele. he produced it. nia da costa directed it, and it has very much the same feel as her overall body of work. comparing this to get out and us is unfair to both peele and da costa.
the original candyman was a social commentary as well. a lot of slasher flicks are social commentaries with regard to topics aside from historical racism like disabilities, socioeconomic disparity, and mental illness. if you don't like social commentary in your horror? your horror options are pretty limited.
my advice is always this: if you can't enjoy a movie because it tackles subjects of inequality and oppression, then that's a you problem. it's a problem worth working through, all the same.
anyway, i loved this. so glad it was my first movie in theaters again since the pandemic started, it was highly worth it. the score was unsettling and stressful in just the right way, and fuck if the progression of the bee sting wasn't the most disgusting thing i'd ever seen. also: those of you who get really grossed out by trypophobia might want to avert your eyes a little in the church scene. the pattern is uniform, not irregular, but it's still real fucking weird.
rahul is generally incredible, but the monologue he gives in this is just next level.
"i know what i must do" - said every man, about to do something without actually thinking about any of the consequences
i want to give edwina a hug
tbh this show made me invested in an extended scene about fixing a generator so i'm here for it
yo that romantic tension is insane but can we talk about that orchestral rendition of you oughta know because it is B O M B
this show does an incredible job of visually representing dissociative states. along with everything else, but fuck.
i love when men get up up in arms about violence and sex crimes against women and specifically say it's because they have a daughter. like. why do you need to have a daughter to suddenly care about women.
natalie holt's scores give me SO many goosebumps
my biggest takeaway from this episode is that they don't know what STARS are
i cried a lot thanks kate siegel
legitimately such a visually stunning and fun entry into the action genre. the number of times bullets run out is one of my favorite aspects of the action sequences, but also there's a scene later on that, combined with mary elizabeth winstead's increasingly horrifying deterioration, puts this on my body horror list. it's not a horror, but it's pretty and there's bodies being horrific, so it works. i'm really digging the recent action films that use just enough stylistic choices borrowed from video games to bump up the immersion.
when i was checking on who the stunt coordinators were i saw some Highly Bitter articles calling this a john wick clone but honestly every action movie follows a formula because the formula works and being poisoned with radiation is a great reason for revenge even if it didn't involve a dog.
also, i don't even fucking care i loved that ridiculous car chase scene
maybe i'm being too simple-minded about this but. just cut off her hand
there are a lot of people who will benefit from seeing this. i hope they all watch it, and learn something. the way that anthony handles expressing himself and his feelings is something i'm still learning how to overcome in my thirties and something i watched my brother go through, too. an affect like this isn't a sign that there's nothing there; it's a sign that there's so fucking much there that it'll choke you if you feel it.
carla gugino has been killing it all this time but that last scene MAN i have never been more frightened and attracted to a woman in my life
unlike some of the other netflix docs on similarly "mysterious" topics, this one is respectful and shows clear care for the victims and their loved ones. the content warning at the start is one worth heeding, though i will say that the photography of the scene is shown only in part and never involves the victims' faces.
(a cultural note: if you aren't familiar with funeral rituals in india, cremation is quite common in sikhism and especially so in hinduism (though not necessarily required) as the physical body only houses the soul and thus upon death the soul leaves it behind. i cannot speak to whether this family was hindu or sikh given that both religions seemed present and absent in different settings, but part of my immediate family was raised hindu. to my knowledge, cremation is done within a day of death whenever possible.
so while the speed with which the autopsies are done, the families are provided the bodies and the funeral rites are done may seem strange to an outsider, it's likely part of normal practice for deaths involving law enforcement. the extent the police department reportedly went in ensuring that the family had the necessary pyres, space and preparations for the cremation rituals is significant. the final episode goes into the consequences of this incident on the funeral rites and grieving process for the surviving family and friends, so please know that the "mystery" being solved in the second episode is far from the end of the story. the filmmaker did an excellent job of shedding light on the many facets and layers to this story without sensationalizing any of it, 100% recommended.)
and as someone with a history of mental illness myself and a family history to go with it, i appreciate the time this documentary takes to talk about the mental health stigma in india. it's a global stigma, no doubt about that, but the fear of losing face or shaming your family or lowering your status in east and south asian cultures in particular has led to so much preventable tragedy for so many people. it's an important lesson: try to talk openly about mental health in your daily life. it makes a real difference, trust me.
ranjit's actor's monologue about the war was incredible tbh
i haven't even finished the episode yet but god victoria pedretti is SO FUCKING GOOD in her sequence
i really, really hope this kid lives a safe and fulfilling life from here on out. he deserves it.
first, since the show never gives any kind of message in this way: for anyone who's ambivalent to or already has negative opinions or therapy, please know that finding a safe, ethical therapist who knows just how important the doctor-patient relationship truly is can be difficult but is also highly rewarding. i've been in therapy a number of years and during stressful times i may go once a week, while most of the time i'm happy to go every month or two months. i take medication for anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder but therapy is what gave me the ability to actually live and thrive—medication was also necessary, but simply allows me to function. the shrink next door and the real events behind it are horrifying, but trust me when i say that they are not representative of all therapy, and that if you ever think you might need to talk to a professional, to please look into your options. it's not just for people who have mental illnesses and it's not just for people with trauma. everyone, truly, can benefit from it.
onto the review:
not a terrible watch, but i do think the investigative podcast into the story was the right format for this kind of thing. it wasn't enjoyable to watch as a piece of entertainment. it's very sad and disappointing, much like the real story is.
i will say that the end, with the epilogue text, was my least favorite aspect of the series. ending on the note "marty has never returned to therapy" is troubling—i don't expect the man to ever feel safe doing so. but the message isn't a clear one. you can't tell whether they're saying this because they want you to be mistrustful of therapeutic processes or because they want to illustrate the damage that can be done by an unethical therapist. that lack of clarity is irresponsible, as people can be put off of the idea of therapy very easily, despite it being an incredibly valuable and important tool. it seems a little silly to say, but i think that this show would have benefited from the pre or post credit call to action that a lot of netflix shows have implemented regarding traumatic subject matter. even as someone who has a very positive relationship with therapy, watching this (and listening to the podcast) was difficult.
two things make this movie worth it: rebecca hall's performance and ben lovett's score. otherwise it's pretty weak.
the scene after she falls asleep in claire's lap tho. shit took about 10 years off my lifespan i'm still Stressed man i have a heart defect don't do that to me
to be clear i don't mean this as a slight against a victim in this story but can we seriously take a moment to address the weird familial obligation behavior of bailing dangerous/unstable relatives out of bad situations (or quite literally bailing them out) but drawing an arbitrary line because they're dangerous/unstable? speaking from experience here: just don't help them period. don't do it. stop it. don't bail your violent relative out of jail, they're violent. even if they didn't hurt you, they're a danger to everyone else who crosses paths with them while out on the street.
i don't think people realize that the movies that netflix gets the rights to are movies that often don't get to the point of premiering. these are things that would end up in development or premiere hell, a lot of times. so yeah, the casts are great and the movies are usually subpar. i think anyone going into watching a movie that netflix bought the rights to needs to go in with the mindset of it being a b movie regardless of the actors that feature in it.
at least that's my personal rule, and as a result this is one of the better netflix exclusives. the acting was great, all things considered. i will say that it dragged on at certain points and the solution to the problem was pretty obvious from the start, but as someone who's had insomnia since she was four years old, i could FEEL the delirious paranoia. if you've never had sleeping issues before, this probably will feel pointless and boring. if you have, you'll feel the dread and stress the actors are putting out, trust me.
i sure love when men need to be reminded that women are human beings by someone pointing out that they have a sister/mother/daughter, because you know, if you don't have a female relative how could you possibly care about a woman being sexually assaulted
it's honestly mind blowing what vfx is capable of. really immersive and interesting. plus if you're a millennial, look forward to googling things while you go "idk that sounds fake" and finding out that way more has changed than just some dinos having feathers. like wtf new zealand is part of a submerged CONTINENT
truly one of the most harrowing episodes of svu. i've seen it a few times during marathons and even knowing the ending i spend the entire thing in total distress
this is the only thing i want to see militarized police doing from now on: freeing exotic animals from unhinged white people
