Hello dear reader, I hope you had a joyous May and sacrificed many metaphorical and literal demons on the alter of Spring. I’ve been enjoying the beautiful sunshine, although I have mostly stayed inside (turns out chemo drugs don’t like the sunlight so much). But at least I get to lounge around languidly wearing interesting sunglasses and pretend I’m Diane LeFanu from The Velvet Vampire. Here’s what I’ve been watching this month…
My reviews are spoiler free.
Swallow (2019) 8/10
Carlo Mirabella-Davis’ debut psychological horror thriller is a powerful film about domestic suffocation, repressed emotions and a woman’s right to mental and physical autonomy. Hunter, a young housewife recently married into the wealthy (and infantilising) Conrad family, begins to suffer from Pica syndrome (the desire to ingest non-nutritive objects) shortly before she becomes pregnant. As Hunter’s husband and in-laws continue to ignore her needs and attempt to assume control over her mind and body, her Pica condition escalates into a dark and troubling place. Mirabelle-Davis cleverly uses the Pica disorder to convey the metaphorical swallowing of difficult emotions, but also the desire to regain some form of control over an oppressive situation. The film also highlights how a woman’s pregnant body often becomes public property, open to social and political discourses beyond her control. In the eyes of the Conrad family, Hunter ceases to be an individual and becomes a vessel for their future dreams. Their coercive behaviour is alarmingly insidious – they are almost like the less diabolical version of the Le Domas family from Ready or Not (2019). Haley Bennett as Hunter is fantastic and believably portrays her initial naivety, descent into addiction and painful journey to self-actualisation. As a side note, Bennett has an uncanny resemblance to Jennifer Lawrence (a sacrilegious thought but they should remake Persona (1966)!). It is a visually stunning movie with the stultifying domestic aesthetic reminding me of Todd Haynes’ chilling masterpiece of suburban horror Safe (1995). I also feel like the Modernist-type house design has become cinematic short-hand for this man is a psychopathic dickhead (à la The Invisible Man (2020) and Ex Machina (2014)). Overall, it is a very emotionally affective debut confirming the importance of a woman’s right to choose, to have agency and to achieve emotional self-awareness.
Promising Young Woman (2020) 8/10
Emerald Fennell’s film debut is a hilarious and disturbing revenge thriller providing a blistering attack on our society’s rape culture, how rape victims are failed by the system and the painful struggle for justice. Cassie is a caustic and solitary barista by day, but by night plays the role of a drunken, vulnerable woman to teach men a lesson about consent and culpability. However, her nocturnal missions are interrupted by a chance meeting with Ryan, a fellow student in medical school many years ago, and soon she must confront the harrowing past and those who wronged her beloved friend Nina. Carey Mulligan is genuinely excellent as the sardonic Cassie and really drives the film’s emotional and comedic heart. To come clean, I am also a massive Carey Mulligan stan, especially when she gets darker material (Shame (2011) and Dr Who’s ‘Blink’ (2007) episode being my personal favourites). I believed her behaviour and motivations thoroughly, although one scene involving a car and a baseball bat felt a wee bit indulgent, if highly satisfying, to watch. But it is remarkable how well Fennell’s brilliantly excruciating script skewers the ‘nice guy’ tropes and hypocritical views about the nature of consent with an almost surgical precision. It is uncanny how Fennell captures the Millennial experience – some of these conversations and scenarios were so depressingly familiar it was almost painful to watch. The male characters are also cleverly cast to subvert our expectations regarding the ‘nice guy’ or ‘dorky guy’ tropes that we have been fed in popular culture. Bo Burnham plays the sweet, funny Ryan, Christopher Mintz-Plasse is the sexually awkward, David Foster Wallace-type literary bore and Adam Brody is like grown-up Seth Cohen thinking that he’s a great bloke being the white knight to wasted women. The medical school dimension also reminded me of the Soska Sister’s rape revenge classic American Mary (2012), although the film cheekily subverts and plays with horror tropes in terms of where you think this film is heading and the nature of Cassie’s revenge. Although not my personal taste, the film’s aesthetic is also dizzyingly beautiful and unashamedly feminine with many of the costumes provided by Emerald Fennell’s sister Coco. My only criticism would be that this film does have some White Feminist™ vibes – the film’s perspective is clearly from the point of view of a middle-class, highly educated white woman who chooses (albeit understandably) to drop out of a particularly privileged section of society. However, I do think the film is tangentially aware of this aspect especially during the conversations between Cassie and her coffee shop boss Gail (played by the excellent Laverne Cox). It’s really great to see Cox on screen (especially without any reference to her gender identity), although a shame she is placed into the no-nonsense black friend/work colleague role. On the whole, Promising Young Woman is a necessary, thought-provoking and electrifying film that will hopefully enable certain difficult conversations with men and boys (and some women) in your life.
Whispering Corridors (여고괴담) (1998) 7.5/10
Pak Ki-Hyung’s South Korean supernatural horror is a creepy, heartfelt and influential movie about the importance of free expression and the endurance of female bonds. At an exclusive all-girls high school, a feared teacher unexpectedly commits suicide on the school premises just as her former pupil, Eun-Young, starts teaching at the school. Eun-Young encounters three students who all seem to be affected by a supernatural presence and soon the memories of the past begin to mix with the present. Eun-Young must quickly uncover the buried trauma and start to unravel the mystery at the heart of the school. This movie is the first installment in the Whispering Corridors film series and the main catalyst for the K-horror boom of the late 90s and early 2000s. Although in comparison to other K-horror classics I didn’t find it particularly scary, however there are definitely some pretty creepy moments. There is also a very 90s, fever dream quality to the movie which may put off some viewers, but I find it very charming. The film is a beautiful tribute to female friendship, nascent queer love and the importance of freedom of expression and creativity. Released not long after the fall of South Korea’s military dictatorship and the loosening of censorship, the film uses the education system as a microcosm to comment on the evils of authoritarianism and the toll of rigid conformity on Korean society. The senior teachers’ repressive and sometimes violent educational approach shows how an older generation can inflict serious and irreparable damage upon its young. One teacher is nicknamed Mad Dog and exhibits sadistic tendencies that would not be out of place in a military setting. The film also neatly tackles female oppression and sexist attitudes within South Korean society. Some years ago, I was an ESL teacher in Seoul, so it felt depressingly familiar to see the undermining of the female staff and students through sexually inappropriate comments and behaviour. Whispering Corridors is a moving and spine-chilling movie that reminds us that repressed narratives will always return to haunt us until we face them directly and acknowledge their presence.
Violation (2020) 8.5/10
Madeleine Sims-Fewer and Dusty Mancinelli’s directorial debut is a very powerful and deeply thought-provoking Canadian horror revenge drama which forces us to ask questions about consent, culpability and the nature of justice. Whilst visiting her estranged sister Greta and brother-in-law Dylan at their cabin in the woods, the troubled Miriam experiences a cataclysmic betrayal after a night of heavy drinking which incites Miriam to seek violent and bloody retribution. I’ll be completely honest, this is a difficult and harrowing movie, however I think it’s absolutely worth the discomfort to challenge our own views and ask uncomfortable questions about what we want revenge movies to achieve or tell us. I couldn’t help but compare the movie to Coralie Fargeat’s Revenge (2017) which offers a much more simplified morality – it is kill or be killed, however Violation complicates this dichotomy. It asks what revenge looks like if you have no realistic recourse to justice and if so what is an appropriate punishment for sexual abusers? Madeleine Sims-Fewer is incredible as the disturbed Miriam. She is often selfish and unlikeable (she has her own issues with boundaries and consent towards her husband), but this gives the film a provocative power – the viewer is forced to question why we do not like her and does this affect our reaction to her ordeal? Miriam’s reaction to trauma reminded me of Michèle Leblanc from Paul Verhoeven’s Elle (2016) as both women behave in apparently problematic ways. Jesse LaVercombe as the gaslighting Dylan gives a brave and unsettling performance, especially with his chilling narration of the night in question revealing how some men exist in a completely alternate reality. The movie is also visually rewarding, with the brutality of nature providing a satisfying literal and metaphorical backdrop. I think my only criticism would be that I found the operatic score slightly pretentious at times, but I guess that’s just a personal preference. Violation is a gutsy and intense movie well worth viewing which will stimulate a lot of uneasy questions and some ambiguous answers.
So what did you think of these movies? Did I get it completely wrong or do you agree with my thoughts? Let me know in the comments below!
Let's Scare Lauren to Death 