FOLIO
Words by Waverly Loyd
REQUIEM FOR A DREAM (2000)
-This almost made me stop taking my Ozempic. Keyword … almost. I mean, have you SEEN this waist? Me either, hmu if you find it.
Watched Oct. 30, 2024
THE VANISHING (1988)
This is the scariest movie Stanley Kubrick has ever seen? Apologies, I was unaware of the minuscule sized testicles he must have to be frightened by this film. Oh, look at this grain of rice I just picked up! Kidding- That’s just Stanley Kubrick’s nutsack.
Watched Oct. 17, 2024
JOKER: FOLIE À DEUX (2024)
-La La Land for the criminally insane.
Watched Oct. 15, 2024
THE PLATFORM (2019)
Arguably the worst Mukbang I have ever seen.
Watched Dec. 8, 2023
Thank you.
Okay, I lied. Put your clothes back on. *Cracks knuckles* and let’s get serious.
BLINK TWICE (2024)
Zoë said “cut!” and the dolls heard “c*nt!” Naomi ATEkie and ATEdria Arjona were rumored to need extensive physical therapy from carrying the weight of this film on their backs. Actually, all of the women in this movie (minus Stacy, who is apparently not a girl’s girl) stood TEN TOES DOWN. I’m literally in my bed right now, writing out this review, while giggling and kicking my feet and thinking, “girlhood is so special<3☺”
I think most of us were more than a little skeptical upon hearing about Zoë Kravitz’s directorial debut, “Blink Twice,” rumored to have almost been called “P*ssy Island” (moment of silence for this fallen tribute.) And I think I speak for the majority when I say: ZOË, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, PLEASE MAKE MORE MOVIES. This was an outstanding debut. I think most of us were not familiar with her game and owe her our deepest apologies but are now sitting up straight and listening intently.
This film feels like “Don’t Worry Darling” meets “Get Out.” The premise being “when something seems too good, it usually is,” or “hey, don’t trust that white man.” What “Blink Twice” executes flawlessly is the art of subtlety. For the first half of this movie, we are shown luxury and pleasure and a glimpse into the world of wealth, where life every day is a dream, and every night is a party. But we can feel that something is off. It is unclear of what, but the viewer is watching these characters on this beautiful island, relaxing poolside all day with an endless supply of champagne and the finest of foods, and yet, they feel unsettled. It’s almost like the feeling of being watched.
Now, I am a face value movie viewer. I don’t sit down to watch a movie with the intention to figure out the plot twist before it happens or predict the ending. I watch to simply see and experience that which the director is showing me. And, for me personally, I feel this really contributes to my enjoyment of any film.
Kravitz creates such an immersive atmosphere and lulls you into a false sense of security until something as simple as a scene switch causes you to jump. The title card is brilliantly shown toward the beginning which is timed with the click of a camera, where “Blink Twice,” flashes across the screen, and it is a signal to the viewer to pay close attention. The disorienting flashbacks our main character, Frida, begins experiencing shortly after arriving to the island, cause us to be on edge. We know that something is deeply wrong, yet don’t understand exactly what it is. So when we finally are given our first flashback, nothing can prepare us for how jarring it will be. You suspect throughout the first half of the movie that something horrible is going on, but then being confronted with the reality brings your focus back in. Seeing the first memory of what happened to Jess caused such a visceral reaction within me, it felt like Kravitz reached through the screen, grabbed my face between her hands and said, “Pay attention.” I’ve been revived and drawn back in because admittedly, the first half of this movie feels slow and repetitive. But I am locked in. This is not a happy movie about couples seeking respite on a secluded island away from the everyday stresses of life. This is a movie about patriarchal power, control and manipulation and the ways in which society pits women against each other to always be adversaries rather than stick together. We see Frida (Naomi Ackie,) and Sarah (Adria Arjona) spend the first half of the movie competing over who can capture Slater’s (Channing Tatum,) attention the most. Both Frida and Sarah are strong, powerful women. And as it goes in so many places in society, strong and powerful women are meant to be in constant competition of each other rather than supporting each other.
Kravitz is trying to bring our focus back onto womanhood. As soon as Frida begins to unravel the truth of the island, Sarah is brought into the mix. And within minutes, Sarah believes everything Frida is saying even though Frida has little evidence. The dialogue in this entire scene was outstanding. There was humor mixed with shock mixed with fear as we watch both women conclude they are f*cked. But rather than tremble in fear and act like “little girls,” they form an unbreakable bond of solidarity and realize their earlier issues with each other were built upon internalized misogynistic propaganda instilled by the men around them to keep them subservient and weak. But they are not weak. And they will do everything they can to escape this hellish oasis.
It is unfortunate because almost every movie that involves trauma to a woman, almost always has to deal with sexual assault. And with horror being one of my favorite genres, I have had the displeasure of viewing many sexually violent scenes. However, what makes Kravitz stand apart from her peers is her ability to take something as vile and repulsive as rape and show just enough to deeply disturb the viewer, but not so much that it exploits the woman. Because let me make this clear; this is a very disturbing movie, and I do not recommend this for the feint of heart. But Kravitz has portrayed this sickening material in a way that leaves her female audience feeling empowered after leaving the theater, rather than feeling like they must take a cold shower to rid them of the icky feeling of degradation and side eye their man the whole way home.
Perhaps one of the most impactful moments of the entire movie was remarkably delivered to us by Camilla (Liz Caribel Sierra) when she finally gets her memory back. While the party is ensuing around her, and the abusers are blissfully unaware of the women breaking out of their chains right in front of them, we see the camera slowly zoom into Camilla’s face. We see the despair and grief wash over her. We see that grief turn to horror and that horror turn to rage and that rage turn to revenge. We watch as Camilla decides to herself, “no more,” and at once takes matters into her own hands. There are no moments spared for the abusers to try to explain themselves. No hesitation. Camilla at once exacts her revenge. This entire scene should’ve have had “Dies Irae” playing in the background to match the level of rage and destruction these glorious, incredible, brave girlies committed. #WOMENINMALEDOMINATEDFIELDS
Listen, I understand it’s “not all men.” (It wasn’t all 14th century rats either and YET… but I digress.) I know many men feel exhausted by the continued feminist movement, and that this movie, which is made by a woman FOR women, is offensive to those of the Y chromosomal status. In fact, when I saw this movie for the second time in theaters (we listen and we don’t judge,) one man was so aggrieved and insulted by the clear suffragette motives behind this film that after the first flashback, he got up from his seat and in full view of all us audience members, hawked a loogie on the floor of the theater not once, but TWICE. Do you know the amount of fury one must harbor to full on spit in public like that? It is an act of utmost disrespect. And to that I say, Zoë Kravitz, your work here is finished. Well done.
Watched Aug. 24, 2024
Irréversible (2002)
“Let’s make a movie about a woman getting violently assaulted and almost beat to death by her rapist and instead of emphasizing her strength and resilience from the event that happened to HER, let us instead write this from the narrative of two men and how it has changed THEM. Let us further make the woman in this be a side character when her story is the focus of the movie! Oh, but also while our girlfriend was being assaulted, we were getting high out of our minds and cheating on her all night but wait we really do really respect her and will seek revenge in her honor!!!!”
F*ck. You.
I will admit; Gaspar Noé did something remotely right if I am having this strong of a reaction to it. So I will credit him for doing his job as a director, which is to create something so visually compelling that it sits with the viewer days after watching. OK… and I can admit that the way this was filmed in reverse chronological order was compelling and original. The opening shots were disorienting to a dizzying degree with a frenetic pacing and assault of sounds and colors that at once puts the viewer in a state of duress and hypervigilance. This movie violates the viewer before even showing The Scene. So towards= the beginning my curiosity was piqued, and I was ready to be tossed into this grim world. But by the end I wanted to pour instant mashed potatoes all over Gaspar Noë’s yard on a rainy day. Due to the the nine-minute rape sequence that was so vile I had to put on “Kung Fu Panda 2” as a palette cleanser to remind myself good cinema exists.
I have a morbid fascination with watching extreme horror. I mean, most of these movies I watch are on a website literally called effedupmovies.com. I don’t watch these because I enjoy them, but because I am the epitome of “curiosity killed the cat.” My curiosity has killed many cats I fear, massacred even. Maybe I shouldn’t say that? Look just please don’t tell me not to do something in an ominous tone with a bell tolling in the background because I will absolutely yell out, “is anybody there??” in a place where someone is definitely right there— girl, run wtf don’t go in there!! Oh, there she goes. And… yep. She’s dead. I can already hear some of you saying, “keep talking, I need more time to diagnose you,” but babe, relax, I keep my therapist booked and busy! Back to the point, 10 times out of 10 I never feel OK after watching a movie like this, and the day I stop tormenting myself with this fixation will be the day my therapist will finally be out of a job (love you, Christy! Xx)
So it is safe to say, I have seen my fair share of stomach-turning, gut-wrenching movies like this. And it makes me feel sick to my stomach when I finish said movie and look at my Letterboxd expecting to be met with the same outrage I feel, only to see netizen’s give these five stars. I am so tired of filmmakers creating garbage movies such as this but receive high praise because of the “art” behind it. In “Irreversiblé,” there is a 9-minute-long rape scene, all shot in one take. While watching, it felt more like 30 minutes, and I kept fast-forwarding to get past it. It is a brutal and unflinching scene, and it will make even the most seasoned of disturbing movie cinephiles, cringe. I think many people confuse “artistic freedom,” for just straight up trauma porn. I feel like it is a very telling sign that all these disturbing extreme horror films have one thing in common: They all center around graphic depictions of abusing and tormenting women. And this movie is a prime example of that. To frame this story of sexual violence against a woman from a male’s perspective is at best, insensitive, which is not a characteristic you want from someone detailing an extremely sensitive subject. And whether Noë’s intentions were to create something meant to show people the raw reality of sexual violence in our world or not, he completely discredits himself once he chose to have this told from the perspective of men and the only time we see the female character is when she is being abused or having her only dialogue be about sex. What Noë effectively does here is objectify women and show them in the cliché trope of the damsel in distress, where these men are the heroes and the woman doesn’t have a voice.
Sexual assault is an extremely sensitive topic to cover, and it requires a certain empathy that Noë clearly lacks. You do not need to show an almost 10-minute scene of rape to get the viewer to understand how emotionally and physically damaging it is. A proper director understands the value of a viewer’s imagination and how less is more in most cases. There is a moment where Alex, our victim, makes a comment about how she’s her own person, and this is obviously Noë’s attempt at foreshadowing, but it instead emphasizes his ignorance and poor taste to mock Alex in this way. So that moment is just cruel. And then her avengers, Alex’s boyfriend, and best friend, show more rage over being called homophobic slurs than they do finding out what happened to Alex. And because of the directorial error to have this told from the point of view of the angry men, when they do get their revenge on her abuser, none of it feels like vengeance. Instead, we are watching fire fight with fire. None of these men feel safe and trustworthy, the viewer is never once made to feel that way. So when they seek their “justice,” it’s ineffective to watch because Noë has shown us this whole movie that men are violent, dangerous sex-driven beasts. All of it is violent and scary. Mom can you come pick me up? I’m scared. There’s two gorillas fighting over a banana here and there’s not a girlboss in sight. (I don’t agree with this, just sharing my own observation of this film and the message Noë is trying to put out there.)
Noë had the opportunity here to tell a story of one woman’s resilience and triumph over good vs. evil. Everyone loves a good redemption story. But Alex falls into a comatose state and is put on an ambulance, effectively ending her character development, so rather than exploring any of her emotional turmoil from the traumatic event, Noë takes an easy way out (Alex falling into a coma,) just so he can have a reason for using a brutal rape as a plot device. I’m truly unsure what this movie is about and who it is for. Because it just feels like fetishized shock value porn, masqueraded as a revenge thriller.
In the cinephile realm, this movie is immensely popular. I see this often recommended in movie circles among the likes of “Incendies” and “Martyrs.” However, I have seen all three and can say with confidence if someone recommends this movie I would calmly back away and tell a trusted adult!
Watched Dec. 12, 2024
Thanks for reading. See you next time.
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