The Lobster (Lanthimos, 2015)

The Lobster (Lanthimos, 2015)

The Lobster is set in a dystopian future where single people spend 44 days at a Hotel, if they remain alone throughout the 45 days, their stay ends with them transforming into an animal of their own choice.

The Hotel reinforces the concept that to be alone is to be weak but to be with a partner is a matter of survival. The mise-en-scene shows the sheer lack of love in the shots, meaning that relationships become hostile and purely strategical. The warm colouring of yellow in most of the shots is completely overshadowed by the horrendous acts the spectator sees on the screen. The film does not discuss reproduction, if a couple stays together long enough, they are allocated a child.  The film argues that, simply, to be alone makes you vulnerable. This is seen in the reenactment scene, the camera remains completey still whilst the workers at the Hotel act out how vulnerable it is for females to walk alone at night. The voiceover is clearly authoritative and furthermore, is devoid of any emotion. Furthermore, it trivializes the situation and rids the characters of any individuality as they cannot even tell their own story. The stilted performance of all characters helps anchor this fragility and this is best highlighted through Biscuit woman, who calmly states that she is “good at blowjobs”, the sexual proposal is not suggested in an enticing way, the spectator fully believes that she is saying this to prove her worth as a potential partner. Moments later she discusses how she will jump out of her window if she is alone by the end of the 45 days.

The film challenges the concept of soul mates, and destined relationships. the film suggests that for soul mates to work, one must suspend disbelief. The limping man’s repeatedly bangs his face against walls to make his nose bleed so that the nosebleed woman percieves that he is the one- that this uncanny resemblance is completely believable. The spectator is forced to see the idiocracy in this concept. At the end of the film, the protagonist still believes in this concept. As he believes he has found his ‘soul mate’ he ails himself so that he can fully ‘match’ his love. 

Alfred Hitchcock is notorious for his use of the ideal Hitchcockian woman, many of the female protagonists or figures of romance in Hitchcock movies look incredibly similar. An example of the “ideal Hitchcock woman” is Madeline in Vertigo (Hitchcock, 1958), her hair is blonde and she wears a tight, almost fetishised, suit. Tippi Hedren matched this criteria and her relationship with Hitch become one of great controversy. During the filming of The Birds (1963), Hitchcock became incredibly controlling over Hedren, particularly controlling what she ate and drank. He reportedly told cast and crew they were not to talk to Hedren and furthermore, Hedren claimed that Hitchcock tried to kiss her in the back of a car.

This behaviour only enhanced during the shooting of Marnie (1964), a film that can be read as solely about Hitchcock’s fear of female identity and his need for control over Hedren, specifically her sexuality.  Hedren said, “Everyone - I mean everyone - knew he was obsessed with me. He always wanted a glass of wine or champagne, with me alone, at the end of the day…he was really isolating me from everyone”. The relationship reached a climax when Hitchcock refused to allow Hedren the opportunity to visit New York, Hitchcock claimed that he’d ruin Hedren’s career, before it had truly started.

Hitchcock’s control over Hedren’s contract allowed him to decline or accept offers as he wished, he turned down several offers on Hedren’s behalf.

also i watched room!!!! 

Brie Larson is genuinely one of my favourite actresses but particularly as a comedy character, I was amazed at her performance in Room- it was genuinely one of the most intoxicatingly beautiful films I’ve ever watched. It perfectly encapsulated the moments where you want to look away but the films interpellates you to the point that you still feel it, despite not looking at the screen. Jacob Tremblay gave one of the best child performances, i’ve never identified with a child’s character as much. (also he’s 9!!! wtf that’s incredible)

but yeah, incredible.

Fargo: The Crocodile’s Dilemma (S1, E1)

“Your problem is you've spent your whole life thinking there are rules. There aren't. We used to be gorillas.”

“In fair Verona, where we lay our scene”

Romeo + Juliet (Luhrmann, 1996)and the colour blue

Is family the biggest horror of all? Discussing The Witch (Eggers, 2016)

Modern Horror, at times, misuses the notion of Family, films like Maggie (Hobson, 2015), Poltergeist (Kenan, 2015) and The Conjuring (Wan, 2013) are just some films that use family as an empowering theme. In these films, our hero fights the Monster for the sake of the family because family is always safe, always strong and always there. This is why the start of The Witch appears too slow because the audience does not suspect the family at all, all Eggers provides the audience with is the beginning of a tale. The film immediately invokes sympathy with them, they are banished from their village and forced to go it alone in the forest. The characters are easy to identify with, the use of old language can put some spectators off but fundamentally, Eggers encourages the audience to understand this Puritan family as our own. At the core of this film is a family coming to terms with loss but this, by no means, suggests that the family is innocent. The Witch shows that horror starts at home and by the halfway point of the narrative, the audience loses all sense of family values.

The audience is forced to experience this film with the characters and once they leave the Village, the setting switches between the forest and their new makeshift home. The use of long shots connotes that the family is completely alone, they only have each other and their Puritan religion to keep them going. This is one of the most interesting aspects about the film, as all they have is each other, they quick to turn and suspect one another. The audience shares the narrative experience with the family, both completely unsure about when and where the horror will emerge from. Will it be from the Witch in the forest or will it be from inside the family which is being torn apart in front of the audience’s eyes?. As the narrative progresses, the audience clearly suspects the latter more. It is interesting to add in here that this film is set in 1630, yet family is still a questionable structure to this day. A 2009 FBI report stated that 25% of murders take place within the family and furthermore, over half of all murder victims know their killer. The Witch shows that fear does not come from the ambiguous creature who lives in the forest, it comes from the people who are “supposed” to love you unconditionally. The terror each family member feels is caused by a sense of loss and confusion with their relatives, their own flesh and blood whom they suspect is terrorising them.

The Witch is a film that lingers on the mind and after viewing it I was completely unsure how I felt. The audience is immediately put on edge and the strategic use of intermittent blank screens makes us wait in fear for the next potential scare. The film is more of a tale than a horror movie, the narrative is incredibly rich and engaging but the best thing about this film is its use of family. The Witch challenges the notion of family, family traps you, family suspects you and ultimately, family can kill you.