Rock wrote:
Evangelical sex scandals also come to mind
There is a Qanon/Sound of Freedom flavor to it, but I don't think any of these groups have managed such a charismatic messianic public figure. I'm sure Russell Brand is on the phone with his agent as we speak. I was also quite curious about any links between Peak and this mysterious security force. There's nothing definite in the film, although when Butterfly goes to Cross' home to find evidence for the assassination, the mother-in-law says that there had been a robbery, and gave Vernon Peak's name as the likely culprit. But this is complicated, because she also claims that her daughter (Stone) was missing, even though she must have been aware that Stone had left days earlier, so it sounds more as if she was trying to frame Peak. (Again, I assume the security force was behind the robbery, but the film never takes this point any further.)
I do like how the film plays on stimulating our pattern-finding conspiracist inclinations, so that we're motivated to try to piece these nefarious elements together, even if they don't amount to much. It's similar to the ending of Night Moves in that sense.
Rock wrote:
I haven’t seen anyone else really bring this up, but did the climax feel video game inspired to you? I suppose that’s the case with a lot of action scenes, but I also wonder if Aster is alluding to not just the more toxic side of video game culture (the last time I tried to play Counterstrike online I heard the N word in less than five minutes), but the way video games play off gun nut delusions and power fantasies.
I think your point in your review was spot-on about the FPS perspective, and just the 360 spatial awareness of the framing. It didn't occur to me to think about the association with the more toxic online gaming culture (I'm not much of a gamer) but that would make an intriguing element.
Rock wrote:
Also I’ll say I haven’t seen as many annoying reactions to this one as I expected, probably because it underperformed
I am curious about whoever it was who had the bright idea of dropping this film wide in the middle of the summer season, and which LA area delivery service now employs them.
