"XX"
Another anthology! This one describes itself as being "from a woman's point of view" Which is accurate as far as it goes. The netflix description and the attempt to tie things together by cutting up a beautiful animated spooky short doesn't quite work as a way of presenting four interesting short horror films. Well, three. No, four- I really want to see the in between sequences as a whole movie, because it is beautiful. (That's where that screen shot up there is from.)
The Box: based on a short story by Jack Ketchum that I am unfamiliar with.
This was just a gut wrenching exploration of the societal expectation that women sacrifice everything for the families...and the lingering guilt and unease when they don't.
The Birthday Party: A long set up for the pay off, but such a great performance from the lead actress, and such a completely great and bizarre payoff that I don't even care.
Don't Fall Down: My least favorite. The title has nothing to do with the actual movie, except as a thirty second set up for the rest. I really dislike the choice to use the heiroglyphs in the US desert as an "ooh spooky monsters" set up, and despite our "no, it's not Native American, this was earlier than that" CYA line, it still comes across as pretty racist.
Her Only Living Son: It probably speaks to the complex feelings motherhood can bring out in us that along with being viscerally punched in the gut by "The Box," I also really loved this one- a powerful statement about the power of a mother's love. (Yeah, I contain multitudes and stuff.)
The Box: based on a short story by Jack Ketchum that I am unfamiliar with.
This was just a gut wrenching exploration of the societal expectation that women sacrifice everything for the families...and the lingering guilt and unease when they don't.
The Birthday Party: A long set up for the pay off, but such a great performance from the lead actress, and such a completely great and bizarre payoff that I don't even care.
Don't Fall Down: My least favorite. The title has nothing to do with the actual movie, except as a thirty second set up for the rest. I really dislike the choice to use the heiroglyphs in the US desert as an "ooh spooky monsters" set up, and despite our "no, it's not Native American, this was earlier than that" CYA line, it still comes across as pretty racist.
Her Only Living Son: It probably speaks to the complex feelings motherhood can bring out in us that along with being viscerally punched in the gut by "The Box," I also really loved this one- a powerful statement about the power of a mother's love. (Yeah, I contain multitudes and stuff.)
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