Movies That Have Been Resonating Recently

I love movies. I love movies sooo much, and I have been self-isolating way too much lately, so I’ve been watching a lot of them. Maybe too many sad ones, but we’re working on it! Here’s some that have hit me really hard in the feels.

Girl, Interrupted

Girl, Interrupted

This one may be more melodramatic, as my life looks nothing like the leading women of this film– among them Susannah, the narrator who finds herself in a mental hospital after a suicide attempt and struggling to come to terms with her borderline personality disorder diagnosis; Lisa, the enigmatic and terrifying “lifer” that runs the patients social circle; Polly, disfigured from a self-inflicted burn as a child who is simultaneously pitied by and made fun of her peers; and Daisy, who keeps herself isolated from the others in her private room, and who has a feud with Lisa. But the raw emotions at the core of this film truly connected with me. The girls have an intoxicating friendship that is founded on their mutual “insanity”, one moment saying the cruelest things about each others traumas, to banding together to comfort each other after episodes. Susannah falls down into the seductive trap of romanticizing her own mental illness, and has to fight to work her way out of the hospital, and into the regular world again. I think this film does a great job of comforting people who see themselves in the ward patients, but also prevents viewers from fully romanticizing life in a mental hospital, showing the cold hard truths about what choosing not to recover costs you. 

You hurt yourself on the outside to try and kill the thing on the inside.

-Susannah, Girl, Interrupted

I used to be funny

I highly recommend going into this film with as little context as possible. The anxiety and dread that builds throughout it through the two timelines– aka the current time, and flashbacks due to Sam’s PTSD– are done masterfully, and it truly adds to the experience, putting the pieces together on your own . But this film also deals with triggering topics, and I don’t think that it’s fair to send people in blind. Sam is a gen-z comedian recovering from a workplace sexual assault, dealing with PTSD, and grief of losing her relationship with the girl that she nannied– who just ran away from home. Funny and heartbreaking, this really showcased Rachel Sennot’s immense talent as an actress. The ups and downs Sam goes through during the film felt really similar to my own process of healing from trauma. It gets “better,” and it gets worse, and you can feel the impact that it had on her, sitting on her chest and keeping her in bed, forever fresh. She also deals with a lot of self-hatred, which is common in survivors, specifically for the fact that she is traumatized. She’s unable to work, unable to pay full rent, unable to be a good friend, and she doesn’t understand why people still stay with her. Ultimately, a film that feels like “I see you. This sucks,” ends with hope and steps towards healing. Ally Pankiw, the writer and director, said in an interview: “You know that the person that was stolen is still here,” which is something that I really needed to hear. Like Sam, I will find my way back. 

Are you going to ask me what I was wearing next?

-Sam, I Used To Be Funny

wake up dead man

On a lighter note: Benoit Blanc. I found out recently that one of my friends hasn’t even heard of the Knives Out movies, which was absolutely earth-shattering. I love these movies for their critiques of the wealthy and white elite, fun and twisty mysteries, and of course, their iconic detective with a deep Louisiana accent. But Wake up Dead Man is an entirely different beast, with a tone that’s heavier than the previous two movies, and tackles hard questions on the role of religion in modern-day America. As someone who loves thinking about and analyzing religion. A Lot. I stayed up wayyyy too late after seeing this firm for the first time, talking about the characters, the setting, as well as the beautiful cinematography and use of lighting. Wake Up Dead Man critiques the inherent patriarchy present in the catholic church, and the way that faith is often used as a weapon to mobilize followers, in this case, Monsignor Wicks’ “flock”, through the uniquely selfish desires of the ensemble, and Father Judd’s integrity. Msgr. Wicks leads through fear and anger, the same way that American Christian Nationalists do, instead of leading through radical love, a mission that Father Judd pursues consistently throughout the film, to the dismay of the revenge-driven Wicks and the atheist, enigmatic detective Blanc. Blanc and Judd come to an understanding at the conclusion, both ending the investigation with more empathy than they started, with a truly unique balance of respect for both religious and secular perspectives. Despite the two male leads, this movie also heavily focuses on the patriarchy present in the church, through my beloveds Martha and Grace especially, and I think that is handled beautifully. A movie like this is much needed in the religious political era we’re in currently, and this film has a much more true representation of Jesus’ teachings than most pieces of media, and self-procclaimed followers of Christ online. 

God didn’t hide me or fix me, he loves me when I’m guilty

– Father Judd, Wake Up Dead Man

If you have any good movie recommendations, please let me know!