(2024) ****
So I'm a dummy who doesn't pick up on symbolism. Turns out after reading the Wiki and IMDb for this, I realized it's totally and obviously an allegory for transsexualism. I actually spent a while afterwards considering my own preconceived notions (and, full disclosure, I spent another while combing this review to edit out all the Hims and Hers), and hope that it's a good sign that I didn't pick up on the allegory because I was too busy just empathizing with everyone as a human being to consider what they were self-identifying as. I just thought it was about feelings of loneliness and being misunderstood in this peculiar era of human history in which we have just enough information to understand that people are different, but lack the maturity to know how to talk about it or empathize (or to find people who will empathize with us).
The film follows teens Owen and Maddy, who bond over a mutual love for a Buffy-esque TV show called The Pink Opaque. It's a weekly ritual, Owen sneaking out of the house to watch with Maddy, and then sleeping on Maddy's floor, and then sneaking out of *Maddy's* house before dawn to avoid detection by Maddy's abusive father. The show runs for five seasons (or does it??), and the pair watch and rewatch, their investment in the show giving them something to identify with -- giving them the only thing to identify with, I should say. They don't have any other friends, and only cautiously occupy space with each other. They speak in cold, bored tones to each other, but one easily senses two souls screaming beneath the surface -- not to connect with others, but just to be seen and identified. Clearly establishing the defensive perimeter one afternoon, Maddy declares "I like girls -- you know that, right? I'm not into boys," and when Owen responds that that's okay, Maddy asks meekly whether Owen likes girls, and then asks more meekly, boys. Owen replies, "I think I like TV shows".
Things eventually get rather weird, and I don't want to say much about that part of it, except to say that it's not a gory movie, but it vibes very hard. It's satisfying as a horror film -- though maybe it's more like discomforting Sci-Fi? Doesn't matter. What matters is that it's quietly a terribly sensitive film, and director Jane Schoenbrun feels obvious love and tenderness towards Owen and Maddy even while they lack the same tenderness towards themselves.
