Wow, it's amazing how differently we each react to this. I thought the movie was brilliant but I wouldn't call it fun. It was way too tense to me for it to be fun! I don't call Hereditary or Midsommar fun movies either. Thankfully only a few laughs in my theater and like me, they were more soft ha ha ha uncomfortable laughs. Not funny lols. Very different. Echoing the praise for Inde's performance. No one has mentioned this yet, but the parts where the real Nikki would come through were startling and impressive as well.
I’m completely for the sort of open ended specifics around the One Wish thing, but this was something I did want to know more about. I think it’s when she “wakes up” at the party when she says something like “he’s coming!” that I was like brotherrrr tell me more
Yeah, I’m usually one for letting whatever information the movie is giving me stand as the final word on it. But I think exploring the One Wish Willow thing, where it came from, what have other people wished would be more interesting than whatever we got. Like, who’s the operator, where did Nikki go and why is the store so chill with stocking this thing that’s ruining peoples’ lives, minus that store clerk who seemed to, I guess, have gotten off Scot-free with whatever wish he had. or maybe it would suck. Who knows?
Kind of what I mentioned before in the horror thread, but my big problem with this were the leaps in logic with the characters. Like Bear has to be the dumbest person alive to eat that sandwich sight unseen after Nikki has already been showing signs that she’s unhinged. Likewise, Sarah texting Bear after she just saw how insane Nikki was at the party seems like a leap. I honestly thought she’d be like “Nikki is a demon and we’re gtfo right now.” Also, Ian going to Bear’s house after he’s warned to stay away, just because he wants to show Nikki his winnings or something, all felt like “Well, we gotta find a way to off these characters” rather than something natural. But I understand those are nitpicks.
The deadpan “do you want to talk to her” while she screamed on the other end of the line was legit terrifying
Anyone in here good at dry swallowing pills? I’ve never been able to but man it happens so much in film I’m beginning to think it’s a me problem
Gf was too scared to go watch Hokum so we’re gonna go see this instead but it looks like it’s supernatural horror too? Lol
I did not see hokum but this wasn’t scary to me. Disturbing yes definitely but not like I gotta turn the lights on at night scary.
It’s a dark discussion, but one thing I was talking with my friends about (and I see popping in talks about this movie), similar to the problems brought up in “Wonder Woman 1984,” is the hmmm…ethics brought up with him being intimate with Demon Nikki. Like, is it assault if actual Nikki is in some kind of other dimension and Demon Nikki is the one inhabiting her body? Does she knows what is going on with her body when she’s not in it? Could this have used that clarification?
Yeah this is one of the things I feel like could have been explored more. It’s so deeply fucked up and evil and it felt like a bit of a loose thread
I was pretty stoned so I may have imagined this but I am pretty sure during that scene, the camera zooms out and she almost looks a sex doll, just still with no emotion; practically unconscious. I think that makes how we’re supposed to take it pretty clear.
Thought this was incredible. Love everything Barker touches and am really excited to see where he goes with more feature length work after this, especially his take on TCM. More important though I am excited to see what kind of career Inde gets after this, because she was phenomenal here. Her voice work and all of her physicality in this were just next level.
Biggest laugh in my theatre was someone who started loudly snoring a half hour in…my guy it’s 8pm you’re that tired ? Anyway thankfully it didn’t last too long
I think it’s pretty clear how fucked up the whole situation is, that’s she’s not in control of her body, and he’s 100% taking advantage of her and should know better but he’s a piece of shit.
I loved this, and not unlike Weapons/the Weapons thread, I think a lot of the logistical questions or "nitpicks" in here (not being critical, I have a few of my own) don't really bother or register with me because the movie is so clearly absurd at a certain point that it becomes more about tone than actual narrative choices. And the tone SHOCKED me here - I knew it was going to be mean and maybe funny, but I don't know if I've ever seen anything where the escalation in both darkness and absurdity was handled so well. On paper, it really shouldn't work, but Barker REALLY pulled off something special here. I felt like a frog in a pot of boiling water. Loved the score. Strong directing, too. I know this wasn't exactly original, per se (a little Smile, a little It Follows, and a little 2000s horror packed into the meanest Goosebumps episode you've ever seen lol), but I was also relieved that it had a specific vision and tone and didn't feel like every A24 horror movie or slasher classic mashed together like some horror has recently (Undertone, Dolly, etc.). There is this recent resurgence in horror that I can't quite trace back -- Malignant, maybe? -- where some movies feels like they're just making weird choices for the sake of being weird or shocking, and that's not always a bad thing, but it gets a little tired for me when it doesn't match the plot. This felt confident enough to me that it just narrowly avoided that trap (I feel similarly about Barbarian).