Also went in blind and glad I did. Was expecting a romcom but this is more of a dark comedy/satire. The reveal isn't really a spoiler but I'm a guy who avoids trailers so I always like knowing less going in.
Borgli is 3/3 for me with Sick of Myself, Dream Scenario and now this so I looked to see what else they had done. Other than a bunch of shorts there is one other feature, Drib, but unfortunately it stars Bret Gelman so I don't think I'll be watching that.
This was great. Ironically, the biggest twist for me was how genuinely moving the final scene was. I'm not used to movies getting as twisted as this movie gets and ending in such a tender place. Shed some tears walking out of the theater.
this was great. i had the twist spoiled a while back but it didn't impact my enjoyment at all. one of my favorites of the year so far.
Liked this a lot by the end. The middle of it was almost not working for me because, and maybe this is a personal problem or character flaw for me lol, but if any of my close friends told me this secret specifically I don’t think I would care that much? Certainly wouldn’t become a complete bitch instantly like Alana Haim did.
Saw this today and made sure not to be spoiled at what was said at the table. I was kind of underwhelmed by the reveal. I was expecting something like her family being in a killer cult. If I had a friend who had the same thoughts as Emma when she was 15 I certainly wouldn’t behave like Rachel did. I’d for sure talk to them, but questioning to cancel the wedding, though briefly, seemed a bit of an over reaction to me. That said the acting was top notch. I felt bad for Emma and Charlie. The final scene was my favorite in the whole film. Really liked they started anew and gave each other another chance.
unfortunately came across this tonight :( ‘Drama’ Director's Essay on Age-Gap Romance Sparks Controversy
Went in expecting to like it and ended up loving it The more I think on it, the more I think they handled the issue very well and in a fascinating way. Like none of the humor (from what I recall) downplays the seriousness of school shootings, and even the parts we do see of her planning stuff does the opposite of glamorize it — it makes it pretty explicit (1) how unwarranted she was in doing it, and (2) how lame and pathetic she was when she was planning it through, like just moping around with the gun, or being so inept with it that she goes deaf in one ear, or incompetently preparing her video manifesto I also think it was a very interesting, very deliberate choice to have it be Zendaya’s character. If it was a white male like Pattinson’s character then I think everyone would naturally be like “yep, massive red flag, don’t even have to think about it twice, wedding cancelled.” But the thought of a black girl planning a school shooting is so out-of-step with everyone’s general conception of this issue that I think it does sort of instinctually stop you from immediately writing it off as beyond the pale It also brings up an interesting point of: we can all generally understand - and I assume relate to - someone who is otherwise completely normal and calm and rational, but who can lose that calmness very easily and do something very bad and completely out of character for them for no particularly compelling reason. But when it comes to the opposite scenario — someone who deliberating thinks about and even plans to do something horrific, but ends up having a change of heart without a particularly compelling reason why — it sounds completely incomprehensible. But it totally does happen! And does the fact that it happened means that they’re completely reformed and won’t reverse course at some point again? Who knows! This also hits a bit close to home for me because I’m a criminal defense lawyer and so my entire job is representing and dealing with people who have often done very bad things, both in the present and the past. I have a vivid memory of a moment in the Parkland shooter death penalty trial where a brief moment showing Cruz and one of his attorneys smiling and lightly laughing together went viral from everyone seeing it and having such a viscerally negative reaction to it, like “how could this woman sit here and have anything but solemn contempt for this irredeemable monster.” And I somewhat regularly get asked the same kind of thing — how can I be around and even help people who do such bad things? And while I totally get that this is not even close to a job for everyone, I think a lot of people sincerely do have trouble understanding that nobody is simply the worst thing they ever did. I can’t count the amount of clients I’ve had who — in the course of my representing them — come off so, so different from how they did at the time they did what they did. But for so many people, that notion is simply incomprehensible. Even the clients I’ve had who have done particularly awful things, at the end of the day it was often just a single moment of their life, and at what point do we get to say that this one moment defines them more than the other thousands of other days that they have been productive members of society and didn’t do something awful? In the abstract I don’t usually see people dispute the idea that someone who has done an awful crime can have the capacity to be nice and friendly and charitable and good. But when people actually talk about a real person who did a real thing and it’s no longer abstract, I think far more people become like Alana Haim’s character than not.
Incredible the lack of attention people provide movies while in the theatre. Literally half the movie there was Cambridge something in the frame lol
Also as much as I personally enjoyed going into the movie knowing that there was some big hidden reveal and wondering what it was and being genuinely surprised by it, and as much as I think they ultimately didn’t trivialize or glamorize the subject, I did see a take that I agree with which is that marketing the whole movie around the reveal does feel a bit insensitive. I feel extremely bad for people who have been personally impacted by it who went into the movie having absolutely no idea that the whole movie revolved around it. Like it’s an actually compelling argument/example for why trigger warnings exist lol
I would not behave like Rachel did but also downplaying Emma’s actions as “just having thoughts” is wild because she literally brought the gun to the school. She was ready to go through with the plan.
Did she bring it to school? I don’t remember that part. I thought she delayed her plan because she couldn’t finish her video and then the other shooting happened so she ditched the idea.
At one point early on I believe she explicitly said that she brought it to school But yes I don’t recall it ever actually showing her doing it. And not to verge into CinemaSins territory but when I realized that she only ever had that giant rifle and never a handgun, I also laughed to myself wondering how the hell a teenager would have brought a massive rifle to school and nobody noticed lol
Yes she clearly stated she brought the gun to the school and didn’t go through with it because another shooting happened.
just thought about the photographer scene and that was one of the funniest moments for me personally. "shooting grandparents TBD"