Movies I watched in...August 2021

 The Night House

If you want to watch a movie that will scare you shitless, The Night House (especially seen in a threatre) is your movie. Following a newly widowed woman, Beth (Rebecca Hall, whom I will rave about below), The Night House is a horror film about grief, depression, and coming to terms with the secrets our closest loved ones keep from us.

The very night of her husband's funeral, Beth starts hearing things in her house at night. She also begins having incredibly realistic--and disturbing--dreams. Beth is a hardcore skeptic, but clearly something is going on. So she begins to look through Owen's laptop and workshop (he was an architect who built the lake house they lived in...that Beth must live in alone now). She discovers some unnerving things, such as a floor plan for a house identical to theirs, but the floor plan is backwards, and images of dark-haired women who look very similar to her in Owen's phone.

The dreams begin to get real weird: one night Beth dreams that she find the reverse-house across the lake and sees her husband with another woman in it. The next day, she treks through the woods...only to discover that, indeed, Owen WAS building a house. It's incomplete and spooky as fuck, made only spookier by the discovery of a voodoo doll-type thing in it. The film teases us: was Owen having an affair? Was he killing these women? Is he now a ghost, haunting his wife and driving her to the edge of insanity? You'll have to watch to find out!

Although I felt there was something lacking in the conclusion of the film, I have to give The Night House two things: 1) it scared the crap out of me, making me jump and watch through my hands for half the film and 2) Rebecca Hall takes what could be a very average role and elevates it. Hall is a very intelligent and gifted actor, and she makes full use of her withering glare and pithy insults in this film. Her portrayal of a woman in grieving was so very, very honest: she hides her deep hurt and loneliness with irreverence and "jokes" that come off as mean. But that's what a lot of people in grieving do--they lash out, they make jokes to hide the pain (even hiding it from themselves), and they do crazy shit. Hall single-handedly takes what could have been a mediocre haunted house movie and elevates in to a meditation on grief and existentialism.

Grade: B+

***

Pray Away

This documentary, directed by Kristine Stolakis, follows former leaders of Exodus, a ministry focused on conversion therapy. The majority of the people in the film left Exodus and are now fully out as gay or bisexual. If you grew up in or around fundamentalist Christianity, you might be familiar with such names as Randy Thomas and John Paulk, who were huge figures in the so-called "ex-gay" community. These individuals engaged in religious "therapies" meant to root out the "reasons" they were gay, confront those reasons, and get back on the God-approved path of being straight. Many of them lived lies, including getting married to a spouse of the opposite sex and having children, for decades before the truth caught up with them. Even though the were acting straight, deep inside they were still gay.

Pray Away is a solid and harrowing documentary. It is important to show that people CAN change (and by "change" I mean...leave the church and live their actual truth, not the false truth the church wanted them to live) and they can get out of the cult mentality of fundamentalist religion. However, the film has received backlash since it focuses on people who, although victims of the larger culture themselves, victimized many, many others. One reviewer pointed out that as a queer person who grew up facing hostility in her religious community, it was hurtful to see the very people who allowed such hostility to flourish living their best lives now. While I understand why the film focused on the leaders of this "movement" (seeing the most rabid believers turn away from their previous beliefs is undeniably interesting), I can imagine and understand the bitterness of queer people raised in the church seeing the faces of the movement that tormented them get to say their piece and explain themselves.

For me, a heterosexual person who was indirectly influenced by conservative teachings about homosexuality (essentially, such teachings lead me to reject dogmatic religion), Pray Away just reminded me of how much I truly despise people like Jerry Falwell, James Dobson, and other leaders of the 80s-90s era fundamentalist Christian culture who profited off the suffering of so many people. Like many people, I have extended family members who still believe bullshit like this and it means I can't have a close relationship with them because their "values" are sickening to me (and, quite likely, my opinions of sexuality are sickening to them). 

It's not just Christianity--there are other religions, including Islam, that consider homosexuality to be sinful. But Christianity is what I grew up with, and is the dominant religion in the United States. So I'm more comfortable shitting on Christianity than a religion I have no connection to and much less knowledge of. In any case, I do recommend Pray Away despite its imperfections. Although some people will feel hurt that the leaders of a ministry that harmed many people get a chance to explain themselves and are living happier lives, I do think seeing them publicly reckon with the damage they caused and admit that their sexuality was not a sin and was never wrong will help a great many others. 

Grade: B

***

Southland Tales

Southland Tales is Richard Kelly's follow-up to his masterpiece, Donnie Darko. And it is a hot mess. The film is a genuine work of passion, but it is overly long, rarely makes sense, is nearly impossible to follow, and is just plain bizarre.

So Kelly apparently wrote three comic books that take place in America in the not-too-distant future. The dropping of nuclear bombs on El Paso and Abilene, Texas lead America into World War III. This leads to the return of the draft, a fuel shortage, and mass surveillance of United States citizens. The government is heavily Republican, so groups of Neo-Marxists start cropping up and committing acts of terrorism against the government. Southland Tales opens on "Chapter 4". So basically, you're supposed to read the comics first and then see the movie. But most people don't even know the movie exists, let alone the comics.

The main plot revolves around the disappearance and reappearance of Boxer Santaros (Dwayne Johnson), the son-in-law of a powerful Republican senator. Santaros disappeared in the desert and then reappeared, but now has amnesia. He crosses paths with Krysta Now (Sarah Michelle Gellar), an ex-porn star. The two start a romantic relationship and write a script called "Southland Tales" which takes place in the not-too-distant future. Only it so happens that their script actually predicts the actual future. Because when Santaros disappeared, it was actually a rip in the time-space continuum, so the Santaros who reappeared was his future self who, of course, knows what happens in the future.

Confused yet? I sure was! It's funny because the Wikipedia synopsis of Southland Tales is surprisingly short, despite the film's many layers and complexities. I think it's because whoever wrote it was like "gahhhh, fuck this!" and couldn't deal with writing a detailed synopsis. That said, Southland Tales is just so fucking unique and so clearly a passion project for Kelly that I can't bear to give it the grade it "technically" deserves (a D). I'm going to bump it up a whole letter grade for a few reasons: 1) it has some genuinely funny, and genuinely moving moments; 2) Dwayne Johnson is actually pretty good in it, or at least very fun to watch; 3) you can see Kelly's vision underneath the layers of insanity--this film is a mess, but at least it's authentic and earnest.

I really hope that Kelly has another good movie in him. Donnie Darko, while certainly not a perfect film, is fucking great and truly holds up as a cult midnight movie. Kelly has talent...but whether or not he will learn how to refine that talent into a intelligible film...only time will tell. 

Grade: C

***

V/H/S

I was very surprised to find that I did not like V/H/S. Like, at all. Shit, I'm giving it a lower score than Southland Tales, which is an objectively bad film. But V/H/S was VERY boring and a huge disappointment. 

This found footage horror anthology horror film came out in 2012 and contains five short scary movies within a frame story. The directors of these short stories are all top-notch talent: David Bruckner (who directed The Night House [see above] as well as The Ritual), Ti West (The Innkeepers, House of the Devil), Joe Swanberg (better known for his acting work, but he has directed some good films, including Drinking Buddies), Adam Wingard (You're Next, The Guest) and Radio Silence (a team of three directors who most recently directed the excellent Ready or Not). 

I think the fact that the movie was so chock-full of talent is why it was such a disappointment to me. I was genuinely bored during the entire movie. I was not scared, like, at all. Horror anthologies are tricky and I would say that, in general, I don't care for them (although I love scary short stories). Perhaps that's because what I love about horror movies is that build-up of suspense. Short horror films are like the hitachi vibrator of movies: you blow your wad so quickly you can't even enjoy it. But that's not a great analogy because there was nothing even remotely orgasmic about this film.

I feel like V/H/S is a basically a classic at this point, especially in the found footage sub-genre, but I can't recommend it. You're better off seeking out the feature-length films of any one of its directors than you are wasting time and/or money on this sad, boring anthology.

Grade: D

***

The White Lotus

Created by Mike White, The White Lotus is an acidic, well-written show that both criticizes the self-absorbed nature of rich, white people...while ironically falling prey to the "white gaze" itself. 

The show takes place at the titular resort in Hawai'i, run by the incredibly charming Armond (Murray Bartlett, excellent here). Armond welcomes a new crop of guests: a family traveling with their two kids plus the daughter's friend, a newlywed couple, and a single woman traveling on her own. All of the guests, barring the daughter's friend, are very, very wealthy white people. The White Lotus shows how rich, white people use and abuse the people whose job it is to serve them, and leave a trail of destruction in their wake all while truly believing they are good people who earned their success in life.

The acting on this show is INCREDIBLE. Jake Lacy and Alexandra Daddario play the newly married couple, Shane and Rachel Patton. Jake Lacy risks us all hating him by playing an absolute entitled asshole who, upon finding that he and Rachel are not in the room his mother booked for them, makes it his mission to make Armond as miserable as humanly possible. 

Jennifer Coolidge leans into type by playing an alcoholic, aging woman who has come to the island to lay her mother's ashes to rest in the ocean. Along the way, she forms a connection with the spa manager, Belinda (Nastasha Rothwell), a Black woman who is so used to performing emotional labor for the guests of the resort, it is second nature to her--at her own peril.

The Mossbacher family consists of mom Nicole (Connie Britton, just so fucking good here), the CFO of a search engine and all-around type A girlboss; dad Mark (Steve Zahn, a wonderful surprise), who is desperate to regain some of the masculinity he felt he has surrendered in life, especially in regards to feeling having the respect of his wife and son; daughter Olivia (Sydney Sweeney) and her friend Paula (Brittany O'Grady) who are sophomores in college and are at that point in life where they love to lecture adults about the dangers of neoliberalism while refusing to look at their own flaws; and son Quinn (Fred Hechinger), a 16 year old on the autism spectrum who is one of the only decent people on the show. 

On a technical level, the show is brilliant: the writing, acting, and cinematography are all top-notch. The only problem is that in telling us this story, The White Lotus doesn't add much to the conversation about class and race in America. In fact, two of the characters of color come off as foolish and gullible despite the fact that in real life they almost certainly would not be as naive as they are portrayed in the show. When Tanya suggests to Belinda that she would be willing to fund Belinda starting her own wellness resort, Belinda believes it and goes so far as to write up a business proposal. I'm sorry Mike White, but you're a fucking idiot if you actually think a character like Belinda, who is explicitly written to be very intelligent, intuitive, and self-aware, would take Tanya, a self-described "alcoholic lunatic", seriously. There's just no fucking way, and this subplot actually reveals Mike White's white-blindness, so to speak. The other character is Kai, a native islander who starts a relationship with Paula. When Paula suggests a truly harebrained scheme for Kai to "take back" what was stolen from his people by the government, he actually goes along with it, and ends up paying dearly for his mistake. I could *kind of* see Kai making this very foolish choice because he's young and because he trusts Paula (a person of color herself), but both Kai and Belinda losing their common sense seems a bit insulting.

So, the show's strengths mirror its weaknesses: in portraying the destruction white/rich entitlement and white/rich self-absorption causes, Mike White falls prey to his OWN white self-absorption by writing the very few characters of color to be naive and helpless victims to the white characters. It's a very good show, and I do recommend it, but if you're looking for a show that says something brave, insightful, and/or unique about race and class, you won't find it at The White Lotus.

Grade: A-

Movies I watched in...July 2021

Zola

Zola is the first movie I saw in a movie theatre since 2020's Emma! And while it's not a film that *needs* to be seen on a big screen, it was a good movie to welcome me back to theatres (for now). 

Based on a epic Twitter thread that became a Rolling Stone investigative journalism piece, Zola is "mostly" based on a true story. Please note that I have not read the Twitter thread nor the Rolling Stone piece, but my friend told me that all but one scene in the movie are, for all intents and purposes, accurate to how it went down IRL.

Aziah "Zola" King (played by Taylour Paige, master of the stink eye) is a Detroit waitress who occasionally strips for some extra dough. She meets Stefani (Riley Keogh, always a delight) while serving her one day and the two fall into deep girl-love. Stefani is...not a person I would want to be acquainted with. She's a white girl who basically appropriates Black culture in so many ways, from having her hair in dreads to her use of AAVE. But Zola develops a girl crush on her, and when Stefani invites Zola on a road trip (or "hoe trip") to Florida to go to a strip club where they can earn thousands in one night, Zola agrees immediately, even though she barely knows the woman.

Along for the ride is Stefani's pathetic and very stupid boyfriend, Derrick (Nicolaus Braun, in what we would call a "vanity-free role") and Stef's supposed roommate, whom we don't learn the name of until halfway through the movie (Colman Domingo, just absolutely terrifying and fantastic). Turns out, the "roommate" is actually a pimp and after the two ladies spend the evening stripping, he puts their picture on Backpage.com and books a hotel room for them to provide their, ahem, "services" to any man who shows up.

This was when I realized, shit, Zola might be a horror movie! Any woman watching this film will probably experience that queasy feeling of thinking it's not a matter of if, but when someone will experience assault. However, Zola holds her own in this situation and serves as Stef's handler--she refuses to fuck the men who show up, but she helps Stef increase her asking price and also does things like help remake the bed after each man. 

There's much more to the story, which is an absolute roller coaster ride, but that's basically the gist: road trip goes horribly awry and Zola realizes that Stefani sold her out. But don't worry...this is a dark comedy, and Zola, despite being put in multiple terrifying situations, manages to hold her own and, obviously, survives to tell the tale.

Grade: B+

***

Old

This was the second movie I saw in theatres since 2020! Look, it's an M. Night Shyamalan movie so you know what you're going to get: a fascinating concept, terrible dialogue, surprisingly talented actors slumming it, and ableism! Old has all the M. Night tropes: precocious children who talk like adults, a mentally ill man who turns out to be violent, and a pretty high-concept twist (that you can guess at, given some clues at the beginning of the film). Is it a "good" movie? Not really. Is it entertaining? Yes!

A family of four arrive at a tropical resort. Mom Prisca (Vicky Krieps) and Dad Guy (Gael Garcia Bernal) are planning to divorce and are treating this family vacation as one last hurrah for their kids, 11 year old Maddox and 6 year old Trent. 

The director of the resort tells their family about a secret, secluded beach and they agree that it would be fun to spend the day there. So they head out with another family, younger trophy wife and mom Chrystal (Abbey Lee), older, asshole surgeon dad Charles (Rufus Sewell), their 6 year old daughter Kara, Charles' mother, and their dog. Additionally, another couple, Patricia and Jarin (Nikki Amuka-Bird and Ken Leung) and famous rapper who goes by the name "Mid-Sized Sedan"* (Aaron Pierre) are also on the beach. 

If you saw the preview, you know the main "twist", which is that this beach causes people to age rapidly. At one point, they calculate the aging process to be two years per hour. They sort of figure this out in bits and spurts, such as when Charles' mother, as well as Charles and Chrystal's dog, die within a couple hours. And then Prisca finds that her children look like teenagers all of a sudden. 

Clearly, the resort is "in on it", because they provided each family with HUGE picnic baskets filled with tons of food, knowing that the three children will need to eat constantly while they grow since they are increasing in mass very rapidly. But why? Why would the resort drop them in a place that will kill them in one day's time? And they can't leave because any attempts to walk back the way they came makes them get dizzy and pass out. 

Old is wild and entertaining. We get to see the consequences of rapid aging in some pretty nutty scenes including an attempt at surgery where the wound keeps closing up every time the surgeon makes a cut, as well as two "children" developing into teens who play doctor a little too intensely and end up, you guessed it, making a baby. 

This movie isn't going to win any awards, but it was a fun popcorn movie. Although, seriously, Shyamalan needs to get his shit together and stop being ableist. This is like the fourth movie of his where mental illness is treated as something scary and people with it as violent. I wouldn't blame anyone who wanted to skip it because of those reasons, or just simply don't want to pay premium theatre prices to watch it. But I had a good time, though I doubt I will be revisiting this movie.

*Fuck you, M. Night, you fucking dork.

Grade: B

***

The Sound of Metal

Damn. Every once in a while you see a movie that just blows your socks off. The Sound of Metal is such a film. Starring the wildly talented Riz Ahmed as a drummer in a two-person metal band who begins to lose his hearing, The Sound of Metal tackles some heavy, philosophical topics.

Ahmed plays Reuben. Reuben and his girlfriend, Lou (Olivia Cooke) are in a metal band and they drive around the USA in their RV performing gigs. Over the course of just a couple days, Reuben realizes he can't really hear anymore: it sounds like he's underwater. A visit to the doctor reveals that he only has something like 28% of his original hearing capacity left. The doctor advises him to stop playing music to preserve what little hearing he has left. But Reuben is in complete denial. 

Additionally, Reuben is a recovering drug addict. Reuben's sponsor hooks him up with a community of deaf sober people, where they combine the principles of sober living with the principles of living in a deaf community. Basically: deafness is seen not as a disability, but as a culture, and even as a strength in many ways. Reuben reluctantly joins the community and begins to learn ASL and accept his new life. Lou travels back to her family in France.

The Sound of Metal is just so good on so many levels. The acting is excellent, but it's really the message that makes the film truly great. I am a recovering alcoholic myself and going into the movie I didn't realize recovery would be part of the plot. Reuben is an interesting character because even though he hasn't done drugs in 4 years, he's what some people call a "dry drunk"--i.e. he is abstinent from the drugs of his choice, but he is not embracing sobriety as a lifestyle. He still acts like an addict in many ways, namely not being able to accept his deafness and doing whatever it takes to get a cochlear implant, which he thinks will solve all his problems. 

The Sound of Metal is about acceptance more than anything else. It's about mindfulness and being able to sit with oneself in a world of noise and chaos. Joe (Paul Raci), who runs the sober house, tells Reuben that if he practices mindfulness, he can return to a state of peace and quiet within himself whenever he wants. Joe refers to this state as "the Kingdom of God". 

This is a truly profound film, and I highly, highly recommend it. 

Grade: A+

***

Freaks

This wasn't my first time watching Tod Browning's classic and controversial film. I've seen Freaks at least three times at this point and I gotta say that it is a stone cold classic. There are people today who would be absolutely horrified at this film, and there were A LOT of people when the film came out in 1932 that were horrified--but for very different reasons. 

I come down on the side that believes that this film humanizes those with deformities and disabilities. The film is a tight 60 minutes (a chunk of it was cut after protests back in the 30s) and 45 minutes just shows circus performers living their normal lives. We see all manner of so-called "freaks"--mostly little people, and people born without limbs, as well as some folks with mental disabilities--doing things like washing their clothes, enjoying meals together, and even having babies and living in harmony with people who love them. 

The message, of course, is that so-called "normal" people, in this case a strong man named Hercules and a trapeze artist named Cleopatra, are the real monsters. Hercules and Cleopatra hatch a plan for Cleo to marry Hans, a little person who is clearly in love with her, and is filthy rich. They will be married, then Cleo will poison Hans and collect his inheritance and she and Herc will leave the circus together. But Hans and the other "freaks" discover Cleo and Herc's deception and take revenge on them. 

The most iconic scenes from Freaks is the "one of us" scene which holds up even today. The "freaks" welcome Cleo into their family by chanting "one of us! one of us!" and Cleo is disgusted and outraged. Their show of acceptance disgusts her because she thinks she's better than them. The other iconic scene is the one of the "freaks" crawling through the mud to chase after Cleo in order to mutilate her. What is still a scary scene in 2021 would have been absolutely mind-boggling in 1932, and it's what led this movie to be so hated and basically tanked Tod Browning's career.

But I think that Freaks is very misunderstood. It was and is still seen to this day as an exploitation film. But I do want to point out that many of the so-called "freaks" were legit circus performers (one of the few professions available to disabled folks at that time). All Browning did was film them doing their thing...and really, just living life. While the final scenes of the "freaks" chasing after Cleopatra and Hercules and mutilating them can still be seen as controversial for suggesting that the "freaks" are murderous monsters...well, is it really any different than a movie where an able-bodied person takes revenge against a bad guy? I think people who find it *extra* horrifying because these are disabled people taking revenge are telling on themselves a bit. Maybe they still believe that disabled people don't have the same emotions and motives as able-bodied people.

Freaks is a classic and it's getting an A+ from me. Anyone who loves film, especially horror, should watch this movie and, if possible, go into it with no preconceived notions. It's a movie that shows that people with different bodies and abilities are no different from anyone else: they feel pain, betrayal, and anger just as anyone would in a similar situation. And maybe you shouldn't fuck with such a tight-knit group of people who will do anything to protect the ones the love.

Grade: A+

***

The American Astronaut

I had never heard of this film, but it happens to be one of my boyfriend's favorite movies. Filmed in a pitch-dark black and white palette reminiscent of Eraserhead, The American Astronaut is a science-fiction musical about an astronaut traveling to multiple planets to basically trade people for people. In this version of the universe, planets tend to be gender-segregated. So, Venus is filled with beautiful women and, traditionally, a single male who acts as a stud. The previous stud has died and his parents want to bury his body, but the women of Venus are not ready to let him go. So Samuel Curtis (Cory McAbee, also the director) takes a fetal girl to Jupiter (a planet of all men) in exchange for a young man, known as The Boy Who Actually Saw a Woman's Breast. Then, he will take that young man to Venus and exchange him to the women there for the dead body of Johnny R. (the stud), which he will take back to earth for a handsome fee.

Does the movie sound really weird? Well, keep in mind that it's also A MUTHAFUCKIN MUSICAL. I honestly don't think I've seen a movie as unique as The American Astronaut. It is a wholly unique vision and although you can find movies that it got inspiration from (such as rickety science-fiction movies from the 50s), it is unlike anything I have seen before.

I did have to laugh at the fact that the women of Venus were all dressed as antebellum ladies, in huge skirts and tight corsets. I told my BF that it was unrealistic because if a planet entirely inhabited with women existed, everyone would be wearing yoga pants. But I can let it slide because, well, this *isn't* a realistic movie...it's a dreamlike fantasy from the verdant mind of Cory McAbee. And for that creativity, I salute it. 

Grade: B+

A Knight's Tale/Tail

 "Red is the color of lust, but green is the color of what lust leaves behind...in heart and in womb."

***

I'm going to start this review by pointing out that I am not a Medievalist or an English Lit major. I did read part of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight either in high school or possibly college, but in any case it was so long ago that I don't remember anything about it. I'm also generally not that interested in Arthurian legends. I don't even like Monty Python and the Holy Grail that much! 

That said, I went into this movie as someone who likes pretty movies and pretty boys, and I'm reviewing it from that perspective and not from the perspective of someone who actually knows anything about the legend or the time period. But as far as prettiness goes, David Lowery's The Green Knight has it in spades. The cinematography is breathtaking, the costume and sets are a feast for the eyes, and Dev Patel has never been more boneable as the young Gawain, nephew to the King (Sean Harris). There's a lot of pretty stuff to look at...and to listen to, as the soundtrack is luscious and haunting as well. 

The plot of the film, like the legend, is pretty simple: on Christmas Day, a strange figure known as The Green Knight shows up at the King's feast. The dude basically looks like Groot, but scarier. He issues a challenge to the King's knights: any man among them can try to land a blow on the Knight, but only under the condition that the Knight is allowed to land the same blow exactly one year from that day. Gawain, who is basically a fuckboy who loves getting drunk and getting it on with the ladies (and one lady in particular, Essel, played by Alicia Vikander) immediately steps up to the challenge. The Green Knight lays down his ax, and bows his head. Gawain, apparently too dumb to see that this is a trap, cleanly slices the Knight's head off. But the Knight stands up, picks up his decapitated head, and says "one year hence" and then bounces.

One year later, Gawain sets out to travel 6 days to the north to meet his appointment. Along the way, he encounters thieves, a lonely lady ghost, a talking fox, a group of giants, and a Lord and Lady (played by Joel Edgerton and, again, Alicia Vikander) who invite Gawain into their home, only to try and seduce him. Yes, both of them. 

(Side note: I was not expecting to see jizz in this movie. But...you see jizz in this movie. I wonder what they used for the effect. Dishwashing soap?)

When Gawain finally sees the Green Knight face-to-face, we get a little bit of The Last Temptation of Christ: basically, a fast-forward into the future of what life would be like for Gawain if he were to run away from the Knight and attempt to live life without honoring his side of the bargain. Then, boom, we're back in the room with Gawain and the Knight. Gawain accepts his fate by removing a green girdle that the Lady of the manor gave him, which would protect him from harm. The Knight says "Good job, my brave Knight. Now, off with your head." End of movie.

So, the movie ends on a very confusing and ambiguous note. Those who are familiar with the legend know that after flinching a few times, Gawain bravely holds still to endure the life-ending blow of the the Green Knight...only for the Green Knight to give him a tiny nick on his neck. Basically, the Knight just wanted to fuck with Gawain to prove a point. Since the movie ends without the Knight making his final move, we just don't know what happens (although apparently there was a scene after the credits that I didn't know about, so feel free to let me know if there is more to the story that I didn't see).

I'm going to give you my interpretation of the message of the film, which may be radically different from others' interpretations. I believe that the film was trying to say that man's hubris and foolish pride lead only to violence and death. Although honor and bravery were HUGE in Arthurian legends and the Chivalric code, I think this version of the legend is trying to reveal that honor and bravery for no other reason than to be seen by others as honorable and brave is folly.

I have a couple points that back up my interpretation:

• The Green Knight's game is dumb and pointless. Whoever accepts the Knight on his terms is literally asking to be harmed or killed, unless they deal the Knight a harmless blow (which would make them look foolish to their fellow knights). Basically, it's an unwinnable proposition: either you deal the Knight a mild blow and look like a scaredy-cat, but live...or you deal the Knight a serious or deadly blow, which the Green Knight will survive because, well, look at him, but YOU will not survive when it's your turn to get the same blow back. Unless the Knight is merciful, as he is in the legend. But Gawain doesn't know that.

Does this look like a guy who'd let you off easy?

• Gawain wants respect and admiration, but he doesn't want to do anything to earn it. He thinks that by accepting the Green Knight's challenge, he can take a shortcut to honor. But wouldn't it be more honorable to say, fight in a war defending your king, or spend your life being a good and protective husband to your wife? But those are REAL challenges. The Green Knight's game is, well, just a game--as the King whispers to Gawain before he deals the fateful blow against the Green Knight. 
• When Gawain is at the Lord and Lady's manor, the Lord basically says to Gawain, "So, you're going to meet up with this Green Knight guy and defeat him and then you'll return home, a changed man and full of honor?" and Gawain says "Yes" and the Lord just sort of looks at him and is like "Haha, ok buddy." I mean, I'm giving you the gist, not the actual dialogue, but you get the point: the Lord is skeptical. Now, some people could interpret this exchange as simply another obstacle in the way of Gawain's quest to become a brave, strong man. Just as the Lord's wife tempts Gawain with the world's most awkward hand job, the Lord is tempting him to give up because...uh, the quest is like...dumb. But *I* took the Lord's skepticism to be more in line with what the movie itself is trying to say: that Gawain has the mentality of a young man who just wants to look badass in front of his fellow knights, but isn't actually doing anything inherently brave or honorable.
• Finally, before the Green Knight returns his (presumably lethal) blow, Gawain says "Wait! Is this...all there is?" and the Knight says "What else would there be?" I take this to be Gawain finally seeing his own folly: that he fucked around and is about to find out. If we are to believe that the Green Knight is actually going to decapitate him, Gawain came to the end of his short life not through defending his king, or his lady, or for any REAL reason to die...but because he took up a foolish and unwinnable challenge to look cool in front of da boys.

However, maybe the Green Knight doesn't decapitate him. Maybe he only nicks him, like in the legend. If that's the case, then Gawain can return to Camelot with his dignity--and head--intact. However, the film ends before we see what happens, so it is up for interpretation. 

The Green Knight is a good movie and worth watching for its visuals alone. Dev Patel turns in a career-best performance as the Fuckboy Gawain. I honestly think I need to watch the movie a second time AND read some interpretations of the film to better understand it. But as of right now, I'm left with a lot of questions. 

Grade: B+