The Brutalist

This review contains spoilers 

America proclaims to be the land of opportunity for anyone and everyone. If you work heard enough, you can make it here. Everyone has an equal chance. Just grab those bootstraps and pull. And everyone is welcome here...as long as you behave yourself and assimilate. 

Brady Corbet's epic film examines the lie of the American dream and the abuses of capitalism through the lens of a fictional man's journey to and eventual departure from the United States. Adrien Brody plays Laszlo Toth, a brilliant architect who is also unfortunately a Jewish man from Hungary during Hilter's Third Reich. While we don't see this part of his life (the film opens with Laszlo coming out of the depths of a ship to see the Statue of Liberty, inverted and moving dizzily across the screen), we learn that Laszlo survived the Buchenwald concentration camp and was separated from his wife, Erzsebet (Felicity Jones), and niece, Zsofia (Raffey Cassidy), during the war.

In the first half of this 3.5 hour film, Laszlo comes to America--Philadelphia, specifically--to live with his cousin, Attila (Alessandro Nivola), a fully-assimilated man who has changed his last name, his religion, and is working on getting rid of that pesky Hungarian accent. Attila owns a furniture store and offers Laszlo a room and work. Fate finds its way to Laszlo in the form of Harry Lee Van Buren (Joe Alwyn, playing one of the most detestable, punchable characters ever committed to screen), the son of a wealthy industrialist, who hires Laszlo and Attila to re-do his father's study as a surprise. When Harrison Lee Van Buren (Guy Pearce, excellent as a man corrupted by wealth) comes home to find his library re-done in a minimalist, brutalist style, he is furious. His son refuses to pay Attila and Laszlo, and Attila kicks Laszlo out of his home.

Years later, Harrison finds Laszlo working in construction and takes him for a coffee, showing him a lifestyle magazine in which his library was featured to much acclaim. He apologizes for his and his son's actions and pays Laszlo what he is owed and invites Laszlo to his house. Having done his research, Harrison discovers that Laszlo was a celebrated architect in Hungary and now wants to take the man under his wing, putting him in touch with a lawyer who can help bring Erzsebet and Zsofia to America.

Harrison also proposes a new project: a community center for the people of Doylestown, PA, named after Harrison's beloved late mother. And he wants Laszlo Toth the design it. 

After an intermission (which is built into the run time of the film), Erzsebet and Zsofia make it to America, though not without their issues. Erzsebet must use a wheelchair due to osteoporosis from famine and Zsofia is mute due to trauma. But Laszlo is overjoyed to have them home.

Felicity Jones, playing Erzsebet, brings warmth and grounding to a very masculine film. To me, she felt more "human" than any other character in the film. She bolsters Laszlo's self-worth and supports his vision at all costs...and the costs do start racking up, as Harrison brings on other architects to "consult" on the community center, compromising Laszlo's vision. After a train accident results in destroyed materials, Harrison abandons the project and Laszlo, Erzsebet, and Zsofia move to New York City to find jobs. 

For a brief moment, the Toth family is truly free. Free from the fickle demands of Harrison Lee Van Buren (not to mention the unwelcome advances on Zsofia made by son Harry). But in 1958, Harrison revives the project and asks Laszlo to come back. Against the wishes of his wife, Lazlo returns to the project. Meanwhile a pregnant Zsofia and her husband decide to make Aliyah and return to Israel. More on this later.

Laszlo and Harrison travel to Carrara, Italy to purchase marble. During a party in the mines, Laszlo becomes intoxicated and wanders off. Harrison finds him and berates him, saying "If your people hate persecution, why do you make yourself such easy targets." He then proceeds to rape Laszlo in an act of domination.This was a shocking moment I did not see coming and it really slaps you in the face with the film's message that wealthy Americans use and abuse foreigners before discarding them. 

Laszlo continues to work with Harrison on the project, but by this point he is jaded. He knows that people like him--not just Jews, but foreign Jews--will never be truly accepted in the United States. Erzsebet proposes that they move to Jerusalem to live with Zsofia. "This country is rotten" she says. Laszlo agrees.

But before they leave, Erzsebet goes to Harrison's house and calls him an "evil rapist" in front of his family and business partners. Harry grabs her and drags her out of the house, causing even more of a scene. Harrison flees the premises and a fruitless search of the grounds and the unfinished community center commences. The film gives us no answer as to what happens to Harrison. 

However, the film does give us an answer to what happens to Laszlo and his family. In an epilogue, grown up Zsofia travels to Venice with an aging Laszlo to present at a showcase of Laszlo's work. During her remarks, she reveals that the community center (which was completed years later) was inspired by the Buchenwald and Dachau camps. The tight, claustrophobic rooms with high ceilings were the exact dimensions of various buildings that Laszlo, Erzsebet, and Zsofia suffered in and survived. 

It's funny because the film presents this revelation as the work of a man processing his trauma, but I thought it was more of a "fuck you" to Harrison and the people (specifically, the Christians) of Doylestown who demanded a chapel in the community center. What better way to thumb your nose at the people who never accepted you than to put a replica of a death camp in their backyard? 

The film ends with Zsofia telling the crowd something her uncle told her: "no matter what others try and sell you, it is the destination, not the journey".

So, that's The Brutalist. A film about American hypocrisy towards immigrants, a film about the struggle to find a homeland, a film about art clashing with capitalism. I have a few additional thoughts. 

First, it's so interesting to me the way the film juxtaposes sensuality and, well, brutality. During the sequence set in Carrara, Harrison sensually caresses the beautiful marble--putting his cheek to it as he would put his cheek to a lover. Not a few minutes later, he is raping Laszlo in the depths of the mine. There are scenes like this littered throughout the film. Scenes of tenderness and beauty and love followed by scenes of rejection and pain and hate. 

Another thought I had was that when Erzsebet says "this country is rotten", she could easily have said "this world is rotten". The Toths were brutalized in their homeland because of their religion and then they left Europe for a better life in America. When they discovered the lie of America, they fled again to a new homeland...one that has always been the center of controversy. I saw an article that called The Brutalist an "aggressively ambiguous" take on Zionism. That description makes sense to me, as Laszlo and Erzsebet don't want to leave the United States. They want to stay and make it work, but in the end they feel that the cost is too great.  

But what I believe and what I make of this film is that there is no safe homeland, there is no safe haven...not for anyone, anywhere. Because wherever you go, there are Harrison and Harry Lee Van Burens. The American dream is a myth, but so was Hitler's Third Reich. And all countries and cultures are propped up by their own mythologies. We can share myths and stories about our lands, and some may be more true and others less true, but what we all share is a common humanity that pits people against one another. The Harrison Lee Van Buren that Guy Pearce portrays may be specific to the United States of America, but trust and believe that a version of his kind exists in every country on earth and will always look for a victim in the depths of a marble mine to take advantage of.

What I do think is hopeful about The Brutalist is that despite everything, Laszlo never loses his vision or his identity. For all his wealth, Harrison Lee Van Buren has no core sense of self underneath it all. Contrast this to Laszlo, who in his darkest moments of homelessness, addiction, and degradation still knows who he is and what he wants. 

Perhaps that is the ultimate message of The Brutalist: there is no homeland other than one's own values, identity, and vision.

Grade: A 

If Mama Ain't Happy...

Three wildly different movies that share the common theme of motherhood.

Janet Planet

Written and directed by playwright Annie Baker, Janet Planet is a beautifully realized slice of life movie about an 11 year old girl, Lacy (Zoe Ziegler), and her loving-but-codependent relationship with her hippie mother, Janet (the wonderful Julianne Nicholson). The film takes place in rural Massachusetts in 1991 and just feels so perfectly detailed that you feel like you took a trip in a time machine while watching it.

I loved Lacy as a character--a bossy, blunt kid (much like I was) who is also a bit lonely and overly attached to her mom for an 11 year old. Janet is a loving mother, but one that we might look askance at these days. She regularly brings boyfriends and roommates to live with her, and although nothing sinister happens to either Janet or Lacy, Lacy is forced to witness and deal with her mother's emotions in a way we would characterize as codependent and/or parentifying in today's world. The title, "Janet Planet", is not only the name of Janet's acupuncture business, but also a good metaphor for Lacy's life: her world revolves around Janet's in a way that is often sweet and sometimes...a little much.

Streaming on Max, I highly recommend this movie especially to folks who enjoy quiet, natural, slice of life indie movies. It's a really good one (and will make older viewers long for a time before cell phones).

Grade: A

***

The Front Room

The Front Room sure is something else. What a weird movie. I don't actually hate it, but it's also not good. 

Starring Brandy Norwood (Brandy of "The Boy is Mine" fame) as Belinda, a pregnant Black anthropologist who is already dealing with a lot (specifically, a lack of respect at her university job) and Andrew Burnap as her white husband, Norman, The Front Room tackles the most horrific thing in the entire world: mother-in-laws.

I partially kid, but the mother-in-law in The Front Room is truly a megabitch from hell. Solange (played by the hilarious Kathryn Hunter in a very, very vanity-free role) is actually Norman's stepmother and he has terrible memories of her religiously-motivated abuse from his childhood (she wouldn't let him eat unless he sang "Jesus Loves Me" with adequate conviction). When Norman's father passes away, Solange proposes that she will leave her massive fortune to Norman and Belinda if in exchange they let her live with them for her remaining years. Low on funds, they let her move in.

Hunter plays Solange as a melodramatic, racist, southern-fried religious nut. She immediately takes control of their lives, even presumptuously suggesting they change the unborn baby's name from Fern to Laurie. Once the baby is born, Belinda has to take care of her newborn AND an incontinent, condescending biddy while her husband is at work as a public defender. 

The Front Room is directed by Max and Sam Eggers, brother of the incredibly talented Robert Eggers. However, this film is...er...not as good as Robert's films. Not by a long shot. Hunter's performance as Solange is amusing at first, but quickly grows tiresome. The movie is marketed as a horror film, but it's more gross (see the incontinence mentioned above) and cringe than scary. I really can't recommend it unless you have a morbid curiosity. Brandy deserved better than this!

Grade: C

***

Mothers' Instinct

A melodramatic thriller directed by Benoit Delhomme about a friendship between two mid-twentieth century women that turns deadly. 

Anne Hathaway is Celine Jennings and Jessica Chastain is Alice Bradford--two picture-perfect wives and mothers in 1960 suburban America. When a tragic accident occurs, their friendship sours...and then goes off the rails completely.

I won't spoil anything, but this definitely isn't a film you need to see unless you love the lead actresses (and, to be fair, who doesn't?) or love soapy melodramas. Mothers' Instinct is essentially a more polished Lifetime movie with star power. 

Uh, that's it. That's the review. 

Grade: B-

2024: The Best and the Rest

Personally, I thought 2024 was a GREAT year for movies! I was really disappointed in 2023's crop of films, especially the ones everyone else loved but I thought were just ok. This year, however, I saw a bunch of movies that I loved and cannot stop thinking about. In fact, there were so many good movies that I watched this year that I have two separate lists: my favorite movies that came out in 2024 and my favorite movies I watched this year that came out in 2023 or before. 

Additionally I have lists of the TV shows I watched this year that I enjoyed the most, best books I read this year, and worst movies of 2024. Please enjoy and I hope you're inspired to watch something from these lists that you haven't seen before!

***

Best Movies (released in 2024)

11. Love Lies Bleeding

This tale of a muscle babe drifter (Katy O'Brian) and the alienated gym employee who loves her (Kristen Stewart) is raw, sexy, violent and weird. I enjoyed how gross and bizarre Love Lies Bleeding was, and I also enjoyed the powerhouse performances by O'Brian and Stewart.

10. Wicked

Wicked was by far the most surprising movie of the year in terms of how much I loved it when I went in with low expectations. I hadn't seen the stage version of this musical retelling of the story of the Wicked Witch of the West, but I had heard good things. Still, musicals are sometimes difficult to translate to the silver screen. Thankfully, Jon M. Chu's adaptation was beautiful, delightful, and heart-wrenching. So glad I gave it a chance.

9.  Strange Darling (second review down)

Now, here is a truly dark horse. Even though I rated Strange Darling a B+ and Wicked an A-, I am ranking Strange Darling above it simply because I. Cannot. Stop. Thinking. About. It. 

Strange Darling is a violent, Tarantino-esque film about a kinky one-night stand between two characters known only as The Lady (Willa Fitzgerald) and The Demon (Kyle Gallner) gone totally off the rails. The gender politics of this movie are very troubling, which knocks the film down from the "A" tier...but...but...it's still so surprising and fun. Fitzgerald and Gallner give truly great performances and the film is a wild, unhinged ride.

8.  Red Rooms (third review down)

Technically, this French-Canadian thriller was released in 2023, but it wasn't available to watch in the States until 2024. And, boy, was I eager to see it. It actually might have been my most anticipated movie of the year. The film follows two women who are sitting in on the trial of a man convicted of torturing and killing three teenagers and streaming the murders on the internet. While you never see any footage of the murders, the descriptions are gruesome enough. Model Kelly-Anne (Juliette Gariepy) is absolutely obsessed with the crimes in a way that is clearly unhealthy, but we're never sure exactly why she is so focused on the man responsible for the murders or the family members of the murdered girls. Red Rooms keeps you on the edge of your seat for its entire run time. It's a slow burn, but an absolutely thrilling one.

7. Civil War

All the cinephiles out there LOVE director Alex Garland and, specifically, they love his films Ex Machina and Annihilation. Not me though, I thought those movies were mid. Garland also directed Men, which, while not perfect by any means, was at least kind of intriguing to me. This year, he directed Civil War, a movie doomed to be misunderstood in our polarized times. The movie ISN'T about "left vs. right" but instead about how we fight for no reason other than than to feel like we're on the right side of something. Civil War is about the absolute absurdity of war and the absurdity of being a human. I think a lot of viewers were pissed at the lack of a moral stance or resolution in this movie, but I thought that was exactly the point. 

6. Dune: Part 2

A feast for the eyes, Dune: Part 2 was a roller coaster thrill ride from start to finish...especially since I saw it in IMAX and my seat was literally vibrating for half the movie. I'm not a huge space/sci-fi person (I don't care a whit about Star Wars), but Dune is an exception. The sets and world-building in Denis Villeneuve's screen adaptation of Frank Herbert's epic story of a reluctant messiah and the war over Spice (it must flow) are just astounding. Both Part One and Part Two also have some horror elements to them, which was a great entry point for me. 

5. Oddity (first review down)

This absolutely terrifying movie just came out of nowhere! I heard a little bit of rumbling about it online and sat down to watch it one evening. I ended up watching it through my fingers while curled into a ball on the couch. I'm not joking when I say that Oddity is the scariest movie I watched in 2024. 

With an amazing lead performance by Carolyn Bracken who plays twins in the film, Oddity is not only incredibly tense with some jump scares that you will NOT see coming, it's also just a plain old good movie with an intriguing plot. If you're a horror lover, do not sleep on this one. And if you watch it, don't expect the sleep at all!

4. Late Night with the Devil (first review down)

This was another film that I wasn't expecting too much of, but it really blew me away when I watched it. It's a found footage style film about the final episode of a (fictional) late night TV show from the 1970s called "Night Owls". The wonderful David Dastmalchian plays host Jack Delroy, who invites a psychic, a skeptic, and a little girl who claims to be able to speak to demons on his Halloween show. 

And could you guess that all hell breaks lose? 

I loved the vintage vibe of Late Night with the Devil. It was a movie that felt both familiar and new, which is my favorite type of movie! It's not particularly scary, but it was very fun.

3. I Saw the TV Glow

Jane Schoenbrun's I Saw the TV Glow wins the award for most devastating movie of 2024. This film, which is an allegory for the transgender experience, follows two kids, Owen and Maddy, who bond over a TV show called The Pink Opaque (think: Buffy the Vampire Slayer or The Secret World of Alex Mack). One night, Maddy disappears. When she reappears years later with a disturbing proposition, Owen has to decide how much he trusts his old friend. 

I can't say much without giving major plot points away, so I'll just say that Justice Smith's performance as the older Owen is absolutely heart-breaking. I Saw the TV Glow can be read in many ways--it's about nostalgia and growing up, but it's also about missed opportunities and the agony of knowing the years are slipping away from you. And it's about so much more. This movie will not be everyone's cup of tea, but I found it to be a gut-wrenching take on the consequences of not living a life true to yourself. 

2. The Substance

In a year of surprising films, I think Coralie Fargeat's The Substance is the one that had my jaw on the ground the most. What a bat-shit insane ride this movie is. It's not scary, but it is INCREDIBLY gross. And in ways you'd never even expect. Fargeat attempts to out-Cronenberg Cronenberg himself. In fact, I've heard this movie described as "The Fly, but grosser". Consider yourself warned.

I love that a movie about our culture's obsession with (female) beauty features such disgusting visuals. TV and movie star Elisabeth Sparkle (a wonderful Demi Moore in the performance of the year) is fired from her long-running fitness show on her 50th birthday by her contemptible boss, Harvey (Dennis Quaid). She learns of a "substance" that can create a younger, sexier, better version of yourself. All you have to do is make sure to switch bodies every seven days. She takes the plunge and, indeed, a younger, hotter version of herself emerges out of her own body: Sue (Margaret Qualley). Soon enough, Sue is stealing time from Elisabeth and damaging both women (who are, of course, the same person) in the process.

More than any other movie on this list, I think The Substance is THE movie of 2024.

1. Challengers

Luca Guadagnino's genre-defying film about three people obsessed with tennis and each other is a movie created specifically for me. Despite the fact that there is no actual sex in Challengers, the movie is sexy in a way that feels very specific to me. And it's not just sexy. It's funny, arch, dynamic, and energetic. Challengers is a whole vibe with great acting, excellent cinematography, and a score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross that makes you wanna go out and hit a few balls (what kind of balls? That's up to you).

Zendaya plays tennis prodigy Tashi Duncan who suffers an injury that puts a stop to her career far too early. She lives vicariously through her husband, Art Donaldson (Mike Faist), a tennis champ. But after a few too many losses, Tashi (who coaches Art) signs him up for a challenger event where he'll be able to compete against some players who are objectively worse than him and therefore gain a little confidence back. But, lo and behold, a person from the past--Patrick Zweig (Josh O'Connor)--is also playing in the challenger! Art and Patrick, once best friends and romantic rivals for Tashi's affections, face each other on the court once again.

If you think tennis is boring, well, you haven't seen Challengers. In the film, a tennis is sex and sex is tennis. And let's just say that in the love triangle between Tashi, Patrick, and Art...all the sides touch. Quite literally.

Challengers is a movie that is hot as hell, cool as fuck, and a metric ton of fun. Easily my favorite movies of 2024, and probably my favorite movie, period, since Midsommar. 

Just bros sharing an innocent churro.

Honorable Mentions:

Nosferatu, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, The People's Joker, The Devil's Bath, A Different Man, Longlegs

Best First Time Watches (released in 2023 or earlier)

9. Please Baby Please (second review down)

This campy, kinky, queer, quasi-musical was everything I didn't know I needed in my life. If a John Waters movie and a David Lynch movie had a baby, Please Baby Please would be it.

8. Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father (seventh review down)

While I Saw the TV Glow might be the most devastating 2024 movie, Dear Zachary is the most devastating movie...ever? A truly gut-wrenching documentary about a family's quest for justice when their son (and father to baby Zachary of the title) is murdered by his girlfriend. Be warned: this film required tissues.

7. Everybody Wants Some!!! (second review down)

I watched this 1980-set Richard Linklater film on a whim...and promptly made a bunch of my friends watch it as well. In fact I think I watched it at least three times in a two-month period. If you couldn't tell, I dig this testosterone-fueled comedy about a college baseball team's wild weekend before the fall semester of 1980 starts.

6. Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched (first review down)

This gorgeous documentary about the history of folk horror in film is over three hours long, but worth the watch. By the end of the doc, which covers folk horror from Britain, the Americas, and all around the world, I had a ton of movies to add to my "to-watch" list. 

5. The Zone of Interest

Directed by Jonathan Glazer, The Zone of Interest is a haunting film about the Hoss family--father Rudolf is the commandment of the Auschwitz death camp and he and his wife, Hedwig (played by the excellent Sandra Huller), and their 5 children live literally right next door to the camp. They can see the fire and smoke of the crematoriums by night and hear gunshots and screams by day, but they live their lives as any other upwardly mobile family would. 

This film, which came out last year, was controversial for a number of reasons, not least because it's a Holocaust movie where the victims aren't even shown. But Glazer deftly gets the message across: not only is evil banal, it's profitable for those who engage in it. 

4. All of Us Strangers

Released in 2023, Andrew Haigh's All of Us Strangers is a ghost story, but not a scary one. A very lonely gay man in his 40s (Andrew Scott) mysteriously has the ability to reunite with his parents who died when he was a kid. How this is possible is never explained, and it's also besides the point. The point is that Adam is able to come out to his parents, which he couldn't do while they were alive, and have them affirm their love for him. In other words, it's a tearjerker that will have you crying like a baby no matter what *your* relationship with *your* parents is like. It's a movie about closure, something many of us don't get, especially from our parents. Watching All of Us Strangers is like having the flu: you'll feel achy, warm, and vulnerable.

3. The Holdovers

Another 2023 release I didn't get to watch until 2024. Alexander Payne directs this heart-warming (though not without bite) movie about three lonely people who come together (or, rather, are forced into each other's company) at Christmas in 1970. Paul Giamatti is a classics professor who teaches at a private boarding school; Dominic Sessa is a student left behind by his family during the holiday break; Da'Vine Joy Randolph is the cafeteria manager who is also staying behind to cook for the "holdover" students who are staying at the academy for Christmas and New Years. 

All three of these people are grumpy as hell, which is what makes The Holdovers so funny and so wonderful. This really is the perfect Christmas movie for people who aren't into Christmas. It will tug your heartstrings but won't be so cheerful and in your face about it. Just a really warm, comforting, lowkey movie with a seriously vintage feel.

2. The Shawshank Redemption (second review down)

Shockingly, I had not seen The Shawshank Redemption until a few months ago. It was just a movie I never got around to, despite having read the novella it's based on. I finally watched it and I gotta say that it's everything people say it is: a great movie with an enormous heart. The Shawshank Redemption is as familiar as a pair of old slippers, which is not to say it's boring. It's just very nostalgic, even to me, someone who never even watched it before! 

1. The Birdcage (first review down)

And probably even MORE shocking, I hadn't seen the entirety (only bits and pieces caught on TV) of this stone-cold classic until this past year. INSANE, right? When I finally sat down to watch it, I was blown away at how hilarious it was. I shouldn't have been surprised, but sometimes movies that everyone loves ultimately don't live up to the hype. The Birdcage does. I don't even have to tell you what it's about because everyone on earth except me has already seen it. Well, now it's on regular rotation in my house. Better late than never!

Best TV shows I watched in 2024

4. Ripley (third review down)

I was skeptical of this 8-episode series based on Patricia Highsmith's novel The Talented Mr. Ripley--after all, we already have the perfect film adaptation. But I was won over in the end, especially by Eliot Sumner's turn as Freddie Miles. 

3. The Underground Railroad (second review down)

Barry Jenkins translates the Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Colson Whitehead into a 10-episode series that captures both the grotesque atrocities of American slavery and the dreamy magical realism of the novel. Following escaped slave Cora's (Thuso Mbedu) struggle to get to freedom on a literal underground train, the series is heartbreaking and hopeful. 

2. Hacks (second review down)

I watched all three seasons of this comedy about an older comedian, Deborah Vance (Jean Smart), and her Gen Z writer, Ava (Hannah Einbinder), in quick succession. Hacks is categorized as a comedy, but it's more of a dramedy that will break your heart as often as it makes you laugh. The lead actresses (especially the legendary Jean Smart) play off of each other perfectly, revealing their flaws and their saving graces in turn.

1. Baby Reindeer (first review down)

Based on the real experiences of comedian Richard Gadd, this 7-episode series is a gut-punch exploration of stalking and obsession. Gadd plays a version of himself, Donny Dunn, a struggling comedian and bartender who takes pity on Martha (Jessica Gunning), a woman who shows up at the bar claiming she can't even afford a cup of tea. When Dunn offers her the cuppa on the house, he sets off a series of events that tie him to Martha forever.

Baby Reindeer explores the nuances of being a victim and how previous trauma leaves people vulnerable to further abuse...and it does it all with a very dark sense of humor. This show is a lot, but I appreciated its honest evaluation of the complexities of human connection.

Best Books I read in 2024

4. Mary: An Awakening of Terror by Nat Cassidy

My sister recommended this book to me, and it was a pretty gnarly and fun read. The novel follows Mary, a woman in early menopause who is forced to return to her hometown to care for her ailing (and awful) aunt. But strange changes are happening to Mary...and it's not just her hormones. How can hormones explain seeing ghosts?! 

3. Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll

Knoll, who has previously written thrillers in the style of Gone Girl, takes a huge leap with Bright Young Women. This novel is take on the Ted Bundy murders from the perspective of the victims and the loved ones of the victims. Bright Young Women burns with a fiery, righteous anger directed not only at men who rape and murder women (side note: did you know that Bundy raped one of his victims with a bottle of hairspray so hard that her bladder ruptured?), but at the people who don't take misogyny seriously and the media that is all too happy to paint serial killers as mysterious, even sexy, criminal masterminds. 

If you're a feminist intrigued by true crime discourse, don't sleep on this one!

2. Our Share of Night by Mariana Enriquez

Enriquez's epic tale of a family with occult powers is an absolute unit. Weighing in at 608 pages (or 27 hours on audio), Our Share of Night spans decades and continents as it follows Juan Peterson, a man with the ability to commune with beings not of this world (and, often, quite evil) who is used by a wealthy family called the Order. Juan's goal in life is to protect his son, Gaspar, who has the same abilities as his father. He is determined that Gaspar not being wrung dry by the Order, but his protection comes at great personal cost.

This book took me months to read and felt so dreamlike that it warrants another reading (to really process the story), which I'll probably undertake in a year or so.

1. Pet Sematary by Stephen King

Ahh, the perfect book. Stephen King brings his signature sentimentality to a story so bleak that even the author himself thinks he "went too far". This makes Pet Sematary a book that feels very lived in, and, oddly, warm (a lot of the warmth comes from the character of Jud Crandall, an older man who in trying to be kind to the grieving Louis Creed, sets off a series of events that lead to his own--and others'--destruction). 

I don't think that it's a spoiler to say that Pet Sematary is about a parent's worst nightmare. And I can comfortably read it from my position of never having reproduced. But I can empathize with the grief that is so intense it's almost comical that Rachel and Louis Creed experience. Pet Sematary is also, chillingly, about inevitability. The events that occur in the book feel pre-ordained in a way where nothing could stop them. This inevitability is a metaphor for the inevitability of all of our deaths, which could come at age 2 or age 102. King may have thought he went to far, but in my opinion he simply shed light on the very thing we all know and all fear: that sometimes, dead is better.

Worst Movies of 2024

3. Road House (2024) (sixth review down)

A truly awful movie with a script that weirdly feels like a Hallmark romantic comedy. The only saving grace of Road House is that I watched it with friends and we made fun of it the entire time. Near the end, I was in hysterics at the outrageous action on screen.

2. The Feeling That the Time for Doing Something Has Passed (fourth review down)

One of the most boring movies I watched this year. Each scene in the movie is approximately 30 seconds long (or less). And it all adds up to nothing. 

1. Trap (second review down)

Ok, so M. Night Shyamalan's Trap is probably not *actually* the worst movie I saw this year, but I'm so mad at it that it gets the prize. And what's more, I'm mad at Shyamalan stans who think he's this great filmmaker. Dude is a hack! A HACK! Yes, The Sixth Sense was great. He had one good movie in him. Since then, his movies have been mediocre at best and shit-awful at worst. This guy sucks and his movies consistently do not make sense and sounds like they are written by AI. 

Everything, and I mean everything, about Trap is ridiculous and non-sensical. The film appears to be one giant commercial to promote the singing career of Shyamlan's daughter, Saleka Shyamlan who plays pop star Lady Raven in the film (and to my chagrin...she's actually a pretty good singer!) 

I could say more, but there are dozens of excellent YouTube videos and podcasts that break down Trap scene by scene and line by line. All I can say is that M. Night is the greatest magician Hollywood has seen: he takes shit and turns it into dollars. 

You know The Butcher? That freakin' nutjob that goes around writing and directing terrible movies?