As a sort of follow-up to my previous article about cinema in 2019, I want to share this article by David Ehrlich at Indiewire. I also want to apologize for forgetting to list MIDSOMMAR in my previous list of movies - gross oversight!
I like how Ehrlich positions filmmakers Eggers, Peele, and Aster as “fixing” Hollywood by manipulating the commercial trappings of theatrical distribution to get access for “genre” events that are really so much more. Beyond genre, they’re an excuse for these directors to tell extremely specific and idiosyncratic stories that have very little to do with the marketed horror genre. But they’re so good that the audience doesn’t care that they’ve been duped. THE LIGHTHOUSE is an arthouse Harold Pinter play. MIDSOMMAR is a breakup fairytale (the old school scary kind). US is…. my god, where to even begin. Just go see it - it’s indescribable!
As Ehrlich puts it, “Peele sold $255.1 million worth of tickets to a movie about Hands Across America. He made another original mid-budget mega-hit that doesn’t fit into Hollywood’s current binary, and he used his brand to show people something they might not otherwise be able to see. “Us” doesn’t work because it transcends horror; it works because it forms a human chain that connects horror to everything around it.”
The article ends with a short quote from Eggers about hoping that cinema can continue to welcome the obscure, however it is genre-packaged. I love that idea and I think it can extend far beyond horror. We’ve commonly gotten it with sci-fi too (AD ASTRA, the upcoming DUNE no doubt) — but what about other “B-Movie” genres? If we’re currently in a horror renaissance I’ll be excited to see what thing next will be upturned.