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Blue My Mind (2017)
Thirteen, but with a fishtail
After watching this film, I was very much reminded of that other intense, coming-of-age girlhood drama, Thirteen. Both films feature a young protagonist who, in the midst of trying to navigate adolescence amidst loving but oblivious parents, get sucked into the depravities of underage drinking, substance abuse, promiscuity, self-harm and the like. The scenes of Mia trying to find an in with the cool crowd is immediately familiar to Thirteen's Tracy trying to cozy up to the wild Evie. If the film had a mood board, I could also see the similarly named Fish Tank (maybe even Pixar's latest, Turning Red, could be the Disney-fied version of this story), or the French film Water Lilies, as inspirations.
As a metaphor for the turbulence of the teen years, shape-shifting stories, and mermaids in particular, are a very interesting idea. But not enough is done with it in Blue My Mind. I wanted to know if Mia had prior suspicions about her origins, or if she just started having inklings that she is not like others. We also don't get much insight into some of Mia's decisions other than her being driven by hormones. Some of the plot mechanics were also improbable, notably Mia's parents leaving her at home alone despite worrying changes in her behavior.
I did like how the film avoided falling into some cliches, particularly with the Gianna character who is at first introduced as the sexually precocious "bad influence"-type. Also the cinematography is pretty striking with its palette of blues. Overall, this is definitely a film that leaves an impression on you with its vividly startling imagery. I would have liked it even more had it spent more time developing Mia's thinly sketched parents, or her relationship with Gianna, and gave Mia more of a complex, defiant send-off.
Mid90s (2018)
Feels familiar
The film shows some promise, but becomes worn down by clichés, underdeveloped characters, and *that* scene. It starts out fine, with the impressionable, elfin-like Stevie wanting to be accepted into this skater brotherhood. It goes through all the beats of "I have a new hobby I don't want my parent to know about"-type movies-learning to skateboard and being bad at it, hiding the smell of weed on your clothes, lying to mom, etc.
Katherine Waterston is in the "beleaguered single mom" role and is not given much to do except wring her hands at her son's new lifestyle and yelling at his new friends. We get hints here and there that she has casual relationships with men (more so before Stevie was born), but without much insight into her and Stevie's relationship, it's hard to find a reason for her character's existence. The Lucas Hedges character is certainly a portrait of toxic masculinity, but I would have liked to know more about his life and why he is the way he is. We do get a crucial moment that pierces through his tough-guy facade, and I wish it went beyond that.
Now, the scene where Stevie has his first sexual experience felt really skeevy. True, that could be the intention. But the boy is so youthful looking, like, kid you tuck in bed after giving him milk and cookies-young. Obviously we are supposed to be bothered by this and Stevie's apparent discomfort, but it's never brought up again to show Stevie's mixed feelings about it. It becomes a moment where he "becomes a man" in his friends' eyes. As for Alexa Demie's character, her friends tell her "that boy will worship you for the rest of his life." That's all. It bothered me that Demie and Waterston, as the only female characters of note in the film, are basically peripheral to the plot.
I did laugh at some scenes like the Jerrod Carmichael scene. Scenes like that and of the skateboarding felt very cinéma vérité, i.e. Fish Tank, The Florida Project. But coming-of-age stories have been done better. Ironically, this was released at the same time as another A24 coming-of-age story, Eighth Grade. That film manages to say so much more about a thirteen-year-old facing the prospect of adolescence.
Revenge (2017)
A visceral experience
I had no idea what I was about to watch when I pressed play. I knew it was obviously a revenge story with a female protagonist, but I was unprepared for just how intense it would be. The film falls under that subgenre of "rape and revenge movies," but it takes pleasure in subverting expectations and turning tropes of the genre on their heads.
The film doesn't skimp on stylish visuals that range from stunning close-ups to gloriously gory shots. The penultimate scene at the end in particular unfolds as a labyrinthine ballet that is a masterclass in suspense. I got kind of a Mad Max type of vibe from the movie's desert setting and musical score. Director Coralie Fargeat is a visionary, and as the Lolita-esque-socialite-turned-hard-bitten-vigilante, Matilda Lutz blows it out of the water. Watching hunters become the hunted has never been such a nail-biter.