It was the most trans movie I’ve ever seen and I don’t know what to do with it.
spoilers
I cried when she aged twenty years instead of going back. And I’m pretty sure the ending means she never went back. What a heartbreaking movie.
I was also really struck by usage of tv screens to act less like corrupting forced and more like windows into people’s essences. The idea that TVs are corrupting the youth is so pervasive even now that the usage confused me at first. I remember seeing the scene from the trailer where the main character is being pulled into the tv, remembering that scene while watching the movie and thinking, “wait, they’re gonna somehow make me root for that happening?”
I think there’s an interesting subversion of delusion happening in general in the movie. In most other movies, but big reveal in the bar would be framed like someone losing their mind. But instead it plants genuine doubt and manages to convince the audience that the world they’ve been inhabiting is not real.
I’m not absolutely devastated like so many people have been but maybe I hyped it up in my head. I managed to avoid spoilers. But emotionally I had heavy expectations for it. I also can’t get it out of my head. It’s just swirling around in there.
I don’t know how anyone can watch it and not see the transness of it, but apparently some people do.
I heard people straight up think that maddy was like, crazy and wrong and trying to get her to commit suicide together, or reading the most overtly trans scenes as being her memories/hallucinations not isabel/owen's so there's definitely a million ways to misinterpret if you aren't looking for the transness.
I was with you in terms of hyping it up a little too much the first time and being sort of let down (but also just astonished and devastated that the movie ended when it did). It was almost more impactful the second time but that is probably due to personal circumstances of mine
as a cis guy i figured it was something along the lines of being trans or just suppressing your true self; defo strongly related to owen in general self-repression. i think it's something not just trans but also certain neurodivergent people who grew up not fitting in will relate to. personally my favorite film of the year so far
I related to it a lot on the basis of neurodivergence as well. Repression is such a tight and uncomfortable bind to be in no matter what the reason. I’d never seen it articulated so well on screen before.
According to the experts there are only two types of movies: 9/11 or trans allegory. I think it's abundantly clear in this case.
That's the surface level, that's what you're supposed to think on a first-pass, uncritical viewing. The truth is scary and confusing and sounds delusional and fantastical when you've been brainwashed into a very narrow worldview. (Also I took it as you were supposed to interpret those memories as Owen's, but question whether they were false memories being influenced by Maddy's charisma)
They're not missing the point, they're running headfirst into it and getting confused by the wall they refuse to acknowledge exists. They're just not looking deeper than what they're spoonfed.
But that's the point: there is no salvation for those who lose their sense of exploration and wonder and willingness to try new things outside their realm; the people who are unable or unwilling to entertain the idea of "what if the crazy nb is telling the truth?" will never grow beyond the confines of the box they inhabit.