āJust keep dancing with me like this, Garraty, and I'll never tire. We'll scrape our shoes on the stars and hang upside down from the moon.ā - The Long Walk, Richard Bachman
The Long Walk 2025, dir. Francis Lawrence // @/starpiece //The Beatrice Letters, Lemony Snicket // I Swear Somewhere This Works, Trisha Mateer // The Ersatz Elevator, Lemony Snicket // H of H Playbook, Anne Carson
maybe a hot take but when ryanaim argue ryan is def a silent treatment type of guy and naim is the one that yells. pulling from the crumbs of verbal conflict they have in the film, naim's reaction after the funnel web spider joke is pretty telling abt his character. he doesn't pout and leave, he advances angrily and yells "fuck you, you cunt" trying to start a physical fight he knows he won't win. naim's knee jerk reaction to being made fun of/being mad is to yell and swear and shove.
comparing this to ryan's emotions after finding out naim outed him (even though ofc these scenes aren't rllyyy comparable but yk. crumbs) the fact that when he says "naim what the fuck is she talking about" he's still not really raising his voiceā¦ even after getting beat up he still saves naim, drives him home safe. in the car he's quiet, voice tight and measured more so bc he's on the verge of angry tears rather than yelling at him. so yeah, post-canon ryanaim def argue but i think ryan is the type to storm out/go completely silent and ignore naim and naim is the one yelling and saying things he doesn't mean in the heat of the moment. ryan's anger makes him passive, naim's makes him destructive.
i think this carries over to their conflict resolution as well. ryan is the type to let things blow over with time and not talk about it, while naim craves verbal reconcilation once he's processed. i think in the early stages of their relationship this itself becomes it's own area of conflict--ryan dismissing naim's earnest attempts to reconcile as stupid and how he's "already over it so why are you bringing it up again", and naim taking that as a rejection. but over the years they learn eachother's needs and figure out a way to meet in the middle.
ohh my god but what if there is still time. what if there is still time. hey. there is still time? there is still time. have you heard. there is still time. hi. there is still time. did you know. there is still time.
ohh my god but what if there is still time. what if there is still time. hey. there is still time? there is still time. have you heard. there is still time. hi. there is still time. did you know. there is still time.
what i fucking love about this scene is that we know it's not really ryan, naim knows itās not really ryan. there's no part about this that is naim being lulled, being seduced, being tricked, being gotcha!'d. it's not him but it wears his face; it talks like him, it caresses like him, it comes close and smiles and laughs like he would. naim is leaning in despite the danger, moth to flame, knowing full well what's in front of him and craving it anyway.
this is queerness as fantasyāwhat we could be if not for circumstance. it's queer desire in a world determined to treat us as aliens. more than any other moment in the film, this scene exemplifies leviticus thematically in one brutal, efficient stroke. they want us separate and alone and scared, but we don't have to be. loving hurts, and we love anyway.
I wrote down my thoughts as soon as I could after watching because I wanted to ramble about this movie very badly in here. These are some of them:
- The fact that this entity works so well because the teenagers canāt even tell ātrusted adultsā about it. Religion has a hold of this community, everyone knows everyone, youāre effectively trapped in a nightmare and you canāt talk about it because then theyāll find out that who you desire most is another boy. Naim tells someone and the lady not only doesnāt believe him, she immediately betrays his trust. He tries multiple times to get his momās help but she refuses to listen and the twist being that Naimās own mother knew all along and let it happen? I was flabbergasted. She kept saying how fear is something you need. Live your life in fear, who in this community hasnāt heard that one before. It was absolutely revolting to watch. No adult actually cares, they seem to know about this practice and allow it. Even if they didnāt know, as long as the ācureā worked I donāt think they would mind. Would the police even care? Itās wild.
- It works like a chain of outing. One kid tells on someone and then another kid tells on someone else and it keeps going and going. When your church rewards you for exposing your peers, either because you were raised homophobic as hell or youāre trying very hard not to give yourself away, I can imagine how terrifyingly effective that ends up being. Izzie appears to be on their side only to lead them into being hate-crimed ffs š
- Naim in NO WAY knew that a whole ass demonic entity would end up cursing them just because he snitched on Ryan and Hunter, please give that boy so much grace. Heās like 17 or something? At most he thought they would make them stop seeing each other! Which is what his impulsive teenage self wanted because he felt hurt! Not even Hunter and Ryan were too worried when they brought them to the church for the ritual, thinking it was going to be some bullshit spectacle. Naim also clearly doesnāt have experience with living in a place like this before and itās so apparent. Small towns make you turn on each other by design, I wonāt stand for anyone calling Naim a villain when the clear villains are right there! Like the Deliverance Healer and all the adults? I know there will inevitably be some people who dislike Naim for outing them, I understand it as your first emotional reaction, but that in no way should be what you come out of the movie with. Hopefully Iām fighting ghosts and no one hates my boy š
- Hunter talks about how the ritual actually worked for a couple of people, who ended up having kids and living the ānormalā life. I was gagged again by how the concept of conversion therapy via demonic entity works so well. The entity makes you afraid of the person you desire most, it drives a wedge between you, tainting your love. Naim licks Ryanās ear in one scene and as the audience your heart is fluttering, but then on the very next scene the entity bites Ryanās ear in the exact same spot, leaving him bleeding and terrified, and your heart breaks for these two who canāt have one good thing. The entity uses that growing affection to learn how to best manipulate you. It gets better at imitating touch the more time you spend with the person, like the girl said. Eventually the only way to save yourself is to cut the other person off and that is so viscerally tragic.
- Ryan said āI want it to look like youā and I knew this was a true horror-romance. They choose each other at the end, they choose loving and staying together in spite of everything. Itās not like all their problems have been solved now, because sure they have lighters to defend themselves with and they may develop some countermeasures, but the entity remains. They will have to keep living with some modicum of fear for the rest of their lives and work through the feelings of hurt and betrayal between them. And yet! And yet they have each other. They have that sweet, sweet love that no one can take away from them anymore. Their entities will keep looking like them as yet another symbol of their affection. Those people didnāt succeed in making them give up their love and that is so important to me.
- The entity actually stopped when Naim caressed it? Can I hear everyoneās theory about this? Because itās probably the thing Iām most curious about. Can itā¦ feel affection? Does it have a need for it? I donāt even know man.
- The way Hunter and Ryan can only communicate through aggression is such a contrast to Naim and Ryanās relationship. Their repression manifests as hurting each other, while Naim and Ryan are hesitant but they donāt want to hurt each other. They want to explore and be soft and sometimes playfully rough, and itās clear enough that their relationship is just instantly deeper and stronger. Iām sorry Hunter š Ryan was already seeing the entity as Naim, who Iām sure he met fairly recently compared to you (I think they may have grown together?)
- The tragedy of Hunter is very obvious to me however. Being the pastorās son in a church like that? Yeah I would also develop some psychosexual tendencies. They didnāt need to show me his head ugh
- I love how they made a point of Naim being constantly scared. Heās scared of the snake, heās scared of heights, and heās scared of letting Ryan give him a handjob, jolting as soon as he looks at his reflection while in the middle of the act. Fear is a central theme of the movie, āthey wanted us to be scaredā. Naim has to overcome so much to reach that moment in which he is able to confront the entity head-on, and a big part of that journey is thanks to Ryan and how much Naim cares for him. Itās what leds him to investigate the situation in the first place, to confess his involvement in the whole thing and to try to save Ryan. Heās able to finally let go and offer himself to the pleasure at Ryanās hands in that bus scene, growing a little with each experience. At last, he confronts the entity and we see him look completely at peace on that final scene, heading to who knows where with Ryanās head in his shoulder.
- Frank Ocean needle drop was perfection šÆ
- Sustained long shots are one of my favorite filmmaking techniques and thatās basically 60% of this movie so I was delighted by the cinematography.
- Maybe Iāve gotten better at horror than I thought because I wasnāt really scared, I was just sad and appalled all the time lol. I think part of it is that I had already spoiled myself on all entity Ryan appearances except for one (which did get me to jump a little).
- I need so many post-canon fics cuz Iām pretty sure they wonāt be making a sequel for this (fingers crossed though) and Iād like to read Ryanaim live as happily ever after as they can after all that.
- The one scene the five people at my screening laughed at was Naim asking the cashier to stay with him while looking completely out of his mind, tbh I also chuckled and I think that was the intention anyway lol
- Ryan is such a fascinating character, I really thought for a second he might leave Naim to be beaten after that revelation, but he didnāt. Everything is told from Naimās perspective so Ryan remains a little mysterious throughout it. I wish this was adapted from a book so I could just go and read all his inner monologues.
- It couldāve done with a longer runtime and a bigger climax but I understand budgeting and itās incredible this was made in the first place. I loved it all the same. Unlike some reviews Iāve seen, I donāt think I needed the entity to be explained more than it was. A final appearance from the Deliverance Healer is what I felt missing but tbf that only makes it creepier, the idea that heās still out there, just cursing more gay people oh god
- itās not quite like It Follows, now that I think about it. In It Follows the entity has to walk the distance and it shows up regardless of if youāre alone or not.
- Joe Birdās talent truly is shedding tears while still looking pretty af, Stacyās talent is looking fantastic while covered in blood <3
- Naimās name being from the actual Leviticus is such a neat detail that I need everyone to know.
Okay, at this point Iām just rambling, I have so many more thoughts to write down but I seriously need to do a second viewing first! Please give me all your analysis and essays too, Iām so excited now that everyone in the U.S will be able to watch it soon
amandla
ellievsbear
germansingergirl
turnnoffyourmind
stormborns
titsay
dailybridgerton
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