oh my god okay why didn't i watch this movie earlier. what the fuck 15 year old me.
i'm always down for a movie w emily blunt (esp if it stars john krasinski) and this is just (chef's kiss). i was spoiled beforehand bc i read the summary years ago and i knew Some Stuff but didn't remember much.
1) i really appreciate the use of ASL onscreen. it's rlly not often that u see it in a mainstream movie, esp one as popular as aqp
2) cochlear implants are so controversial but i was... okay with how it was treated? ymmv bc i'm Hearing, so take the following w a grain of salt. imo, her Deafness and use of a cochlear implant weren't treated as a 'poor her, so sad that she isn't like the rest of her family'; i read it as 'well shit, we have no access to medical care, what are we going to do?' so the dad tries to fix it himself.
2a) I can see other Hearing people going in the 'we're so sad she can't listen to music :(((' (like if sia decided to be a dipshit again) or whatever while also not using a Deaf actress but . jkrasinski didn't do either as far as i can tell. respect.
2b) her Deaf*ness being treated as a disability in the sense that there's nothing they can do to accommodate it right there and then but not in the There Is Something Intrinsically Wrong With Regan is beautiful. and the scene where they figure out The Big Thing is because regan is Deaf* and has a cochlear implant is just. chef's kiss. (also, it has emily blunt smirking and cocking a shotgun. 20/10)
3) THEY HAD AN ACTUAL DEAF ACTRESS AND INTERPRETER ONSET AND THE CAST LEARNED ASL. god that's so good
4) listen i know. the bar is at the floor. esp after the sia-writes-a-really-fucking-ableist-movie-and-doesn't-accomodate-the-actually-autistic-actress-so-she-quits-and-casts-an-allistic-actress-in-her-place Thing (i have no words for it). but it really makes me angry bc bullet 3 should be standard for when you're creating a movie that portrays or discusses a marginalized id heavily. they're both well known public figures with plenty of money. and it rlly says something that i'm like 'OMG THEY ACTUALLY CAST A DEAF ACTRESS + ACCOMODATED HER + THE CAST LEARNED ASL'. that's fucking abysmal.
ONTO THE ACTUAL MOVIE DISCUSSION:
the cinematography is beautiful. oh my god. there's this really sad scene with a lens flare around midafternoon or so? it's rlly immersive. so was the sound. it was beautiful. when regan is onscreen it's complete silence so you're focused on the visuals, and i think that's fucking beautiful. all the chekhov's guns too! i love a well planned movie.
the scares were fantastic. they were all jumpscares but it wasn't jumpscares for the sake of it, you know what i mean? i fucking hate it when horror does that. if you have to scare your audience by making someone go BOO! out of nowhere you need to work on your writing skills. the impending sense of 'oh my god what the fuck what the fuck is everyone gonna be okay what the fuck' is what gets you. not a horror movie, it's a terror movie.
speaking of terrors. those fucking creatures. oh my god they were terrifying. at one point i was worried i was gonna pee myself i was so freaked out, and i've never peed myself out of fear.
THE CHILDBIRTH SCENE. i appreciate how realistic it is in terms of bloodiness. (also, holy shit, childbirth without anesthetic. that shit's at least a 20 on the pain scale. worse than heart attack levels of painful. and she did it by herself?!?) it just made me want to be a nurse more. i never felt more in my element than when i was like (signing) GO GO GO you're gonna be okay, it's all right, breathe, ykwim?
the ending. oh my god the ending. i cried so fucking hard. oh my god. the actual scene before it cuts to black is so fantastic.
TLDR: accessibility awesome. this is not a horror movie, this is a terror movie.
watching a quiet place now and im at the part where emily blunt goes into active labor as the creatures are invading the house. girl if i didn't have to pee before the beginning of the movie i sure do now
theartofmadeline
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germansingergirl
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