Notes
Screening Diary: Liminal Spaces and a Festival Run
Several short verdicts in a row, from "Hoppers" to the backrooms — and why the liminal-space trend works right up until somebody explains it.
"Hoppers" — a kind, gentle thing about why nature matters. Nothing past that, but it does the job if you want to switch off.
"The Bride!" — a straight Frankenstein story with a perfect Jessie Buckley, a decent Christian Bale and gorgeous sound work by Hildur Guðnadóttir. It went by almost unnoticed here, undeservedly. It's good.
"One Battle After Another" — a landmark for Paul Thomas Anderson and a candidate for staying in the histories; we'll see. The construction feels heavy to me, nearer "There Will Be Blood" than the lighter things like "Phantom Thread." Too many men on one screen.
"The Platform" — got to it after reading about his earlier films. Another liminal space; if that means nothing to you, look it up. A neatly built survival story: a platform of food descends from the first floor down to roughly the three hundredth, and the entire plot comes out of that one device. Worth seeing.
"Exit 8" — well made as genre, though in places it's a party broadcast for having children sooner, and the woman in it is a function rather than a person. Worth a look overall — another liminal one.
"Project Hail Mary" — starts with real energy, Ryan Gosling is good, but ninety minutes feels longer than it earns. A proper showcase for him, and the alien mostly comes off, even if he's a bit too shaped like a person. I liked the ship better, honestly — that had a performance in it.
"The Backrooms" (the original title runs slightly differently) — backrooms made by somebody in his twenties. There may not be much thought behind it, but it's put together very well. What I like about this whole liminal business is exactly that nothing gets decoded until nearly the end, and often not fully even then.
One more: I went for Renate Reinsve from "Sentimental Value" — she's very good here too.
