I often think that Park Chan-wook's greatest strength lies in his ability to express nuanced ideas without imposition, guided by his idiosyncratic yet human characters moving through a patchwork of equally curious experiences.
The point is not to question whether someone truly had no other choice; it's to meditate on why they say and believe so.
The problem with this one is that it flows like a game of Consequences played by just one person, where each scene feels as if it's built solely from the one preceding it.
This turns the destination into something completely irrelevant to the opening, and not in a fun way, because the only person having fun is the one playing it.
I enjoyed the family dynamic a lot more than I enjoyed the story built around that tension, and that's not necessarily a bad thing, but it is rather confusing when the film seems to actively use the tools at hand to advertise the story as the main punchline.
Did the film succeed or fail at what it was trying to do? The fact that I can't answer this question tells me that it likely failed, regardless of how much fun I surprisingly had with it for the most part.
Let me rewatch A Ghost Story and come back. Or not come back at all.
Them forced in unearned emotional scenes with strings and shit done seriously still has me on the floor in disbelief. It's borderline refreshing and impressive how shameless it is.
In that regard, I had fun I guess. Holy crap.
A speedy rollercoaster ride that highlights its thrills comes to a screeching halt as it inevitably collides with a presentation of coaster history, semi-forcefully convincing the visitors that it was always about the inner workings of the ride and not the butterfly in your stomach.
Would that make the ride more enjoyable, less enjoyable, or is that completely irrelevant?
Whatever the case, it wasn't enough to wipe away the overall impression, which was still very positive.
What elevates this risky genre film above others like it is the firm grip it has on general audience expectations, but when much of those expectations stem from elements outside the film itself, it's hard for me to admit defeat and praise its cleverness. But hey, at least its 'self'-awareness is top notch, and for that alone, this isn't just another '90 minute black mirror episode'.
First act center framing build-up akin to the tension found in the original does not pair well with the transparent and lingering reveal shots of the second act akin to other creature films (a subgenre Eggers was clearly going for), but for what it's worth, it does feel like Robert Eggers film in the best way possible.
For tackling the body horror genre properly alone, it's worth it. But then we have other things, properly tackled. Physically and otherwise.
You know when you're kinda pissed that you overly enjoyed something you feel like you really shouldn't have, but you're still grinning like a fool cuz it got you?
This one right here.
Blind watch for the win.
The twists and turns, while spicy, have the potential to smudge the 'point' of the film itself. It was still visible, but with a lot of scratches by the end.
On the other hand, that pie looked disgusting even without that nasty decor. Props there.
Appreciated a lot of things in this film, and the intentions were properly communicated...for me, so it worked...for me.
But as soon as I take one step back from my experience, I can't blame anyone for getting pissed off at this film. After all, when the rules of the film world stay as inconsistent as this one, it's most likely the film - and not the audience - that's messing up.