![]() The first act is downright Hitchcockian, setting up a battle of wills between Sandra and two mysterious men who refuse to stop trespassing on her property. To describe “God’s Country” as the thriller it’s billed as would be a half-truth, as well. You would be forgiven for thinking this sounds like the second coming of “Get Out,” but you’d also be wrong. ![]() Is she morally wrong to use external factors to pass judgement on people she doesn’t know? And is she statistically correct in assuming men like this could put her in danger? The movie explores both questions, and while it reaches no easy answer to the former, the latter ends up being an undeniable “yes.” They never explicitly threaten her safety, and their initial actions toward her result in little more than inconvenience. It’s a fair question to ask whether Sandra’s initial fear of Nathan and Samuel is completely justified. Everyone quickly doubles down on their worst assumptions about each other, using a truck parked in Sandra’s yard as a proxy battlefield in a war of attrition. People who look like them are just not supposed to be friends with people who look like her. They never say anything about her race or gender, but the sad reality is that, in a country that sorts everyone into two massive red and blue teams that have to compete in every sphere of society, they don’t have to. The truck belongs to brothers and hunting buddies Nathan (Joris Jarsky) and Samuel (Jefferson White), who claim they just need a place to park, even if they look like professional seat fillers at a Trump rally. When she leaves a note asking its owners to park somewhere else, they return the next day. One day after work, Sandra notices a mysterious red pickup truck parked on her property. The 40 Best LGBTQ Movies of the 21st Century New Movies: Release Calendar for June 17, Plus Where to Watch the Latest Films ![]() 'The Man from Toronto' Review: Kevin Hart's Vacation Rental Torture Comedy Squanders a Fun PremiseĪs Sundance Faces Cutbacks, the Directors Lab That Launched Tarantino and Zhao Holds On Which, in a film about people who let their anxieties drive them to make horrible decisions, is not a great thing! The cold, remote setting is the perfect place to get some thinking done. She teaches public speaking at a rural college we never learn the name of, and lives by herself in a nearby canyon. “God’s Country” follows Sandra for the first week of her life without her mother, conveniently labeling each of the seven days. We first meet Sandra, played by Thandiwe Newton, as she watches her mother’s cremation. Julian Higgins’ excellent film constantly dangles redemption in front of our faces, begging us to imagine a better world, but ultimately delivers a stark reminder of how bitterly divided the country is. Yet the film digs deeper with each passing scene, subverting our first impressions of each character before letting them prove they are exactly who we thought they were. Nobody mentions who they voted for, but the preconceived notions write themselves. But I don’t think that to be fair to women, we should become them.The premise of “God’s Country” paints the proverbial “two Americas” with the broadest possible brushstrokes, pitting a Black, female humanities professor against two white guys in a red pickup truck. I don’t think that being a brute or having insensitivity or disrespect for women is anything to do with masculinity, or ever did. Penn told one newspaper earlier this month, “I am in the club that believes that men in American culture have become wildly feminized. Please stop ruining the brilliance of ‘ Licorice Pizza’ with this nonsense.” The “Crash” and “Westworld” star added, “In front of your daughter!? That poor little mite. “Like for real? You’re a jibbering fool…you used to be sexy but now you’re just tragic.” “Dude what are you saying?” Newton wrote on Twitter in reaction to Penn’s comments. The “Milk” and “Mystic River” Oscar winner said in an interview with The Independent last week that it’s a “cowardly gene” that leads men to wear skirts. Thandiwe Newton took a stand against Sean Penn after the actor and filmmaker made headlines for comments about men becoming too feminized in American culture.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |