2020 Q2: Bottom Three Films
- Heather German
- Jul 1, 2020
- 2 min read
The past three months have been extremely tumultuous for the film industry, and it shows. Plenty of good films were released onto various streaming services, but the variety that theatrical releases bring - the balance of good drama and good genre fiction - was sorely lacking. I have no berth of films I can look back on that I viewed, but so many of them seem to have blended together, and whether it's due to the quality of the films themselves or the stresses of quarantine, pandemic and political unrest, it's difficult to really muster up attachment to much of what came out.
As I reflect upon the previous quarter, particularly as I go on to list my three least favorite films that I reviewed, I want to urge people to keep in mind that this applies to negative feelings as well. Nothing this quarter really generated the level of distaste I had for something like The Hunt in March. Instead, what the weakest films generally inspired in me was a general sense of exhaustion and apathy.
Also, keep in mind that this list does not include films reviewed for my Black Lives Matter Spotlight or Pride Month 2020 series.
3. The King of Staten Island
The King of Staten Island is a film I wish I could speak more highly of that I can. It's clearly a passion project developed by people who genuinely want to say something about their lives and experiences. Unfortunately, through a series of poor writing and editing choices, it turns into an overly-long poorly paced slog that forces you to follow a truly insufferable protagonist who barely changes at all until the very end. There's a true heart in here somewhere, but it's buried by bad filmmaking decisions.
2. Vivarium
Vivarium has a fascinating premise carrying a bleak and terrifying allegory for the nihilistic horror lying at the heart of modern day suburbia. It also should have been a short film, or an episode of television. Lacking almost any meat on its bones, it does little to draw in viewers for more than the first half hour at most, and offers no reason to return to it or recommend it to others. In the weeks since I viewed it, I've rarely ever thought about it, which is more than I can say even for the one film that beats this one out.
1. Beanpole
Beanpole has been met with huge critical acclaim since its tours in film festivals last year, and on the one hand I can see where it comes from; there's an impressive amount of technical competence on display here, from the cinematography to the acting, and beneath it all there seems to be a genuine desire to reflect upon the lasting nature of wartime trauma and the difficulties of re-adjusting to civilian life. But the way in which it's depicted here is exhausting, desensitizing and at times downright dehumanizing. Beanpole tries too hard to make the audience feel its characters pain, and as a result it becomes an exercise in misery porn that's one of the least pleasant viewing experiences I've had this year.
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