2020 Q3: Bottom Three Films

The third quarter of 2020 saw the situation with the pandemic become something of a new normal, but also saw the social-political landscape of the country becoming more supercharged than ever before. The world is in need of bold filmmakers with radical visions challenging the status quo, and with the stunted release schedule of most films, it's becoming harder and harder to find them. Movie theaters have re-opened, but so far mostly big, loud Blockbusters have been released, and the world of film seems to be in somewhat of a bad spot.

The bottom three films of 2020's Q3 were all films that failed to challenge any sort of status quo or stereotype, often operating under the pretense of profundity but never actually bringing anything new or interesting to the table. In one way or another, they all existed soley in the realm of tired cliche and convention, and were all the worse because of it.

Without further ado, here are my bottom three films of 2020's Quarter 3.

3. The New Mutants

The New Mutants is much more poorly crafted than the other two on this list, but I've put it here because I find it to be the least harmful overall. Mostly, it's just a bland, aimless attempt at fusing teen melodrama with psychological horror and a touch of superhero action, but ultimately it ends up losing the best parts of all three genres. I didn't have a terrible time with The New Mutants, but it's definitely a catastrophic mess of a film.

See my review here

2. Relic

One of the many attempts at cloning A24's unique horror films to come out in recent years, Relic tries so hard to be the new Hereditary while missing the complex characterization and frightening dynamics that made it so good. Most of the film is a drab, uninteresting family drama that tries to be profound but fails aside from a few haunting moments. It's not until the final few scenes that the film fully descends into horror, and while there are some great moments there, it ends up relishing in the dehumanization of its elderly lead, not mourning it.

See my review here

1. Summer of 85

Summer of 85 starts out decently enough as a gorgeous, sun-drenched queer teen romance in an effective = though someone generic - coming-of-age tale, but it very quickly drowns itself in cliches, disrespecting its characters and filling the screen with harmful queer stereotypes and poor framing choices until there's nothing left. Summer of 85 isn't the worst film of the year, but it came close to making me the angriest.

See my review here