Eugene weekly., October 26, 2017, Page 16, Image 16

by Meerah Powell
exciting. Filmed in Oregon, most of Green Room’s scenes
are entrenched in the lush forestry of the Pacific Northwest
— adding to the isolation the film relies on. Green Room is
exciting, gritty and fast-paced: amplified by brilliant acting
by Anton Yelchin and other standouts Imogen Poots and
Alia Shawkat. The most terrifying thing about this movie
is how realistic it is. As someone who grew up going to
punk shows in the Pacific Northwest, Green Room’s use
of setting is extremely authentic. The dark, dingy venue
that Yelchin and company performs in looks not unlike any
number of music spaces I’ve been in, and that’s the most
frightening part.
REQUIEM FOR A DREAM (2000)
Just because Darren Aronofsky’s 2000 film, based
on a novel by Hubert Selby Jr., isn’t explicitly a horror
film, doesn’t mean that it’s not totally terrifying. The film
focuses on Brooklynites Harry Goldfarb, his mother Sara,
girlfriend Marion and best friend Tyrone. Throughout
Requiem, the characters become more and more entrenched
in their obsessions and addictions; for Harry and Tyrone,
it’s the dream of becoming big-time drug dealers, which
eventually turns into a spiraling abuse of heroin — which
Marion gets caught up in. For Sara, it’s the obsession of
wanting to lose weight and be on a TV game show, which
eventually turns into an addiction to amphetamines to
aid her weight loss. As the characters become more and
more entrenched in their obsessions, and distant from their
dreams, they give into the most cynical selfishness —
sacrificing loved-ones in favor of personal gain. Although
more of a psychological drama than a horror movie, I’ve
always regretted re-watching this one late at night.
be an allegory for the Book of Genesis — a story equal
parts creation and destruction, cyclical in nature — but the
film is so pliable that it could be an allegory for anything
— female suffering, global warming, you name it. Mother
portrays such a chaotic anxiety that reveals humanity’s
own enemy is always, and will always be, itself.
GET OUT (2017)
BLACK MIRROR (2011-PRESENT)
As a millennial, but also, just as anyone alive and active
in this day and age, technology is a big part of my life. I
rely on my phone and my computer much more than I’d
like to admit. And Black Mirror hits on that reliance hard.
The anthology series, so far three seasons long, acts as
The Twilight Zone set in modern time — our reality, but
twisted, just slightly, in an uncomfortable and, at times,
unwatchable way. Unlike The Twilight Zone and other
similar horror anthologies, though, Black Mirror doesn’t
offer a hopeful moral to the story. Sometimes episodes
just end with the nihilistic conclusion that the downfall of
humanity as we know it is inevitable. One of my favorite
episodes is “Fifteen Million Merits,” from the first season,
which I think is a perfect example of that.
As a person of color who lives in Eugene, Oregon —
Jordan Peele’s Get Out hits close to home and tops my
list. The film stars Daniel Kaluuya (of that Black Mirror
episode I referenced earlier) as Chris, a black man, and
Allison Williams (from the HBO series Girls) as Rose,
his white girlfriend. The couple are about to visit Rose’s
parents for the first time, something Chris is nervous
about, since Rose says she’s never had a black boyfriend
before. But, Rose calms him saying her family would’ve
voted for Obama a third time if they could. The film’s first
half is laced in micro-aggressions from Rose’s seemingly
well meaning, liberal parents — little comments about
MOTHER (2017)
GREEN ROOM (2015)
If a tree falls in a forest and no one’s around to hear
it, does it make a sound? Scratch that; if a touring punk
band gets caught up in a murderous rampage at a neo-
Nazi venue, surrounded by a vast Oregon forest, how the
hell do they get out of that situation? That’s a little more
16
October 26, 2017 • eugeneweekly.com
Do I regret putting two Darren Aronofsky films on
this list? Not at all. For someone who doesn’t say he’s
specifically a horror director, Aronofsky sure knows how
to horrify. But more than that, he shows that he’s the master
of psychological horror in his newest release, Mother.
Starring Jennifer Lawrence, Javier Bardem, Ed Harris and
Michelle Pfeiffer, the movie’s plot doesn’t matter, and I
mean that literally. Aronofsky stated he meant the film to
Chris’ race that, although offensive, still seem harmless.
But, the film’s second half reveals that Chris’ discomfort
in being the only black person in a white setting isn’t
necessarily unfounded. No movie has accurately depicted
the constantly throbbing anxiety and discomfort of race
relations in “liberal America” better. ■