The Long Lens
The Long Lens
CONTENTS
FEATURED ARTICLES REVIEWS
Don't Worry Darling by Kathryn Thorp & Elena Flack
Cult of the Craft by Sophie Smith
Cambridge Film Festival by Sophie Smith
4 9 12
Knives Out & Glass Onion by Alfie Hudson
Jennifer's Body by Kathryn Thorp
Midsommar by Rory Beavis
Nope by Kundai Mbudaya
Heathers by Isabella Gavigan
Dead End by Sienna Miller
Wednesday by Andrea Joyce
The Sandman by Noorsath Chowdhury
Quadeca by Ben Heiss
Sam's Reviews by Sam Gamble 28 30 32 33 14 17 19 20 22 25
EDITORIAL
It has been a really exciting few months in the world on film, television, music and media as a whole. In Cambridge in particular the return of a full scale Cambridge Film Festival was wonderful We are excited to widen the remit of The Long Lens to include mediums beyond film and in this issue you will see reworked classic film posters, a music review, a TV series review alongside the classic film analysis and reviews you ’ ve come to expect in The Long Lens
As the year draws to a close and we approach the Christmas break there are loads of great films to watch in the cinema as well as on streaming platforms. The time we have to wait between films being released in the cinema and them being available to watch in the comfort of our own films seems ever decreasing. I for one can’t wait to watch Glass Onion on Amazon Home Premiere over the break
The Long Lens team has had an injection of new energy with the arrival of our new cohort of first years who are working brilliantly alongside the second year team to create high quality content
If you would like to submit an article to The Long Lens on any film or media related topic then just drop us an email with your idea to thelonglens@longroad.ac.uk Seasons greetings to you all and enjoy the break. See you in 2023
FEATURED ARTICLES
Don't Worry Darling by Kathryn
Cult of the Craft by Sophie
Cambridge Film Festival by Sophie
Thorp & Elena Flack
Smith
Smith
DON’T WORRY DARLING
BY KATHRYN THORP AND ELLENA FLACK
Don’t Worry Darling is a psychological-thriller centred around the theme of the sexist gender roles present in a dystopian near-future, the film itself was nominated and won the Campari Passion for Film award at the Venice film festival, and received copious amounts of publicity from the popularised controversy between the leading actors and director, Olivia Wilde (such as the now-named “SpitGate”, where Harry Styles was accused of spitting on Chris Pine at an awards ceremony); but not even the confusing publicity could have prepared us for the confusion we experienced whilst watching the film…
The film begins with an idyllic day-in-the-life montage of Alice (Florence Pugh) and her husband Jack (Harry Styles), who dresses for work like the other men in their somewhat small and secluded neighbourhood While the men are away working for the ominous “Victory Project”, the doting wives without question perform their duties of cleaning their 50s inspired homes and cooking their meals for the evening
While Alice is taking a tram ride across town, she witnesses a plane crash out in the desert, stirring her to go and investigate (despite the restrictions against women leaving the town boarder) Whilst out searching for the crashed plane, Alice comes across the Victory Project HQ, which is plated in mirrored windows. After touching the glass, Pugh envisions hallucinations of synchronised female dancers and strange voices before waking up in her bed, dazed and confused. This catalyses Alice’s distrust of the Victory Project, her uneasy condition later spurred by the covered-up disappearance of her friend, Margaret, though it’s unexplained why Alice is the only woman in the town who is phased by these mysterious events, or even why she sees the plane crash in the first place
At a dinner party hosted by Alice, Frank (the Victory Project creator, played by Chris Pine) attends as a guest of honour after giving Jack a public promotion Frank privately insinuates to Alice that her hallucinations and conspiracies are true, being told this, she attempts to publicly expose him at the dinner table, though her story is shot down by Frank and she’s made to appear insane
After the party, Alice begs Jack to take them both away from Victory. He initially agrees though whilst in the car, he profusely apologises and allows Pugh to be taken away by the Victory Project security team, ominous figures in red jumpsuits
After receiving electroshock therapy to combat her ascribed “insanity”, Alice has a flashback to a previous life;
one where she’s an overworked surgeon living with an unemployed Jack, struggling to make ends meet Jack confesses that he’s unhappy with how little he sees Alice and wishes there was a way that they could spend more time together. During this scene, we watch as Jack begins to research a computer program named “The Victory Project” created by Frank, supposedly acting as an alternate reality to trap women in order to be controlled by their husbands Jack finds out about this by listening to a podcast run by Frank, in a non-subtle reference to men in real life being radicalised by “alpha males” such as Andrew Tate and Joe Rogan Jack traps Alice in the simulation against her will while he leaves The Victory Project everyday to attend to her body in real life, working to gain enough money to maintain the underground project for as long as possible Once discharged from hospital, Pugh goes back to her ordinary life in The Victory Project without any recollection of the events prior.
This is until she hears Jack hum a song that she heard him sing during a moment of consciousness while he took care of her real life body, reminding her of her previous life and how nothing in The Victory Project is real. This spurs Pugh into a frenzy where after some conflict between herself and Jack, she kills Styles with a glass bottle, subsequently killing him in real life as for unexplained reasons, men who die in the simulation die in real life (unlike women). This action alerts Frank, who sends an army of men over to kill Alice. Alice makes her way to the Victory HQ whilst being chased, though we ’ re then subjected to a scene where Frank is arguing with his wife, who, like Alice but with no apparent motive, kills Frank, which kills him in real life too This action is swiftly brushed under the mat however as Alice reaches Victory HQ with little struggle, she touches the glass as she did once before, however this time she (for some reason) wakes up in real life, role credits…
The problem with Don't Worry Darling
Given the amount of space it’s taken to try and summarise the film to a understandable degree , Don’t Worry Darling is complicated. Right from the beginning, we ’ re thrown into a world where nothing really makes sense (half of which I think was a deliberate choice from the director, giving us leverage to sympathise with Alice). Though what we found the most frustrating wasn’t the complexity of the story, but more how the loose ends (which there are many) are rarely tied up at all. It was like watching the first and last episode of a multi-seasonal TV show in succession, missing all of the smaller plot points develop and reach their conclusion. This can be seen really early on when Alice witnesses the plane crash. This would’ve been such a good opportunity to turn the plane into some sort of reoccurring imagery, instead it’s forgotten about by the next scene. We still can’t work out why Alice sees specifically a plane and what relevance it has to the story
She might as well have seen Harry Styles fly through the air as it wouldn’t have made any difference at all to the story in the slightest.
And this lack of explanation is a common theme seen throughout the film While conceptually, the strange visions and events that Alice experiences are intriguing (such as when Alice is cracking eggshells, realising that there’s for whatever reason nothing actually inside the eggs), they’re never mentioned again. It felt like we were watching montages of unexplained individually, thoughtprovoking scenes, detached from the actual plot. As if Olivia Wilde had all these ideas for interesting moments, and threw them all into the film in a random order, and forgot to explain how or why she included them. This can be applied to the character of Frank, played by Chris Pine. From what we could gather (which wasn’t much), Frank was supposed to be the brains behind The Victory Project, the unsettling, charismatic leader, who oversaw the maintenance and progression of the town, and acted as both a neighbourhood confide yet also a domineering dictator Though what we really saw was Chris Pine reciting a collection of empty, meaningless monologues (he practically spoke in paragraphs), and following the recurring theme of unexplained events, he for whatever reason shared a connection with Alice, provoking them to stare menacingly across dinner tables at each other and hear each other’s voices intermittently throughout the movie Frank’s arc really takes a dive however when it transpires that he’d created the simulation (which was a stretch in itself given that Frank could barely string two relevant words together) in such a way that men who died within The Victory Project, died in real life, though this rule does not apply to women, who in this context are under the control of men, floating the question as to why the powerful and incredibly intelligent Frank made the executive decision to code this arguable disadvantage into the simulation in the first place
Ironically, Frank dies at his own hand later on during the film, when his wife (played by Gemma Chan) inexplicably decides to kill him inside the simulation. This really is an unexpected plot-twist as the scene literally comes out of nowhere, and doesn’t really affect the outcome of the film in any particular way at all, as Pugh still manages to escape with relative ease despite Chris Pine’s Interference. It seems as if Olivia Wilde realised she was running out of screen time a third of the way through the film, so instead of cutting back on the pointless hallucination scenes, she rushed the ending in such a way she forgot to make it all make sense. If it was up to us, we’d cut this scene entirely, and instead pass on Gemma Chan’s role over to Florence Pugh, and give her the arguable satisfaction of killing Frank, in order to make a more rounded ending and give some actual weight to her decisions and point of existence
Unfortunately, it really is Florence Pugh’s acting that carries the film the furthest, even so, we found a lot of comic relief from the off-screen drama that gained the film it’s publicity and it’s clear that the actor herself didn’t want to be associated with the film at all. Aside from not attending any of the press conferences associated with the film, when looking through her social media, Florence Pugh barely promotes Don’t Worry Darling at all,(we counted a grand total of two times, one of these posts mainly thanking the behind the scenes team and Chris Pine, ignoring both Wilde and her other costars), this along with the rumours alleging that Olivia Wilde and Florence Pugh didn’t get on on set, Wilde supposedly began a relationship with Styles, Shia LaBeouff was fired from his original role and that Harry Styles spat on Chris Pine at an award ceremony, the film at the moment seems to be overshadowed by the off-screen drama, which is a shame really as I’d probably enjoy the film a lot more knowing that at least the co-stars enjoyed the actual film-making process
However, from the uncomfortable press conferences and red carpet photos taken, it’s sort of obvious that something’s not right between the cast, making Don’t Worry Darling even more uncomfortable to watch as an audience member.
Generally, successful film casts interact with each other as if they’re family, often bettering the on-screen chemistry This can be seen in films such as Shaun of the Dead, where Simon Pegg and Nick Frost are friends in real life too, chemistry that you can sense whilst watching the film I don’t think this change alone would be enough to improve the film itself, but would be a first step in changing the deserved negativity thrown towards the film as a whole.
In essence, Don’t Worry Darling isn’t a bad film. It’s watchable, and is home to some really interesting shots and imagery, it’s just a shame none of them have anything to do with the story at hand If we had to describe it in three words it would be this; “It just happens ”
Nothing is really ever resolved and the issues that you’d assume the film’s trying to refer to weren’t done so perhaps as subtly or indeed even tactfully as they could have been, though that said it’s not the worst film we ’ ve ever seen.
It’s a fun watch, especially if you ’ re with friends, but it’s not that deep
despite Wilde’s blatant attempts for it to seem so. If we could make any changes to the film, it would be these: Focus on the simulation aspect of the film earlier on, it’s definitely an interesting and topical route to go down, but to us, that’s not the direction it looked as if it was set up to follow This wouldn’t necessarily be too difficult though, as all Wilde would really have to do would be cutting down on the hallucination scenes, instead adding a bit more backstory or even so, we’d link Alice’s hallucinations to the actual outcome of the film or at least give them causation to make them look as if they didn’t just appear out of nowhere. And finally, we’d give Frank a reason for existing, as at the moment he only really exists to be killed by Gemma Chan, who only appears in about three scenes
If you ’ re looking for a Don’t Worry Darling alternative, we’d recommend films such as; The Stepford wives, They live and Get out
All of which seem to carry similar tones and discussion themes of augmented realities and set up some sort of journey to the discovery of the truth, except these ones make sense, and focus on the actual plot rather than trailer-worthy material
But all things considered, what’s wrong with Don’t Worry Darling isn’t what happens in it, it’s what doesn’t, and with a bit of scene shuffling and re-casting…we think we could definitely learn to enjoy Don’t Worry Darling a bit more.
THE CULT OF THE CRAFT THE CULT OF THE CRAFT
THE WESTERN OBSESSION WITH
THE WESTERN OBSESSION WITH
by Sophie Smith
Before the autumn season is forgotten I decided to dive back into the classic movies and shows of Halloween and I noticed an interesting connection.
Where Christmas has Home Alone, Die Hard and The Grinch, Halloween for me means Hocus Pocus, The Blair Witch Project, and The Craft. Hocus Pocus is a childhood classic, The Blair Witch Project was an unforeseen global success and The Craft still has a dedicated following. What do all of these incredibly popular Halloween movies have in common? Witches.
Witches have captivated our attention time and time again, the first recorded mention of them being from as long ago as 800 BC in the Bibles Book of Samuel A particular fascination with witches popped up during the 1600s in both America and Europe In the UK the trend of witchhunting was largely pushed by King Charles the 1st during the 1590s. He was fanatical when it came to witchcraft. He believed that Satan had branded him as his greatest foe and had sent out agents of darkness to destroy the royalty.
THE CULT OF THE CRAFT
Despite the fear surrounding witches being especially prevalent in Scotland, anywhere from 500 to 1000 people were thought to be executed for witchcraft in England alone, around 90% of those deaths being women. In many other countries, those thought to be witches would often be accused of making a pact with the devil or attending a Devil's Sabbath, but in the UK the accused were often just poor old women disliked by the community.
Other countries that experienced the same witchobsessed craze were Italy, Switzerland, Germany, and Scandinavia, and known for one witch hunt in particular, America. The town of Salam Massachusetts is renowned as a hot spot of paranoia where over 300 people were accused of witchcraft between 1692 and 1693. Deep-rooted puritan views and religious extremism led the town to mass hysteria and it is often used as an example of how easily persecution can get out of control during unreliable times Salam has become infamous with at least 17 movies using it to create plot lines, helping to keep the interest in witches going for hundreds of years.
There was less of a desire for films representing devil worship in the USA during the 80s largely due to the real fears many people had thanks to Satanic Panic sweeping the nation Satanic Panic describes a time when religious groups and parents thought that the children of America were turning away from god and towards dark practices This time of American history eerily mirrors the mania that took place in Salam as another round of mass panic, paranoia, and false accusations ruined lives. But as the 80s became the 90s this fear lessened and gave way to more media centred around the occult.
By 1996 witchcraft had captured a whole new audience thanks to movies like The Craft Despite its lacklustre performance critically, The Craft was a cult favourite amongst teen girls and young women Many girls both at the time and now, who had been made to feel unwanted or usual, felt an affinity to the characters To all the girls who felt like they didn’t quite fit in, The Craft was a masterclass in how to take control of what you want While it didn’t work out for the characters, it is completely understandable why people latched on to the idea of being in control of their own narrative through the use of magic.
THE CULT OF THE CRAFT
I think one of the reasons the craft was especially poignant was the fact that each of the main four characters had their own issues to deal with, making it easy for any teenage girl to see herself in one of the them. Imagine feeling like the world was to get you and While it may not have been the director's aim, there were bound to be some people who would focus more on the positive allure of a close-knit group that would protect each other rather than the traps the characters fell intowanting more than is achievable. The Craft is given credit for a wave of younger women finding an interest in Wiccan practices, and despite older witches finding the film distasteful and fearing an influx of followers whose hearts weren’t in the right place, the film modernized witchcraft and brought it into a new generation.
watching a movie like The Craft, a story where the protagonists have the ability to change their lives.
Witches well and truly become apart of the 21st ce now. Despite the small communities who describe H Potter as Satan's literature the incredibly popular and film franchise was one of the last steps in pus magic into the mainstream. If you searched witchcraft on social media sites like Instagram or T today you will easily find thousands of posts abou topic- it is no longer the unspoken about craft of few
History both ancient and modern proves that witchcraft is forever going to fascinate the human mind, it’s an obsession we just can’t shake. The ideas shown in The Craft and the almost cult-like dedication of its fans stick with us now, to the point where the producers even believed a 2020 sequel was needed. Overall I think The Craft got such an intense fan reaction because of its characters, the portrayal of magic, and because it was released at a time when witchcraft was gaining popularity but still niche enough to feel unique.
CAMBRIDGE FILM FESTIVAL
by Sophie Smith
During Autumn half term, the 41st Cambridge Film Festival took place and I was lucky enough to be a part of it and volunteer.
The team at the Arts Picture House were incredibly welcoming and everyone I met made the whole process easy I only worked two days at the festival but I feel like I learned a lot within my 8+ hours. It gives you a rare chance to meet other film fans from completely different ages and backgrounds and to feel more involved with the Cambridge film scene.
When I arrived I was given my uniform (a Film Festival t-shirt) and a lanyard that awarded me free drinks and 25% off food. In both of my sessions, I got to work at the delegates' desk, handing out complimentary tickets to other workers, reporters, and the people involved in the films being shown. Meeting the stars, producers, and directors of the films was exciting and it was great to be able to talk to them and see them interacting with the audience. The film ‘Seaside Special’ had the biggest turnout of those involved because the BBC was filming a piece on it A few of the stars and those involved with the production were interviewed and I, along with the other workers and audience were filmed watching the movie
While working I met people whose real-life experience helped me to consider my future and working options. On my first day, I met a postgraduate linguistics analyst and from him, I was able to learn so much about university and life as an adult. It was really interesting to talk to someone who works full-time about how to find ways to be involved in film. During my next session, I worked with a Hills Road student and a university student, both of which were wonderful to discuss films with The university student I met had emigrated to England for university study and it was really interesting to talk to her about her experiences in Poland and England (especially in the film festival scene) and the cultural differences she had noticed. In the end, I only managed to see two films in my own time but they were each incredibly different. As a volunteer, I was able to get myself and a friend free tickets which meant we could see things outside of our comfort zone without worrying about the cost. We saw ‘Pushing Boundaries’ a documentary about Ukrainian Paralympic athletes, and ‘Neptunes Frost’ an abstract movie with themes of Afrofuturism. Both films were wildly different and nothing I had seen before. Overall the experience was incredibly informative, exciting, and positive. I really recommend helping out if you want to see some great films and meet more like-minded people.
REVIEWS
Knives Out & Glass Onion by Alfie Hudson
Jennifer's Body by Kathryn Thorp
Midsommar by Rory Beavis
Nope by Kundai Mbudaya
Heathers by Isabella Gavigan
Sam's Reviews by Sam Gamble
By Alfie Hudson
Star Wars formula is out of the equation.
The film tells the story of a rich family and a nurse as they mourn the death of Christopher Plummer’s character, Harlan Thrombey, as he appears to have committed suicide. However, when Detective Benoit Blanc is mysteriously hired by an anonymous figure, he finds that everyone in the family is suspicious of murdering him to gain his wealth and resources.
First things first, the film looks incredible The cinematography, lighting and visuals are very well directed and thought out The design of the house that the film is set in is fantastically memorable, that it almost feels like I’ve been in the house before. It’s a classic setting for a murder mystery film to take place in, but the house is unique and interesting enough to prevent the experience from being boring
Rian Johnson, the murderer of the murder mystery genre.
The story and characters are by far the best parts of the film. Every member of the Thrombey family all have such distinct personalities and quirks, that I could watch them argue all day They’re delightfully unlikeable and evil, yet portrayed realistically and carefully, making the ending scene even more satisfying to watch Ana De Armas gave off an incredible performance as Martha, the most likeable character in the film, and every emotional and comedic scene involving her was immensely entertaining to watch However, my favourite characters in the film are Chris Evans as Ransom Thrombey, and Daniel Craig as Detective Benoit Blanc Chris Evans was a hilarious and interesting addition to the story, as he starts out as potentially the most unlikable person in his family, which is shown by the hilarious interactions he shares with the other characters, but then becomes a more interesting and friendly inclusion as the film continues Daniel Craig is excellent as Blanc, as almost every line he spoke was guaranteed to get a chuckle out of me, which is in no small part to his incredible Southern “Kentucky-fried Foghorn Leghorn drawl” accent as one character describes in the film. The accent was a little off-putting when he first starts talking, but by the end of the first act, I was used to it.
His character also had an amazing part to play in the third act as he pieces together the events of the film to draw a conclusion of who the true culprit is, making for perhaps the best scene in the entire film.
The story was fantastically written as well, as it tells the who-done-it story from the perspective of the suspect instead of the detective, which was an interesting and innovative new direction for a film like this to take. Without getting into spoilers, the end of the first act was absolutely shocking on my first viewing, as a certain reveal made it impossible to predict what was going to happen next. The story also has great emotional moments, mixed in with the comedic moments, especially near the third act with Martha’s character. Overall, Knives Out is a fantastic film that’s worth watching by anyone who’s interested in Agatha Christie style murder mysteries, or films in general. It’s got a fantastic cast, a clever story and amazing visuals.
Is Rian Johnson's second slash as brutal as the first?
I was also lucky enough to see the sequel to Knives Out, Glass Onion, a month ago in the cinema before officially releasing on Netflix this December It was a great experience as I’ve never been to a special premiere screening like this before. While the story isn’t quite as interesting and subversive as the original film, as it even felt a little derivative of the first at times, it was definitely much funnier than Knives Out, and it has a much more interesting setting for a murder mystery film to be set in.
Daniel Craig reprises his role as Detective Benoit Blanc as he is seemingly invited to a billionaire’s private island with a group of friends called the ‘Disrupters’ to partake in a complicated and intricately planned murder mystery game However, Blanc and the new cast of characters soon discover that at least one of the people on this island are taking the game too seriously. The island that the film takes place in is a visually stunning and exciting location for the film to be set in It’s a very futuristic and rich looking island which is a nice change of pace from the classic murder mystery style house that the first film took place in. Watching the characters explore the island was very entertaining to watch, and it was clearly designed with a lot of thought
The best part of the film is definitely the comedy and characters. Daniel Craig is once again very entertaining in this role, even though I’m pretty sure his Southern accent is slightly worse.
It was kind of disappointing that the film, more than anyone, is from his perspective, which makes Glass Onion a lot less unique than it’s predecessor. Edwards Norton stole every scene he was in. The interactions between his character and Daniel Craig’s were by far the highlights of the film
Overall, I unfortunately don’t have as much to say about Glass Onion as I did Knives Out. While the comedy was better, and Edward Norton was a stand out character, the story wasn’t as exciting or as fresh as the first, as it just kind of feels like a normal Agatha Christie murder mystery with only a few new surprises in it’s setting and a certain flashback sequence in the middle of the film. It was still an enjoyable film, and I recommend watching it, as long as you don’t expect it to be as good as the first
By Alfie Hudson 7/10
JENNIFER'S JENNIFER'S BODY BODY
JENNIFER'S BODY
by Kathryn Thorp
About a month ago I sat down to watch the much talked about “Jennifer’s body”, supposedly famous for it’s both humour and sex-appeal, luring in a devoted 2000s teenage audience.
Generally, I don’t find myself watching teen-flicks despite how much I actually enjoy them, for instance supposed modern, cult classics such as The Twilight saga are honestly in my top 10 favourite films list due to how outrageously, surface-level awful they are. Despite this, I never really got around to watching Jennifer’s body as I had felt I’d practically already seen it with the amount of praise thrown towards it’s way by both the media and my friends; and, after putting myself in the shoes of a 2009 teenaged girl, I wasn’t disappointed The film starts off several years into the future, denoting “Needy” Lesnicky as a convict after murdering her best friend (Jennifer Check) after JC transformed into a living demon inside a dead-girl’s body, framed in typical prison attire
The director Kusama most likely did this to convey a stark contrast against her prior archetype “The Nerd”, this genre convention further juxtaposes the stereotypical portrayal of Lesnicky’s best friend (Jennifer Check) as “The Slut” These distance the two girls and show their separate ideologies and add weight to their individual choices throughout the film. Lesnicky begins to shroud her unassuming outer-appearance and begins to take on Jennifer’s mannerisms the more she attempts to sabotage Check’s destructive behaviours, almost creating a moral divide and in many ways could be Kusama’s way of suggesting the binding similarities of all teenage girls (thus explaining why JB resonated contextually with so many young, high school girls) and expressing the harmful environment that high school can be.
For instance this can be seen through her cold reaction to the deaths of her fellow classmates and her violent methods of killing them, in many ways we as the audience are subject to the consequences of her actions; such as the grief of her victims’ families (an angle not usually covered in horror) but also the effect it has on already complicated high school politics. Furthermore, whilst the stories of male characters are ignored in this film, this could perhaps be a deliberate decision by Kusama in order to add depth to the starring women in Jennifer’s Body, who, often in horror are over-shadowed by the leading male actors.
In other words, JB gives once under-represented women in horror an alternate angle in which to shine, supported by a light-hearted tone.
The exploration of these themes may explain the perhaps generational-divide in reviews, and give clear vision to why many young teens compared Jennifer’s Body to “Bisexual Twilight”, in which Bella Swan is portrayed in a typically incapable and damsel-like way.
Upon release, JB appeared to be laid-off as another trashy, comedy-horror teen drama, intent on copying prior arguable successes such as Twilight. Many critics argued that Kusama seemed to focus more on the typical character archetypes commonly seen during the 2000s rather than moulding them into something new and exciting before the new decennium. You could further argue that supporting character’s such as Lesnicky’s boyfriend “Chip Dove” lack dimension and vivacity, their only qualifying and notable characteristics being their arguably well-written and quick-witted lines (such as his pragmatic sense of nature, reminding Lesnicky that he thinks that she “needs help” due to her new found obsession with Jennifer and the Occult); though I would disagree with all of these claims:
All in all, Jennifer’s body, to me, is successful both stylistically and thematically; it’s both trashy and yet well-rounded, at it’s core reminding audiences through it’s ending that girls don’t have to be a living demon from hell to kill, and, like in “Needy” Lesnicky’s case, just need to be driven enough to do so.
Jennifer’s body perfectly balances both the theme of horror (and comedy) with the semiotic associative narrative of identity and sexuality. As the story progresses, you can see the general tone of the film appear darker and duller through the director’s use of mise-enscène, this both adds dimension to the movie but also gives weight to Jennifer’s decisions as the film progresses.
MIDSOMMAR
MIDSOMMAR
by Rory Beavis
The film i will be reviewing is a cult horror by the name of Midsommar.
Delicately directed by horror fanatic Ari Aster, a man who has carefully created other horrific cinematic masterpieces such as Hereditary, Midsommar follows a young female protagonist called Dani (played by the highly talented Florence Pugh) who initially deals with a huge loss; heartbreak via her sister’s suicide due to carbon monoxide poisoning, which inevitably killed her parents too. Depressed and mourning Dani along with her boyfriend and his friends take a trip to Pelle’s (one of the friend’s hometowns in Sweden) Upon arrival, the group experience a whole new world by the complete opposition in culture which surrounds the Hårga As they are driving up, the camera flips upside-down suggesting that the land which they are planning on entering is evil. This gives a reference to the hit Netflix show ‘Stranger Things’. The Americans begin their trip to the Swedish land with a dose of intoxicating mushrooms This high dose follows the group throughout the film, causing a stressful flashback for Dani leading to her passing out in the middle of the forest. Upon her awakening the group enter the Hårga village, an initial Eden like location. An establishing longshot of the entrance’s large sun-like structure suggests that the Hårga village will be full of prosperity; safety, yet this juxtaposes the actual nature of the place The village is littered with different elements of mise-en-scene, for example artistic paintings depicting various rituals and Hårga lifestyle. This along with the recurring motif of bears, is something which will be carried onto the final sequence of the film
The film follows the perspective of protagonist Dani for most of the time giving a re viewpoint. However, the viewpoint does shift between some of the other characters the film more open and allowing for a larger storyline in what could be described as linear narrative The cinematography in this film is truly amazing; the constant set shots allow for a plethora of carefully constructed group scenes, such as the dining s the closing sequence in which lots of people are present. This means that b foreground and background can be occupied with details. Scaling from a simple run people without the knowledge of what the runes mean would not understand the d huge temple structures These later have their purpose unveiled by the end of the film
The film appears to work in Syd Field's three act structure: the first act being Dani’s mourning which then shifts to the second act. This would be the initial pleasantries of the Hårga village until the suicide of the two elders that leads onto the third and final act of discomfort felt by both the viewer and the characters.
Along with this the audience act as voyeurs via the camera ’ s placement throughout Following Dani to her final close up at the end, causes us to feel more enticed in t plot. Ari Aster attempts to create an uncomfortable atmosphere through not only the gore and violence, but also in the plain opposition in culture which is presented by like representation of the Hårga Which in all themes I highly believe he succeede across to the audience Upon initial viewing of this film, I felt as if my jaw was const the floor due to the plot and story being so unexpected Which caused me to confusingly due to how uncomfortable it made me feel, something which all initial would be able to understand. Personally, I thought that the film was fantastic and th cinematography; mise-en- scene was brilliant- something a film fanatic would quite appreciate Even though the film was spectacular I would not recommend it to view are weak stomached or faint hearted The film deals with many difficult themes and scenes which may cause some alarm to audience members.
By Kundai Mbudaya
“Not of Planet Earth”, or in better words – NOPE is the sci-fi horror film of the year that is written, co-produced and directed by Jordan Peele.
Peele is considered a newcomer in terms of movie directors, however, this does not take away from him being considered a staple director in Hollywood right now. Previous works of his include his directorial debut hit ‘Get Out’ and his 2019 blockbuster ‘Us ’ ‘NOPE’ is his third movie in his collection of horror films starring black leads, which is a key component of his casting and plots. Despite this, NOPE is not quite comparable to his past pieces
Nope is set in the West of North America; desert land as far as the eye can see and the set, costume and script seamlessly encompass this wild, wild west environment. Nonetheless, the wild, wild west would never be complete without a wicked witch and this is where Peele’s stellar and innovative writing comes in
Emerald and OJ Haywood are the descendants of the first black man on film, the man on the jockey in the first ever rolling clip. Their job is to look after Hollywood horses as their predecessors have. Life is business as usual for the Haywood’s until the reserved and brooding lead OJ (played by Daniel Kaluuya) witnesses miscellaneous trinkets whip out of the sky like a hailstorm When a coin shoots through his father’s skull killing him, OJ finds the cover story hard to believe. Consequently, Emerald – the outgoing and zany sister and co-lead (played by Keke Palmer) helps him uncover what they believe is really at play something not of planet Earth Through their media grappling conquest, they hope to gain fame, money and restored prosperity.
Outside of the movie itself and focusing on it workings, Peele always strives to leave a socio message in the wake of his movie plots ‘G plays on the generational trauma of race (spe African Americans) and the twisted race r between white people and black people in a grating elevated horror. NOPE is not about ce old civil wars but it touches on something e classic and sought after – Hollywood
thee vile, and I will set thee a specta quote blasted across the screen at t the movie. Spectacle! Spectacle is the ever-growing glossary of words a Jordan Peele’s films, but this is uniqu Peele pairs an extra-terrestrial crea never seen before and a band o individuals and their growing gree allegorical tale about society’s morb spectacles Whether it be marvellou monstrous, we feel inclined to gather, it in. This statement comes not only fact of humanity, but the spectacle m to the cruelty and mistreatment of tho animals and regular people and towards the mistreatment for the entertainment. What is intended for u is that when o p sh someone ’ s bo
Once the movie ended, many audiences did not know what to think – myself included I thought, “but what abut Jupe’s childhood? Did OJ become a ghost? What does Emerald do with the pictures?” A conclusion and some messages must be drawn out ourselves but I believe this was his intention; as we should be asking a different question that trumps all others.
“Why do we need to know?”
HEATHERS
HEATHERS
by Isabella Gavigan
A review and modern day prospective of the cult classic
Heathers- A subversive black comedy teen movie taking a deadly twist in the form of mass murder! Inspiring many movies to come such as Mean Girls and Jawbreaker, Heathers was the debut film of both writer Daniel Walters and director Michael Lehmann Heathers was known for its dark and comedic depiction of its genre, being controversial and obscene in its depictions of sensitive topics managed, disgusting and atrocious depiction of high school and teens, something in which many audience members (parents in-particular) were not fond of. Not to mention believing it to be giving the younger generation a disillusioned and distorted view on teen life, with equally as horrific role models to look up too. While not the opinion of all, this had to sure affect the popularity and profit of the movie Furthermore, due to budget constraints on advertisement at the time it resulted in the complete box office bomb of the film. With an original expense of 3 million, receiving only 1 million back in domestics!
However, in spite this, the movie has now fallen into a cult classic state, accumulating in the 2014 off-Broadway production of Heather the musical Later being moved to the west end, due to its remarkable success and popularity This resulted in the re-examination of the movie by audiences, gaining praise from previous and new fans alike. A series adaptation was also produced of the Heathers in 2018, meeting much less success and approval. The contradiction of reactions may confuse many, as such begging questions such as“what does a modern audience think of Heathers? What is the meaning/purpose of this film? And most importantly, is it worth the watch? In which I believe so, and here is why…
Through the lens of main character Veronica Sawyer, (played by Winona Ryder), we see how she is part of the popular clique at Westerberg high. Part of this clique are Heather Duke, (played by Shannon Dotherty), Heather McNamara, (played by Lisanne Falk), and ringleader Heather Chandler, (played by Kim walker). They perform cruel acts of bullying and pranks on less popular/conventionally pretty students, in which Veronica assists them in these shallow pranks despite a clear distain for it. However, the new arrival of a student catches Veronica’s eye and in turn she catches his Seemingly, Jason Dean, (played by Christian Slater,) is your typical mysterious bad boy starting his first day with a bang or two. Impressing Veronica leads to the two hitting it off, bonding on the shared hate of the Heathers One night after upsetting Heather Chandler at a party, Veronica ends up heading to her house to apologize, JD alongside. What started as the two joking of Heathers death, turns into the accidental murder of the teenage girl! In a panic they frame the death round a suicide, forging a suicide note in her handwriting. This would unknowingly lead Veronica to a path of deception and deceit, resulting in the many more so called “suicides” of her peers
HEATHERS
While a simple enough plot, (if not a bit eccentric) the movie holds more than at first glance. The movie itself was made as a criticism of its genre and depiction of teenage life Daniel Walters was passionate in the belief that teenage movies of the time “lacked a certain something”- seeing movies such as The Breakfast Club, he felt they focused too much on ideology that in all and every situation the children were to be innocent victims of the parent’s mistakes. While he didn’t necessarily disagree with this statement, he felt it ignored a much more deeprooted problem within growing up, and we can see this message echoed through his characters in Heathers. Daniel Walter famously referenced The Breakfast Club in an interview, quoting- “In The Breakfast Club a character says, ‘When you grow up, your heart dies ’ Heathers is saying ‘When you ’ re fourteen, your heart dies.’ Evil and bad behaviour can happen at a much younger age than just when you ’ re becoming an adult.” Daniel argues through Heathers that these horrific problems cruelty often shown within teen movies are not singular to a character’s journey to adult hood, but an issue within society
Daniel uses the environment of a school to echo this society, even going as far as to have the character of J.D quote this exactly- “Now, there’s a school that self-destructed, not because society didn’t care, but because the school was society.” The character of J.D holds an interesting presence within the movie originally introduced to be a mysterious bad boy character, in which immediately was perceived to have psychotic tendences, with his first encounter pulling a gun out and firing at two jocks who harass him Despite being blanks, this obviously sets up his later character arc and the viewer to see a more believable and understanding path for the characters later actions.
J D as a character is played as an antihero, taking many of Daniel’s original beliefs from an extremist point of view. This creates an interesting dynamic for J.D and Veronica, as Veronica serves as a middle ground between these extremes of the innocence of John Hughes teens and Daniels systematic cruelty This puts the audience within this grey area of right and wrong, in which by the end of the film still hasn’t been made clear. Despite both extremes being reprimanded for their actions, it still leaves the audience to make their own educated opinion and belief on the matter
Serving as a thought provoking telling of society and the mechanics we work upon - something in which is uncommon within in it genre, often taking one stance over another Daniel also used the movie to have an open conversation about difficult and touchy topics within most teenager’s lives that were either ignored, overlooked and/or taken advantage of
By highlighting difficult topics such as suicide, drug use, and bullying Heathers makes no attempt to shy away from the topics and the truths of the reality around them.
It neither shies away from criticizing the media and society for taking advantage of these topics for profit, personal gain, and status! This is executed most brilliantly through the character Martha who represents the victim within this argument Having been subjected to bullying and harassment throughout duration of the movie, we can see how the media and those around her influence her later actions, exploiting her insecurities for viewership and appearance. Another example of a character influenced by the media and those around her includes Heather McNamara, who (without spoiling) tends to follow in the actions of her peers.
Modern audiences have for the most part come to understand the messages of this movie, with many claiming the movie to be ahead of its time, taking stance against many issues within schools and society. We more clearly see this today due to the increase of these issues thanks to social media. Arguably the movie holds stronger point within a modern view as many of its issues tackled have become a realistic norm instead of an isolated issue. Resultant of this new admiration of the movie allowed many to look past its more comedic parody façade, to its true and original message.
This is something in which many at time of release were unable to, not out of pure ignorance but a lack of understanding of how media could grow and have an effect on generations of time and time to come If someone of modern day were to be asked about social media and media effect on the younger generation, most if not all would agree that media has a large impact and influence on our generations, a sentiment less common within the past. For this reason alone, we see how the movie messages and purpose, (despite original failure) have been successful in its ability to communicate its meanings to the viewers, with many of a new generation finding sincerity and truth within its reasoning and characters.
Without even mentioning the incredible cinematography, costume design, and script, Heathers is a fantastic watch, shining light upon many issues with its comedically ironic tone, holding immense value within its messaging to generations of teens of time and time to come. A cult classic that only becomes more relevant by each passing day. Heathers is one of those films, in which despite one ’ s personal preferences, should be experienced by all! Its mark on the film industry will forever hold its place inspiring many movies of its kind. Heathers was and is a hundred percent the watch! An incredible film with an incredible musical and an incredible legacy
SAM'S REVIEWS SAM'S REVIEWS
A set of reviews by Sam Gamble on recent releases.
Perlimps
Perlimps is an animation fresh out of Brazil, and tells the story of two secret agents of the rival Sun and Moon Kingdoms as they attempt to unravel the mystery of the ‘Perlimps’, mysterious unseen beings set to hold the secret to defeating the giants destroying their homeland A deceptively simple story with a not-so-subtle environmental twist, the story charts these two rivals as they learn to trust each other despite their homes' differences of opinions The film evoked certain qualities of Studio Ghibli; a certain melancholy accompanies the otherwise child-like innocence of the two characters and jovial score. At first it seems very much to be the heroes tale, where the two characters find an object to lead them to the often-mentioned, rarely-seen Perlimps, but as the film builds into its finale, its made clear that the stakes are much larger for these two to succeed than we first anticipated
The animation itself is a seamless blend of water colour backdrops with bold colours and computerassisted lighting effects allow this film to stand out from the Ghibli’s and the Disney with its own sense of a storybook aesthetic The voice actors perfectly compliment the snappy character work and constantly try and one-up the other in their kingdoms impressiveness. Yet despite all of these things I never felt fully invested in the story Especially at the beginning, the bickering did grate on me, and the film, either through budget or artistic choice, does try and hide a lot of things behind description rather than showing it visually However, as an experience, it’s gorgeous to look at and experience, and the ending definitely recontextualised a lot of my previous gripes and explained them away As always, there’s an element that could have been lost in translation, but as my first choice of the film festival, it was definitely a good start.
Perlimps had it's debut at the Cambridge Film Festival, 2022, and is due to be distributed by Sony internationally at some point in 2023
Medusa Deluxe
Now this is a film that sells itself just from it’s description. A one-shot murder mystery set in a regional hair dressing competition? Why would you not want to see this? Except it’s not that. You read that description and you immediately think of Knive’s Out or Poirot with a bouffant, but what the film is instead is a steadily boiling pot of short-tempered characters all butting heads (and headpieces) with each other as they become more stressed. The single-shot approach to cinematography only serves to ratchet up the tension, and even something as simple as a character walking from A to B becomes enrapturing as it circles its characters. As a result, the film, with it’s snappy dialogue, feels almost improvisational as it moves from scene to scene.
Bolstered with some stand-out performances, giving special mention to the aggressively passionate Clare Perkins and incessantly unnerving Heider Ali, everything about this film is slick without being too in your face.
The Murder Mystery in this film becomes almost ancillary, as the film does away with the common detective character and instead places all of its emphasis on the characters.
This is very much a marmite film. You’re either going to love it or hate it, judging by the critical consensus so far on its tour of the festival circuit. The pacing, thanks to the single-shot, can slow down at times, and it can still be difficult in a casual watch to keep up with who knows who. What it does show, however, is that there is still room for experimentation in the British film industry. Thomas Hardiman, the director, and I discussed the state of the film industry in the UK at the moment after the screening. In between discussing Star Wars, Brian and Charles, and a wonderfully minty mocktail, we lamented that the industry on British shores had become overrun with comedies and social realism in recent years and that companies like Film4 had begun to play it safe. It seemed that the only way filmmakers could even begin to experiment was to work in television instead. This film does not play it safe. It takes bold risks with its story and premise and retools it in a new and exciting way. Hopefully, this film becomes a sign of things to come.
ALTERNATIVE MEDIA
Dead End by Sienna MIller
Wednesday by Andrea Joyce
The Sandman by Noorsath Chowdhury
Quadeca by Ben Heiss
During the spooky season, most of us enjoy a good scare, but others like myself prefer something that still feel on theme that sits only on the periphery of the horror genre.
This "Spooky but not actually scary " genre is particularly prevalent within animation, with the most notable example being the majority of the Scooby-Doo franchise. The latest animated addition to this sub-genre is Dead End: Paranormal Park, an animated Netflix show with its second season recently released. The show follows Barney and Norma, two teenagers working at a theme park with an altogether surprising amount of supernatural and paranormal activity The show shares its sub-genre with Scooby Doo, but it is a closer successor to monster-of-the-week style cartoons such as Adventure Time or Regular Show, although it takes its monsters from the horror genre rather than more general fantasy tropes.
The show's theming is very horror adjacent, but uses its animated style to scale back the scariness of its monsters, with its use of single flat colours for each segment of a character or object, with little shading, reducing the detail and by extension, realism of the creatures even compared to other animated styles
Another key technique used to this end is the shape language of the character designs, with lots of circles involved in the designs, with a few squares thrown in, and few to zero triangle shapes This lack of hard edges feels less dangerous, and whilst normally these shapes are used for protagonist characters, antagonists (particularly in horror) usually use primarily triangles, but in Dead End, even the villains use triangles as small embellishments on designs made up primarily of squares and circles, if they use triangles at all This is why the ghostface mask is so angular, it allows the killer to remain scary even with its silly expression. If it was rounder, its goofy nature would make it feel too silly and nonthreatening
But for how interesting Dead End' s use of animation facilitating its genre is, what makes it special is how its spooky nature allows it to convey its messages of acceptance. Throughout the show's two seasons, but particularly in the second, the show uses demons as an allegory for the societal Other. Throughout the show, even when they are used as antagonists, demons are fundamentally presented as humans but with colourful skin, horns, and magic, still sometimes using horror motifs, with their horns and teeth often being rather pointy and triangular, but their designs are nonetheless never really scary
The show uses this to subvert our expectations of the role we expect the demons to play in the story, playing them in season one as antagonists, with some notable exceptions, and then as sympathetic allies in the second season. One key character throughout this is that of Courtney, a demon who lives in the park after being banished for reasons unknown. Her character explores these ideas as a parallel to the human protagonists' own arcs surrounding their marginalised identities.
This is assisted by the show's episodic narrative structure, with it able to explore complex and personal ideas about identity whilst tying it into a key plot point for an episode, then pivoting off that plot point and being able to sideline that story thread in favour of another, keeping a light romantic/comedic tone, then fighting a demon, then fighting the character's demons, cycle and repeat to keep it fresh. Dead End continues to feel whimsical, spooky, and heartfelt throughout. Its characters are charming, with representation written by the people it is for in a way that definitely shows when viewing, and it is worth a watch for anyone that has time, even long after halloween passes to the other side…
Wednesday (2022,
Netflix)
TV Review
A unique and compelling combination of a gothic aesthetic with all the tropes of a high school teen movie - that description is an accurate one of Netflix’s’ new smash hit ‘Wednesday’. But it doesn’t really do it justice. An MGM TV production that was conceptualised by Alfred Gough & Miles Milar, the creative team behind ‘Smallville’, has broken all Netflix records for the most watched English language drama on the streaming platform Why? Well Two words, Tim Burton I couldn’t believe my eyes when I realised that Wednesday is essentially an extended Tim Burton film. Following on from the aesthetic he created in some of his earlier and most iconic films, such as (Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, Corpse Bride and Sweeny Todd)
The “outcast among outcasts”, as executive producer of the whole series, and director of 4 of the episodes you can see his original hallmark all over this production Now I have to confess to not being a huge Tim Burton fan but I do have a place in my heart for a couple of his early films His tropes of making the ‘different’ people in society seem the warmest, purest; kindest of all the characters in his films resonated with me an appeal to my fascination with the concept of normal Normality is a social construct used to create a sense of the status quo It's something that capitalist society builds upon to peddle whole industries of products people don’t really need Ok, now that I’ve clarified my standpoint, I hope you now read my review as one not influenced by a fangirl love for all things Burtonesque. Wednesday is built upon the character from The Addams Family- I remember watching reruns of the 1960s series of The Addams Family that was really comedic!
I also remember the 1991 film, starring Christina Ricci as Wednesday This film was directed by Barry Sonnenfeld who is not a name I recognise But is actually responsible for a whole range of critically and commercially successful films like, (the Men in Black franchise, Get Shorty, A Series of Unfortunate Events, Enchanted and Wild Wild West)
This new imagining of The Wednesday very much at the for other recognisable character wh active part of the narrative is Th hand that has no voice - obvio clearly, and yet is a character wit held in great affection by oth series
Another feature of Tim Burton's work are his dark and quirky characters who operate on the edge of society who are often strange in appearance Although Jenna Ortega's’ Wednesday is not unattractive there are unusual things about her. A total lack of smiles, her hair that doesn’t seem to move; her dance moves! What I love about Wednesday is how accomplished she is and how aware she is of the ridiculous norms and expectations the world has of her as a young woman. One of my favourite scenes is her arrival to the Raven ball - a total intertextual reference to Hermione Grangers arrival to the Yule Ball in Harry Potter And her self-awareness of the way in which her appearance conforms to the objectification of women for the male gaze. She is such a 21st century hero.
She plays the cello beautifully, she speaks Italian, she can mend a coffee machine, she can fence, she is accomplished in martial arts, she's intelligent and she is uncompromisingly herself.
The opening of Wednesday is dripping with the authors features of a Tim Burton film, by juxtaposing the ‘normal’ world in a heavily saturated technicolour way with the dark and gloomy presence of Wednesday. Even at Nevermore Academy the school for outcasts, we see this juxtaposition in the dividing of Enid and Wednesday’s dorm room
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much here for everyone to enjoy. I for one can’t wait for ries 2 and hope it can maintain the standards series 1 has set
By Noorsath Chowdhury
stic and highly e by Neil Gaiman.
The magical series begins with Morpheus (Dream) being captured and mistaken for his sister (Death) As a consequence, he becomes trapped for centuries in a fortified glass ball, and the Kingdom of Dreams disintegrates in his absence The author of the comics, Neil Gaiman, was heavily involved in the making of The Sandman and brought his vision of the comics to life through this fantasy series As the author, he explored many complexities of Morpheus’ character and how to portray his emotions One of my favorite scenes showing a humanized side of Morpheus was when he returned to meet his friend (Hob Gadling) from many centuries ago
The wholesome interaction between the two characters established a contrasting interpretation of Morpheus, as he is often associated with being merciless and cold Neil Gaiman’s writing is spectacular as small moments in The Sandman makes impactful revelations about certain characters One in particular which I thought was clever, is the scene where Morpheus derides Lucifer by saying ‘Until that day, Lightbringer’ As Lucifer is a fallen angel, this remark hurts the character, and this is perfectly shown by Gwendoline Christie’s performance We become aware of Lucifer's weaknesses and how the fallen angel is not as authoritative as he may seem I would highly recommend watching The Sandman, not only because of the stunning visuals and phenomenal screenplay, but also because of the intricate plot details, which add to the immersive experience of the fictional world The series is heavily diverse in terms of visuals, ranging from ‘real life’ cinematography to animation It is clear that Neil Gaiman and the people involved in the making of The Sandman have carefully thought about how to bring characters from the comics to life, without destroying or hiding important aspects to their personalities The series shapes a world beyond our imagination and escapes us into the eternal world of dreams
Quadeca’s new release “I Didn’t Mean To Haunt You” delivers a disjointed yet beautiful soundscape in which a cryptic narrative is carefully unravelled. The record delivers a hauntingly tragic tale of a ghost’s regrets and anger after death, using an experimental sound palette that creates a gloomy allure.
The first track, “Sorry4Dying”, begins with a distorted sequence of notes that bleed into a thick sea of synths This melody repeats throughout the record, each time enticing the listener further into the haunted world of the record Unsettlingly beautiful, this lo-fi jingle would fit neatly into a niche internet horror game or dark web rabbit hole
These Glitchy effects and sounds that appear digital can be found throughout the record Perhaps they are a subtle remnant of Quadeca’s rise as an artist, which took place almost exclusively on his youtube channel, through diss tracks, comedy videos, etc It’s essential to not be put off by his online-career though This record demands the same attention that an accoladed industry release does The glitches are often juxtapose orchestral-esque sections, creating a unique diversity at points “Knots” is a glitchy synthetic hardcore track that pairs muddy guitar and digitally infused arpeggios that wouldn’t be too out of place on an early Death Grips record It’s an energetic change of pace for an album that explores a melancholic longing for the majority of its runtime The tight Danny Brown feature on “House Settling” introduces this visceral change of pace, so that the albums contrasting moments don’t feel too off-putting “fantasyworld” displays Quadeca’s undeniable skill as a musician and songwriter, transforming a melodramatic piano ballad into a precisely mixed explosion of emotion during the chorus Quadeca screams his longing for a fantasyworld, whilst the drums burst with a gloomy passion that sounds similar to a “Have A Nice Life” track Those beautiful soundscapes can certainly drag, though. “picking up hands” presents brilliant lyrics, but is paired with a mediocre instrumental that stays way past its welcome, dragging on for another two minutes after the main lyrical ideas of the track are done. A similar routine can be heard in parts of tracks like “cassinis division”. Examples of where this record gets the structure right, are the songs “Tell Me A Joke” and “Born Yesterday” These tracks don’t drag whatsoever, they feel entirely full throughout whilst still incorporating experimental interludes and ambience. However the moments that drag on this album are outweighed by the beauty and refined passion of the record so much that they become minor inconveniences. “Fractions Of Infinity” is an unreal ascension towards the closing of the album, which incorporates Kanye West’s sunday service choir, who enhance the track significantly. Repeating the refrain “Those Words Don’t Do You Justice”, they tie up the themes of the album into tight knots, before Cassinis Division lets the record fade to static, finalising the beauty 8/10
