ARTS C-DRAMA LENDS SOLACE TO SINGLES IN CUFFING SEASON

"Put Your Head On My Shoulder" provides a comfy and endearing college romance set inside of an academic research lab.

With internships already recruiting for next summer’s precious few slots and oncampus research labs needing pages-long of achievement-ridden CVs, college students in the real world and the characters in “Put Your Head On My Shoulder” struggle with academic and career worries amidst mounting senioritis. Although watching the show won’t allow students to forget their woes, it’s comforting to know that these problems are felt by others all over the world enough to be displayed in international media.

The Chinese drama is a romantic comedy about the relationship between Situ Mo and Gu Weiyi, but it follows the lives and antics of peripheral characters as well. The characters push the narrative in “Put Your Head On My Shoulder” from Situ Mo, Gu Weiyi, all of their friends, and everyone they meet working towards their goals (even the lady in charge of Situ Mo’s dorm, Gu Weiyi’s research professor). It’s a slice-of-life as it mirrors how we all go about our lives, meeting people and acting or reacting to those around us. There’s a simplicity in the character dynamics and interactions that is familiar and charming to watch.

As the C-drama follows the characters in their senior year of college and the months after as they enter the workforce or continue studying, we see the process of learning even after college graduation -- the best part of the C-drama. This drama truly encapsulates growth for students and people in their early 20’s, that transitory period that needs more representation in media. There are also so many interesting perspectives that can be addressed in this stage of life that are tackled with each and every character in this story from applying for jobs, finding a place in a post-grad research lab to taking the next steps in your relationships or even just trying to keep your head above water.

Not just a cute romance, "Put Your Head on My Shoulder" features characters in their senior year of college trying to figure out what to do with their lives, something any student can related to no matter what year they are in.

A rite of passage that every college student goes through is the rollercoaster of doubt over their major. Situ Mo (Fair Xing) certainly relates and concluded that accounting wasn’t what she wanted to do. Realizing her passion for advertising, her search for a relevant internship is complicated, though any recent grad regardless of major change can relate to the constant scramble to find a job that will take a chance on them. And even if some seniors don’t immediately go into the workforce, the process of hoping and praying after graduation is universal; some are vying for spaces in coveted research labs. Gu Weiyi (Lin Yi), the male lead of the drama, understands this desire well as a physics major planning to go into grad school. His research hours and the hilarious conflicts that arise out of being in a lab are situations that many of us can relate to at this STEM school.

The drama is amazingly detailed. The wardrobes of all of the characters are reused and repurposed throughout the show, just like a regular student’s fashion would look like. There aren’t any high-fashion clothes that show up one day and are never worn again despite the fact that the characters are “poor” (I love you, K-dramas, but sometimes you aren’t relatable in terms of closet capacity). It’s such a small detail, but it’s definitely noticeable and brings the characters closer to the viewer, making it easier to find a kinship with them. There are also easter eggs at the end of every episode that give the audience insight into a pivotal scene that occurred, usually something comedic or sweet. All of these small details make the drama even more realistic.

Not just a cute romance, "Put Your Head on My Shoulder" features characters in their senior year of college trying to figure out what to do with their lives, something any student can relate to no matter what year they are in. Do your best to stave off senioritis and get inspiration to keep applying for those labs by watching this comforting drama!

"The Invitation" should be cordially declined

New over-the-top supernatural horror fails its social commentary

It’s every woman’s worst nightmare, having to room with a stranger in a new environment. “The Barbarian” begins with a simple incident of a double booked Airbnb and quickly plunges the viewer in a violent bath of grime and crime.

Tess (Georgina Campbell) is shocked when she finds another guest inhabiting her Airbnb, and hesitantly agrees to stay the night with Keith (Bill Skarsgård) after taking a look at the dimly lit neighborhood. Albeit a tad awkward, Keith eventually proves himself to be not as threatening as Tess originally believes, and they strike up a flirty conversation with just a hint of mutual wariness of one another.

After the night passes with barely any chilling occurrences with Keith on the couch and Tess locked in the bedroom, the viewer is condemned to feel anxious and unnerved by how well the duo are getting along. The success of this movie lies with its unpredictable nature and its vague trailer. When will one of them show their true colors and leave the Airbnb a crime scene? Is Keith’s awkward charm an act?

The casting was perfect, they purposefully used Skarsgård, a man known for playing one of Stephen King’s notorious villains, Pennywise, to immediately stir suspicion within the audience. His natural boy next door vibes mixed with his acting career are equally as confusing as figuring out where the evil in the house lies.

Campbell exuded final girl energy that rivals the ultimate horror queen, Sidney Prescott. She was likable, a tad too selfless, but you can’t help but root for her survival. What she does have that a lot of horror movie characters possess is occasional realistic hesitancy. She knows that the situation she is in is bonkers and is cautious of her surroundings and decisions most of the film.

After accidentally getting locked in the basement on a toilet paper excursion, Tess finds the basement has a door leading to intricate cave-like pathways and a room with a filthy mattress and eerie camera set-up. She eventually gets out of the basement and tries to convince Keith to leave with her, and that's when the duo is plunged into hell.

This film does provide something that many horror movies have lacked in recent years, a pacing that doesn't leave me feeling sluggish like I’ve been glued to the theatre seat for eons. Right from the beginning there is a problem our protagonist must face, and it intertwines with Keith and a television actor played by Justin Long who is introduced mid movie. Long’s character changes the trajectory of the movie, causing the audience to be extra wary of this new misogynistic man and his connection to the house. Fortunately, the audience does not have to wait long to see who the antagonist is, and even after the evil is revealed, the perfectly timed jumpscares and plot twists do not allow boredom to seep in.

The initial movie plot was so simple, it could have easily become a B-ratedslasher film, but every jumpscare was so nuanced and the gore was perfectly balanced with humor. The humor itself

If you like being beaten bloody by ham-fisted themes and unoriginal social commentary, then “The Invitation” is for you. Like in many stories, vampirism is established as a metaphor for some sort of social disease. In past adaptations of the vampire myth, this concept has strayed into anti-Semitism. “The Invitation” does not go there—instead, it draws a connection between blood-sucking vampires and today’s greedy old rich.

In this 2022 horror, protagonist Evie (Nathalie Emmanuel) is a starving artist in New York City whose only living family—her parents—are dead. That is, until a DNA test reveals that she is related to a line of fabulously rich Englishmen, who invite her to a wedding at their country estate. Evie discovers that wealth treats her well, and quickly acclimates to the new environment. Instead of serving hors d’oeuvres as a fancy cocktail party, she is now receiving them. However, wealth is often maintained by less than ethical means, and bit by bit, Evie discovers dark secrets about her family’s true intentions.

Unfortunately, this story explores the ideas of corruption and greed without even the most rudimentary understanding of nuance. The plot is dominated by a family of ancient vampires that survives by literally eating the help. Maids are given numbers instead of names and sacrificed one by one to a bloodthirsty eldritch horror. The film’s protagonist is bombarded by microaggressions concerning her ethnicity, most of which seem out of place and a caricature of true prejudice. Finally, this eternal all-strong family is so obsessed with maintaining their bloodline that they would rather inbreed than leave their haunted house.

Don’t get me wrong—there is nothing I find more amusing than taking the piss out of rich people. But it has

But, I have to be honest. I did enjoy this movie, but not more the reasons the writers intended. I enjoyed this movie because its aesthetic is pure camp. Every single undead or vampire trope is combined in an outrageus, formless debacle to be done with at least some nuance or thematic complexity. Otherwise, you end up with a story that says little more than “rich people bad”—AKA a shitpost in a new medium.

But, I have to be honest. I did enjoy this movie, but not for the reasons the writers intended. I enjoyed this movie because its aesthetic is pure camp. Every single undead or vampire trope is combined in an outrageous, formless debacle. We have a family with a cursed bloodline living in a hokey Gothic manor lit by 16th century torches. The set of the movie is a hilarious hyperrealistic take on the “Addams Family” house: dark wood, elaborate balconies and balustrades, and a vacant character to a dwelling meant as an ancestral home. Then, there is the immaculately campy feast scene where a maid’s throat is slit at the dinner table and the vampires each drink from a bowl full of blood one by one.

Much of the gore in this film is sensual at the same time, like the slick moves of the movie’s cleanshaven lead vampire, Walter De Ville (Thomas Doherty). And then there is the most iconic scene in the film. The protagonist marches into a dark Gothic cathedral, to be married to an ancient vampire in front of a worshiping crowd straight out of “Rosemary’s Baby”. They are joined in matrimony by a man in an executioner hood, and a maid is literally chained to the wall so that Evie can eat her upon being transformed. Before the night is over, our protagonist will be kicking ass in a bloody torn wedding dress and trashy CGI fangs right out of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”.

Besides the protagonist and antagonist of this film, every character in “The Invitation” comes across as flat and cliché. Evie’s friend Grace (Courtney