Movie recommendation I think you might like. Check out Lifechanger. The story of a person who steals the life, the memories, the very face, of people they are intimate with, and all they want to do is reconnect with the one person they ever loved, and will leave a pile of bodies in their wake.
OKAY.
i have some thoughts.
the concept is creative and provoking, the cinematography is well-done, it for some reason reminded me of splice (2009) don't ask why i have no fucking clue, the genderfuckery was absolutely delicious.
i loved the conversations between the many drews and their(?) julia. it wasn't at all a surprise when she said she was a counselor, even with how little we saw her before she told us that, her advice was always so thoughtful. she's kind, she's friendly, she's writing a book, and luckily for drew, she is a functioning alcoholic. drew falling for her is understandable.
but.
with how much they're obsessed with her, how much they want to give her a life she deserves, she doesn't fully feel like her own character? i don't know how to describe it. she's their love interest, and she's only allowed to have her own traits within the context of that. i think her writing suffered from being a character in their (singular) story rather than a character in their (plural) story.
and, i wish we hadn't gotten so many explanations dumped on us by the narration. hold back. let us come to our own conclusions, then either confirm it or subvert it, y'know?
and i don't really like the ending. it should've went harder with its exploration of the self and with its caterpillar/butterfly symbolism- the last shot should've been butterflies instead of tree branches π
like, look at this shot while drew's in molting paired with the movie poster;
why wasn't there more butterfly symbolism if there's lighting references to that symbolism? commit βΌοΈ
i did like the vibe of, like, despite everything, it's still you. they change their lives, but they can't ever escape from them. they have to carry everything they've done in the name of self-preservation for the rest of their existence, and there's no easy way out for them. they don't get an escape from the suffering. they always have to remember the lives they took.
and the way they say that julia's husband is still alive⦠what is a person? what is a soul? drew has their memories, their shapes, their feelings. they're apart of drew, so does that make them all immortal, too? as pieces to drew's puzzle, the picture of them all accumulated?
maybe the cost of immortality is inflicting it upon everyone else.
anyway, 3.5, i really liked it but i wish some choices were different !! :3c
