#rover rambles

Ok so. The beginning and the ending mirror each other with Clark talking to Mary about his problems, then Mary talking to ASYNC about her experience. In both scenarios, the characters are talking to someone with potential power over them who may also not fully believe what they’re saying and could- if need be -institutionalize them with little more than a stroke of the pen. Clark even asks Mary if she’s done that before, to which she responds that she has. In both cases- it’s not about them being heard by the other person in the room, it’s about them saying the right thing.

The rooms being a physical representation of mental blocks and getting stuck in your own mind was clear enough I think (at least I thought it was… seemed like that’s the comparison the writers were trying to make). What if all the space you wish your thoughts and worries were given by others actually existed? What if there was so much space for your thoughts?? ALL the space in the world! And it doesn’t have to be granted to you by someone else, it’s there whenever you need it, until it no longer needs you. But that’s the kicker- it’s all superficial despite being so overwhelming. The space sees you, sure. It sees you well enough to make things for you, to make a you for itself. But it can’t hear. It can’t understand, it can only repeat. It can’t process anything. And that’s what the characters need- they need to process their crucial moments of not being heard, and then move on. Mary by her agoraphobic mother, Clark by his wife, and whether or not they come out better for it is up to them bc the rooms can’t think for themselves. It’s kind of like… talking to a chatbot (and it’s set in Silicon Valley… hmmm! Very telling!). The message is very timely imo, and while the third act dropped the ball a bit, I think it still got across for the most part.

The one thing that trips me up about it however is the element of race in the movie. Mary- a white woman -is put in a position of power over Clark- a Black man -by being his therapist throughout the film. I don’t know if the film meant to leave that part of their dynamic ambiguous or not, if Mary’s fear of being trapped in the third act was due to her fear of being trapped by a man with a knife or by a Black man with a knife, but regardless… it doesn’t really address that at all, and for a film set in the 90’s in Silicon Valley… idk. It felt like that should have had more weight to it, and with Mary being the final girl it just- didn’t. It was his monster that haunted the rooms, his inner turmoil given physical form, his guilts and regrets and desire to be heard that chased her because he wanted recognition and validation from someone who could actually do something in his life even if he had to rip it out of others to get it (even if he had to rip it out of himself once he gave up). And in the end, the film decided it would be the white woman who would defeat the inner demons of her Black patient and live to tell others about her ordeal. There’s just something there that doesn’t quite sit right. I’m not that experienced at analysis through this lens however, so if someone else has a different take then please share it and tell me if there were things I overlooked or missed on my first watch, I’d really love to know!