Collie is already in the lounge when I arrive, adjusting chairs. He's visibly trying to contain his excitement.

RH: ..I’ve watched you rearrange the seating like, three times already.

CO: So what? It matters. points to a chair. Sit there.

RH: Huh? There?

CO: Yeah, I have the seating all planned out so you fuckers won’t ruin this movie for yourselves.

RH: I don’t usually ruin things.

CO: “Usually” Is being used very liberally.

...

Scramm arrives carrying Tilly

SC: Movie night! Right baby?

BT: happy squeal

CO: No. Nuh uh. Absolutely not.

SC: What? She’s chill. You have younger siblings! I thought you'd love babies.

CO: I do have younger siblings. I love my siblings, not this random baby. Even then, it's conditional. I didn’t love them when changing a diaper.

SC: Isn’t she just so cute, though? Scramm pushes Tilly into Collie’s arms Don't you miss being a big brother?

CO: I miss my siblings, not your kid.

BT: grabs Collie's collar

CO: …Okay, don't look at me like that. Where’s Cathy?

Cathy removes Tilly from the lounge shortly after.

...

Ray and Pete arrive together, immediately sitting too close

CO: No, no, spread out.

RG: What?

PM: Why?

CO: Funny as you are, you guys talk way too much. It's distracting as hell.

PM: laughs We don't talk that much.

CO: You talk, you giggle, and you stare. Sickening stuff.

They still insist that they sit together, and Collie eventually gives up and just has them sit at the back of the room.

...

PS (Patrick Smith): So are these vampires… like, hot, or..?

HO: They better fuckin’ be.

Several sets of eyes look between Olson and Clementine

CL (Clementine): Hank.

HO: What?

CL: Elaborate on that?

HO: …I'm done talking.

...

HO: Holy shit... Is this movie really this long? Can we watch something like green porno?

RG: The fuck is green porno?

HO: It's just a lady dressing up as various creatures and showing how they fuck. 

CL: smiles warningly Hank…

HO: It’s good! Let’s watch like- an episode. They’re like 3 minutes.

PM: For once… I disagree. I’m not watching something called green porno.

PS: Speak for yourself!

Silence

Tressler snorts and stifles a laugh.

GB: Y-You sound like my fucking meemaw!

HO: The fuck is a ‘meemaw’?

GB: Fuck you, I was just- just kidding al-

MW (Marty): -I think we should respect Collie’s pick.

CO: Thank you, Marty.

...

The movie begins, and for a few minutes, there is peace.

...

GB: laughs at an inappropriate moment

RG: from the back Shut the fuck up, Barkovitch.

GB: bristles You shut the fuck up, bunch of fuckin’ queers.

PM: Oh you tryna suck this dick Barkovitch?

GB: Sounds like you wanna eat my fuckin’ meat, you sick fuck.

AB: Hey, hey, we’re all just trying to enjoy the movie.

Tension diffuses and Barkovitch reluctantly slumps in his seat

GB: ..Whatever.

RS (Rank Sanders): quietly to Collie He's probably going to start again.

CO: If he does, I'm kicking him out.

...

Art leans over to check in with different people periodically.

AB: to Harkess You good?

RH: I'm great.

AB: You followin’?

RH: I think so.

…

AB: to Rank You okay?

RS: folding

Yeah.

…

AB: to Hank You good?

HO: Jesus, lean back, man. We’re doing fine.

We’ll debrief post-movie.

...

RG: whispering to Pete You're staring again.

PM: nudges Ray So are you.

RG: I'm not.

PM: You are.

...

Marty attempts to initiate discussion after the film.

MW: So what did everyone think about the themes-

HO: Can we watch green porno now?

CO: Fucking drop it Hank! I’m not watching that weird ass series.  We just watched a beautiful fuckin’ movie, and that's still all you can think about?

HO: It's fucking educational!

CO: When would I fucking ever need to know how worms go at it?

HO: What if you need to make a compost pile?

CO: If I ever need a compost pile, I’m already a lost cause. I was born in air conditioning and I intend to die there!

PM: He’s kinda onto somethin’ Hank… 

HO: You pussies just can’t handle a little heat or wind.

PM: I can handle it- But why would I want to?

RG: Whispering to himself Fucckkk the AC goes out at my house all of the time.

PM: What’d you say, Ray?

RG: … Nothing.

MW: Wait, no one answered my question..

HO: to Marty Well, I liked all the talk about clam diving. … Y'know, feasting on the yeast. The hymen lick manoeuvre.

silence

MW: …Anyone else?

HO: What? It's the breakfast of fuckin' champions.

CL: Aside from Hank's objectification of them just now… The women were depicted beautifully. I might've fallen in love with Annie.

RG: Yeah, all the characters, really. They set everything up so well that I actually gave a fuck about them when things went to shit.

ET: Incredible sound design.

RH: Gorgeous cinematography, too!

MW: It's like From Dusk Till Dawn… but not made by a racist.

CO: Oh, I fuckin' hate Tarantino.

...

CL: to Hank, low voice We are not watching that, Hank, it's weird.

HO: One episode.

CL: No.

HO: Okay.. Half an episode.

CL: Hank.

HO: Fine!

…

PS (Patrick smith): to Marty I still think we should've watched that weird animal thing.

MW: You're so fucking weird, dude.

PS: flashes a crooked grin What the fuck?! I'm charming!

...

Harkness note: You may have noticed the lack of Tressler lines; he did not react outwardly to anything in the movie. But he did say “wow” once, and you know what, I feel like it carried weight.

As a quick precursor: I do have some issues with how Pete and Art were written, and I do talk abut them below. I am as white as paper, and so have no lived experience with some of the negative tropes I’m going to bring up. If I handle anything poorly please do reach out and I will correct it.

It really did feel like they were sacrificing emotional depth in favour of gratuitous, drawn-out execution scenes.

I hated Garraty’s motivations. Especially given he thinks his father was an idiot in the book, it felt so unnatural and forced. The rant he went on about how nobody actually has a choice is stupid as fuck as well, especially given how Curley snuck in. 

The backstory with his father does not fit in naturally, and explicitly killing him on screen strips the story of all of its intrigue. I’ve always thought getting Squaded was a pretty intentional 1984 reference, with those who dissent simply vanishing.

The exposition about “””the war””” was out of place and the Major’s opening explanation of how the Walk is designed to make America “number one again” contradicts some of the messaging in the original book about the military and Vietnam

As @47-61 said when we were talking about it, McVries’ movie storyline is insulting to both the character and the audience. Frankly, I found it racist as hell. I understand that they were likely hesitant about showing the plotline with Priscilla and accidentally perpetuating the trope of the sexually aggressive Black man, but instead of handling it with care or grace they leaned on a bunch of different, also racist, tropes. Having one of the main Black characters be abused by a family member, become homeless, and getting his scar from “picking a fight with the wrong guy” is not the step up they think it is.

I also think they should have rethought the conversation about money between Ray and Art—it’s a fascinating scene in the book, but in the film it doesn’t sit well with me, mainly because it’s a white man who grew up comfortably telling a Black man who has struggled financially his entire life that he just needs to “stop thinking about money” and to realize that he’s just “buying into the system” when he is, in fact, trying to survive.

ALSO I don’t understand why they cut out all of Art’s mortuary backstory! Some of the conversations Art has with the rest of the Musketeers about his uncle being an undertaker and his role in that are my favourite parts in the book. And the lead-lined coffins line is iconic.

If they were going to include his death and his wife, I really don’t understand why they wouldn’t just put Scramm in the film.

On that note, revealing that Hank was married was so out of left field. It also stripped that reveal of any meaning. In the book, Scramm is sixteen, and his wife is pregnant. He’s joined the Walk out of desperation for them. Personally, I find that so heart-wrenching, and the promise to send Cathy money to help support her and their kid is one of the most human, beautiful moments of the book. Hank is an adult in the film, and his wife isn’t pregnant. It feels like a superfluous detail thrown in at the end, or a sneaky wink to book fans.

WHERE WAS SEEING HOW THE WALKERS REACTED TO THE CROWD!

WHERE WAS THE CROWD

WHERE WAS THE FUCKING CROWD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!