I won't beat around the bush. I HATED this film. Friends were raving about how great it was and I eagerly sat down to watch it with them as they watched it for a second/third time. It was the equivalent to spending the afternoon stuck in a Ketamine induced state whilst trapped in supported living asylum in a hopeless, post apocalyptic, nihilistic society where everyone has completely given up. It's repulsive throughout and aims to be provocative but in a really pretentious, attention seeking without offering resolution sort of a way. It felt exploitative by nature, in imagining that these people or communities exist and the way that we would view or judge them as a different, lesser species. I felt nothing for the characters, so poorly developed that I couldn't even feel pity for them. I both squirmed and yawned my way through it. Films are meant to make you think or feel or open your mind or heart or at the very least entertain purely on the superficial basis of humour or beauty. It wasn't arty, it wasn't meaningful, it didn't offer anything new or leave me with any important questions or feelings other than wtf have I just watched and why is anyone digging this?! The hype surrounding it reminds me very much of the story of The emperor's new clothes. To heck with anyone who has been duped by this utter garbage, trying to tell you that you don't 'get' it. There is nothing to get. It is vacuous and degrading and reeks of an over stretched student film. Perhaps the pointlessness and boredom of watching the film was meant to leave you with some empathy for the boredom and pointlessness of the characters lives? Another reviewer nailed it with the title 'Hipster poverty voyeurism'. I think that sums it up perfectly. I gave it 2 stars instead of 1 because it obviously left an impression on me although I am not sure why other than how dirty it made me feel for watching it.
Review of Gummo
