Beth de Araujo's Soft & Quiet is getting a lot of positive buzz since Blumhouse picked it up and is mass distributing it. I've seen the film twice now --- just to make sure I'm not missing something really revelatory --- but it consistently appears to fall apart at about the halfway mark, after a squirm-inducing, provocative, and relatively well-performed first half. It's really kind of a shame.
Unfortunately, movies that are this high-minded and well-intentioned --- it's obviously intended as somewhat of a microcosm of the 1/6 riot at the Capitol --- often wind up writing themselves into corners.
Stephanie Estes gamely plays Emily, a kindergarten teacher (not by chance, you'll see) who we follow to an inaugural meeting of like-minded white women in the deep south. Their first meeting is definitely the best thing in the movie, and by far more frighteningly (and saddeningly) real than anything that follows it.
After the meeting... conveniently enough... the only women left are the lower-income ones with less than squeaky-clean rap sheets and demeanors. While stopping to get wine on the way back to her house to continue venting, Emily and her gang run into the victim of her rapist jailbird brother and proceed to bully and harass the Asian woman and her sister.
At this point, you know two things: Em and her posse are not exactly rocket scientists and they're not playing with full decks, either. Their combined IQs might barely edge into the triple digits. And this is a huge problem, as their group psychosis drives them off a metaphorical cliff from which there is no return. Oh yeah, for us either.
So, in creating this parable against hate, racism, etc.... de Araujo has invited us --- via her script and her characters --- to form more stereotypes against women in particular (like they're irrational, emotional, reckless), and against low-income "white trash" types as well... to what purpose? That's what I can't figure out.
Let's be clear. There is no stimulating, edgy, or otherwise "deep" interplay between these women after they transform into The Gang Who Couldn't Pillage Straight. The guys of Reservoir Dogs would get Nobel prizes in comparison. This isn't David Mamet or Neil Labute... it's not even Camille LaPaglia. Without any further character development or dialogue, what we're left with is a plausible plan of organized carnage, incompetently executed by reprehensible characters, that devolves into a painful-to-watch, though well-shot, trash fire.
The twist ending does provide a bit of satisfaction, but by then, I was past the point of caring. It was refreshing though, as many have stated, to see something not drowning in Hate-Male, for a change of pace if nothing else. But the fact that only the men in this picture seem less crazy and even occasionally decent... that makes Soft & Quiet even more confused and disturbing.
Unfortunately, movies that are this high-minded and well-intentioned --- it's obviously intended as somewhat of a microcosm of the 1/6 riot at the Capitol --- often wind up writing themselves into corners.
Stephanie Estes gamely plays Emily, a kindergarten teacher (not by chance, you'll see) who we follow to an inaugural meeting of like-minded white women in the deep south. Their first meeting is definitely the best thing in the movie, and by far more frighteningly (and saddeningly) real than anything that follows it.
After the meeting... conveniently enough... the only women left are the lower-income ones with less than squeaky-clean rap sheets and demeanors. While stopping to get wine on the way back to her house to continue venting, Emily and her gang run into the victim of her rapist jailbird brother and proceed to bully and harass the Asian woman and her sister.
At this point, you know two things: Em and her posse are not exactly rocket scientists and they're not playing with full decks, either. Their combined IQs might barely edge into the triple digits. And this is a huge problem, as their group psychosis drives them off a metaphorical cliff from which there is no return. Oh yeah, for us either.
So, in creating this parable against hate, racism, etc.... de Araujo has invited us --- via her script and her characters --- to form more stereotypes against women in particular (like they're irrational, emotional, reckless), and against low-income "white trash" types as well... to what purpose? That's what I can't figure out.
Let's be clear. There is no stimulating, edgy, or otherwise "deep" interplay between these women after they transform into The Gang Who Couldn't Pillage Straight. The guys of Reservoir Dogs would get Nobel prizes in comparison. This isn't David Mamet or Neil Labute... it's not even Camille LaPaglia. Without any further character development or dialogue, what we're left with is a plausible plan of organized carnage, incompetently executed by reprehensible characters, that devolves into a painful-to-watch, though well-shot, trash fire.
The twist ending does provide a bit of satisfaction, but by then, I was past the point of caring. It was refreshing though, as many have stated, to see something not drowning in Hate-Male, for a change of pace if nothing else. But the fact that only the men in this picture seem less crazy and even occasionally decent... that makes Soft & Quiet even more confused and disturbing.