Hey you wanna see a couple as perfect as you are?

Have you ever encountered one of those people who say, “I love A24?” I suspect if you asked them what an A24 movie is they wouldn’t know. They’d probably say they’re weird, wtf, dark, slow burn, or elevated horror, I don’t know. Ari Aster belongs in the pantheon. Robert Eggers seems to have gained a following. So I guess if we’re talking stuff like Lamb (2021, Valdimar Jóhannsson) and Men (2022, Alex Garland) maybe there’s a distinctive art horror product they’ve amassed (even if they’re outliers are numerous). 
     But I really think the success of A24 is as a luxury brand based mostly on people seeing their trailers with the elaborately ornate company card being foremost and prominently the thing that sticks with audiences. The vibe. I just feel duped because like a sucker I went to go see a movie because I was A24 hyped.

We Live in Time (2024, John Crowley) feels as insufferably bland generic as a commercial for a luxury brand while coming across like a parody of a romantic drama. It’s smug and off-putting because it depicts and is aimed at people who are morally beyond reproach. How do you sell to people who want the perfect life? Target them with portrayals of perfect people so that they can identify with, and give you their money. 
     We Live in Time is also relentlessly obnoxious because it keeps shifting its timeline for no clear reason. And it’s not like I have a problem with jumping around temporally, because Challengers (2024, Luca Guadagnino) is the best movie this year and why does it constantly keep jumping through time? Because it’s a high energy 80s tennis movie and the chronology of its narrative goes back and forth between 2 different sides with the ferocity of a tennis ball serve. 
     And I’ve never seen a movie where someone has cancer and I actually give a shit. As far as tragic goes, it’s a bit low hanging fruit innit? But in this when Florence Pugh’s character has to go through chemo her hair looks like it was buzzed with clippers on like a #3 guard, we don’t even see her scalp. That doesn’t feel very cancery. 
     When you finally find out what the dramatic climax is of this thing it will be clear that in a contrived desperate reach for you to cry over the martyrdom of the bald saint Joan winning a cooking competition it should be tearfully anguished over how beautiful and perfect her life was. Again, seek this out if you want an example of a movie whose main characters are all good, and there are no villains, or flaws in this world they inhabit. I’m sure some people enjoy that kinda thing. 
 
10/19/2024 AMC Phipps Plaza 14
Atlanta, GA