Roles in Retrospect #2 – Florence Pugh and ‘Fighting with My Family’ (2019)

“In the hands of a less capable actress, Saraya could have easily become a one-dimensional stereotype. However, Pugh’s portrayal of the young up-and-coming wrestler makes her feel truly human.”

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Female Spaces in Masculine Places: Examining the Heroine’s Journey in ‘Twilight’ (2008) and ‘Midsommar’ (2019)

“In a geography dominated by men, male desire and gazes, the search the heroines undergo for the female space is the desire for the ability to exist within the male geography as a female, and to do so comfortably.”

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REVIEW: “More Stressful Than Frightning” – ‘Midsommar’ (2019)

When I first finished Hereditary, Midsommar writer/director Ari Aster’s first film, I sat through the credits in stunned silence. Then I stared out a midnight window for an hour, wrestling with what I’d seen. I hadn’t ever experienced a film that felt so devastatingly cynical, mean, and gut wrenching. After some determined rumination, I realized…

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