Gone Girl (2014)

Curry Barker’s film, Obsession, soared in success this past May, leaving everyone who has watched it in extreme chills and disturbance. And taking it to new levels of why men are always the root of horror films, even when they try not to be. This film easily falls into my favorite genre, along with Fatal Attraction and Gone Girl, where men famously don’t get to “have their cake and eat it too”. In these specific types of movies, we witness the lead female character acquire these psychotic, destructive traits because of the disloyal, traitorous actions of their male love interests. There is nothing more horrifying to me than a man getting what he wants at the cost of others but facing no consequences, which is why Obsession did not disappoint. 

Never judge a book by its cover is a common platitude, but should you judge a movie by its title? Avoiding a movie based on its title seems like a perfect way to miss out on great cinema (although I must admit, I’ve yet to see Licorice Pizza, and I can’t absolutely guarantee that the thoroughly unappetizing title hasn’t influenced my avoidance). The converse—choosing a movie based on its title—is a wonderful way to stumble upon hidden gems. That’s how I found Dude Bro Party Massacre III, one of my favorite movies of all time. The title Deadly Garage Sale (2022) has a similar irresistible energy. Sure, it’s going to be trashy and silly and nonsensical, but that’s often a recipe for the perfect movie night.

Deadly Garage Sale begins with a brother, Pete, and sister, Trudee, who rob garage sales. These are careless criminals, showing their faces and engaging with the homeowners before committing the robbery in front of countless onlookers. Soon enough, tragedy strikes. The robbery is botched, Pete takes a dramatic and fatal tumble down the stairs, and Trudee flees the scene.

Soon enough though, Trudee returns, vowing revenge. She is determined to destroy homeowner Marcia’s life. It’s a simple premise, without the twists you’d expect in a thriller like Gone Girl or Woman in the Window. Here, we know the villain’s motive: the only mystery is in seeing if poor Marcia will discover Trudee’s scheme in time.

Deadly Garage Sale takes place in wealthy, snooty, and predominantly white neighborhoods, so racial diversity is definitely lacking. The movie does center a mostly female cast, which is positive. The main character’s struggle is relatable: she leaves her stressful job to find happiness but then struggles with money as she attempts to redirect her career. Given how many people suffered from job loss and overwhelming job expectations during the pandemic, this makes her somewhat sympathetic. However, her solution to her financial issues—to host weekly garage sales to pay her mortgage despite threats from a cruel HOA leader and despite the death of a burglar that happens on her property—make her struggles way less relatable and way more absurd. But isn’t that why we tune into these movies? Did anyone turn on a movie called Deadly Garage Sale and expect a straightforward drama filled with reasonable people making logical decisions?

Audition is Takashi Miike's 1999 horror film. It is still a gripping film after 23 years. So, gripping that I still have nightmares from what occurs during the last twenty minutes of the film. Rather grotesque in nature but much deserved, I think. Some men really should be minding their own business.

Audition follows Aoyama, a widower whose son Shigehiko says that he should find a new wife seven years after the death of his wife. He brings up this idea to his friend, Yasuhisa Yoshikawa, a film producer, at a bar late at night. He devises a mock casting audition at which young women audition for the "part" of Aoyama's new wife. They pick 30 women to "audition". Aoyama takes a liking to Asami and reads the essay given by these women for the role. He derives some pleasure from seeing her innermost thoughts, kind of like a Peeping Tom. You could regard this as the first moment of non-consensual action that takes place in the film.

As Aoyama spends more time with Asami, he's convinced that she is the right woman for him since this whole thing was a search for his new wife. You come to learn that Asami and her references all lead to a dead end. The shop where she works has been abandoned for a year, the previous owner, was brutally murdered, and her dance studio was being occupied by a man in a prosthetic leg. To sum it up, Asami lives like a ghost because that is what she is. A wish fulfilled by the men that surround her. In recent trends with movies like Promising Young Woman and Gone Girl, the violence done to these particular women informs the path to which they would intact revenge. Hurt people hurt people. Often in society, the men who commit these heinous acts are never truly punished for their crimes, and if they are it's hard to see how the punishment and crime are equal. Asami in her own way is Gone Girling the men in her life that make her feel as though she lives for them. Aoyama isn't interested in the real Asami, just the one he's built in his head.