Throat: A Cautionary Tale (2008)

A family drama is woven with quiet yet powerful forces of words and nature.

For the most part, 'Sweet Girl' recycles tired hyper masculine revenge tropes, but a surprise twist in the end turns it into a female-centric revenge film.

Twisting what seems to be obvious setups and frameworks is what sets the story structure of Squid Game apart. I appreciate that this narrative is complex but not complicated; an easy enough plot to wrap your head around while still treating the audience like an equal participant in this social commentary

Outer Banks (2020-) knows its audience: young adults in a country that can’t stop romanticizing good ole’ treasure hunts. Add a little of Riverdale’s (2017-) sex appeal, and no one can look away. Forty years after The Goonies (1985) America’s consciousness hasn’t strayed from the same tropes: treasure hunts, a vulnerable white male lead, and the whitewashing of a racially segregated setting.

Omaha reminds us of what it can feel like to look at old family photographs.  You sit with the bittersweetness, allowing it to wash over you; not drowning in it, but certainly affected by it. 

This HBO mini-series asks why a young white man turned to violence and finds no easy answers. But why do we only ask questions about certain kinds of killers?