my review for this one won’t be as long as my review for the first. caught this movie (and some increased feels for a friend) while visiting NYC for a few days to work on prep for my next movie so i’ve gotten 12 hours of sleep in three days and words are pointless for art this good. louise is building a masterpiece and i am just so in awe of her.

i was so nervous about what this one would be. from what louise described to me in the lead up to watching it, i worried this installment would lack the heart, relatability, and heart of the first, and this worry was quickly assuaged about 30 minutes into the…

second night at the roxy decided to actually watch it this time. debilitating, haunting, i am so glad that louise has the wherewithal, the spiteful psychopathic drive to make this movie that is completely irresponsible in the current cultural moment but is so necessary for us, a pitch black comedy about the horrible things that we specifically do to each other, about stagnation, about wanting to belong but not really wanting it that much. makes part 1 look pastoral and quaint in comparison, takes everything wonderful about that movie (and the trust earned by viewers from it) and weaponizes it into this excruciating gonzo exercise in audience antagonism that somehow still is so goddamn beautiful and funny and touching. everyone…

so many complicated feelings about this one...

i think the trouble with any sort of shocking and abrasive art is that, in being critical of it, you end up having to endlessly qualify that you are not some rube who lacks the ability to critically engage with art or some prude who is offended by the mere existence of shocking imagery. like you have to constantly account for people's potential defensive misinterpretations of your critiques lest they characterize you as like some kind of lame normie who just doesn't understand this type of work.

this is always, always frustrating to me because i think reflexive reaction against any sort of external critique is a kind of irritating self-insulation posture that…

The aggressive escalation into high concept absurdity means this installment is generally funnier and more narratively driven than its predecessor, although it loses almost all of the local and communal specificity that gave part one its charms. Weard continues to deal in broad strokes: the cult stuff, in particular, is startlingly generic (jumpsuits, yoga, nonspecific mantras about uniformity, rather anodyne sexual decadence, etc.), and once again, after five hours, I was surprised by how little I knew about these people. Characterization is highly dependent on the strength of the individual performer’s screen presence, which, in a film of this size, is inevitably quite variable. I love, and know personally, many of the talents involved; on the other hand, there are…

This episode revolves around Circle, a member of a toxic positive transgender cult of acceptance.

Devon: "Clap if you think she should suffer." xD

The house party sequence was PEAK! I loved the split camera thingy showing two simultaneous tracking shots to dope house music. Lea Rose Sebastianis (Natalie) and Ivy Wolk (Heller) have amazing Mean Girls type chemistry that’s just hilarious! I'm most surprised that I really enjoyed Ivy's performance. Heller being non-binary in college, as a phase, was so fucking real. Her interaction with Circle was rough around the edges but still a breath of fresh air compared to the cult. Finally traveling outside the basement feels straight out of Anora's Las Vegas sequence. It's so liberating to…

i’m still very willing to go to bat for part i despite my major misgivings with it, because at the end of the day it is presenting a handful of interesting ideas and innovative digital filmmaking with enough friction to at least generate some forward motion and push into new territory. but this… jesus. all my fears from seeing the trailer i sketched out in my rewatch log confirmed (which is extra funny in retrospect, because it took me to the end of this to realize i had been shown the part iii trailer, not part ii). it’s hard to even dissect narrative/dialogue because the production value here is genuinely kind of awful: sure, it’s fun and community-minded (well, i…