This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.
airwreckuh’s review published on Letterboxd:
This review may contain spoilers.
“He was a veterinarian.”
This movie nails the fact that Gen Z has very much evolved to be more aware of social issues and mental health, and that’s largely a good thing. But at the same time, selfish and conceited people still exist, and they will 100% co-opt these phrases and ideas as a way to play the victim without actually doing the thinking and research to care about or even really know what they’re talking about. I’m a member of Gen Z myself, and I love that we’re more inclusive as a whole, but assholes still exist. I think this movie did a great job of showing how people can be ignorant and misuse causes without resorting to the old person “Kids are too whiney nowadays!” critique.
It’s moments like Bee mentioning that her mom has Borderline and everyone acting empathetic before immediately thinking that family medical history makes you a murder suspect. Emma calls David a gaslighter when he brings up something she actually did that hurt him. Jordan uses her wealth as a defense and it’s revealed she’s upper-middle class.
I think this movie perfectly rides the line of critiquing these people without showing contempt for all Gen Z kids. Bee is portrayed as being a perfectly fine character who fits into the Gen Z mold. Everyone else (except Greg really, who’s said to be in a different age group) is just a self-centered asshole. The satire isn’t that Gen Z as a generation sucks, it’s that every generation has people who suck in a different way. There’s definitely some nuance there, even within the characters themselves. Thought this was a hilarious thriller that played with paranoia the best I’ve seen in a while.
Note: This movie is literally just that meme of all girls know how to do is be bisexual, charge their phone, eat hot chips, and lie.
