Power, Gender, and pregnancy
If you're squeamish about childbirth, avert your eyes, coward.
Titane (2021) d: Julia Ducournau
Men (2022) d: Alex Garland
Resurrection (2022) d: Andrew Semans
Julia Ducournau is one of the most exciting directors working today, and her follow up to the intense, but restrained Raw is a wild, confrontational message to the male gaze: you’re a joke. Ooo sexy women and sexy cars, you like that huh? Oo she’s dancing, she’s swaying, I bet you want her to fuck that car, am I right, haha MAN STUFF. Anyways, Titane is known as the movie where a woman gets knocked up by a car, but this isn’t some campy, X-rated Herbie, it’s an exploration of familial relationships, the limitations of the gender binary, and vulnerability.
You may be able to guess the antagonist(s) of this film. That’s right, it’s #YesAllMen. In Men, Jessie Buckley attempts to find some goddamn peace and quiet in the country, but is constantly bothered by various men and boys, all played by Rory Kinnear (who has built his career on disgusting us). The messaging is heavy handed, but it’s beautifully shot, and the acting is stellar. Where does pregnancy come in, you ask? I suppose I should warn you that you will see several graphic births, illustrating a seemingly endless cycle of men begetting violence. While this is a powerful movie in many ways (especially visually), it does lack nuance regarding some troubling gender essentialism and problematic racial implications, but that didn’t sour the whole endeavor for me (and if it does for you, feel free to analyze it in direct comparison to Titane’s more sophisticated take on gender analysis).
Resurrection is yet another brilliant performance by the exceptional Rebecca Hall. She plays Margaret, a single mom with a seemingly normal (if carefully curated) life. This life is completely upended when her past abuser, David, returns, claiming to be carrying their once-deceased son in his stomach. Margaret begins to unravel, unable to fully dismiss his wild claims and reverting to patterns of abuse she fought to escape. David systematically breaks her down and demands “kindnesses” (a chilling euphemism) of self torture and humiliation. As an audience, we are frustrated by Margaret’s spiraling acquiescence, but can’t help hoping she’ll play his games so we can finally discover whether we’re watching a supernatural movie or a purely psychological one.