Border

What a pile of you know what

I remember reading a tale similar to this about babies being stolen from their cribs - presumably because of sinful parents - or something like that. HOWEVER, where this movie starts, & goes, overshadows whatever self-realization the lead character has, as I wanted to THROW UP near the beginning, in the middle, and at the end. I don't care if I just completely missed something, would NEVER have rented had I known.

Is this movie about the racist trolls issue that was caused by the Forest Wars? Uh, whatever. I need more than a two day rental to finish a movie like this, not that I really want to now. Movie attempts to be clever but really tries too hard, just like I am now. If you’re gonna rent it, get ready for some really weird messed up nonsensical crap. And not weird in the good way. You’ll walk away feeling less damaged by just binge watching the Eric Andre Show if that gives you an idea of what uncomfortable moments ur in for (minus the funny). Really really gross stuff ahead. You’ve been warned...

The film is weird. There’s no doubt about it. But for what it attempts to be—an unsettling film disguised as a “thought-provoking” drama, those efforts are largely undermined by bad character writing and problematic tropes. Our protagonist, a bizarre, hairy women; gummy mouth and misshapen body to boot, is incredibly out-of-place in her home and work life. Much of her bizarre, unsettling nature is amplified by a peculiar talent—the ability to smell guilt, shame and anger. Her interactions with strangers largely paint a picture of the struggles she often faces; people being largely taken aback by her enigmatic presence. And at worst, they show fear. As we follow our protagonist through the film, we see that she lives very much a normal a life. Her parents are supportive, her siblings and colleagues general respect her and treat her with appropriately. Through her day life, work life and home life, we see she shows healthy awareness, smarts, and acts with agency. She has some issues, however; her relationship with her husband is somewhat estranged and loveless. It is also heavily implied that her husband routinely cheats on her. One of the central and important conflicts of our protagonist we see play out in various ways through out the film, is her ever encroaching feeling of alienation. We get moments where we see her intentionally suppress inhuman urges, largely because of their jarring nature would have her feeling even more a castaway. There it is. There is a real story, and a real character here. Her actions are very motivated, despite appearing to be weird and erratic in nature. The text tells us she is enigmatic, not just to others, but at often times, to herself. It’s important to note that it is entirely okay for a film to be weird. This film is incredibly weird. But, filmmakers must make sure they don’t undermine their own efforts by simply appealing to the unsettling. We’re given all this subtext about empathy, understanding of differences, lack of place within your community, relationships that aren’t fitted to a mold, and so on. This film could have been good. I’ll get to my main point of contention: the increasingly bizarre imagery and unsettling nature of the characters completely undermine any sort of meaningful writing. At a pivotal point in the film, our protagonist relays that she can not have children to her new lover, and it is very important information as it is obvious this particular fact sits center-point to her feelings of alienation. She feels less, not just by her physical appearance and societies reaction to it, but even less woman—the only thing biological inherited, irrespective of societal attitude. Immediately after, we’re treating to the most ridiculous sex scene, where everything she’s ever known about her life is exposited. She’s a troll. She has a male parts. She isn’t a she at all. ... Or is she? Such deep. So meaning. Aubrey Plaza gives it 10/10. To make matters even worse, none of this incredibly striking and life-changing information effects her. She isn’t conflicted at the thought of being deceived, not being told who she is all her life by the parents who adopted her. She isn’t at all concerned about her new appendage, and the implications of it. It’s just okay! Because she found love! And then it turns out her lover is a bigot who aids in child predation. Just throw everything into the garbage. There is also the problematic portrayal of what the filmmakers think of as “weird” and “unsettling”; how they lazily invoked characteristics of the physical and neurologically disabled. That is in itself a whole other can of worms. It’s an entertaining film. But it doesn’t deserve such a high critical rating simply because it is cinematically refined and weird. Standards shouldn’t simply go out the window because the filmmakers managed to find someone to fund their edgy, weird, and bad script.

I thought this was an excellent movie. Very weird, definitely unique. I didn't read anything about the movie ahead of time, so the revelation of who Tina and Vode are was a plot surprise. All the performances are great, the storyline is good. The only thing that bugs me is that I can't figuere out why Randall was with Tina. Without giving anything away, I'll just say it puzzled me why they were in a relationship when Randall was clearly ... unfulfilled. And Tina seemed to hate having him around, especially becuase of his dogs. Anyway, that's really just a small thing. Overall the movie is definitely worth watching.

A marvelous and original story. Directed hauntingly beautiful. The main actors harnessed the power of their characters with a powerful performance.

Wow, I had some expectations, but those were blown away after watching this film. A very thoughfully written and emotionally engaging film. Very different than anything out there.

In the age of the rehash remake and big budget film blockbusters it’s rare to find such a strange, dark and beautiful gem. This film is not for everyone. I found it to be engaging and bizarre. The story is so different from anything I’ve seen in a long time. I really recommend this film.

Beautiful movie with pitch-perfect tone. The performances are topnotch, and the story is blazingly original. Don't believe the reviewers who called this boring, or uninteresting. It's a film that requires you to pay attention -- and to keep a finger on pulse of the action. Many scenes are wordless, not because it's vacuous, but because the silnce speaks louder than words. It's a movie that asks us to consider those who are not like us. How important is that these days?

Border (Gräns, 2018) tackles the two most pressing phenomena of our time, trolling and border security. The film opens with a shaky medium shot where protagonist customs officer Tina is seen looking out from the shore, doubles as her parking lot, at a cargo ship moored at the harbor. She clumsily picks up a cricket and gently puts it on a blade of tall grass, with the car parked she is ready for another day at work. She is extraordinary ordinary and alarmingly ugly that perhaps not even a mother can love. I was watching lots of Youtubers opining on IBIS as in in-body image stabilization being the standard of modern filmmaking. Ha. It was a bit of a disappointment seeing that opening shot so shaky that any self respecting Youtuber would not approve. Border is based on a short story by John Ajvide Lindqvist who also pens Let the Right One in. Both are set in the mystic Nordic Sweden with wacky storylines and even wackier characters who are ostracized by society. The two stories center on characters that are almost mirror reflections of each other; they are simultaneously the same and yet different. In Border the woke character is Vore who stays woke and helps Tina woke and discover who she really is, sexually and otherwise. There is no growth without pain as Tina plays detective at work and her own origin story. By the end of the film, Tina has transformed. Instead of gently picking up a cricket and rests it on some landing, she has no qualms of just treating it as food. The film shocks and awes in its own quiet and subdued way, especially on the sexuality front which is as unpredictable as it can get. Nothing seems obvious underneath the clothes. The handheld shaky camera work and the overall art direction seems to suggest documentary and a very much down to earth aesthetic, but the story is just anything but or like the late Lagerfeld says (Border) is very much down to earth but just not this earth. The movie is rated R.