Movies for the Pandemic
Escape from your body into these magic movies
By Sebastian Alfonzo
The world is a little scarier than usual right now. Our phones, once escape portals from daily stressors, have now become relentless gateways into grim global happenings. It is a little harder than usual to disconnect, but also more important than ever to allow yourself mental breaks from the media.
Good movies allow us to escape from our realities in an uninterrupted way. The reason movie theaters are dark is to facilitate this escape by encouraging you to forget about your body, and in the midst of this pandemic, we could all benefit from some out-of-body escapism.
Thankfully, you can do this from the comforts of your home. Simply turn the lights low, find a comfortable spot, and check out one of these movies.
“The Art of Self Defense”
Directed by Riley Stearns
Runtime 1h 44m
Available on Hulu
I saw the trailer for this movie before “Midsommar” last July. It seemed strange that the latest indie flick starring Jesse Eisenberg doing his usual “awkward guy” routine would be marketed before Ari Aster’s summer dread-a-thon. Having seen both films now, I can safely say that they are not so different after all.
“The Art of Self Defense” is anything but another Eisenberg indie flick. It is also better than those action films about magicians that the Zuckerberg look-alike has been peddling in recent years. The tone of this film strikes closer to a Yorgos Lanthimos movie than anything in Eisenberg’s repertoire thus far. Still infuriatingly awkward, Eisenberg delivers a career-defining performance in this eerie thriller about a middle-aged accountant who joins his local karate dojo in the wake of a near-death experience.
“The Art of Self Defense” is what one might expect to happen if the movies “Office Space” and “The Karate Kid” had a baby, and that baby had a baby with the baby from “Eraserhead.” I cannot recommend this strange and surprising film enough.
“I Lost My Body”
Directed by Jérémy Clapin
Runtime 1h 21m
Available on Netflix
This is a fantastic film to recommend to that attractive person minoring in French you started talking to before social distancing started. Impress that cutie who had to move back home by telling them that you serendipitously stumbled across this endearing animated film while browsing Netflix and thinking of them.
This Academy Award nominee for Best Animated Feature elegantly delivers on its titular claim by allowing viewers to lose their bodies and escape into its surreal sounds and visuals. Its hand-drawn, pastel-heavy visual style suggests psychedelic French animations like “Fantastic Planet.” Yet “I Lost My Body” emphasizes audio at every turn, combining elements of gallery sound art, French boom-bap, and atmospheric synth-scapes to tell its story. Viewers follow two protagonists throughout. The first, Naoufel, is a hopelessly romantic delivery driver. The second is a disembodied hand.
Without allocating too much importance to the Academy Awards, I believe this movie should have beaten out “Toy Story 4” for Best Animated Feature. You should do yourself the service of checking it out.
“Under the Silver Lake”
Directed by David Robert Mitchell
Runtime 2h 20m
Available on Amazon Prime Video
Remember when Andrew Garfield was Spider-Man and everyone complained that he wasn’t believably nerdy enough to play Peter Parker? Garfield’s performance in “Under the Silver Lake” finally silences his critics as he proudly exclaims, “I too can be sweaty and unlikeable!”
From David Robert Mitchell, the strange man who brought us the horror movie about the STD poltergeist, comes this absurd contortion of film noir. Garfield stars as Sam, a perverted and lazy man who discovers an expansive Hollywood conspiracy while chasing after a girl he hardly knows. Horror, comedy, and mystery flirt seamlessly in this ridiculous rabbit-hole of a feature.
You’ll sweat, smile, and be left with more questions than answers, but isn’t that the point?