a review of 糖果人

HOOPTOBER OCHO MORNING THREE Caught an early matinee of this one! This will be my only in-theater pick for Hooptober, although I plan on going to the movie theater for off-list movies until such time as a new stay-at-home/lockdown order is declared. For the time being, I've felt pretty safe going to the movies but try to go at off-peak times and am scrupulous about masking. That said, I really liked this one. There's a LOT that's rolled up into the story and themes in terms of talking about the generational legacy of racial injustice and unequal policing, how society tends to conflate Black pain with Black genius, and who gets to tell stories about certain groups. I don't know if it necessarily accomplishes its own goals on any of these, but the way it frames those thematic questions is extremely well done. Excellent performances by Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Teyona Parris, but for me this was all about Nia DaCosta's direction and visuals, especially in terms of highlighting Chicago's architecture and arts scene. I visited Chicago around the time that they filmed this movie, and was astounded to see one scene take place in the recent Virgil Abloh exhibition at the Musueum of Contemporary Art, which tied in beautifully with the themes. I'm excited to see what DaCosta does with future films in or out of the horror genre.