2025-04-08

Cinematic violence has become another topic at the back of my head, taking roots from, again, my recent experience with Adolescence. At this point, I have reached the thought that I may only be using this event as an exercise to throw real-world issues into abstractions because what I will do next is to mention another movie that is also a social commentary about right-wing ideology: Soft & Quiet (2022).

I watched it last September and ever since then, I refused to make a definitive take on what I think about the movie. It is basically a one-take film (seemingly, since there were invisible cuts in some sections) that tries to immerse you into following a group of white racist women commit a hate crime. Needless to say, it was a difficult watch as you as the viewer, passively becoming a complicit audience to this crime, is forced to see the escalation of harm from ideation to execution. Eventually, it went spiraling down into a chaotic nightmarish violence that is too close to the possibility of it happening in the real world; only because of the fact that it is already happening.

Now, I think the movie isn't meant for everyone and I would say that even if it may look like a defense, one can still like the movie for what it has achieved: the technical aspects of its cinematography, the ambiguous too "in the nose" caricature of these women's behaviors and thought processes, and uncompromising display of evil that we can trace to real life. I think it has done great for what it wants to do. But then I know that another question must also be answered: Is this movie necessary?

I have went through dozens of reviews about this movie and it is an understatement to say that it is very divisive. The negative reviews are overwhelming and I can say that I understand and they do have a point. The movie doesn't tell us anything new. We all knew that this is already happening. At some point it went too far to become "trauma porn" towards the end.

Why was this movie made and how much accountability does it have when it comes to portraying a hate crime cinematically and in consideration to those who have suffered and survived such evil acts? Based on the narrative and the structure of the film, the story beats are deliberate and decisive up to the point that some actions done in the final act become ethically questionable within and outside of the film. But at the same time, those acts are so ridiculous that I can imagine the sort of people capable of doing them are the same ones that I am watching on screen.

Then why can't it be implied? For the safety of the viewers, and the people who have experienced the violence on screen, why can't it be left out and take the route of still making it happen off-screen. So it is clear that since it didn't happen that way, a directorial decision was made. They wanted to show it.

So let me dial back to Adolescence, where the crime was shown via a CCTV footage in the scene where the evidence is shown to the accused. That's the only hard violence that we were shown and that was enough to make the point of murder. The events leading up to the murder were through an exposition in the form of interrogation. There were no POV shots and no flashbacks. Just pure understanding of the mind of a child capable of murder.

I think this is a better way to handle violence. It clearly shows thoughtful consideration of its audience since it was planned to release on Netflix. Mainstream audiences will always get a hold of it, which also explains that for such a show with meticulous craft and heavy-hitting social commentary as its subject, people will struggle to understand its message. But at the end of the day, it is undeniable that the message of the show is clear and why it was made.

Going back to Soft & Quiet, I think I understand why it was made and why it decided to show what it showed. But I guess I wanted to reflect more on why I am drawn to these kinds of movies, at least at the point of showing the darker parts of humanity. The movie just plainly showed what is happening. There were no judgments made or implied. These types of people exist in the world and we share our lives with them as complete strangers. That is the horror.

But the more I look into it, I can't help but think that my perspective cannot be the definitive take about this movie. I fear that I am trying to intellectualize it too much to the point of making the whole story a piece of cinema. I don't know if this comes at the cost of becoming removed from the reality of white supremacy and only making myself feel better that I am not one of those people on the screen.