Genre research: Super Dark Times

What elements of the genre that you chose to base your final task on does this movie have? I took a lot of inspiration from this film since it follows the lives of teenagers and my final task will be based on a teen girl. So watching this film, I've learned that teens act on impulses and make poor decisions because of their age. However, in thriller films, this is usually the case no matter what the age is. The characters are always complex and seeking revenge or a way to solve their problems.

What elements of the genre did the movie have that you like? There's a specific scene that really grabs the viewers' attention. It's alarming and nail-biting as you watch the situation escalate further and further. That scene alone raised my expectations for the movie extremely high. The chain of bad events left to right had me on my toes. The scene was very harrowing, it felt like the perfect example of a true thriller film. 

Conversely, the beginning of the movie did not feel like a thriller film at all. I found that cool because the audience will never guess a scene this insane would appear in this movie. The coming of age atmosphere the audience gets from watching this movie is very comforting. But after that crazy scene, the movie truly lives up to its name. Overall, the tensions between the two friends rise and nothing was ever the same. This affects the audience deeply because we got to see the two being inseparable and suddenly they grow apart. If the movie never had the coming of age aspect for the first half then the audience wouldn't have the opportunity to relate to characters or feel sorry for these characters.

What elements of the genre did the movie have that did not appeal to you? One of the main points of a thriller is to make the audience anxious. As I watched the climax, I didn't feel anxious at all. The climax was severely underwhelming and rushed. The threat is very predictable and the storytelling towards the end gets sloppy. Thrillers are usually slow burns so it's not fitting for the climax to be so rushed and poorly written. This ultimately disappoints me and gives me a clear warning not to rush any scenes of my final task.