Soft, Scrappy Survivors: Kedi’s Melancholic Ode to the Street Cats of Istanbul

“Everything is beautiful when you look at it with love.” The statement comes a third of the way into Kedi—Ceyda Torun’s 2016 documentary about Istanbul street cats—as an older man describes a mindful, open-hearted approach to life: seek happiness in small things (a cat, a flower) and “all the world will be yours.” This philosophy […]

Escape from Late Capitalism: Fish Tank and Two Days One Night

“If you could be any animal, what would you be?” “A white tiger.” – Mia, Fish Tank “I don’t exist. I’m nothing, nothing at all.” – Sandra, Two Days One Night Unlike most poor or working class “everyman” characters, the body labouring under capitalism’s long shadow in Andrea Arnold’s Fish Tank (2009) and the Dardenne […]

“Die to Yourself”: The 21st Century Feminist Crime Drama’s Dream of Justice

“Thirteen bodies, all female, 11 white, two Asian-looking, all between the ages of maybe 20, 30, all very dead.” “If they were alive, they’d be illegals and that would mean Immigration. But they’re dead, so they’re cargo.” This exchange between two cops on The Wire epitomizes a particular strain of sexism common to contemporary crime […]

“What Are You Afraid Of, A Fate Worse Than Death?”: How Funny Women Survive Clue’s Anti-Party

A party, according to Clue (1985), is a sinister exercise in social engineering and surveillance. Set in 1954 in a remote, gloomy mansion and laced with references to McCarthyism—“Communism was just a red herring!” is a famous quote—the film chronicles a soirée where the guests are held captive and must conceal their true identities. As […]