American Carnage was
released in 2022 – which makes the fact that it’s so painfully relevant to
Trump’s second (interminable) term in office that much more impressive. This one
had my jaw on the floor the first time we watched it.
And I’ve watched it twice since then!
The movie takes a surprisingly amusing swing at the
concept of race and the other. It calls out social injustice so casually that
even a run-of-the-mill white girl like me can’t help but imagine what BIPOC
folks face every. Fucking. Day.
How they haven’t murdered us all in our beds at this
point is beyond me. Ten minutes into American Carnage and I was
grumbling about “fucking white people!”
It might sound like this is a movie that’s all about
how awful white Americans can be to anyone who’s, you know, not (and it
totally is) but it’s also about rebellion and resilience and coming together to
win against overwhelming odds.
If we ever needed that particular message, it’s now.
So… what makes American Carnage so relevant? In
it, the governor issues an executive order that sees the children of immigrants
rounded up en masse in a disgusting PR stunt. (Sound familiar?) It’s interesting
to note here that JP (Jorge Lendeborg Jr.) is a druggie who works at a
fast-food joint, while his little sister, Lily (Yumarie Morales) is on her way
to an Ivy League school and they’re both detained.
Your talents, your intelligence, your prospects… none
of that matters. Only the color of your skin matters.
Sound. Fucking. Familiar?
They do such a good job of recreating the confusion of
light, movement, and noise during a raid that it gave me a panic attack the
first time. You don’t want to ever have to imagine what a raid is like, right? American
Carnage is here to remind you that at least 40% of the population is facing
that horrible, looming threat every day.
I just want to say it again for anyone who wasn’t
paying attention: a horror movie used racially motivated raids as a plot tool years
before Trump’s second term brought them to our streets.
Yeah.
Kinda hits, huh?
(If your answer is no, why don’t you go ahead and
GTFO?)
American Carnage deals with
heavy topics like racism, bigotry, capitalism, and aging but does so through
a lens of irreverent humor that keeps the movie from becoming… you know, as
depressing as real life. Sure, it should piss you off and make you think more
critically about the world… but you should have fun doing it.
One of the things I love about American Carnage
is that it’s unapologetically bilingual, a growing trend in television and cinema
that I am 100% behind. I mentioned that I’ve seen it several times and that’s
exactly how I recommend watching it. You can appreciate its snark and slick,
well-cut cinematography in one watch; you can only appreciate how masterful its
foreshadowing is with subsequent viewings.
Like… the kind of foreshadowing that’d have
English Lit professors salivating.
Though the movie impressed me from start to finish
(again and again,) there’s one little thing that still bugs me. The twitching
and jerking from the “elderly” patients is clearly included for jump scares and
to throw you off the scent of what was really going on. (Are they zombies? Demons?)
The explanation for it comes across as a little weak and, honestly, the movie
would work just fine without it.
American Carnage takes on
aging with the same humor that it approaches race, with an unavoidable tinge of
sadness. More than half of us won’t face the fear of being snatched by ICE on
our walks home – but we’ll all face the indignity of getting old.
If we’re lucky.
I could talk about American Carnage for hours.
(It probably feels like I already have. Lol.) Instead, I’ll just implore you to
watch it and, when you do, cast your mind back to the world we were enjoying in
2022 when it came out so you can appreciate how cheerfully ominous American
Carnage really is.
Then watch it again and appreciate all the little things
you missed the first time around.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (5/5 stars)
