The rapid rise of The Satanic Temple is documented in Penny Lane's incredible and important documentary. Using a light-hearted soundtrack and comical soundbites that bring to light the absurdities of the Christian right in the U.S., the film begins with a publicity stunt the TST initiated in 2013 and traces the growth of the movement to the present. While focusing primarily on the national rise of the TST from the 1950s to the present, we are also allowed access to individual stories, personal accounts of the ways the cultural hegemony of the Christian right ostracized people in the past, and strives to keep the other out by maintaining political power today.
Hail Satan?, 2019
The TST appears to be disruptive because it is cognizantly adding new idols to be placed next to old idols already established and in place. The film makes it painfully obvious that it is hard to let go of cultural artifacts and ideas that are attributed with meaning, and that mockery is uncomfortable for whomever is the recipient. At the end of the day, everyone--regardless of political and religious perspective--who watches it is faced with a choice of working together across ideological lines, or maintaining divisive views accompanied by violence and all of its dark corollaries.
Native Son (Rashid Johnson, 2019)
Rashid Johnson's first film Native Son has one of the best character portrayals of the Sundance Film Festival this year: Ashton Sanders, who plays protagonist Bigger Thomas. Additionally, the editing is unbelievably effective. Certain events are slowed down, allowing contemplation, while narrative economy at other junctures drives the narrative forward at pace. The trust the director has in his ability to allow the story to flow translates, at least in my case, to an audience who is more than willing to trust the storytellers (all of the crew deserves credit for the soundtrack, editing, characterization, costume design...) and go along for the ride. In terms of the adaptation of Richard Wright's great American novel, I wouldn't have minded if more creative license were to be taken to alter plot details so that the story could match the absurdity and tragedy of the present in even more ways. Yet without a doubt, the horror of double consciousness is captured here and the tragedy that Native Son is still relevant today is represented clearly.
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