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Excision

“It’s like a Shakespearean tragedy without the Shakespeare. In the end, all of the subconscious craziness in ‘Excision’ is just an unnecessary afterthought tacked onto an insightful coming-of-age story.”

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12 years ago

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Quirky coming-of-age comedies are the bread-and-butter of the Sundance Film Festival. They’re part of a storied tradition that includes titles like Tadpole, Welcome to the Dollhouse, Stolen Summer, and Son of Rambow, but where does an occasionally trippy and disturbing comedy like Excision fit into this storied tradition? Like the best coming-of-age comedies, it’s awkwardly funny and painfully relatable…when it’s not shocking you with Tarsem-like dream sequences featuring gouts of blood and midgets in diapers. But I’ll get to that in a minute. Like 2007’s Teeth, it’s a Sundance comedy that defies easy categorization.

18-year-old Pauline is the film’s juicy center of indie-film adolescent angst. With her hooded eyes and cro-magnon eyebrows, she’s definitely ugs. (The foxy AnnaLynne McCord wore a series of prosthetics for the role.) Bullied at school and ridiculed by a domineering mother (Traci Lords), Pauline is desperate for new friends, but her attempts at friendship are rejected at every turn. She’s just too goddam ugly.

As a parable of adolescence, Excision is very cleverly observed. It’s riddled with the staples of indie teen comedy: menstruation, virginity, a struggle for sense of self. In fact, Excision serves as the textbook depiction of cinematic teen anguish. So then why make the choice to inter-cut all the awesome melancholy with crazy-ass dream imagery? And why build such meticulous characters only to end it all in a screechy, bloody finale? It’s like a Shakespearean tragedy without the Shakespeare. In the end, all of the subconscious craziness in Excision is just an unnecessary afterthought tacked onto an insightful coming-of-age story.

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‘Ready or Not’: Radio Silence Filmmakers Tease the “Absolute Banger” of a Sequel That’s Taking Shape

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12 hours ago

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April 15, 2024

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It was first reported a couple weeks ago that Ready or Not 2 is now in development, with Adam Robitel (The Taking of Deborah Logan, Insidious: The Last Key, Escape Room, Escape Room: Tournament of Champions) in talks to direct the sequel to the 2019 box office hit. Additionally, we had learned that Samara Weaving would be returning to star.

Entertainment Weekly caught up with Ready or Not directors Tyler Gillett and Matt Bettinelli-Olpin in the wake of those reports, and we’ve now got an update straight from the source.

“It’s getting figured out. That’s what we’ll say: Ready or Not 2 is getting figured out,” Gillett tells EW, confirming last month’s report. “What we can say is that there is a script that is an absolute fucking banger of a sequel. And however it gets made, and in whatever capacity we are helping get it made, we are so excited that it’s happening.”

“I don’t think we knew after making [Ready or Not] that there would be so much story left to tell,” Gillett continues. “We’re so proud of what that first movie is, we’re so proud of what the sequel is. We’re just really excited, and fingers crossed that it gets made.” Bettinelli-Olpin adds, “And with Searchlight and Samara, they’re not gonna let it down.”

The first film introduced a mythology wherein the wealthy Le Domas family has made a deal with the devil, one that requires them to take part in bizarre – and deadly – wedding night traditions. There’s much that can be done with the premise going forward, even if the first movie ended with Weaving’s Grace massacring the family and burning down their estate.

Wikipedia reminds, “The sole survivor of the night, Grace walks out of the burning manor just as the police arrive. Upon asking her what happened, she simply replies: in-laws.”

Samara Weaving

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