I wanted to watch No Running because it was one of the few science fiction films in the festival this year, and because of its focus on racial justice, and then, after watching it I decided to pick a second thriller to keep the mood going, and chose the rowing drama, Novice because it was getting a lot of good buzz from critics. I thought both movies were entertaining, if flawed. While the tension in the first film comes from the evil in other people, the second film is a psychological study of the horror people can inflict upon themslves. Before watching them, the comparisons I saw were to the Vast of Night and Black Swan.
No Running is the story of Black high school student, Jaylen Brown, who has recently moved with his family to an almost all-white town along a nameless river. It's a mix of social commentary on racism and a suspensful tale of UFO abduction. As the pitch might go in the movie the Player, "Think the Vast of Night meets Get Out. There were some great charming moments and tight suspense sequences in this movie, but it didn't have the science fiction crunchiness of UFO-focused Vast of Night nor the more subtle and sharp analysis of race of Get Out or Lovecraft Country. Instead of showing us the everyday racism of seeming white liberals, as Get Out did, or the moore obvious white racism of the Jim Crow era like Lovecraft Country, No Running, though set in the present day, provides us with old-fashioned evil white sheriffs and an unbelievable classroom in which students watch a 50s-era black-and-white film to learn about the history of Reconstruction. It makes it too easy for white audiences to distance themselves from the "bad" characters in the film and, since this town is shown to be almost entirely white, also makes it possible to read the town as a uniquely racist backwater rather than part of a larger, racist U.S. culture. My other critique of this film (SPOILER ALERT) is that it doesn't do much with the aliens who seem to periodically abduct people from the town. Are they the saviors of characters from the wicked acts of the evil sheriffs? and if so, then why abduct Jaylen's girlfriend Amira, who unlike other abducted characters, was not in any danger at the time of her abduction? Do the evil sheriffs know about them? And if so, what do they know and why? The scenes with Jaylen and the weird old UFO hunter were great, but there could have been more of them , and they could have led somewhere more interesting. These were hanging plot threads that made the movie less exciting.
That said, it was nice to see Rutina Wesley (best known as Tara from True Blood) again, playing Jaylen's mother. In fact all the performances in this film were excellent, from Skylan Brooks as the likeable Jaylen, to his obnoxious and more socially savvy little sister, Simone, played by Diamond White, and even the weird old, UFO-hunting old guy, an actor whose name I can't find. Most of the tension in this film comes from the police hunt for Jaylen and his family's reactions, in scenes that most effectively evoke modern-day racism in criminal justice.
Against Grit: The Novice
While also a tense ride, The Novice is all about the horrors that the main character, despite being surrounded by supportive friends and having plenty of privilege, brings upon herself. I had a room-mate who rowed crew in college, so the daily 4:30 am wake-ups before practice took me back to those days, and much of the other elements in this movie rang true to the elite New England college experience. It's not surprising to learn that the film is based on the filmmaker's own experience on a crew team; the interactions between the other rowers are letter-perfect, even when they're happening in the background. As the critics have said, the performance from the lead actor in this film, Isabelle Fuhrman, is very good as the over-achiever, Alex Dall. Despite not liking her character, I was compelled to keep watching to understand the source of her driven behavior. Like many of the characters, I found that just watching her was wearing me out - I just wanted her to take a break! What I liked best about this movie was that it flipped the common praise for the grit narrative of today on its head, along with the tropes of the heroic sports genre in general. Consider it the anti-Rudy, where working as hard as possible actually doesn't pay off. Some of this also relates to the nature of crew as a team sport, where Alex's hyper-individualism is often the real cause of her shortcomings. To that extent, the film may replicate another narrative about competitive sports, where characters are supposed to learn that "there is no 'I' in team." However, this film's not-so-heart-warming tone gives that point a deeper meaning.
Shortly after watching the film, I finally came across the infamous Twitter thread of that professional advising young people to work weekends early in their careers.That woman needs to watch this movie. Like the real-life woman in the thread, Alex Dall thinks hard work is its own reward, but as this film suggests, working until you make yourself sick actually keeps you from enjoying your life. Beyond imposing wear and tear on her own body, Dall's ruthless competitiveness and overwork alienate her from other people. As one character tells her at the end, she offered her friendship to Dall, whose behavior on the team becomes a betrayal. In this case, getting along with others is not a sign of bland conformity, and striving against the "rest" isn't the sign of being a misunderstood and lonely genuis - it just makes you an asshole. Particularly as it contrasts Alex with Jamie, the student who needs to get on the varsity team to get an athletic scholarship to stay in school, the movie is against rate-busters everywhere. Novice is a perfect film for the post-neoliberal era.
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