October is usually when one tends to consume films with their hands placed around their eyes since we are aware of the vivid horror that might unfold. ‘Nobody Walks‘ directed by Ry Russo Young is no exception i suppose what they say is true, horror movies cause viewers to shield themselves from the terror that awaits. In this propulsive, nuanced drama, at least to me, they are downright terrifying.
One glance at the writing credits of the film should leave you in disbelief. This is not because it is masterfully done, but because Russo-Young co-wrote this film with Lena Dunham who happens to be the director of the HBO series Girls. Both of these works view the rather crude and complicated sides of love and sex which makes them much more relatable.
Russo Young himself said it gets much more complicated than this in ‘Nobody Walks’, a film where every character is involved with the wrong person. The film explores how and why the act of fulfilling one’s inappropriate desires leads to cringe worthy disasters, some of which might be termed as ‘funny’ but they are far too awkward and sad.
Olivia Thirlby assumes the role of Martine, a budding artist and avant-garde filmmaker based in New York City, who comes to Los Angeles to complete the sound design for her first film with Peter (John Krasinski). Peter, a soundman in Los Angeles, is offering his services free of charge because he is friends with Martine’s therapist wife, Julie (Rosemarie DeWitt). Martine will demonstrate the rolling epicenter of a sexual eruption of which the first tremors appear to have been heard long before she even set foot in the place.
Peter has fallen in love with Martine, which does not please Julie at all, who considers their affair an absolute certainty. Julie worries that she will be humiliated by Peter and admits to being attracted to Martine too. Peter’s assistant David (Rhys Wakefield) also develops an attraction towards Martine, not that it will make Julie’s daughter Kilt too happy, because she has an inappropriate crush on him.Â
While this happens, one of Julie’s patients is disclosing his exceptionally passionate impulses during their sessions, and Kilt’s Italian tutor who is of a certain age is cruelly making her twisted crush on David seem much less inappropriate.
There are several romantic interests that are explored in different dimensions with not so pleasant results for Martine. Martine is the most important person in this particular scenario. After getting out of a relationship where she was being used in a nude art lawsuit, Martine decides to try to forget what happened in her life and figures out how to recreate her motivation, this time through film. Because of this, she is also able to away from home.
This film managed to skip over easy explanations or labels which makes it all the more fascinating. Rather than painting Martine as a seductive man’s nightmare, Peter the heartless butcher, or Julie being the cheated upon mad woman demon, Russo Young’s characters offer a paradigm shift in thinking. They pose as bewildered people who cannot control their impulses but are trying to put their lives together. The situation complicates because not everyone is innocent, but no one seems to know what the answer is either.Â
Rosemarie DeWitt plays the woman psychologist’s wife, who comes with her own baggage like everyone else.
The film draws a very impactful comparison between Kilt’s adolescence and that of the adults in her life. The same sense of discomfort exudes when Peter uncomfortably tailors Martine at the party while simultaneously trying really hard to fulfill his wife’s orders of not embarrassing himself. The actions of these characters are rather similar to that of the boy at the high school dance who just wants to be close to the girl he finds attractive. The scene Julie witnesses is far too uncomfortable to even attempt to understand the quiet humiliation it arises.Â
The feeling of envy Peter has when David drives by in an overly cool 1960s Oldsmobile Starfire can equally be compared to that of a AV nerd watching his crush drive off with a football star. It is completely normal for us to undergo so many conflicting emotions. What is most important is that these feelings change as we grow older.
A postmodern family drama and an experimental film might find it complicated to exist in context together. It is quite evident that Nobody Walks deals with the issues concerning modernity and multiculturalism, as is often the case with postmodern works. Loosely constructed, Nobody Walks flows from embarrassing moment to another without quite having a story. However, it is quite evident that Martine’s involvement is slowly opening fissures in this family which are already starting to burgeon. The question now becomes how far any of these connections will go before they snap.
At the end of the movie, however, it becomes clear that all these bonds have to be mended. These characters have been engaging to the maximum possible borderline, poised on a cliff and attempting to determine the breaking point of gravity before they are clasped by it.
This sort of premeditated inclination towards self-sabotage is what every individual here seems to be guilty of in varying proportions. That said, these characteristics can be undesirable to a certain audience. There is no character here that one does not wish to reach out to and jolt out of it at some point of time. Nevertheless, this flawed persona is what makes most of these people entertaining, even if at times they are almost screwing things up so badly that one is left with no option but cover their eyes.
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