Weapons

The horror in this film comes not from the jump scares. Nor does it really stem from the missing children. Sure, we need the jump scares to keep our heart rate up or whatever, and the mystery of the missing children allows a through line story to unfold—but its actually the setting of the film that terrifies me the most. The tools with which we uphold our "freedoms" become the weapons in our downfall. Cars and yards and fences and screens seem to keep everyone from intruding too much into each other's lives. The characters stay in their lanes, in their boxes. The chapters in the film shape these boxes even clearer. Each main player takes their own singular journey while only slightly overlapping with the others. Yet within those overlaps, the communication quickly becomes misaligned and the outcomes just keep getting ugly. Society weaponizes Justine and Graff and the rest of the main players so effortlessly, so easily. The built environment creates conflict, and it upholds it too. If we keep everyone in their little boxes—and when they're there, we make them scared—all we are left with at the end is the pieces. The goddamn pieces.