Repulsion

**"We must get this crack mended." ** After watching Belle de Jour and loving the hell out of it probably one of my favorite movies ever I decided to watch another Catherine Deneuve film, and oh my god, this was good. Down to the end, this might unironically be my favorite "horror" movie ever; the imagery is amazing. One thing I got right, which I think is one of the best details, is the house representing Carol's psyche or mind I’ll try to talk more about that later. It’s spectacular because you can tell, possibly from the beginning, how different Carol is from everyone she keeps to herself, she’s the "beautiful younger sister," just an alright, quiet girl. I also love how the movie shows her repulsion; it doesn’t just go, “yeah, so Carol is repulsed when Colin tries to kiss her” it shows it. Her choice to work at a salon, an all women’s place; realizing on the way there that she’s catcalled by men; quitting her job; letting mail pile up; not paying the rent she does all this to avoid engaging with men. It’s very good writing. I liked it. I also want to talk about that picture frame. I noticed while watching that it looks like she’s looking off into the distance in the way of a man, and in another shot of the same photo both her and the man can be seen, implying he is probably someone who molested her or forced her into sexual acts. That would explain her adult behavior this is common among people who faced that kind of trauma young though it might also imply she’s always been different even as a child. Near the end, she deliberately walks toward the hands of men, both disgusted and amused, practically forcing herself to like it or at least that’s how I see it after the scene where she has another traumatic hallucination of being sexually abused in her bed after putting on makeup and a smile, basically trying to force herself into liking it and trick her mind into thinking it’s consensual pleasure; it quickly fades away. Another thing: the cracks in the house I first saw this searching on Google and then in a YouTube video some say the cracks can be compared to genital cuts and tears, which is an interesting theory. I also love how they explore why and how Carol killed Colin and the landlord it wasn’t just random. They both violated her space the one she kept to herself and shared with her sister. This is clearly seen when she gets mad at her sister’s boyfriend for leaving his stuff and staying at her house longer than she wants, so her killing both the landlord and Colin, finally letting out all that repressed trauma, was pretty expected if you understood the film at that point. I honestly loved this film. Also, I fucking hate you, Roman Pulaski your actions are disgusting. Roman, I’m going to fucking kill you (hopefully someone gets the reference).