Plainclothes

the composition of this movie is absolutely stunning. writing was not entirely mind-blowing, but incredibly well written and, not to mention, well-acted. i absolutely loved the use of different aspect ratios, the cut-ins with the VCR clips, and the colors, or at times, lack thereof. the pacing was great, and all the many moving parts of the movie did not end up producing something discordant—it was, as the swedes say, lägom. the final act captured the exact anxiety i felt when i was outed by one of my friend's moms to my own. not entirely related, but not entirely removed from the context of the movie, what russell tovey's character writes in the letter reminded me of this quote from the books of jacob, where nahman (who was the unrequited lover of the main messiah character) writes in one of his letters: "For us, then, for people. good is something other than what it is for God. For us, good is the tension between God's perfection and his withdrawal in order that the world might arise. For us, good is the absence of God from where he could instead be."