‘Tarot’ Tries To Play on Gen Z Fears, but This Horror Comedy Did It Better

Era Z has usually been ridiculed within the media, and most of the technology’s members wholeheartedly agree, as tallied by a London Agency. Movies usually symbolize Gen Z twenty-somethings as overly zealous, “woke” (a time period that has been twisted into an insult) caricatures that spew out sure buzzwords referring to variety or psychological well being. Whereas it’s a reductive approach to understand a whole technology, one specific movie has discovered success in capitalizing on this stereotype. Haline Reijn‘s Bodies, Bodies, Bodies is a memorable A24 gem that, sure, throws not-so-subtle jabs at Gen Z, but in addition reveals a extra thorough understanding of the technology making it a pointy, insightful, and hilarious expertise.

Extra not too long ago, one other horror flick, 2024’s Tarot, has tried to attach with Gen Z by way of an curiosity that’s vastly common among the many technology: tarot readings and astrology. Nonetheless, Anna Halberg’s and Spenser Cohen’s directorial function debut lacks the thoughtfulness across the technology that Our bodies, Our bodies, Our bodies effortlessly demonstrated. Tarot merely tries to dissect Gen Z by way of a mere curiosity some appear to have, and ignores the social politics, nihilism, and irony that pervades them, one thing that Reijn’s piece dives into utilizing each satire and empathy. Whereas its astrological premise caught everybody’s preliminary curiosity, Tarot fumbles a precious alternative to essentially observe up the precedent Our bodies, Our bodies, Our bodies set.

‘Tarot’ and ‘Our bodies, Our bodies, Our bodies’ Had been Impressed By Gen Z’s Response to Lockdown

Writing Tarot on the top of COVID, Halberg talked to Supanova about her and Cohen’s inspiration for adapting the 1992 novel by Nicholas Adams, Horrorscope. “We noticed lots of our mates and friends turning to the celebs or tarot playing cards for solutions,” She explains. “We actually have been exploring this concept of destiny versus free will: are you answerable for your future or does your future management you?” With astrology changing into such an enormous facet of Gen Z lives, Tarot may have grow to be this era’s Final Destination with a celestial twist. Nonetheless, with an idea, solid, and comedy that’s so explicitly catered to Gen Z, it’s barely disappointing that the movie could not precisely seize the essence of the technology, particularly after we examine it to Our bodies, Our bodies, Our bodies.

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Whereas Halberg tapped into the extra existential facet of lockdown, the place individuals search which means by way of the celebs or tarot, Reijn’s movie resembles a sport that rose in popularity during the quarantine: Among Us. Barricaded in our rooms, Amongst Us grew to become one of many prevalent methods individuals linked with one another, because it supplied a web-based group and collaborative atmosphere whereas additionally throwing in an exciting sprint of blood and deceit. Amongst Us entails gamers gathering on a spaceship the place one or two gamers is secretly assigned the position of the impostor. The impostor should sabotage the ship and homicide the gamers with out getting caught, and every time a physique is discovered, the gamers convene to vote for who they theorize the impostor is. The sport continues in these rounds till the impostor is detected or is the one one left.

Our bodies, Our bodies, Our bodies features a bodily model of the sport, the place a bunch of mates gathers at a pal’s home and papers are drawn to determine who the key killer is. The sport follows an identical vogue, besides when somebody finds a physique they yell out “our bodies, our bodies, our bodies!” Naturally, the petty drama this sport incites is a delight to witness. Throw in satirical remarks about political correctness and mental health jargon, and the movie turns into the right approach to place a horror spin on an inherently Gen Z thought.

‘Our bodies, Our bodies, Our bodies’ Characters Satirize Gen Z

Tarot follows a bunch of mates who break one of many sacred tenets of tarot — don’t use one other particular person’s deck. After the preliminary studying, members of the group get violently picked off, with every loss of life scene explicitly linked to their studying and the determine of their Main Arcada. Naturally, the characters slowly spiral into unhinged worry, although a layer of comedy overlies the complete ordeal. The movie’s characters come off as predetermined archetypes that occur to be the identical age as Gen Z. Jacob Batalon’s Paxton is the comedic aid; Harriet Slater’s Haley is the Closing Lady with a darkish previous; Adain Bradley’s Grant is the love curiosity that exists for the protagonist; and different characters fade into the rat-pack. It’s a missed alternative to delve into Gen Z values and traits, making it sorely apparent that the movie believed making them a part of the technology was sufficient of a connection.

Alternatively, Our bodies, Our bodies, Our bodies crafted their characters to be uniquely Gen Z, tapping into the idiosyncrasies of the technology with comically and satirically delivered one-liners that maintain lots of weight. We see this in David’s (Pete Davidson) touch upon his black eye trying “cool,” or how he describes Bee (Maria Bakalova) as “cute in a school-shooter approach” merely for bringing zucchini bread to the occasion. It displays the technology’s nihilistic perspective as critical topics are talked about with such levity, but in addition ties into the technology’s preoccupation with picture, contemplating a lot of them have been raised with social media being at its peak.

However it’s the scene-stealing Alice (Rachel Zennot) who actually embodies why Gen Z is given a unfavorable popularity. She even has a funnier astrology joke than something heard in Tarot; when requested about her new boyfriend who she barely is aware of, she yells on the group, “Properly, he is a Libra Moon so I assume that claims quite a bit!” The thought of social media and self-image is inherent in her steadily talked about podcast and portrayals of narcissism, particularly in a dialog within the finale. Bee opens up about dropping out of faculty and taking good care of her mom who has borderline persona dysfunction – a uncommon grounded second that Alice disturbs by chiming in about her consuming dysfunction, resulting in a hilarious “Shut up Alice” from Myha’la‘s Jordan. Distinction this with Sophie’s (Amandla Stenberg) “you set off me” when speaking about her previous drug abuse, and Our bodies, Our bodies, Our bodies’ nuanced commentary is obvious. This displays how political correctness and correct psychological well being jargon are inherently good issues, however they are often co-opted and weaponized by narcissistic individuals for superficial causes. It’s not Gen Z’s “wokeness” that has led to their downfall, however the best way it could actually probably be used turns into self-destructive for the generation. Tarot’s characters pale compared, missing any actual identifiers of what makes them Gen Z.

Each Movies Play on Gen Z’s Connection With the Pandemic

Whereas everybody was definitely impacted by the 2020 lockdowns, Gen Z was uniquely affected by it contemplating it occurred throughout their developmental years. A decline in mental health during the pandemic was also notably reported in Gen Z way over the opposite generations. Our bodies, Our bodies, Our bodies displays this by making a lockdown ambiance by way of the hurricane, adapting a sport that was common through the pandemic, and delivering each farcical and actual representations of complicated psychological well being inside the mansion. The movie constructs a claustrophobic atmosphere that’s made disorienting by flashing lights, together with the distinctive picture of neon glow bands. In hindsight, it flawlessly re-creates the ambiance of 2020, a 12 months that folks can solely keep in mind in a haze because of the chaotic on-and-off nature of the lockdowns. All of it compounds in how the lockdown formed Gen Z, as swirling feelings have been trapped inside 4 partitions.

In the meantime, Halberg faucets into an anecdotal cause for choosing tarot readings as a tool to attach with Gen Z. As talked about earlier than, she remembers how individuals she knew appeared to the celebs for solutions throughout this tumultuous time, and BBC reaffirms this with reports of astrologers’ businesses booming through the pandemic. Whereas TikTok demonstrates that Gen Z additionally partakes on this astrological passion, it’s nonetheless a reasonably tenuous approach to connect with a whole technology. Whereas Our bodies, Our bodies, Our bodies is impressed by a sport that addressed the social isolation throughout lockdown, which additionally led into its dialog round psychological well being, Tarot’s connection is pretty arbitrary, because it wasn’t solely Gen Z that turned to astrology through the pandemic – it was throughout generations as advised by BBC.

‘Our bodies, Our bodies, Our bodies’ Places A Higher Horror Twist on Gen Z

The thought of Gen Z being self-destructive can also be masterfully delivered in Bodies, Bodies, Bodies’ finale. Utilizing the format of a homicide thriller wrapped in horror parts of darkness and bounce scares permits for the ultimate egregious plot twist to really embody why Gen Z has its popularity. In the long run, they create their very own demise, with the proper buzzwords and petty drama strung alongside the best way. By additionally riffing on And Then There Were None, every character turns into culpable within the technology’s downfall, irrespective of how stereotypically they’re portrayed or not.

Alternatively, Tarot’s Closing Vacation spot-esque plot is solely riveting to witness however doesn’t essentially give the movie respiratory room to discover the technology holistically. The movie provides us stunningly theatrical deaths, from the contorted Hangman to the downright terrifying Fool, but in addition delivers rudimentary narrative filler in between that tries to create compelling relationships between its one-dimensional characters. The filler appears to be the movies’ try at tackling Gen Z, however with an arbitrary outlook on trauma and common comedy, it doesn’t reveal something particular in regards to the technology. As such, it falls into the lure of counting on the tarot card iconography, refining the loss of life scenes to perfection however leaving its Gen Z commentary incomplete.

Our bodies, Our bodies, Our bodies works as a result of it doesn’t lazily critique Gen Z for his or her “wokeness” about variety and psychological well being, however as an alternative thoughtfully engages with why Gen Z is represented on this approach, all whereas delivering a compelling murder mystery. In the meantime, Tarot merely has a façade of being inherently Gen Z, giving us a horror twist on an astrological passion that’s completely enjoyable to look at however is in the end superficial.

Our bodies, Our bodies, Our bodies is offered to stream now on Netflix within the U.S.

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