{"id":183974,"date":"2021-02-20T17:16:00","date_gmt":"2021-02-20T14:16:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/filmmaker-bryan-bertino-and-21st-century-nihilism\/"},"modified":"2021-02-20T17:16:00","modified_gmt":"2021-02-20T14:16:00","slug":"filmmaker-bryan-bertino-and-21st-century-nihilism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/filmmaker-bryan-bertino-and-21st-century-nihilism\/","title":{"rendered":"#Filmmaker Bryan Bertino and 21st-Century Nihilism"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;<strong>#Filmmaker Bryan Bertino and 21st-Century Nihilism<\/strong>&#8221;<\/p>\n<div>\n<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\">\n                <\/aside>\n<p><!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 3.7.9-->Shades of nihilism are no stranger to the horror genre. The human body is so often manipulated and destroyed in the face of an evil force. However, in the 21st century, a new type of nihilistic cinema was born in France with the <strong><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/New_French_Extremity\">New French Extremity<\/a><\/strong>. After the terrorist attacks of 9\/11, the world felt defenseless, and the films within this movement, such as <em>Martyrs<\/em> and <em>High Tension<\/em>, depend on the complete destruction of the human body to convey a sense of hopelessness: bad things h<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>en to normal people and it cannot be stopped. But in the US, while there was a rise in torture porn films such as <em>Saw <\/em>and <em>Hostel<\/em>, there wasn\u2019t such a pervading sense of nihilism in mainstream American horror cinema.<\/p>\n<p>Enter <strong>Bryan Bertino<\/strong>, who burst into the film world in 2008 with his home invasion thriller, <em><strong>The Strangers<\/strong><\/em>. With his killers\u2019 reasoning simply being \u201cbecause you were home,\u201d Bertino established himself as a filmmaker who was not interested in happy endings. Instead, his work encapsulates the deep sense of insecurity that came with post-9\/11 America and pervades today. His entire filmography speaks to the futility of humanity trying to gain control over danger and how sometimes terrible things just happen to good people. There is no rhyme or reason as to why Bertino\u2019s characters are targeted. Their horrific fate is nothing but random chance.<\/p>\n<p>The shock of <em>The Strangers <\/em>during its initial release was particularly centered on that key phrase: \u201cBecause you were home.\u201d Kristen (Liv Tyler) and James (Scott Speedman) are staying at his family cottage in the middle of nowhere. As they settle in for the night, they receive loud knocks at the door from a young woman who asks, \u201cIs Tamara home?\u201d This unsettling interaction launches a <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/watch-movies-tv-seriess\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"8\" title=\"Watch Movies &amp; TV Series\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">series<\/a> of events where three people in masks terrorize the couple for no other reason except for their sick enjoyment. They have no history with Kristen and James and just so happened to choose the house because the couple opened the door. Common courtesy is weaponized as an invitation to kill.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Kristen and James are barely able to inflict injury on the masked assailants. Even when they find a gun or grab a knife, they are unable to ever gain the upper hand against the three strangers. These are not bumbling criminals, but sociopaths who do this for the thrill of the hunt. They know what to expect from a desperate couple trying to save themselves, and they toy with them all night as a sick <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/game\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"7\" title=\"Game\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">game<\/a>. The only goal is pain \u2014 they don\u2019t want money or revenge. They just want blood.<\/p>\n<p>This invasion of the domestic space has a close correlation to post-9\/11 cinema, as genre film even more explicitly established homes as a place of danger rather than safety. While home invasion was not a new topic, in the 2000s, homes were most often invaded by random strangers rather than monsters or bloodthirsty serial killers. The monsters are the humans themselves, capable of horrific violence.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"800\" height=\"400\" src=\"https:\/\/filmschoolrejects.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/mockingbird-clown-2014.jpg\" alt=\"Directed by Bryan Bertino: Mockingbird\" class=\"wp-image-363398\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmschoolrejects.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/mockingbird-clown-2014.jpg 800w, https:\/\/filmschoolrejects.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/mockingbird-clown-2014-768x384.jpg 768w, https:\/\/filmschoolrejects.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/mockingbird-clown-2014-710x355.jpg 710w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\"\/><figcaption>Blumhouse Productions<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Released in 2014, <em><strong>Mockingbird<\/strong><\/em> is Bryan Bertino\u2019s venture into the found footage subgenre, which is arguably a nihilistic genre in <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/general\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"3\" title=\"General\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">general<\/a>. A majority of films with that label contain raw footage of a person or group\u2019s final days and therefore end with the death of everyone on camera. But <em>Mockingbird<\/em> goes the extra mile in having unnamed people, similar to <em>The Strangers<\/em>, torture three separate groups of people who are eventually brought together in an act of extreme violence. They place mysterious boxes on front doorsteps, each containing a video camera and a set of instructions. If they don\u2019t follow instructions, they or someone they love will be killed.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Each group has a special label that makes them a figure instead of people: \u201cThe Family,\u201d couple Tom and Emmy; \u201cThe Woman,\u201d Beth; and \u201cThe Clown,\u201d Leonard. Their humanity is removed and they are s<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/trip-and-travel\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"10\" title=\"Trip &amp; Travel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">trip<\/a>ped of any illusion of agency; they become puppets for the sick enjoyment of whoever may be watching.\u00a0 Again, similar to <em>The Strangers<\/em>, the three groups of victims are never in control of the situation despite hiding in their homes with the doors and windows locked. Home means nothing when an assailant can predict every move.<\/p>\n<p>But the most nihilistic element of <em>Mockingbird<\/em> is the reveal of who has always been in control of the situation: a group of children. Creepy, possessed children are a horror staple, but here, they are not possessed nor under the influence of an evil entity. Instead, it is implied, they are acting of their own volition and torturing adults as a sick game. Once again, human life is tossed around like a plaything, showing there is nothing left but the infliction of suffering.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"800\" height=\"333\" src=\"https:\/\/filmschoolrejects.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/the-monster-2016-zoe-kazan.jpg\" alt=\"Zoe Kazan in The Monster, Directed by Bryan Bertino.\" class=\"wp-image-363399\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmschoolrejects.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/the-monster-2016-zoe-kazan.jpg 800w, https:\/\/filmschoolrejects.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/the-monster-2016-zoe-kazan-768x320.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\"\/><figcaption>A24<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Bryan Bertino\u2019s third film, <em><strong>The Monster<\/strong><\/em>, released in 2016,<em> <\/em>is perhaps the biggest deviation from his typical films, incorporating an actual monster instead of just cruel humans. The threat feels much further from reality as the creature is attacking a mother (Zoe Kazan) and daughter (Ella Ballentine after they\u2019ve broken down on a back road. <em>The Monster<\/em> more closely follows genre conventions in its setup and use of a fictional monster to create fear.<\/p>\n<p>That is not to say that Bertino does not sprinkle in his love of misery, which is centered on the tumultuous relationship between a mother and her young daughter, who is painfully aware of her mother\u2019s alcoholism. As the two try to navigate each other\u2019s emotions, they are pummeled by this creature, which doesn\u2019t care about their issues. They scream insults at one another, and neither mother nor daughter is safe from violence. Ultimately, Bertino continues to portray the death of the family not just by their resentment, but also by the mother\u2019s eventual death. Yes, she protected her child, but that still leads to a message of families unable to truly stay together in the face of violence.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/filmschoolrejects.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/the-dark-and-the-wicked-2020.jpg\" alt=\"Directed by Bryan Bertino: The Dark And The Wicked\" class=\"wp-image-363400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmschoolrejects.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/the-dark-and-the-wicked-2020.jpg 800w, https:\/\/filmschoolrejects.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/the-dark-and-the-wicked-2020-768x432.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\"\/><figcaption>RLJE Films<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Bertino\u2019s most recent film, 2020\u2019s<strong> <em>The Dark and the Wicked<\/em><\/strong>, is the culmination of his previous three films in how families become random targets of violence with no rhyme or reason. Again, the family, the domestic unit that is supposed to be the backbone of America and a safe place shielded from the horrors of the world, is systematically destroyed. No longer is the home safe; the place that was once a shelter becomes a hellscape.<\/p>\n<p>When they receive <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">news<\/a> that their father is dying, siblings Louise (Marin Ireland) and Michael (Michael Abbott, Jr.) return home to the family farm despite their mother\u2019s aggressive insistence that they don\u2019t come. Her vague words of warning won\u2019t stop her children, and upon their arrival, whatever is plaguing the farm extends its influence to Louise and Michael. It is an insidious force with only the goal to cause pain, and pain it brings as the entire family is haunted by horrific images that blur the lines between reality and delusion.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>No matter what Louise and Michael do to try to stop the entity haunting their family, they are stopped in their tracks. In fact, the presence plaguing every second of their lives tells the siblings that their father did nothing wrong. They were just chosen at random. Just as in <em>The Strangers<\/em>, <em>Mockingbird<\/em>, and <em>The Monster<\/em>, these events don\u2019t necessarily have a catalyst. They were just the unlucky ones that gained the attention of a bored entity that wants to wreak havoc. <\/p>\n<p>Their father\u2019s nurse commits suicide via a knitting needle through the eye. Their mother chops off her fingers and hangs herself in the barn. There is no absolution of sins or purification that can save them. The story is an inversion of the typical possession plot where a family can band together and conquer the evil together as one unified front. Instead of the eventual happy ending and banishing of the demon, each family member slowly succumbs to their doomed fate.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Suffice to say, Bertino\u2019s filmography is universally bleak as he aims to navigate nihilism and the random nature of violence rather than creating mythical beings with elaborate backstories. In avoiding the characterization of his villains, they become all the more terrifying as they become looming and unknowable figures who enjoy nothing more than suffering. <\/p>\n<p>In looking at how 21st-century cultural insecurities have been filtered through a genre lens, the work of Bryan Bertino should be at the top of the list as films that refuse to sugarcoat reality and instead lean into our deep sadness about the destruction of an illusion of safety.\n<\/p><\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. 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The human body is so often manipulated and destroyed in the face of an evil force. However, in the 21st century, a new type of nihilistic cinema was born in France with the New French Extremity. After the terrorist&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":183975,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/filmschoolrejects.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/bryan-bertino-the-strangers-collage.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[61750,62646],"class_list":["post-183974","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-social-mediaa","tag-the-dark-and-the-wicked","tag-bryan-bertino"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183974","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=183974"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183974\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/183975"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=183974"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=183974"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=183974"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}