Wow. Lucky McKee’s The Woman was a kick in the guts. Wildly thrilling in the manner and style in which it strives to be deeply distressing. …? I’m not sure how to describe it. Probably need to sleep on it, and stew a bit… But it’s certainly delivers the unexpected!
I think it helps that I’m already in love with McKee’s quirky sensibilities (from May and Sick Girl. Didn’t really “get” The Woods). And that I read about their scandalous sundance debut (where some nut insisted on lambasting the filmmakers for creating pure evil. possibly staged? reading about got my imagination racing to think up every possible ending that could cause such a reaction. So I was thrilled to not have come close to what actually happens). And it probably helps that I’ve already watched three other movies based on Jack Ketchum stories (so I have a sense of what to expect from his style of disturbing horror). To me, The Woman seems like a comprehensive sequel to TheGirlNextDoor, Red, and Offspring. Can’t say I enjoyed any of them (feel like I respected them, and didn’t regret watching and thinking about them. but they seem too anti-enjoyable, by design, to really entertain).
But I thoroughly enjoyed The Woman.
That is to say: it was crazy fucking sick, and strove to cross lines you don’t see crossed in movies. but it still somehow managed to serve it all up in a wildly rad engaging way.
… not sure how to describe it, except to say it was a lightly punk rock fever dream about the American family. with a dash of andy warhol (or russ meyer?) in some of the casting choices. and dash of john waters in the gleeful use of music and humor and filth. At some times, it seemed to echo the sweet dark-humored perfection of Heathers.
I’m not sure I could recommend it to anyone I know really. but. pretty damned rad.
It’s like a hard R-rated fairy tale about modern misogyny! weeeooo!