Splicing Up the Details of the “Us” Soundtrack (and Lupita’s horror movie homework)

March 21, 2019March 21, 2019 PlayerOne2 Comments

So Jordan Peele’s new nightmare, Us, opens TONIGHT!

Well, it opens tonight for all us normal people. Many who attended SXSW got to see it on March 8, and while everyone who saw it seems to LOVE it, they’re being very tight-lipped about the details.

I appreciate this, honestly, because there’s nothing quite like going into a Jordan Peele movie blind (I’m so thankful no one spoiled Get Out for me). So while we don’t know many details right now, #keepitbetweenUS, what we do know is that all the secrecy means one thing: PLOT TWISTS. PLOT TWISTS EVERYWHERE.

The soundtrack for Us came out just under a week ago, and since we all know how I feel about movie soundtracks, I thought I’d spend some time splicing apart whatever we can from the soundtrack itself and the track titles. After that we’ll take a look at Lupita Nyong’o’s horror movie homework to see what else we can speculate about…

What we’ll do is go through the list, track by track, and just speculate! Also included will be a drawing interpretation by me of what I think may happen in the movie based off of the music and the name of the song.

So, without further ado…

TRACK 1: “Anthem”

The soundtrack starts with “Anthem,” which lets you know from the very beginning that, just as Jordan Peele himself tweeted, Us is a horror movie. This first song is just real unsettling. There’s some kind of chanting going on, with a whole lot of white noise-esque sounds underneath it. The chanting builds, and underneath it, it sounds like we have one drum and a bunch of stringed instruments providing the rhythm. I can’t even begin to speculate what might be happening onscreen during this, but it probably isn’t good. It ends with some kind of minor chord strummed out, and it’s just…wow it’s unnerving.

By the way, the soundtrack is composed by Michael Abels, who also composed the soundtrack for-you guessed it-Get Out. I drew Jordan Peele here because I’m sure he had some say in it, but the real musical mastermind behind all of this is Michael Abels.

TRACK 2: “Outernet”

The next track is a shorter piece, and while I wouldn’t say it’s “happier” by any means, it’s definitely calmer. Strings play underneath a slow piano tune and there is no chanting to be heard anywhere!

This I’m assuming is when our main family is introduced: Adelaide, Gabe, Zora, and Jason. The song does kind of seem to set up an “everything’s fine…or is it” mood.

TRACK 3: “Spider”

I have NO idea what could possibly happen during this number. I tried looking through the cast to see if maybe there’s a character named “Spider,” but there doesn’t seem to be. This could be about an actual spider, of course. Maybe it serves as some sort of foreshadowing, or maybe it’s the first of those “things lining up” that Adelaide mentions in one of the trailers.

Either way, the song starts out somewhat pleasant and calm, like “Outernet,” but it builds up into, you guessed it, real unsettling.

I mean I thought the creepy animal of choice for this movie was a bunny…

…is there a type of bunny called “spider bunny”? IS THIS TIED INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE???

TRACK 4: “Ballet Memory”

This track is interesting-besides “Anthem,” it feels like the first track that really comes right out of a horror film. It builds up even more intensely than any of the other tracks, with strings all playing at once in all different notes. You can tell SOMETHING not good happens…

In the trailers, we do see glimpses of what appears to be some sort of ballet recital. Initially I thought the girl in the clips was Zora, but the cast list shows that there’s a “Young Adelaide” and a “Teenage Adelaide.” Since it is titled “Ballet Memory,” it’s possible the girl in the ballet clips is actually Adelaide. Perhaps she saw Red, her Tethered, as a child AND a teen…

TRACK 5: “Beach Walk”

This HAS to be referencing the beautiful shot in the trailers that shows the family walking along the beach with their shadows stretched behind them.

This is an interesting track, because while it should theoretically be a happy walk-yay vacation and seeing family friends!-it’s just as unnerving as anything else. The music is really gonna help remind us that, yes, this is a horror movie.

Also, the chanting from “Anthem” comes back in this track for a brief moment before we have some fun rhythm section stuff and squeaky strings. I say “fun” because it kind of is, but mostly it’s just creepy.

TRACK 6: “First Man Standing”

This title, I’m assuming, is referencing the clip in the trailers of the creepy guy Jason runs into on the beach. You know, the one in the tattered jacket facing away from Jason with two bloody fingers. That one!

This track is shorter as well, and actually most of it is kind of calm like “Outernet,” and then there’s a sudden build-up to what I’m assuming is the moment when Jason sees the creepy guy. Is he a Tethered? He looks like he has the iconic red jumpsuit, although he also has the weird green coat over it, so who knows.

TRACK 7: “Back to the House”

This, I’m assuming, is going to be a lot of Adelaide flashing back to her childhood since she thought she lost Jason on the beach (like we saw in the trailers). It’s definitely another unsettling little track, and since we all know what happens once they’re in the house…DON’T GO BACK TO THE HOUSE!!!

TRACK 8: “Keep You Safe”

This has to reference the scene in the trailers where Adelaide is talking to Jason about sticking with her so he’ll be safe. So obviously, Adelaide has had experiences with the Tethered, she knows what it did to her as a child, so it’s fascinating that she’d even agree to come back to this childhood home of hers in the first place…

There’s an interesting section in this track where the strings play a real intense melody that directly contrasts the calm mood of the beginning of the track-is this when Jason first notices…the family in the driveway???

TRACK 9: “Don’t Feel Like Myself”

This could be talking about a number of things, but I’m assuming at one point we have to jump to Elizabeth Moss’s character and her…unfortunate experience. We do see her having a brief conversation in her house with her husband in one trailer, and then of course there’s the iconic shot of her crawling to the camera.

So while I’m assuming this track is going to be about Kitty Tyler, it’s interesting that the track is called what it is…do the Tethered have some sort of possession abilities? How many times do we say that we “don’t feel like ourselves?”

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN

TRACK 10: “She Tried to Kill Me”

Based off of me thinking the previous track is about Kitty, I’m assuming then that the title of this track is referencing the moment where she’s crawling towards the camera…what if she gets into contact with Adelaide somehow and tells her that “she tried to kill me?”

If Adelaide is alerted that something is going on before their own Tethered’s show up, that would help explain why she seems to sort of know that something is wrong in the trailers after the “family in our driveway” line.

The other side of this is that this is actually another flashback of Adelaide’s-perhaps we get to see even more of her previous experiences with the Tethered.

Both this track and the previous are very similar-they’re not fast-paced by any means, but they’re eerie and suspenseful in a slow, creeping way. Again, you know something is wrong just by listening to it…if you played these tracks over footage of someone walking in a sunny garden, you’d be waiting for the ravenous zombie to jump out.

TRACK 11: “Boogieman’s Family”

This HAS to be this moment, when Jason says this and Gabe goes to investigate. We know the actual coming after them doesn’t start till the next track (based off the title).

I’m assuming based off this title that Jason called the bloody man on the beach the “Boogieman,” and so when he sees the other Tethered in the driveway, this is what he assumes-he has a family!

No chanting in this track, but there is some creepy choral “ooh-ing” alongside some unnerving string work. It’s just not a happy song, you guys.

TRACK 12: “Home Invasion”

Aaaaand the Tethered have joined the film!

This, of course, must be when the Tethered family breaks into the Wilson’s home. You can tell in the music EXACTLY when the actual invading starts…there’s a creepy, slow build-up before sudden strings and then everything is fast-paced and as unsettling as ever.

This is one of the longer songs on the soundtrack, which means this whole invasion scene is gonna be long and drawn-out and I JUST. That whole concept is absolutely my worst nightmare, why would you elongate it like this. Why.

Is it because it’s nightmare-inducing? Yeah. Yeah that’s it.

TRACK 13: “Once Upon a Time”

This is a little more difficult to figure out…we go from intense home-invasion music to slow, drawling strings and a title like that (also, the “ooh-ing” choir is back!)…I initially thought maybe this was Adelaide finally telling her family about her previous experiences with these things, but it’s odd that the Tethered would just let her talk for that long without like…killing all of them. If that is their goal! We don’t know!!

It’s also possible that maybe this is Red telling the story…maybe discussing the flashbacks we’ve already seen from her perspective.

Anyway. This is a real creepy track.

TRACK 14: “Run”

This is, without a doubt, my favorite song on the soundtrack. Up to this point, all the songs have kind of fit together, with their chanting and “ooh-ing” and long, drawn-out stringed instrument notes…but this song?

There’s a slow, menacing drum beat almost the whole way through, with short string notes played in between and all around but at different moments, and sometimes they make shrieking noises and sometimes they build-up without the drums and then silence…right before the drums kick back in.

There’s a brief section near the end that plays the melody the strings are plucking out with a piano, a moment where I’m assuming everyone thinks they’ve escaped and everything’s fine….BUT NOPE.

It’s still unsettling, of course, but what I think is really fascinating is that it’s called “Run.” It’s not a quick song at all-the constant drum beat does not sound like someone running, it sounds like someone marching. I’m assuming, of course, this means that the Wilson’s are running for their lives and all, but the fact that it’s not fast-paced music urging them on almost makes it scarier. It’s slow, it’s loud, it’s constant…it’s a little terrifying.

Compare it to “Escape the Subway” from the Spider-verse soundtrack-another song where the lead is running from the villain, but that song is fast-paced, it sounds like someone is definitely running!

This sounds like even if someone is running, they don’t actually have a chance.

TRACK 15: “Into the Water”

Since there’s a track later that actually mentions the boat in the title, it’s possible this isn’t referencing the boat at all. Still, I’m assuming this is some kind of attempted escape involving…the water.

Is water their weakness? IS THIS LIKE SIGNS ALL OVER AGAIN???

Probably not.

This track feels a lot more disjointed than some of the others-the music starts heading one direction before stopping abruptly and turning the complete other way with a new melody and new instruments. There’s a small section that’ll sound like running, then a sudden drum beat, then slow, constant, eerie strings…

I dunno, fam. I just wanna know how the pun boats will help the family.

TRACK 16: “Spark in the Closet”

I’m guessing this track is the one the plays during the scene we saw in the trailer of Jason and his Tethered, Pluto, in the closest together. With fire.

This is also the scene where Pluto takes his mask off and we see all his horrible burn scars on his face.

What is Pluto’s obsession with fire??? IS IT BECAUSE WATER IS THEIR WEAKNESS? PLUTO DID YOU NEVER PLAY POKÉMON?? FIRE IS WEAK TO WATER THAT DOESN’T HELP AT ALL!!! GET YOURSELF A BULBASAUR AND YOU’LL BE FINE

TRACK 17: “Escape to the Boat”

This is one of the only truly fast-paced and intense songs on the soundtrack, at least in the beginning. It slows down just as the instruments build, so WHO KNOWS WHAT THAT MEANS.

Based off the title, I’m assuming this is like, everyone makes a break for the boat. I’m also assuming this doesn’t work since we’re only about halfway through the soundtrack.

Also-the creepy chanting is back! Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!

TRACK 18: “Femme Fatale”

This is actually another one of my favorite tracks, I think.

Based off the title and what we see of Adelaide in the trailers, I’m assuming this is referencing her being a total badass.

It’s interesting, though, because the first half of the track sounds like it was ripped from a romance scene from a black-and-white movie. Or like, maybe Gone with the Wind. Then, once the creepiness comes in, the same theme distorts and the drums from “Run” are back. It’s just so unsettling and interesting and I JUST WANT TO KNOW WHAT IT MEANS!!!

It’s also possible this actually references Red. Like maybe the happy-ish music from the beginning is Red, and then the distortion is Adelaide coming after her…

We don’t really know that the Tethered are bad, do we…?

TRACK 19: “Silent Scream”

I’m guessing this is referencing the brief moment we catch in the trailers of Adelaide screaming while holding…someone. It’s too quick to catch who it is that she’s holding, buuuut….I’m assuming it isn’t…..good……

Also, for a track titled the way it is, it sure is anything but silent. It’s loud, with lots of instruments and melodies battling it out for dominance.

Basically, I’m assuming things are going really well by this point in the film. I’m sure everything’s fine.

TRACK 20: “News Report”

We see at least a couple shots in the trailers of the beach just…littered with what I’m assuming are corpses. Basically everyone in the cast is listed as playing two characters, which means everyone in the town has a Tethered, and they all attacked on that one night…for some reason.

Also rabbits are everywhere.

Since many of the shots are in daylight, we know that the attack starts with the home invasion at night but goes on into the next day, which is when I’m assuming the mysterious news report takes place.

Does the reporter live through the end of the film??? Probably not, but we’ll see.

TRACK 21: “Zora Drives”

This track, clearly, is about Zora driving-we do see her behind the wheel for a moment in the trailers.

The big question then, of course, is why she’s driving-what happened to lead to that point?? WHERE ARE ADELAIDE AND GABE.

This track also introduces us to a really creepy string tune that plays throughout the track at different speeds…so that’s…fun.

TRACK 22: “Death of Umbrae”

We know from the cast list that Zora’s Tethered is named Umbrae…so um…she apparently doesn’t make it.

This tells us a couple things-aside from the fact that yes, Umbrae dies, it tells us that the Tethered can be killed. There’s a way, somehow, for them to die.

Does Zora hit her with the car? Is that it?

This track features an “ahh-ing” choir and somber string notes. So I’m assuming her death is something dramatic and intense and maybe…not a good thing?

TRACK 23: “Somber Ride”

With a title like that, you’d expect like…something slow, something contemplative, something, ya know, somber? It’s not really. The strings are certainly somber, still super creepy, but there’s a drum beat that carries through most of the track to take away any element of “somber.”

It also makes me think, again, since this is the track following Umbrae’s death, maaaaaybe her death wasn’t such a good thing…

For example, what happens if your Tethered dies? Just how tethered together are the two of you? Does Umbrae’s death affect Zora in some way??

TRACK 24: “Immolation”

“Immolation” is, apparently, some kind of sacrifice, usually involving fire.

I’m assuming then that it has to do with Pluto somehow, since he’s the one attached to fire. The track itself has an interesting build-up, with intense choral singing leading into lots of “ahh-ing” combined with a quick-paced string melody and lots of drums. It certainly sounds like the build-up to some kind of sacrifice, but why is a sacrifice necessary?

Is it that a sacrifice is necessary to kill the Tethered? In that case, who was the sacrifice for Umbrae’s death?

What does ANY OF THIS MEAN???

TRACK 25: “Down the Rabbit Hole”

We’re now getting into the tracks that truly confuse me. I really don’t get the rabbit thing…why are they everywhere? Why is there rabbit IMAGERY everywhere??

The title is, of course, an Alice in Wonderland reference, but why? Alice never had a double of herself that I recall, although there is the whole Through the Looking Glass thing. We do see at least some mirror imagery in the trailers, so maybe that’s what the reference really is…

I dunno. It’s a cool track, though-it has a fun build-up to some fast-paced string melodies and some intense drum work. Clearly something dramatic happens!

TRACK 26: “Performance Art”

Look, the title was giving me nothing, and it’s almost impossible to speculate what could be happening at this point in the film.

Now we know that we have some ballet references in here, so that’s what the title could be referring to, but we don’t really know for sure.

Are the bunnies a performance art? IS THAT WHAT THEY MEAN??

TRACK 27: “Human”

Ah yes, the age-old question.

Something at this point in the film discusses the idea of being “human,” I’m assuming. Are the Tethered human? Are the Wilson’s any more or less human than the Tethered? Do certain actions taken throughout the film challenge that idea of being human? Does killing someone make you more or less human? If the Tethered aren’t human, does killing them make you more or less human?

I have no idea if that’s the rabbit hole (GET IT?? THESE ARE THE JOKES!!) the film will go down with this track or not, but it’s certainly an interesting concept.

The track itself is generally much more slow-paced than the previous ones leading up to it. It still has the creepy choir, but it’s generally more contemplative than the quick and creepy string melodies from before.

TRACK 28: “Battle Plan”

Aaaand we’re back to the chanting and the fast-paced strings and drums!!

This is a shorter track, again, but it’s full of determination! I’m assuming it’s a battle plan Adelaide comes up with, but again, we don’t know if the Tethered are actually villains or not…maybe this is the Wilson’s helping the Tethered overcome an entirely different enemy.

WHO KNOWS. I DON’T.

TRACK 29: “Pas de deux”

Another one of my favorite tracks!!

If you’ve watched the trailers…semi-obsessively hunting for clues like I have, then this track should sound familiar to you-this is the creepy remixed part of “I Got 5 On It” that we hear in the trailers, minus the actual “I Got 5 On It” section.

If you aren’t familiar with ballet terms (or you’re not a weeb like I freely admit I am and didn’t watch Princess Tutu ever), a pas de deux literally translates to “step of two” in French. It’s a duet dance, and a staple of any ballet.

Since we know ballet plays some kind of key role in this, it’s fascinating to me that this song comes after “Battle Plan.” A dance for two is part of the plan? Obviously it doesn’t have to be an actual dance, could be a metaphor, whatever, but can you imagine if their plan was actually dancing? GET ‘EM, ADELAIDE.

Also though, you can’t be talking about the duality of people and ballet without mentioning, of course, Swan Lake. The whole point of the story is that the white swan loses her love because the black swan, her evil double, deceives the prince and takes her place.

The more I think about it, the more I think it’s interesting that Black Swan was not one of the movies in Lupita Nyong’o’s homework stash, but more on that later…

TRACK 30: “They Can’t Hurt You”

This track reminds me a lot of “Keep You Safe” actually, both musically and in title. This is clearly the “calm after the storm” song. The battle has been won…they can’t hurt you.

But again, it’s unclear whether this is referencing the Wilson clan or the Tethered clan. Maybe it’s not referencing any of them at all.

What I really love about this song is that it’s actually hopeful sounding! It takes the creepy melody from “Pas de deux” and plays it slowly, on a piano, in a major key so it sounds uplifting rather than scary.

As “happy” as this song is (I’m hesitant to call any of this happy, it might mean nothing…), it’s not actually…the ending, much as it feels like it could be.

TRACK 31: “Finale”

DAMMIT, PEELE.

This song starts out sounding like a finale would. It’s slow, it’s peaceful, it sounds like the music that would play over someone picking up the pieces of their lives to start over after something awful happened.

It starts out sounding like maybe, everything’s fine. And even if it’s not fine in that moment, it will be, eventually.

BUT THEN.

The strings in the background change, a more haunting melody starts playing, and then it transitions back into that DAMN CHANTING. Things get faster, the chanting is there, everything sounds unhappy again, and then the piano version of the “Pas de deux” melody plays but it no longer sounds hopeful.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN AND WHY IS IT LIKE THIS.

It’s also possible that this is the music that plays over the end credits. Which is fine, it does mean…theoretically, that the movie is indeed over by that point, but it still leaves you feeling like it isn’t quite over, there’s more to figure out. And actually, from what people have said, it is certainly a film you may need to see more than once to fully grasp it.

TRACK 32: “I Got 5 On It (Tethered Mix from US)”

Now if you’re like me, all you wanted was access to the fabulous creepy remix of “I Got 5 On It” used in the trailer. AND WE GOT IT.

I love, love, LOVE this remix. It’s soooo unnerving but also extremely catchy??

Plus, I absolutely love that the remix version that has haunted us for the past couple months is in the official soundtrack in “Pas de deux.” We’ve all been thinking about this song subconsciously, and then we’re gonna hear it in theatres and OUR MINDS WILL JUST EXPLODE.

So that about does it for the soundtrack, and what little I can pull from what we have. If you’re curious, absolutely go check it out on Spotify or Apple Music/iTunes. Or like I think some of it is on YouTube.

So now…

Lupita Nyong’o Had Some Homework

Before filming Us, Jordan Peele gave lead actress Lupita Nyong’o some horror movie homework to prepare. We know which films he had her watch, so let’s break those down a little, shall we?

1. Dead Again

PLOT: A mute woman suffering from amnesia arrives at an orphanage, and a private detective and a hypnotist are tasked with finding out who she is. Thanks to the hypnotist, Mute Woman starts regaining her voice and some extremely vivid memories of a famous couple from the 1940’s (from what I can tell, the speculation is that the husband murdered the wife, but they don’t know for sure). Mute Woman and Detective start falling in love, but they bear a striking resemblance to the 1940’s couple…Mute Woman starts wondering if Detective will kill her so she’ll be dead…again.

WHAT THIS COULD MEAN: Ummmm…I mean, okay, it’s possible that this might reference the Tethered’s connection to the other characters. Maybe the Tethered represent how they died in another life, and they need to make sure the cycle keeps going. I guess. Or they just want their respective characters to remember how they died so they don’t repeat the same mistakes?

2. The Shining

PLOT: Jack, a writer struggling with writer’s block, becomes the winter caretaker of the isolated Overlook Hotel. He takes his wife and son with him. Once they’re snowed in, however, supernatural forces in the hotel start plaguing Jack so that he becomes hellbent on terrorizing his family, just as his son’s visions and premonitions get worse…

WHAT THIS COULD MEAN: Okay, so basically everyone at least knows of The Shining, right? What this says to me is that there’s possibly some supernatural influence about Adelaide’s hometown in particular. After all, it at least seems that all her experiences with the Tethered are tied to that town, and that town alone. I hope it doesn’t mean that Gabe’s gonna go crazy and try to kill everyone. Or maybe Jason and Zora have premonitions?

3. The Babadook

PLOT: An exhausted widow caring for her six-year-old son by herself is plagued still by the grief of her husband’s death in a car accident (on their way to the hospital while she was in labor, no less). One night, her son asks her to read from a storybook called “Mister Babadook” about a weird creature who torments people once they’re aware of it. Of course, it starts doing just that…

WHAT THIS COULD MEAN: If you haven’t seen The Babadook, well, small spoiler warning now in effect. The big debate about the film is whether or not the Babadook is actually real or if it’s just a metaphor for how we sometimes let grief control us. So this could mean that the Tethered are not actually real, but a metaphor for something else that we feel is connected to us…or something. Or they are very, very real.

4. It Follows

PLOT: A group of friends (and one girl in particular) spend the entire film pursued by an entity that can take the form of any person at all. The entity’s hunt is passed along via sex, so if you want to get rid of it, you have sex with someone to pass it on and then it’s their problem. The friends team up to try and find a way to kill the entity, and just when you think they’ve succeeded, a figure is seen walking behind our two leads…

WHAT THIS COULD MEAN: Like The Babadook, It Follows is actually more of a metaphorical horror film discussing the danger and stigmas of STDs. So, again, this could be referring to the idea that the Tethered are not actually real creatures, but a representation of something else, something that affects humans in a different, monstrous way.

5. A Tale of Two Sisters

PLOT: The story follows Su-mi, a teenage girl who was just released from a mental institution after being treated for shock and psychosis. She lives with her father, her stepmother, and her younger sister. As the film goes on, it becomes more clear that everything we’re seeing, everything Su-mi is seeing, may not be real at all. The house is filled with ghosts…

WHAT THIS COULD MEAN: Again, if you haven’t seen A Tale of Two Sisters, spoiler warning!! The big twist is that Su-mi actually has DID, or Dissociative identity disorder. She actually plays herself, her stepmother, AND her younger sister. Many of the scenes where we saw other actors were actually Su-mi talking with herself. There are definitely ghosts in the house, many of the characters see them, and one such ghost is indeed Su-mi’s sister. Su-mi’s sister died when a wardrobe fell on top of her, and the stepmother found her…and didn’t help. That’s why Su-mi was in the mental institution in the beginning of the movie. Now again, this could mean that the Tethered are some kind of dead ghost versions of the characters, or maybe they’re alternate personalities of them.

6. The Birds

PLOT: Melanie, a young socialite, visits her romantic interest Mitch at his seaside hometown. As she stays and meets more of the people there, more and more mysterious bird attacks keep happening. Melanie herself is attacked by a seagull on the way into the bay. As the bird attacks escalate, so too does the paranoia of the townspeople as they desperately search for a way to survive, and someone to blame.

WHAT THIS COULD MEAN: Well some of the connections are clear already-someone visiting a seaside hometown where mysterious and unexplained attacks start occurring. There is a lot of potential symbolism in The Birds, ranging from the metaphor of women being birds to the idea that we should be more careful how we treat nature. I’m not sure whether any of those messages directly connect to Us, but we’ll have to wait to see. One interesting thing to note is that while The Birds starts out with the birds caged up while the humans can move about freely, by the end, it is clear that the humans are caged up and trapped while the birds can move about freely. Again, not sure if that ties in at all, I just think it’s neat.

7. Funny Games

PLOT: A family of four (including a dog) arrive for vacation at their lakeside house, where they meet with their rather strange neighbors. Strange things keep happening, but it doesn’t become really sinister until the two neighbors then take the family hostage and force them to play a number of “games” with them in order to stay alive.

WHAT THIS COULD MEAN: The movie itself is cruel and grueling to sit through, and it’s supposed to be. It’s completely hopeless from the start, and the audience knows this, but it’s still hard to watch. Spoilers ahead: every single family member is nonchalantly offed by the end, and then it starts all over with a different family. While the home invasion connection is clear, I’m hoping that the Tethered’s goal is not to simply play games with Wilson’s in order for them to stay alive, because there has to be more to it then that. What is interesting is that the director for Funny Games has made it very clear that it is meant to be a commentary on how violence is presented in the media. It’s not supposed to be a film for entertainment because violence shouldn’t be entertaining. Now, whether or not that ties into Us or not remains to be seen. Another important element of Funny Games is all the fourth wall breaking done by the two villains. They make it clear time and again that this is a movie, and they have total control over it.

8. Martyrs

PLOT: A young abused girl escapes her torment and winds up at an orphanage, where she befriends another girl there. The first girl, Lucie, tells her new friend, Anna, about her abuse and how she feels she is constantly tortured by some mysterious ghost woman. 15 years later, Lucie is on the hunt for the family that abused her as a child, and ends up killing an entire family she believes to be responsible. Anna is horrified by this, and Lucie is “attacked” by the ghost woman in front of her; Anna only sees Lucie attacking herself. Later in the film, Anna meets the people who tortured Lucie, learning she is one of many. The group is set on discovering the secrets of the afterlife by creating “martyrs.”

WHAT THIS COULD MEAN: The first obvious connection is that the mysterious ghost woman haunting Lucie isn’t real; it’s a manifestation of her guilt. When she escaped as a child, she left another girl behind, and that is what haunts her. So again, the Tethered may not be real, but instead a manifestation of something else. There’s also the potential connection again that the Tethered are the dead versions of the other characters. Maybe they got that way because they are “martyrs” in some sense of the word. From what I understand, Martyrs is another film that’s real hard to sit through, and the entire third act is just the audience being forced to watch Anna go through a whole lot of torture. So that’s…pleasant.

9. Let the Right One In

PLOT: The movie follows Oskar, a 12-year-old boy plagued by bullies and filled with ideas on how to get revenge on them. He never is able to go through with it. One day, a girl his age moves in next door named Eli. Despite Eli’s insistence that they can never be friends, the two do form a bond of sorts. Oskar is able to stand up to his bullies because of Eli’s encouragement, but the real trouble kicks in when Oskar learns what Eli is: a vampire.

WHAT THIS COULD MEAN: It’s interesting to note that Peele’s list specifically focuses on this Swedish movie and not the English remake, Let Me In. While this movie is certainly a horror movie-lots of killings and vampiric activities-the big emphasis of the film is the relationship between Oskar and Eli. In the English remake, much more emphasis was put on the horror elements of the film, not the relationship. So this could mean that perhaps there is some sort of relationship built between one or more of the characters and their Tethered counterparts. Perhaps it’s Jason and Pluto, since we see them have an interesting seemingly non-violent encounter in a closet. Or maybe the Tethered are vampires. Who knows!

10. The Sixth Sense

PLOT: The film follows Malcolm, a child psychologist, and his current patient, Cole. Cole is plagued with visions of dead people, and Malcolm is tasked with helping him with his visions while at the same time healing the broken relationship with his wife who doesn’t seem to want to even talk to him anymore.

WHAT THIS COULD MEAN: If for some reason you haven’t seen The Sixth Sense yet, PLEASE DO SO. DO IT NOW BEFORE YOU READ FURTHER. It’s a brilliant plot twist and you must go into it blind!! Okay, for everyone else…this could mean a number of things. It could mean, again, that the Tethered are ghosts of some kind. It could mean that they don’t actually want to harm the Wilson’s or anyone else, they just need help. It could mean that the Wilson’s aren’t even alive themselves. I mean, The Sixth Sense has a thing with the color red…the Tethered wear red jumpsuits……I DUNNO, FAM.

It’s all speculation

While it’s super fun picking apart the soundtrack and the movie list, it’s still all speculation, and so far, only people who have seen the movie know what’s really going on, AND THEY’RE KEEPING IT BETWEEN THEM. #rude

I mean I’m thankful, but also…tell me everything.

Anyway, I’m really looking forward to Us. I pick up something new from Get Out every time I watch it, and I’m hoping Us will be the same way. It’s my favorite kind of film-one that makes you think about it long after you’ve left the theatre.

Let me know if you’ve seen it and you loved it, or if you’re going to see it and are excited, or if you’re just avoiding it because it looks terrifying. Honestly, that’s fair. I’m terrified, too, I’m just inexplicably drawn to it. It’s because I’m a 4 on the Enneagram. It’s a curse.

…maybe the Tethered are part of some curse on the town??? WHAT ARE THEY??????

How to Train Your Dragon: the Hidden World REVIEW

March 20, 2019 PlayerOneLeave a comment

This poster is deceitfully charming and does not prepare you for all the crying

So like…a couple weeks ago (almost a month ago…wow…), I took myself (and the parents) to the movies to see How to Train Your Dragon: the Hidden World!

I know what you’re thinking: “wait didn’t that movie come out like…ages ago why are you like this” to which I say, until I get paid to write these things, occasionally my actual job will take priority and will run My Entire Life.

Anyway, if for some reason you haven’t seen this yet and are still thinking about it (like I am) and want to know my thoughts, HERE YA GO.

I cried. A Lot.

Remember when animated movies weren’t super pretty and astounding and NOW

THE PLOT

Sometime nearby before the second movie, Hiccup (Jay Baruchel) & Co. (Astrid (America Ferrera), Snotlout (Jonah Hill), Ruffnut (Kristen Wiig), Tuffnut (Justin Rupple), Fishlegs (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), and Valka (Cate Blanchett)) are chasing down Vikings who capture dragons so they can free them and take them back to Berk. This raid we see goes well-ish, although there’s one dragon who purposely hides herself so she doesn’t get freed (it’s unclear why she does this, I mean she has this ability, but wouldn’t she want to be free? It’s possible she’s just real wary of humans, and after we meet Grimmel (F. Murray Abraham), it’s understandable why). One of the Vikings on the ship makes an Angry Face as the group flies off, so we know that’s gonna come back to bite them. Hiccup introduces the new dragon recruits to Berk, which has become a paradise for dragons and humans alike (sort of). Toothless is still the Alpha Dragon (as we saw from the last movie) and sort of keeps all the other dragons in line. Gobber (Craig Ferguson) complains to Hiccup that he can’t keep bringing dragons back here because it makes them real vulnerable to attacks and also it’s just real crowded and dragons keep bathing in the soup. He also says that it’s about time Hiccup and Astrid got married, to which there’s a lot of awkward fanfare.

We catch up with the Angry Face Viking from earlier, who apparently works with this big Viking council that we’re only just now learning exists, and they’re all real bitter that Berk has become so peace-and-dragon-loving because they keep releasing the dragons they unfairly capture and that’s just Rude. This is where we meet Grimmel, the main villain. He’s real gaunt and evil-looking, and has these two scorpion-dragons that chillax with him. He doesn’t really care about everyone else’s problems with Berk and Hiccup as chief until they mention that Hiccup’s dragon is a Night Fury. I guess Grimmel is the reason we don’t see any other Night Furies-he killed ‘em all. He takes this pretty personally and vows to destroy Toothless and Hiccup and all of Berk or whatever, and he plans to use the dragon from earlier (the one who hid and didn’t go with the other dragons being freed) to lure Toothless into a trap.

Hiccup, meanwhile, has a lot of flashbacks to when he was a kid (which means we get to see Stoick (Gerard Butler!) again!!). In a very The Lion King moment, Stoick holds a young Hiccup in his arms as he looks out at the sunrise and talks about how one day, Hiccup will be chief of all of this. He also talks about something called “the Hidden World” which is a brand new plot device and apparently where all dragons come from/live/hide/something, it’s not really explained (remember how in the first movie, the dragon lair they found was supposed to be the main source of dragons? Now it’s the Hidden World). Hiccup decides that this Hidden World is their best chance, and that the way to fix everything is to straight up move Berk to the Hidden World, where humans and dragons can live secretly in peace.

Everyone else thinks this is crazy, but they go along with it (albeit kinda unwillingly) because Hiccup is the chief. Grimmel, however, is hot on their tail (PUN INTENDED) at every move, and he always seems to be three steps ahead of them. He introduces Toothless to the Light Fury (which Hiccup calls a “Bright Fury” at first which like I thought that was pretty good, that could’ve stuck, c’mon), and then the rest of the film is a tense back-and-forth between Hiccup, Grimmel, and the dragons these Vikings have begun to call friends.

THE REVIEW

I am full of emotions, y’all.

I’m part of a group of people that really kinda grew up with this franchise and these characters (the first movie came out when I was 13) so there’s something especially bittersweet here for me. It reminds me of when the last Harry Potter book came out, and then when the last movie came out…it feels a little like the ending of an era. Now, I realize that it doesn’t necessarily mean the end; it is Hollywood, after all! The Harry Potter universe is giving us Fantastic Beasts currently, and there’s every chance that more dragon movies will be made about the next generation, or even other characters.

Still, though, there’s nothing quite like the book closing on the original storyline.

I’m always skeptical about sequels, especially when it comes to a movie I love, because sometimes I feel they’re so unnecessary and just serve as a cash-grab for the company. I honestly would have been perfectly fine with just the first How to Train Your Dragon, except that both sequels do such a beautiful job with expanding the world and the characters (sometimes it kills them, but We Don’t Talk About That).

Still, as good as both How to Train Your Dragon 2 and The Hidden World are, they’re not the first movie. The first movie will always be one of my favorite movies ever, and at least in my opinion, the two sequels never quite live up to it. Are they still amazing? ABSOLUTELY. I also know that I’m alone in thinking the first movie is better than the second (and third). Maybe I’m just bitter about it all ending; it’s hard to watch characters you love grow up and change, and make hard decisions in their world that end up affecting everything.

The point is, this is a great movie and a great end to a great series. I don’t think it’s quite as good as the first movie, but it’s still absolutely incredible.

Plus, crying. Lots of crying. So much crying.

I’m still crying.

So without further ado, let’s soar into what exactly makes this movie so incredible, and an excellent send-off to our favorite dork and his dragon.

Spoiler warning now in effect!!

LOOK EVERYTHING IS FINE AND HAPPY AND SHINY AND NOTHING WILL GO WRONG EVER AT ALL I SWEAR

THE MUSIC

Y’ALL.

So full disclosure, John Powell is one of my favorite composers, and the original How to Train Your Dragon soundtrack is definitely one of my favorites. It was the first soundtrack album I bought (kind of a moot point now that I use Spotify for everything, but back in high school it MEANT SOMETHING), I listen to it constantly even now, I recommended we play the music in high school band…I have a very strong connection to the original soundtrack, basically, if you couldn’t tell.

That is why every time the original theme started playing, I was basically already crying. It’s like when they used Hedwig’s theme in the last Harry Potter movie when sad things were happening-they used our own nostalgia against us!

And actually, it’s a genius move, no complaints here. Lots of tears, maybe, but no complaints!

There were lots of new things in the soundtrack that separated the story from its predecessors without taking anything away from it, in my opinion. It was adventurous and emotional and made me want a dragon friend to fly around on. That could be said of the whole movie series, really.

By far my favorite character detail aside from their frog faces is that their arms go out real wide and then they suddenly have tiny little claw hands LOOK AT THEM I LOVE THEM

THE CHARACTERS

Again, it’s How to Train Your Dragon, so the characters are all lovable and great (except for the villain, of course, and we’ll get to him).

Hiccup has always been a fascinating lead-he’s not the typical Viking we all think of, and he remains that way throughout the series. He believes in loving and rescuing the dragons above all else, and he really only engages in combat if he feels he has to (or if someone dear to him has been threatened or something). But what’s interesting about Hiccup in this film is that we get to see him truly struggling to fill his father’s shoes as the leader. We see him truly dealing with his father’s absence, shown particularly in flashbacks with his dad when he was super small. His big conflict in the film is that he knows he’s not his father, but he truly doesn’t know who he is besides the guy who saves dragons. So when he’s faced with the idea of losing Toothless, it’s a real roadblock for him. Astrid has a great conversation about who he is without Toothless-still a whole person. Hiccup has dealt with a lot of loss in his life-first his mom, then he found Toothless. Then he found his mom again, but lost his dad. Now he’s faced with losing Toothless, and there’s no real replacement for him. His mom is here again, but she’s been there at this point. Astrid is there, but again, she’s been there as well. There’s no one new Hiccup can focus on to help him get past the pain of loss…or is there? Hiccup’s arc in this film is all about him finding himself. He is the new person he has to love and accept to help him get over and deal with losing Toothless. I’m a strong believer in self-love (and I struggle a lot with it myself) so this was an incredibly personal part of the movie for me.

I would argue that none of the other characters have quite the arc that Hiccup has-none of them are growing and changing in quite the way that he is. Snotlout is in love with Hiccup’s mom for some…reason…Ruffnut and Tuffnut are delightful little dorks as always (Ruff’s capture and Tuff’s beard are absolutely two of my favorite plot points), Gobber is still the supportive gruff guy we all know and love, Fishlegs has a little baby dragon the whole time and it’s super cute (DID ANYONE ELSE NOTICE THAT AT THE END HE MADE HIMSELF A LITTLE STUFFED VERSION OF THE BABY DRAGON HE GAVE UP BECAUSE EVERY TIME I THINK ABOUT IT I CRY SOME MORE)…and of course, there’s Astrid. Astrid has always been a great character in my opinion, and her relationship with Hiccup has always been incredible to watch.

One of my favorite elements of the series is that Hiccup and Astrid never have any crazy relationship drama? We see how much they are friends as much as they are lovers, and it’s such a good, positive relationship model. When they’re married at the end, it’s made very clear they are leading Berk as equals. Would it have been great to get a little more individual development for Astrid? Yeah, of course. But their relationship isn’t the centerpiece for the films, nor should it be. How to Train Your Dragon has always, always been about friendship, especially when it comes to humans and nature.

Before we go forth to discuss the dragon characters, I have to touch on our main baddie, Grimmel. He’s…he’s a jerk you guys. And in a weirdly uncharacteristic move for this franchise, he’s not redeemable. The past films have always had some kind of arc for the “villain” so that we learn about them and they are allowed to grow and change. Grimmel is not treated the same way…his obsession with controlling and wiping out the dragons is never fully explained. He is filled with pure hatred for these creatures, and we never really learn why. To some degree it makes him all the more unnerving-it’s like he hates just for the sake of feeling hatred. He embraces anger and revenge, and he loves to torture both dragons and humans alike. He’s constantly outsmarting our heroes, and we find out that he’s controlling his scorpion dragons by brainwashing them with their own venom. He’s…he is not nice, fam. I guess he’s one of my pet peeves in the film, because while I appreciate how delightfully evil he is, it’s weird that we never truly learn that much about him. Even the other village leaders follow him purely because he’s a lil’ scary. What is his DEAL, y’all???

So since we can’t really touch on Grimmel all that much purely because the movie doesn’t really let us, that brings us to some of the dragon characters. Particularly, Toothless and the Light Fury (does she have a name? Sparkles? Can it be Sparkles? She’s real glittery you guys).

THE FRIENDSHIP AND GROWING UP

Like I mentioned above, the How to Train Your Dragon series is about friendship above all else. It starts with an outcast kid finding kinship with a lonely force of nature. Hiccup finds purpose in Toothless just as much as companionship, and Toothless finds love and loyalty in Hiccup just as much as purpose.

I don’t think there’s anything more powerful than a good story about companionship between humans and animals. It’s why stories involving “the boy and his dog” or “the girl and her horse” are so iconic. Many of us know that we humans are social creatures, but many of us also feel that we generally kinda suck at connecting with other humans. We know we can’t survive alone and we’re not supposed to, but damn it, it’s hard! That’s why we’re drawn to stories where the awkward outcast finds a powerful, social relationship with an animal. It’s made more powerful because the bond is often formed without words.

We all want relationships like that, so it’s nice when we get to see or hear about a relationship like that.

What I love about the How to Train Your Dragon series is that it gives us that relationship, but it also shows us what happens to it over time. After all, we all know that theoretically the story continues past the first “death scare that actually makes the bond stronger and makes the grumpy dad believe in the power of love” or the “very important race that doesn’t need to be won but actually yes it does because that means you can keep your horse because it clearly only listens to you also here’s some flowers and like a trophy I guess.”

Hiccup and Toothless are tested in the first movie when they’re learning about each other, when Stoick separates them, when Toothless dives into the fire to save Hiccup (well, most of him). Their bond is strengthened when Hiccup loses his leg because now they’re both physically “broken.” They’re tested in the second movie when they face a new foe, when Toothless loses control and costs Hiccup his dad, when Hiccup yells at him to leave for that, and then later when Hiccup apologizes and begs for his best friend to come back.

In some ways, the series set us up for a hard fall with the third film, because we believed up to this point that their friendship could and would stand against anything. We saw it stand up against impossible odds, didn’t we? What could possible change that?

COLD, HARD REALITY, OF COURSE.

Here’s the facts, y’all. Toothless, much as he seems to share a human bond with Hiccup, is an animal. He’s a part of nature. He’s gone his whole life being the only one of his kind, so as much as he loves Hiccup and all his other dragon friends, he’s lonely. Like us humans, he craves that social relationship with others of his kind.

So of course when he meets the Light Fury, he desperately wants to be with her.

Now I don’t think Toothless, when Hiccup initially lets him go after the Light Fury, was actually planning on staying away forever. I think it would be hard for him to communicate that to Hiccup, necessarily, but I also think he trusts Hiccup to know how much he wants to be with the Light Fury. Hiccup, of course, is a human and therefore plagued with anxiety, so this doesn’t quite work out, and Toothless is a lil’ bitter about that.

Toothless has a deep, inner need to be with the Light Fury and the other dragons-he wants to be with her and the other dragons. We see most of the movie from Hiccup’s point of view, so all we are really allowed to relate to is Hiccup’s anxiety about Toothless’s departure. But it’s meant to be that way-we are like Hiccup, we will always relate to him more, so therefore we will always want him to be with Toothless. That’s how it’s always been, right?

The reality, however, is different. Because of the dragons’ presence, Berk is a target. Because of Stoick’s death, Hiccup is the leader and has to make hard decisions. Because of how humans are, dragons are not safe. Because, because, because…

And isn’t that how it is in reality?

As much as this is a fantasy series, it does bring in some things that are just as real as what we all have to deal with at some point; but it’s never been the forefront of the series as much as it is in this third film.

We all know that friendships grow and change just like we do. Sometimes, we have to leave good friends behind because of whatever reason, but that doesn’t mean your friendship has to end. Maybe sometimes it does, and that’s okay, too-but it doesn’t have to. Life gets in the way and you may have to say goodbye, but that doesn’t mean your friendship is any weaker for it. I’ll touch more on the very ending of the film a bit later because it really ties into this. Many of our friendships, battered and tested by distance and time, can remain the same-just as strong as when they began.

It can still hurt of course, which brings us to…

THE GOODBYE

Everyone ready to cry?

GREAT.

I will freely admit that a teaser for the film actually spoiled the big goodbye twist for me. There was a short clip of Toothless, looking longingly off to some other dragons flying nearby, with a voiceover of Hiccup saying “it’s okay, bud. It’s time.”

Once I’d picked up the shattered pieces of my heart, I realized I was actually thankful for this…I think the film was slightly easier to sit through since I knew what was coming. Granted, the movie teases the Big Goodbye relatively early on. Hiccup almost says goodbye to Toothless after they first find him in the secret dragon lair, but then Plot happens.

Unfortunately, knowing it was coming did not make it any easier to sit through.

The bond between Toothless and Hiccup is a refreshing one, so simple and powerful and hopeful! So watching them hug one last time and say goodbye for…they didn’t know how long?

My popcorn was flavored with my many, many tears.

But! I knew this was coming! Plus, it made sense plot wise, the dragons weren’t safe, Toothless wouldn’t be alone, and neither would Hiccup! It’s okay! They’re still friends! It’s fine!!!

What was NOT fine was then having to watch the ENTIRE VILLAGE OF BERK SAY GOODBYE TO THEIR DRAGONS, TOO. I mean, all at once, everyone is hugging their dragons and crying and I JUST.

I think the real kicker, though, was watching Astrid say goodbye to Stormfly. There was something about the way her voice cracked and their little snuggle hug…

Anyway, not even popcorn anymore, just soggy, salty, once-was-popcorn.

(Fun fact: supposedly the dragons have voice actors to help the animators with facial expressions and gestures before final editing, and I guess Toothless straight-up says “I don’t want to leave you” in that final hug with Hiccup so I’m just gonna go crawl under a rock and sob for a thousand years, thanks)

It was heart-wrenching, and you know it’s the best solution all-around because humans are awful and can’t be trusted with nice things like dragons.

But you know what else it was? Hopeful.

Goodbyes are just as real as friendships, unfortunately, and the move highlights that pretty strongly. But it also makes clear that not only is everyone strong enough to say goodbye, everyone is never alone when they say goodbye, either. Sure, Berk and the dragons had to separate, but they still had each other. Toothless has the Light Fury and his whole dragon community, and Hiccup has Astrid and all of Berk. It’s bittersweet, sure, but it’s real (as real as an animated movie about Vikings and their dragon buddies can be).

But you didn’t think that was the end of the story, did you?

Cause of death: the way Hiccup looks at Astrid

THE ENDING

I remember when the last Harry Potter book came out-I was too young to go hang out outside the bookstores with my siblings and their friends, and I didn’t have a group of my own to go with (this was when I was attending a fairly conservative school that required a signed permission slip to even check the Harry Potter books out of the school library, so…). But I do remember my parents and I reading the book together. We’d each take turns reading a chapter out loud, and sometimes my dad would have to take over if my mom and I were crying, which happened a lot. I remember being so pleased with it. It felt like a perfect ending for these characters I’d grown up with. They deserved the happy endings they got, and I was so pleased they all remained friends.

When the movies came out and they ended the same way, with our leads all grown up and seeing their own children off to have their own adventures, that was when I became more aware of the outcry. I hadn’t realized how many people hated the ending before that. They felt betrayed that these characters, their characters, would just grow up and have normal lives…have kids…so on and so forth. Many remain disgruntled with their job choices.

Finally though, one of my friends posted on Facebook an article explaining why my generation seemed to be so miffed with the ending-it didn’t feel like our ending. It felt like we watched these millennial kids we grew up with achieve the baby boomer dream, and they were happy with that? Many of us maybe don’t want kids. Many of us don’t see a marriage and a family as our happy ending. Many of us wanted more of an acknowledgement for the trauma these characters went through.

Whatever the reason, and I’m sure there are more, people were unhappy.

I think more than anything, though, we were just mad that there was an ending at all. Sometimes it’s easier for us to swallow if the story ends before a big epilogue that skips 20 years and emphasizes the whole “where are they now?” Thing. At least then, we can imagine what happened-we can still see ourselves in those characters and imagine they’re still with us as we grow and change ourselves. But when we’re told what happens, when we’re shown the reality of the 20 years later and the marriage and the kids and the family, we suddenly don’t see ourselves anymore. We’re still in the stage of our lives where we’re slowly picking up the pieces of the battle of Hogwarts-we haven’t reached the stage where we send our own kids off to magic school and wave to them from the platform with our perfect spouse before we head off to our perfect job.

I think it felt like a betrayal of an ending because we felt like we’d been left behind by these characters we used to be able to relate to.

I bring all this up because I was expecting the same thing from How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World. After all, we get the same thing-a flash forward of however many years, our leads we used to be able to relate to now older, wiser, full of facial hair or whatever, and they have kids. They are no longer our relatable protagonists because they have grown and changed and gone through life and we’re forced to face that very suddenly. It’s jarring-quite suddenly out of the fog we see Hiccup, but it’s not our Hiccup. This one is taller, even more muscular, quite full of facial hair, and he holds himself in a way we haven’t seen before. Then there’s Astrid-poised, older, not the scrawny overconfident kid we remember. And then there’s MINI Hiccup and Astrid!!

From the other end of the fog, we see him-Toothless, standing on the rocks with the Light Fury. They look relatively unchanged compared to our human heroes, and it actually takes a moment for Toothless to recognize Hiccup and not attack. Then MINI Toothless’s come streaming over the rocks and onto the boat, Hiccup and Toothless are reunited, and then Hiccup has his kids reach their little hands out to touch Toothless’s nose, just like their dad did at the beginning of the story.

What I really like about the ending is Hiccup’s final narration. He talks about how when he was a kid, there were dragons. So on and so forth, humans suck, so the dragons had to leave…but legends say that when an earthquake happens, or a volcano erupts, it’s just the dragons reminding us that they’re here, waiting for us to be ready for them…

Listen I am all for believing that dragon buddies are real and just waiting for us to not be so stupid and violent. I’m down with this.

As sad as the ending is, and I am not kidding when I tell you about the crying, yes it’s a kid’s movie, shut up, it’s extremely hopeful. For me, that’s the best kind of ending. It encourages dealing with goodbyes in a healthy way; to recognize them, to embrace them, and then to seek out the good that you still have. For Hiccup, he lost constant contact with a dear friend…but he found a leader within himself, friends and family with the people of Berk, and a connection with his fellow leader and equal in Astrid.

Friendship is incredibly powerful-but sometimes life gets in the way. Goodbyes suck-but they’re necessary. Most of all though?

Dragons are real-we’re just too big of jerks to handle them yet.

But just like Hiccup taught his kids to approach the dragons with kindness, so each generation that comes is a more kind, hopeful one.

“OOF” MOMENT

I…genuinely don’t think there was one? I think my main pet peeve is just that we truly do not know much about the Light Fury. She’s barely developed (aside from the moment where she saves Hiccup from falling #OHLOOKIAMCRYINGAGAIN), and I get why, but like…what is her name?? I NEED A SHIP NAME FOR HER AND TOOTHLESS.

Wait…actually…that whole weird subplot with Snotlout having a thing for Hiccup’s mom. Just…why.

Also, what happened to Grimmel’s scorpion dragons? We saw they were being brainwashed, so they could theoretically be saved and good like the rest of the dragons, but they just…die in the explosion I guess? Meh.

FAVORITE MOMENT

Ugh, so many. However, I will settle on the end of Toothless trying to romance the Light Fury on the beach. When all else fails, he draws her face in the sand. It’s a delightful callback to my favorite scene from the first movie, and also my favorite piece on the soundtrack. Like I teared up then just because of what it called back to, and that was EARLY.

Yes I know it’s a kid’s movie shut up.

Can you imagine if Hiccup tried to actually ride Toothless this way he’d be falling off in a MILLISECOND and Astrid would be laughing

SHOULD YOU TAKE YOURSELF TO SEE THIS MOVIE?

Look, clearly, I have a lot of feelings. Like, I do just in general, but especially about this movie.

I think it goes without saying that if you’re a fan of the series, see this movie. If you’ve seen even a part of the films and/or the TV shows, see this movie. If you like really, really well-animated things that make you laugh and cry, see this movie.

I get this series isn’t for everyone-different things speak to different people after all. But if you just want a genuinely good escape, I definitely think you should take yourself to this movie.

If it’s still in theatres. This is a super late post, after all. Otherwise, see it when it comes out to buy, because it is so, so worth it!

I give this movie…….

5/5 TEARDROPS THAT ARE ALSO SAD AND CRYING!!

Look, that last one is still coming to terms with everything, it doesn’t even know what to feel yet

TRAILERS TO WATCH OUT FOR

There were a lot of repeats…I mean between this and the 2nd LEGO Movie, I’ve seen a lot of kids’ movies lately, okay??

The two new ones were Angry Birds 2 which…..UGHHHHHHHH. I was a big fan of the game back in the day, okay? I wasn’t great at it by any means, but it was cute and fun! I wanted to like the first movie, I really did, but…wow. It was…it was real bad. I think it had good parts, I genuinely laughed once (maybe twice), but overall…wow.

The other new one is Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase. I’ve never really been a Nancy Drew person, which is weird when I think about it because I think the series is like, exactly my aesthetic. It’s probably because everyone else liked it, therefore I couldn’t. I had to find something ~unique~. Hence, Harriet the Spy. Which I do recommend if you haven’t read it. Anyway, this adaptation stars Sophia Lillis in the title role, whom you may recognize since she was Bev in the new IT adaptation! It actually genuinely looks enjoyable, though it’s definitely a kid’s film. I mean the How to Train Your Dragon series is also for kids, but it doesn’t necessarily market itself as such.

Anyway, that does it for this review!! Hiatus over, I’m back for at least a while, and hopefully I’ll be adding a new feature to the reviews coming soon!

For now, if The Hidden World is still playing near you, I highly recommend you see it because crying is good for you, ya know?