In Praise of Movies That Knew What They Wanted to Do

Or how to get Malignant, Mortal Kombat, and The Matrix: Resurrections in a year-end essay

2021 was a challenging year to understate things slightly. But we got some interesting movies this year at least: three of which exemplify a certain self-awareness and confidence I feel we need more of in this somewhat bland age of studio filmmaking.

Admittedly, this whole essay was born of my burning need to figure out how to get Malignant (dir. James Wan) and Mortal Kombat (dir. Simon McQuoid) on a best of 2021 list as opposed to the traditional lists that have a many number of deserving films that I have trouble seeing because I didn’t get invited to any film festivals.

The fourth Matrix film is admittedly divisive and I can imagine why it’s not for everyone (I loved it personally and fully endorse people checking it out). But I think it’s unarguable it’s not exactly what Lana Wachowski wanted it to be: a commentary on big budget filmmaking today with the earnest “love conquers all” heart we come to expect from her previous projects.

The same can be said of Malignant. It’s an odd film at the start but a lot about how we’re supposed to understand it clicks into place after we hear a dramatic scare cord accompanying Annabelle Wallis’ character revealing she was adopted. It is a horror movie fully aware of its campy nature and goes on to fully embrace the idea of “camp” by turning into a straight up action horror movie by the ending credits. Wan made a movie fully for horror fans who view giallo classics and 1980s slashers as equal touchstones.

All of these films have an core of fun to them that I really enjoyed and I feel it stems from the lack of pretension they hold. None of these films aim to be more or less than what they want to be and I think that should be the goal of most film. By not being aspirational, they actually serve an aspirational goal for other films.

More importantly though, they are fun in ways that ARE NOT for everyone. Mortal Kombat is obscenely violent, Malignant is an out-there swing utterly distinct from the current A24/NEON ‘elevated horror’ suite, and The Matrix: Resurrections is a Wachowski film more comparable to Cloud Atlas than the first Matrix. But that’s good! Films shouldn’t have to be everything to everyone. There should be a film for everyone because everyone is different. And we can build communities based on our shared interest in these great, distinct and often bizarre filmic worlds shared for public consumption.

It’s been a serious and severe year, and I think more art should not only serve to entertain, but be big swings in the vein of the three films I described above. There should not just be the big blockbusters and the Oscar favorites as two separate camps — there should be room for all these genre films to make their own impact. The fact that Mortal Kombat, Malignant, and The Matrix: Resurrections were available on the same streaming service makes me hopeful for the coming years of film — despite some of my apprehensions about the increasing growth of the industry hurting theatrical exhibition.

Film is a continuum. Every year we have the big blockbusters and the Oscar dramas that seem to be in a constant tug of war over the direction of Hollywood. But the three films I described above show there is a third path: of films that are for like 28 people max on paper that turn out to have a legion ready to watch them again and again in years to come on any screen available.

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