Just Watch It

Rotten Tomatoes, MetaCritic, IMDb, Reddit, coworkers, friends, baristas, randos in your Instagram Explore page. It's easy to analyze something death before you've even experienced it and I think it's skewing our enjoyment levels. 

Don't get me wrong, a quick glance at a review site to see if it's a total bomb may be worthwhile; but reading multiple articles that dissect the plot, rate the costuming, and point out personal hangups, is dangerous. What if they misinterpreted the plot? What if they're an expert in 18th century lower-class English textiles and the "horrendous error" they're calling out is something the layman would never notice? Then your view of this movie has been skewed by someone else's eyes.

I recently watched All of Us Strangers (2 years after its release). I knew vaguely that it was a love story, but genuinely nothing else. As the credits rolled, I blubbered for a solid 10 minutes, dried my eyes and sat for another 10 minutes thinking about the final few scenes. I won't post any spoilers but there was one scene which I felt was up for interpretation. I took to Reddit for some answers and what I came across was vehement declarations of love and hate for that scene: "it ruined the movie for me and made everything that came before it unimportant." Or, "that scene so perfectly encapsulated his journey; it was a perfect ending." 

I clicked out of there pretty quickly and decided my opinion was all that mattered in this moment. This movie is about the human condition, and its story (I believe) is strengthened by the individual lenses of the unique viewers. Perhaps the Reddit folks were looking to engage in discussion rather than declarative statements, but the responses were not answering the call. I'd love to hear people's opinions on a few moments, but I don't want someone declaring the movie good or bad because of how they viewed a specific scene.  

Additionally recommended viewing material: My Dinner with Andre. Two distant friends have an extended conversation on life's idiosyncrasies, from romance, to art, to technology, both share and point/counterpoint each other's observations. No man is right or wrong as it's only through our individual experiences that we have an opinion at all.