260: Sick (2023)

SPEAKER_00 0:04

I was born in the water. Moulded by it.

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Greetings and salutations, and welcome to Hacker Slash. If you're joining us again, welcome back. Look who suddenly found some integrity. If this is your first time listening, welcome to the party. We are a horror movie review podcast dedicated to telling you whether a movie is a hack.

SPEAKER_03 0:26

A total joke.

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Or a slash.

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Totally killer. Pun intended.

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We believe horror is for everyone, and as such, we're rating these movies with the perspective we've gained from our varying walks of life and the flavors of fear we fancy most. My name is Chris, I'm your friendly neighborhood slasher enthusiast. This week I'm joined by the Superfly Space Guy Mac.

SPEAKER_01 0:46

Who the fuck is this clown?

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The classic horror connoisseur Sean.

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Hashtag COVID on my face.

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And the paranormal paramour. Thanks. Irresponsible girls can cause irresponsible fires that burn down the house. This week we're checking out a film that released on Peacock earlier this year. Before we get down to business though, we have some follow-up.

SPEAKER_01 1:06

Let's follow up on a movie. Recently, we watched The Haunting and compared the 1963 to the 1999. I wasn't on that episode, but I did I did miss out here, obviously. We held a poll, and 34% of you prefer the original 1963 film, while 66% prefer the 1999. That's disappointing.

SPEAKER_04 1:28

What you know what it is, is because they probably just, you know, did they even see the 1963 film?

SPEAKER_06 1:35

Yeah, so I think a lot of it is that correct absolutely correct, Binks. And it's also people who have such an overwhelming nostalgia for the 1999.

SPEAKER_04 1:44

And same, right? Like absolutely same, but come on, guys. You gotta, you gotta see it.

SPEAKER_01 1:50

We've got some comments to either approve or disprove your theories here. So Leia says, I appreciate how they did it in the original, but the 1999 one I watched all the time when I was young. So nostalgia. Scoliosis and Psychosis says the 99 version has good visuals. The furnace scene comes to mind.

SPEAKER_06 2:06

Speaking of good visuals, I think the visuals of that fucking Instagram handle is great. Scoliosis and Psychosis, damn.

SPEAKER_05 2:13

Wait, I didn't even realize that.

SPEAKER_04 2:14

That's a phenomenal name.

SPEAKER_03 2:16

That is a good name.

SPEAKER_01 2:18

And Tom says, 1999. But is it bad? I can only hear Owen Wilson saying Theo as a main memory.

SPEAKER_04 2:24

I mean, it'll do it. No, I don't think it's that bad. It's kind of like inherently gonna happen. Owen Wilson saying anything, really. It's some some word that he says is gonna stick to you.

SPEAKER_01 2:34

Wow.

SPEAKER_04 2:35

That one in particular.

SPEAKER_02 2:36

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_01 2:37

Gabe says the 99 version was the only one I knew of until I was almost an adult.

SPEAKER_06 2:41

There you go. Proves Binks' theory correct. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 2:45

Now Veronica says the tension and dread in the 1963 version was just executed so much better.

SPEAKER_05 2:51

There she is, that queen. There it is. Thank God. Thank you, Veronica.

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And Bass JKK says, first movie that gave me a nightmare when I was a kid. The entire cast is bombing this.

SPEAKER_05 3:02

I mean, yeah, they are phenomenal.

SPEAKER_03 3:04

It was a stacked cast, for sure.

SPEAKER_05 3:06

For sure. Yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_01 3:07

And of course, to wrap up here, B Movie Shelf says, I love both, but 1999 gives me so much fun nostalgia, and the musical score is off the hook.

SPEAKER_04 3:16

Alright. Okay. I mean, it is good, you know? Both are fan both are great. I was almost going to say both are fantastic. Both are great. I just think, you know, it depends on which one you're looking for and for what mood you're in.

SPEAKER_06 3:28

And clearly everyone's in the mood for the nineties.

SPEAKER_01 3:30

Okay, there's just something about the nineties.

SPEAKER_03 3:32

Yeah. I love the nineties, but the 63 hits better.

SPEAKER_01 3:36

Isn't that the name of one of those compilation CDs you used to be able to buy in the nineties?

SPEAKER_03 3:40

It could be.

SPEAKER_01 3:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 3:42

Yikes.

SPEAKER_01 3:43

You know, we've got some new patrons to thank and to welcome Chelsea and Brady. Welcome. We love you. You're part of the family. Your seats over there though. It's at the kids' table. We just ran out of room because it's so popular here.

SPEAKER_06 3:53

True. Don't worry, we'll get some better chairs soon. Love it. I love it.

SPEAKER_01 3:56

That's right. We're getting a bigger table, don't worry. But make a plate up. And that's our follow-up.

SPEAKER_06 4:01

While both of those films featured unseen forces terrorizing people in their home, this week's film features a different kind of haunting. A more real life threat. The world has been navigating for three years as of this recording. In May 2021, an announcement was made that Mirror Max had greenlit a film featuring Kevin Williamson, whose work we know from Scream and I know what you did last summer, and Caitlin Crab, who worked for Williamson during Scream 5. Principal photography was completed mere months later, and after premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 11th, 2022, news of the film remained relatively quiet until it premiered finally on Friday, January 13th, 2023. The film follows two young women who have decided to spend their COVID-19 quarantine at a family lake house alone, only they receive some unexpected company. This week we're talking about sick. What were you all expecting going into this?

SPEAKER_01 4:50

Alright, I got I had to say I watched the trailer because that's just what I do, apparently. When I don't know what a movie is, I'm gonna watch the trailer. And to me, it read as a pretty kind of generic slasher with black comedy mixed in. I think based on the production companies involved here, that wouldn't be like a crazy thing to expect.

SPEAKER_03 5:06

Yeah, I I didn't watch the trailer for this one. I did read the synopsis. I think the only thing that I actually knew about this movie was that it involves the pandemic, right? Or that it was a slasher. Um I wasn't quite sure where they were gonna go with it, to be honest. I knew the synopsis said that they are quarantining somewhere remote, so you know it's like the perfect setting for a slasher. I really was just hoping, not knowing too much, that I was gonna see some good jump scares, some solid kills, and hopefully the plot was gonna be good.

SPEAKER_04 5:36

So I actually uh watched this movie for the first time a month ago. It was because some of our listeners actually had been recommending it in our Discord. So I just watched it, didn't watch a trailer. I think it was like just a a couple people talking about it, and I was like, all right, well, I've got a free day, you know, it's on Peacock, I'll just go ahead and tune it on. And I was intrigued because I feel like when it comes to movies and how they approach the pandemic, specifically COVID, it's approached very delicately in terms of media, and I just wasn't expecting a fun slasher film in the world of COVID. So I figured with Kevin Williamson is gonna be very meta, very, you know, go there. So I I thought it was gonna be entertaining for sure. I I had pretty good expectations going in.

SPEAKER_06 6:20

Yeah, I think letting your expectations be led by meta and Kevin Williamson is a smart move. You know, walking into this, I felt like I was gonna get a fun slasher, really just set with quarantine as the catalyst and the backdrop, but beyond that, not much else, right? I expected this to be fun, I expected it to be simple, and I'll tell you what, looking at this, I really felt a lot of relatable moments, but I also felt a few other things, right? I felt disdain for some of the characters, I felt general iron for other characters, some of the dialogue was funny, but none of it made me like erupt in real laughter. Like it didn't hit me quite hard enough. But then there were actually plenty of bounce back redeeming moments where the killer I thought made things really, really fun.

SPEAKER_03 7:04

Yeah, that's a what you said with like the relatable, that was like the first thing that you s you feel, I feel like in the movie. It got really real, right? Like with the whole COVID thing happening, there's coughing in public and that whole feeling of feeling like ashamed to cough in public, right? The like sanitizing after everything, right? Even my father-in-law did the same crap where like you had to wash the groceries when it came back from the grocery store. Like all of this felt really, really real.

SPEAKER_04 7:35

Yeah. It was deja vu, essentially, is what I was feeling when I when I watched it. And even watching it again, it was just like this is deja vu. This is a reality. It's not like there's much media that has portrayed COVID just yet. I feel like we see it more in TV shows. There's not a lot of movies, right? Like we've had, I guess, pandemic movies in the past, but we're talking about specifically COVID. It's probably more TV shows like Grey's Anatomy and whatnot, right? But this was portrayed. Like, I know people that acted that same way. I agree with you, Sean, that, you know, we're putting Lysol everywhere, or on the other side of things that were very much like, oh, I don't have any of the symptoms. Like, I don't need to be wearing this mask. I don't, you know, it on both sides of things, it was so real that I think for me it was that's what made me laugh. That's what made me like very intrigued. Because this could be like I could see myself in these shoes, right? Or or in these scenarios just a few years ago.

SPEAKER_01 8:28

But thankfully, they didn't go like too hardcore. They didn't make it super duper serious, right? Yeah. Because you could have gone really deep into this, and and they didn't, you know. It's this kind of slasher, I feel like there's a formula, you know, it's got the right runtime for it to make this more of a casual watch than it than like a super serious watch. We watched Contagion actually during the pandemic, and that is something that is very serious. Oh, yeah. This is not that, thank goodness. You know, I I even caught myself being distracted by the other glowing rectangle that is handheld here and there while watching it, but I feel like they were able, you know, to keep my attention enough while I was watching. Because yes, there's a formula, yeah, they're following it. You know, is there is there that whole Kevin Williamson feeling going on? Sure, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. I don't want this crazy, super deep, emotionally painful experience when I'm watching one, a slasher and two, a slasher set during during the pandemic. I I need you we need a break. You know, there's fatigue, we need that break. But even with the fact that it's more casual, I think I was really surprised by the spectacle of some of the kills in this movie. There's not too many. We'll get to that later, right? But I think at one, I literally exclaimed, oh crap, out loud and had to hit rewind and watch it again because it was that good. Nice.

SPEAKER_06 9:48

Man, there's just so much to unpack there with everything that you just said, Mac, because the spectacle of this really is, I think, one of its strongest parts. You know, I had a realization earlier in the film that shifted my prediction for how the rest of the movie would play out. And while the movie after that point wasn't really surprising except for one moment, it was a surprise and an adjustment from where my mind was walking into the movie. I think we talk about the Kevin Williamson of it all of it all. I think we talk about the fun of it all. I do feel like this movie really sets it as the backdrop and doesn't fall too far on one side or the other. It feels like these are things that happen during the lockdown, and it doesn't try to have too much of an opinion one way or another. It keeps it, the playing field pretty even. But I think one of the biggest things for me, it goes back to what you were saying, Mac, about the fatigue, right? I was surprised by how not charmed by or connected I was to the early stages of the quarantine lockdown depiction in this movie. Not because it wasn't relatable, because like there were things that were, but I think it's because of the timing, right? Like this would have hit different even a year or so ago, or maybe even a few years from now. And it feels like it's been too long and yet not long enough for this to hit me in a way where it resonates. It feels like good timing.

SPEAKER_03 11:02

Interesting. Yeah. I know we were talking about like the scream vibes and stuff because it's not surprising to find out, like with those vibes that it was written by Kevin Williamson. It also had kind of like the stranger vibes a little bit. Um, but I really don't know why I was surprised by how real it all felt. Like uh all of the little details around the experience of those early stages of the pandemic. Uh, I don't know why I was surprised by that. I guess I just didn't know how they were going to incorporate or portray that element into the movie going forward. And I gotta say, I was actually a little disappointed by how they did choose to utilize the COVID angle in the film, um, which I'm sure we're gonna dissect a little further in the second half. And and also kind of like how the pacing felt. Like it started off really strong and then it felt like the pacing slowed down a lot, and then it picked up at the end, thankfully. But yeah, those are the things that really stood out to me.

SPEAKER_01 11:55

You know, that's so right, because these kind of things, this is the setting to the film. And you don't want to lean into it like too much, because if you make that like a running gag, it ends up being a little bit gaggy, I think, when you when you go, when you point at it too much, you know, you have to have it be like the background. We we all had that moment watching it, and and this is not a huge spoiler where somebody mentions or looks at the fact that there's like no toilet paper, right? Yeah, and we've all been there. We all had that moment where we're like, oh my gosh, yeah, you guys remember that? We couldn't find we had to get up at 8 a.m. to try to go to the grocery store, right? That's a good use of of the pandemic as a setting. And there's other parts where it's just like that's not that's not a good depiction because you're just like you're sitting there like pointing at like look, look, pandemic, membo, memo this, and that's not a good that's not a good feeling.

SPEAKER_02 12:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 12:42

But you know, I think about what you said a little bit earlier in terms of like what surprise you in terms of the kills. For me, I don't think this movie was necessarily scary, per se, but I think that the tension and the kills were a little alarming, that's for sure. And when I think of this movie, it goes back to uh we've mentioned there's been a couple movies where I think that the circumstances of the film are what's are what's scary, not necessarily the jump scares or what happens in the movie. This is another one of those where I think the circumstances and how real it obviously was is what's scary because ultimately, you know, we'll get into it later, but you mentioned it, Sean, like how they portray COVID in this, you know, the angle that they decided to take could have necessarily been a reality in some extremist way just a few years ago. And the decision to have this like home invasion type of thing is always gonna be scary when you're by yourself, when you're quarantined in the middle of nowhere. That already sets the tone for it. This could happen to me, this is scary, but then everything else layered into that. It was like, ooh, a few years ago I would have been a little spooked, that's for sure.

SPEAKER_06 13:50

Yeah. So I think for me, I I think back to a quarantine movie that was really good at really being scary, and that was host, right? And I think home invasion is home invasion, slasher, slasher. And I think this movie tends to be for me standard fare for a killer lurking in the background, great cinematography to show them as a menace, and even some bigger existential fear. But I think it really preys on the fear a lot of people had in the beginning of the pandemic, right?

SPEAKER_05 14:19

Sure.

SPEAKER_06 14:19

It doesn't do much more than that to really darken the tone of the movie, at least intentionally. And and granted, it doesn't really need to, right? This can be a light-hearted, as light-hearted as you can be with a setting fun slasher. I think the danger though, not that it did this for me, but this is just like consider this angle. What it might do is resurface feelings for people who have lost loved ones during the pandemic. And I think it can absolutely dig up some very raw emotions for people. So within the context of just being a horror movie, like if I am with someone who is scared of horror movies, I wouldn't say this is something that would actually scare anyone unless you're pulling a Chris Rojas and connecting it to your own personalized family members and think of like the what-ifs of it all. Sure.

SPEAKER_01 15:03

Yeah, I think that's that's a good point. You know, I think many of us, many of us were were actually fairly lucky during this whole ordeal in terms of how it affected us or affected our loved ones, but many people were not lucky. And it was a much more gruesome event for them. And the movie itself, I I don't find scary, but I think it's probably a good idea to consider the content if you're watching this. Like if it's if it's going to trigger some of those memories of things that your family members went through or that you went through that were that were really rough, you know, it's it it might not be it might not be the right watch. Yeah. Because even though it's treated in a more lighthearted fashion, like it can it it can definitely bring back memories of that real stuff that you mentioned, Chris. So yeah, I mean, I didn't find it scary. I'm not worried about this kind of stuff, but at the same time, like I could while watching this, I think I even called out that like some people might need a trigger warning here for different things. You know, it could be for political stuff, but it also could be for legit just like bringing back the last three years of this crisis. And what's really crazy to me, I mean, yeah, the conditions are scary, but like the future is looking like this is probably gonna happen again at some point with something completely different. It could be could be worse, and we don't even know. We just don't know.

SPEAKER_03 16:15

I mean, that's a good point. It definitely can be a trigger for some people that have dealt with some of this stuff over the last few years. So it wouldn't make it frightening more so than it would make it kind of just traumatizing, maybe to watch, or just something that just takes you to a dark place. But the movie overall, really for me, obviously not frightening, but definitely more suspenseful. It was definitely more suspenseful than frightening. The jump scare attempts were not super effective. Uh, I don't know if they were trying to be effective. I think if they did a better job with the score, it could have it could have done a better job to back those types of scenarios up. But yeah, definitely felt a lot more suspense than I did uh Fright Factor in this one.

SPEAKER_01 16:58

You know, I think that's because it's a straightforward setup for a slasher film. Especially this like Nouveau slasher that we've gotten in in recent years where it's it's got that polish for straight to streaming. We've got the college kids, we've got the remote lake house, we've got some sort of condition that causes isolation for these kids. Susfuck boys here and there, of course. Um it's not necessarily like the most original idea for a slasher, but I think it adds its own spin with the setting when they use it as the setting.

SPEAKER_03 17:28

Oh, yeah. It definitely so that that's the thing, right? The formula may not be original, but it's not necessarily the formula that you use. It's how you use the formula. And I feel like the plot and the way they told the story is definitely original.

SPEAKER_04 17:43

Yeah, I think a slasher in the time of quarantine and like COVID and stuff, and done so exact without tiptoeing around it, is just gonna already be kind of original for me. Again, I I go back to like seeing how they've depicted COVID and other forms of media, having that balance between making it serious because it's a slasher, but also more on the lighthearted side and entertaining. I think if you remove the part that says that it's COVID and maybe just made it like if it was just, you know, some type of pandemic situation or something like that, maybe you could still find it kind of entertaining. I just think that like with what they did with the dialogue, the little bits of motifs like not finding toilet paper or you know, the Instagram captions, those little things really make, if you find it relatable, make you reminisce and be like, yep, I remember, or I know people that did that, or I, you know, yeah, I also was struggling and saying, like, where the fuck is the toilet paper in the grocery store? You know, little things like that. So for sure I would agree, it's definitely original.

SPEAKER_06 18:48

See, this is just so interesting because I think at first glance I can look at this movie and think, like, okay, holy smokes, it's it's making slashers really relevant with what we're experiencing today, and there's some like novelty there, right? Like, there's some charm there. But I don't know that I give it a lot of originality points for that. For sure, it's entertaining, right? And I'm not diminishing the entertainment value there, but this movie is rooted in the same thing a lot of slashers are rooted in. And listen, I'm a slasher enthusiast. I love that shit. I eat that shit for breakfast, it's okay. But it just it does all that in a way that makes it feel more modern. It's not a bad thing, but it's an average thing. And I don't know that it leaned successfully in at what it was trying to do to make it feel exceptional to me.

SPEAKER_01 19:40

Yeah, there's there was a way that I thought this could go that they could really lean into honestly the the the fear that people had in the early pandemic, right? Because there was a lot of there was a lot of fear, and they like kind of went more vanilla, and that was that was a little surprising to me, you know. Well, by the time we make it to the ending, like things are going pretty well, but the reveal of the antagonist's motive was so incredibly underwhelming, and for me was one of the weakest parts of the movie.

SPEAKER_04 20:11

Really? That's so interesting. I if anything, for me, it was kind of ah, you know, it was kind of the opposite, but not. So I can see where you found it underwhelming because I think for me, I kind of just saw that this is probably what was gonna happen or what you know, I guess I I guessed it. But I still really enjoyed it though, because ultimately, again, thinking of maybe it's the people I surrounded myself with during quarantine and and in the time of COVID and just kind of being forced to be online so much of 2020 that seeing the extremist versions of people during quarantine, I felt like that was extremely relatable in terms of you know the ending and and how it all plays out and stuff. So it was just dramatic, but a dramatic that I was bought into. But I can see where like maybe it was underwhelming because it's like, all right, well, okay.

SPEAKER_06 21:05

No, I mean, so I enjoyed the ending and how it unfolds on paper, you know what I mean? Like it's technically sound. I think my problem is that I wasn't excited for it by the time we got there. But despite being ready for the movie to be over, let me just say, like, I really enjoyed the last action that we have in the movie and the last shot we got of the movie. Yeah. And there is something about it I can't exactly place why it makes me think of this, and maybe I'll I'll be able to articulate it better in the second half. But there is something about it that reminded me of Pearl and X in that very last shot.

SPEAKER_03 21:42

Interesting. I I mean, overall, I definitely agree with you. I I think the final moments, the final scene, the ending scene, like that was a really good ending to the film. I I actually really liked that. I I agree also that the overall ending kind of threw me. Me off. Like the reveal and the motive and all of that kind of was off-putting for me in a way. I get what they were trying to do. Don't get me wrong, it works. It's just not for me. But I'm not mad at the final moments of the film. I love the final scene.

SPEAKER_06 22:13

Well, let's see if all of our feelings on the ending wrap up and translate into some positive ratings for this film. But before we get there, Sean, how would you describe the gore score?

SPEAKER_03 22:22

So this film it definitely has its moments. It's violent for sure. Um, there are some really good scenes. Uh, we see some gruesome things. I would have to say that it's not over the top with the gore. It doesn't put a focus on it, it's just enough to make its impact. For that, I would have to give this an overall like medium gore score.

SPEAKER_06 22:43

And what about the animal report?

SPEAKER_04 22:45

Happy to report that all animals were safe during this movie.

SPEAKER_06 22:49

Fantastic. We love to see it. Well, let's go ahead and get into our ratings. Sick from 2023. Was it a hack or a slash? And I think I'm actually gonna just get mine out of the way. This movie is tough. In some moments, it had like excellent cinematography, it had great charm, and it had a like a compelling departure from what we've seen in other recent slashers. It has some fun kill scenes, like for sure, and there's this like certain energy, and I think that's the best way to describe it. There's a certain energy about it that took me back to the charm of Kevin Williamson's past works, but in so many other moments it just felt heavy-handed. And there's a core element of our antagonist in the movie that I personally would have liked to see something different from, and I think it's because in this movie it's pretty inconsistent with what I've always loved about the slashers. I've really enjoyed. You know, if you've listened to most of the episodes of this podcast, you can probably think, what is Chris like about slashers? Oh, and then like guess what I'm saying? This movie has a lot of humanity in it, and it's definitely timely. So that is a great element of this. I love humanity in horror movies, and there's something about the way that it's wielded in this one, though, that just doesn't quite vibe with me. And I don't feel like the team behind this was trying to say one thing or the other or like beat you over the head with something. In the moments I feel like it might. I think it does a really good job balancing the playing field, and it it manages to be fun in a lot of places, but I don't think anything in this movie was done with malicious intent. I think that's a great thing about it. I do find that about 10% of it is in poor taste, though. And I think that coupled with only having one character I really even cared about makes this a really surprising, difficult to accept hack for me. And some people are really gonna like like it, and I'm glad for you. I'm glad I saw it as a time capsule film, but it's just the rare slasher that has not inspired any real desire in me to revisit.

SPEAKER_04 24:52

Alright. Well, your rating and this movie have caught me by surprise, but that's okay, you know. I think for me, I agree that this movie tried to do something that is very daring to do, which is approach something that is pretty recent. And you said it earlier where maybe this movie is a little too soon, but also far enough removed. So I I think going into it with the expectation of it just being fun, I appreciate that it for me, it delivered in that. It was fun for me, definitely relatable, although maybe to others it wasn't, and it and it dared to go there, and I think it did. Uh, I agree that certainly there are certain things that are like, ooh, that's very interesting in terms of depiction of how you're gonna do that. But at the end of the day, this movie is not groundbreaking and it's not a movie that is going to change your life, and it's certainly not supposed to be a serious film, and I think that because of that, I actually enjoyed it because I want to be able to finally see a slasher film in terms of maybe COVID that doesn't, that's not always so horrific and and like reminding me of the really, really tough things that happened. I know that sometimes it's not okay. You want to be able to have that, other times maybe to cope you don't. So when it comes to this movie, it's it's quick, it's fun, it's a slasher, the kills are great. And when are you gonna hear all of those things in the same sentence, on top of it being in the time of COVID? Not really often, if ever. So for me, I'm just gonna say it it was a slash.

SPEAKER_03 26:25

So I I agree with you, Chris. Like I it's a tough one. It's really tough. I wasn't exactly sure which way I was gonna go on this one going into this episode, even. This movie may have started off a little slow, but it definitely picked up and turned out to be, you know, a pretty decent slasher until it took a turn and went down a road that I really didn't enjoy as much. I I really had a hard time with this film because on one end, I really didn't like the way the story unfolded. And on the other end, I felt fairly entertained throughout the majority of the film. And, you know, I just think of, you know, if I'm gonna watch a slasher, is this ever gonna come into mind as something that I ever want to watch? And I don't know. So like I honestly, when I come from that place, I honestly think that I have to hack this film for that. And and I don't think it's a strong hack. Like I think it was like entertaining to watch, right? Like this is a really tough one. I'm really on a borderline of like slash or hack. Like, I don't think it's like a total hack. It's just when you when you when you look at it purely from you know, the standpoint of like, does it hold up against every other slasher? It to me, I don't know. Like there are parts that do, but the overall backbone and the story of it doesn't. And so for that, it's kind of like a soft hack for me.

SPEAKER_06 27:45

I think that's what we call the 49.9 and the 50.1% split.

SPEAKER_01 27:50

Yeah, it's tough. Yeah. You know, I I think the movie has some things going for it. So one, house level of quality, right? Even though it's a run-of-the-mill slasher, it follows the formula. It doesn't get too gory for me. Um, I think if you set aside the COVID setting and, you know, just think about this as a slasher movie, it works. And I can't hate it for that. I had some real trouble with some details. I truly hated the antagonist, and not in a good way that like makes you, you know, root against them, root for them, or anything like that. But I left this movie feeling apathetic. My wife asked me, like, what are you gonna rate this? And I literally was like, I don't even, I honestly just don't know. There's some stuff that's that's I'm gonna get into when we get later into some of the details here that truly bothered me. Small nitpicky details. I'm just gonna giving it a soft slash. I'm gonna say it's not the strongest slash that I've given out, obviously, right? It's a it's a soft one, but like it works as a slasher movie, but there's some stuff about it that's annoying, that that's just like truly annoying. Um, but I'm not going to can it just for those things.

SPEAKER_04 28:58

Wow. I really thought that once again, back to back, I was gonna be the only one. I was, I mean, I I was pretty close there.

SPEAKER_06 29:07

Not gonna lie. I was holding my breath. Well, there you have it, folks. Sick from 2023, now streaming on Peacock, has earned two hacks and two slashes. We're a house divided. Sounds like you have to go check it out for yourself, then join us in the second half so you can hear our debates. See you in a bit.

SPEAKER_01 29:31

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SPEAKER_06 30:13

Welcome back, folks. You're now entering the spoiler zone for Sick, which has earned two hacks and two slashes. We have a lot to unpack here, but before we get into the specifics of why I found this movie so boring, let's go through the kills.

SPEAKER_03 30:25

Yeah, we have a total of seven kills in this film. Six we actually see on screen, and one uh is told to us, that one being Benji's unfortunate death. I know there are some brutal scenes in this film, some pretty decent kills in this one. What were your all favorite kills?

SPEAKER_04 30:43

For me, it was definitely Pamela being burned to death. That last moment was definitely like just wow, impactful in the way that the way that it was shot, you're just like watching her run into the street slowly dying. It was like torturous, but also quick. And and not to get like a little, not to get too serious, but to be honest with you, I I think it was my favorite also because when I first watched it, it kind of reminded me a little bit of what it must have been like for her son, in the sense that it was like that prolonged, you know, death, I would imagine, but also it was so sudden, right? And and that's kind of how what it was with COVID. Suddenly, from one day to the next, it seems like, especially from when she's talking about her son and how that happened, from one moment to the next, he was fine making out with, you know, our with uh Parker, and then he's in the hospital and now gone. So it's like that prolonged agony for her, but on top of that, it was just like an incredible shot.

SPEAKER_06 31:42

I commend you on that death because that was the one that reminded me of Pearl, and it's not even because Pearl catches on fire in X. You know what I mean? Like it wasn't anything like that, yeah. But I think it was seeing the cop cars in the opening of X. I I think that it was that kind of parallel, right? It was thinking of like the mother of all like monsters in in X, but then to see the same maternal figure here, obviously, and like we get the nod to Pamela Vohees and Jason Voorhees. I think that was a cute little bit there. But my favorite death is absolutely DJ because holy shit, the rod in his back holding him up, the upper body strength you must possess to take that rod and still be able to hold him up that way amazing.

SPEAKER_03 32:29

That was a crazy kill for sure. But also on that scene, like, why would you get out of the car to someone you know is probably dead or getting killed? Like, get the fuck out of there. Like, have some common sense and get the fuck out.

SPEAKER_04 32:43

Did like, did she really think that this young child basically took on this this killer on his own? Like, why would you get out of the car? Truthfully, why were they just staying in that car? Just waiting. You're sorry, got got a blast. Gotta go. Gotta go.

SPEAKER_01 33:00

I I did notice obviously, like the flat tire, you know, as they're getting in. I think we're supposed to notice it. It's right there in the center of the frame or whatever. But I had the thought when they were getting in, I was like, F that. I don't care. We're riding on the rooms the entire way there. Like, get me a mile, and then we can we'll have enough of a lead to be able to be safe away from these people in some way. I don't know. But my favorite kill, it's gotta be antlers. Getting thrown off like the second floor onto first, this was the kill that made me rewind and rewatch it and like call my wife over and she's doing something, and I was like, You gotta you gotta watch this kill again. This is this is intense. Because it's not even the antlers. Getting impaled by antlers, that's one thing. Getting thrown off the second floor, that was what did it, I think for me. It was like this was the drama that this movie had with its kills. Because, yeah, getting your throat slit, all right, whatever, that's like slasher territory 101. But like launching you, just yeeting you off the balcony of that thing, just like yep, and you're just going down. And yeah, he could have just hit his back. We we've seen that in you know already in this movie, though. But to land on the antlers that were earlier pulled down off the wall, fantastic. And it just you felt it as soon as he hit you felt it.

SPEAKER_03 34:10

Oh, yeah, that was an intense scene for sure.

SPEAKER_06 34:12

It reminded me of Silent Night, Deadly Night, when the girl is like hung up on the antler back. Antlers disturbing, really fucking cool.

SPEAKER_03 34:22

Didn't his heel get sliced with like an electric carving knife too? Yes. Yes.

SPEAKER_06 34:27

The tendon slasher.

SPEAKER_03 34:29

Yep. That's just so that was so good. Yeah, it was really good.

SPEAKER_04 34:33

The bottom antler was very close to a particular body part. And that would have been rough.

SPEAKER_03 34:39

Oh, yeah. Super rough. Real rough.

SPEAKER_01 34:41

I mean, rougher than like the whole dying thing, maybe.

SPEAKER_03 34:44

I mean Well, I mean to die, but like I think also Jeb's death was pretty brutal, right? Like just everything leading up to his death, with like getting his face smashed in with that whatever that metal bucket, like continuously. And I gotta give it to Parker. Like, she was a fighter, like she really gave it to him, and she fought the whole way through. But like getting his face smashed in, I thought for sure he was. I mean, I guess it's predictable, yeah, he's coming back, kind of, but like I thought he for sure died, and then he gets up and there's another fight scene, and then he gets stabbed in the neck. Like, brutal way to go. You just got the crap beat out of you, and not just like the crap beat out of you, but your face got smashed in several times, and then you got stabbed in the throat. Damn.

SPEAKER_01 35:29

This is what you want though, right? If people are gonna defend themselves, you want them to fully disable their attacker, and they listened, they heard that lesson, and she's like, I'm gonna smash until like you stop moving and your face looks completely destroyed, and then she does it again. So there is there is one almost kill. That was my favorite visual of the movie, and I thought it was gonna be a kill. Thankfully, they didn't let it be, and that was Miri falling from the roof. When that happened, and we got to see like the whole way down like splat against the ground. I was like, oh dude, that's how they're gonna kill her. It was a good, it was a good death. But I feel like a lot of times you would just get the cut, you would see the push-off, and then you would see the hit on the ground, and we got to see the entire way down, and that was like such a great visual. They hint to it in the trailer, they do like let on a little bit, but that was my favorite thing to look at in the movie because it's so I mean, when you have vertigo, anytime you're falling great things like that, it doesn't feel so good, but there's something about it that's like a little mesmerizing.

SPEAKER_06 36:29

Absolutely. I love that we obviously get her on the ground, and we that's not the last time, you know, and she doesn't stay in there. She she pulls the Michael Myers, she pulls the Lori Strode in Halloween 2018, and she keeps going. But I think my favorite visual is a little bit more simple and it's a little bit more um broad throughout the film. It's just the use of depth. So we have the killers lurking in the background, right? We see that we have this incredible, like shallow depth of field, and we see tight close-ups on people's faces, or you know, even when DJ is at his car and leaves the fucking door open like an idiot. So here's the thing: I get it, you're in the middle of nowhere and you're not worried about people, but don't let the creatures in. Don't let the flies in. Close the fucking door, bro. But he doesn't close the door, and we get this beautiful shot of one of the killers walking into the background. Yeah. And while I wasn't super stoked on the aesthetic of the killer, only because it was giving pretty little liars in a way that I felt was a little bit hokey, and don't like necessarily seeing their eye region and all and only that, uh, I loved their presence in the background and in the shadows of the movie. Beautiful.

SPEAKER_03 37:40

Yeah, absolutely. Like you took the words out of my mouth. I thought the that use of like cinematography or the way they captured those shots were excellent. As soon as I saw that moment that you're talking about, you know, where he sneaks into the house, it reminded me so much of the strangers and just watching the scenes of the people in the background, right? But also like the shot where you see them like in between tree branches and things like that. It was just a really cool use of of the way they chose to show those scenes. I also like I also thought the lighting in the movie was really cool. Like I thought the way that they um that they utilized lighting in the film was also visually pretty interesting to look at.

SPEAKER_04 38:24

For sure. For sure. For me, my favorite was actually the choice of using erasure's a little respect, especially that it's a like alluring and distraction tactic. I thought that was such gold. And the callback obviously to it being the song that was playing in the video. But man, what a great song to have in this movie. Not only because it's a banger, but because it basically foreshadows the premise of the entire film. You know, like the idea of having a little respect for others when thinking of COVID protocols, you know. I I thought that was like such a great touch. Actually, even better because it makes me think of my favorite scene of this film, which of course is Pamela not letting Parker in the car, despite her clearly being hurt and running away from someone. Because it's like it is that premise of even then, we know that. Of course, at that point, you're like, oh, something's not right about this, but the lack of respect to how dare you try to like get in my car and not have a mask. Like, you don't have a mask, and yeah, it's just so funny. What a time. It made me laugh the whole way through. I was like, this is great because it's meta, because it's it's so extreme to the point that yeah, people were like, Where's your mask? And it's like, yo, this lady is clearly like running away from someone, she's bleeding, her the blood is literally on the window, but you're more preoccupied about having a mask and getting in this car. Right. I just thought it was a whole bit.

SPEAKER_06 39:52

Okay, so that was actually my favorite scene as well, but it was the more it transforms into what the the twist is. And while the idea of the motivations of the killer was not a surprise to me by any means, to be able to see that hilarious moment that was published that was marketed in the trailer and to see it transform into that, and just to realize that as soon as she puts on that mask, and then we just stare at Pamela, and Pamela stares at Parker, and then you realize, oh shit, she's in on it. Here we go.

SPEAKER_03 40:24

You know something's off.

SPEAKER_06 40:26

Yeah, it was very much like the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, where the girl makes it out alive, gets in the car, and she gets in the car of a family member, and he's taking her right back.

SPEAKER_04 40:35

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_06 40:36

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_04 40:37

Which I mean, at the second rewatch, though, you can kind of tell based on Jason's actions, instead of like trying to pull her away, he he's trying to pull her up as if like he knows that that car is Pamela, and he's not running away from the car, he's just like slowly getting up. He's not intimidated by the car or anything. So when I was re-watching it, I was like, uh, yeah, you can kind of tell at that point that whoever is in that car is really not, you know, going to help this person. It's really like they're in on in and on it.

SPEAKER_01 41:10

I I like to scene in which somebody helped themselves. So when we have our girl Miriam making herself a splint and getting up and getting back at them, that made me so happy to see because one, I was I I feared she was dead from the drop, and then we find out she's not. Okay, cool. Like, what are we gonna do with that? Is she gonna be like hiding the rest of the movie? No. She gets up, she splints that leg, she's ready to take action against these attackers. And that felt so good to see some actual protagonists who were not just taking the crap laying down. They're getting up and and just surviving. Once she walks up those stairs, you felt that pain. Once she put that foot on the chair and like you could tell she was holding back from the pain. I I loved everything about it. I'm like, yes, don't stop until they are just until they're until they're dead. You have to keep going, you have to stay alive, you have to survive. And she had that attitude. That honestly, like, she was the character that I felt something about, but like, yes, that scene made me love her even more.

SPEAKER_03 42:09

Yeah, that that was a good one for sure. I feel like uh obviously, based on visuals that I liked, I loved the scene where Parker is hiding behind the tree and you can see the killer looking from afar through the branches in the background. Such a cool shot, but I can't just talk about that one. I thought that when we see Parker on like the raft in the lake with the killer underneath and the knife just coming up, and like you know, that's such an intense scene, and it really things like that get me every time because I feel the intensity and like not knowing where that knife is coming next, and just what would I be doing in that situation? Honestly, I would have probably jumped as high and far out as possible and started swimming as fast as possible, but still like such an intense scene for sure.

SPEAKER_06 43:00

Dude, I'd be dead. I can't swim. Another great example of a movie I couldn't survive if that's what it came down to.

SPEAKER_03 43:07

Oh no.

SPEAKER_01 43:08

But also, did he have a rebreather or something? How did he stay underwater for so long?

SPEAKER_03 43:12

That's true. Uh it's true. We're we're poking holes. We're poking holes now.

SPEAKER_04 43:16

I mean, he's Jason, right? He's Jason, he's Jason. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_06 43:20

Camp Crystal Lake, baby. Just saying. His greatest fear is water, but also he always ends up in it and is fine somehow.

SPEAKER_00 43:27

Some way. I was born in the water. Molded by it.

SPEAKER_03 43:31

Yeah. I'll tell you what scene kind of threw me off a little bit, and that was, you know, that was the scene where Parker, Miri, and DJ are all in the basement raving out or whatever. And I'm gonna tell you right now like, getting stoned does not make you feel like that. Like, you're not gonna be in a basement feeling it that hard, like raving out, spraying shit everywhere in the air, getting crazy. Like, you're more likely to do that maybe on X. To see or acid or something. If you're stoned, you're probably sitting on a couch listening to music, really vibing out, but like maybe having some weird deep realization about something ridiculous.

SPEAKER_06 44:10

I wish that we had video recording of this episode so that way I could put up a lower third that says Sean, subject matter expert.

SPEAKER_03 44:20

Subject matter expert. That'd be great.

SPEAKER_06 44:22

No, but I did have a similar thought, not because I know from experience, but because it reminded me of bodies, bodies, bodies. And they were doing way different shit in bodies, bodies, bodies, but it was the same energy. I'm like, one of these two things ain't making sense. The math ain't mathing, babe. Makes sense.

SPEAKER_01 44:38

Yeah, I mean, they honestly should have been down in the basement eating like peanut butter and cracker sandwiches or something, you know?

SPEAKER_05 44:44

Yeah, yeah. I mean Lysoling it after Lysoling, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 44:49

See? Yeah. Hitting hitting a joint and then Lysoling the smoke coming out of your mouth, so it's not, you know, like come on, that would have been way better. There you go. We got it. We got it.

SPEAKER_04 44:58

That's comedy, yep. But let me tell you, you know, talking about that rave scene just reminds me, and I think we've all kind of maybe skirted around a little bit, or certainly Chris has. Parker's just not likable. Let's just call it for what it is. She's not a likable character. And I don't think she's supposed to, though. I don't think that she's necessarily supposed to be. Well, she is the protagonist, though. Okay, but we've seen movies where the protagonist isn't someone that you're supposed to necessarily like. And here's my theory on that. Ultimately, when you think of the killers and their motives, you can't have an uh protagonist that you like because of what the motive is of the antagonists. You know what I'm saying? Like that well, treading lightly, because ultimately it was a little extreme, I think. I at least that's what I think. You're supposed to have a protagonist that was careless and didn't really care and downplayed COVID and everything, so that the decisions that were made and the family's motive made sense to some extent.

SPEAKER_06 46:01

Yeah, so here's the thing every villain is a hero in their own story, and this is a a a movie in which nobody's really a great person except for Miri. Miri didn't deserve any of the bullshit that she was dragged into. Parker didn't deserve her as a friend. Yes. Maybe Parker didn't even deserve DJ, but also DJ needs to get a fucking clue, read a room, and not fucking be there. He could have lived had he not been a typical dude trying to demand what a woman feels and telling her what she does feel and what she doesn't feel. Look, good well intentions, idiot, complete fucking idiot. But Parker was so unlikable to me, which kills me because I'm not like a fan of just like being someone who's like down on women in horror films. You know what I mean? Like it feels bad in my soul, but also couldn't fucking stand her from the get-go. She's also just the kind of person who I would not be friends with or want any connection to if I knew her in real life. She's exactly the kind of person I would have tried to avoid this whole fucking pandemic. Not because of any other reason than she's annoying.

SPEAKER_01 47:03

Sure. I think it would have been very different if they gave us Miri as the main character. And then we like, you know, we grow attached a little bit and then find out that she did some reckless stuff. I think we would have had a very different reaction to someone that we immediately meet and go, I don't like you. You're a crazy little college kid. You need to mature. So I I think on the one hand, you want a slasher, right? You want to root for the killer sometimes. You want somebody where you're like, oh yeah, get them. But at the same time, if you're our main characters and you're obviously gonna probably make it, like I need to care about you like a little, I need to align with you a little bit on something.

SPEAKER_06 47:40

And that's the thing. I didn't give a shit about them. Oh, I gave a shit about Miri and only Miri. Like I couldn't find anything in my body that cared about Parker. And then even for the killers and their motives. Their motives, I felt like, and again, I said this earlier. I know that this movie isn't like trying to say one thing or the other, but like the 10% that's in poor taste. It is 10% in poor taste to vilify people who lost someone and had extreme reactions. And again, the extremism is an extremism, right? It's a it's a narrative story, it's fictional, etc. But to almost make a mockery of that feels a little bit in poor taste to me. And so I couldn't drive with them, couldn't drive with Parker, left somewhere in the middle, wishing Miri just had better fucking friends.

SPEAKER_02 48:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 48:24

But my thing is, how could Miri have been the main character if Miri's not a person that would do something reckless? I think is what I was trying to say, right? Like ultimately it just wouldn't have made sense.

SPEAKER_02 48:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 48:35

I do agree in terms of vilifying loss in terms of COVID. That's the part that was like, woof, they really went there and they did it. I feel like when it comes to COVID, we see often the extremes of people that were reckless or right, or like that didn't wear masks and didn't believe in COVID, like all of these things, right? That's what we typically see. We never see this extreme or this side of it, but that's because this side of it is like, man, you know, you can't, how are you vilifying grief, right?

SPEAKER_06 49:08

Yeah, and and again, it plays back into the whole most slashers are born through vengeance, yeah, right? You wronged me, so I'm coming back to get your ass. And I get it, like it's a smart move for a slasher if you want to take that. Here's what I would have loved to see. I would have loved to see slashers, like even if it was still a family, I would have loved to see them like point them more on the extremist side of just they take this shit very seriously and maybe they just want to fucking cut your ass down. I don't I don't know, but specifically to wield Benji's death as the catalyst of of vengeance, it was both too much and not enough. Yeah, it just felt like a poor, poor choice. When I walked into this movie, I was hoping that it was gonna be okay, this is someone who has the propensity to kill, the propensity to be a sociopath or a psychopath or you know, a serial killer, but has been too burdened by capitalism to ever find the time, and now murder is their hobby. Murder is their quarantine hobby. That's what I was hoping for. That could have been a fun slasher I could have gotten into. But instead, we got the vilification of a family who lost their son. And I'm just not down for that the same way I know that people give me shit for this, but the same way that I wasn't down for the portrayal of the vilification of a of a of a of a lesbian in high tension. It just is not necessary. We don't need that.

SPEAKER_01 50:34

This this this whole reveal of their motive really, really bothered me because they have the means, they have the opportunity. We're set up for success so far. And then when we finally meet them and hear what's going on and why they're doing this, it just like one didn't make any sense. And two, it felt like someone was trying to make a statement, but I couldn't really work out what that statement was. And it just bothered me because I was like, I don't care what your statement is here, it seems like it's stupid. Now, I I think at the end of it, I had to like reason it away and be like, that's they weren't trying to, right? They're just talking about like the state of things and how crazy it was and whatever, but like it really felt like a moment where they were attacking the idea that people should, you know, be concerned with trying to stay healthy and trying to keep their family healthy. It seemed like it was almost like, oh my god, those people were so annoying, right? And it was like, really? That's how far we're gonna take it, is is making them the killers. It it really bothered me.

SPEAKER_03 51:28

Yeah, I know it it's true. Like it's interesting to see like the approach, and I don't know what the thought process was or the intention was, but uh you know, to have you know, have the killers in that reveal and their motive, it makes you you've got to imagine there's gonna be there's gonna be some people that may feel sympathy for the family that may almost root for the family in a sense. There's gonna be people that think it's you know, like this is too far, like it's too far, it's not it's not their fault or it's not her fault, right? And then you've got uh the also the interesting aspect of like Parker and Miri as like almost like a dual protagonist, and it's like the yin to the yang, right? Like you've got Parker who, you know, isn't real necessarily likable, but she's one tough SOB, right? Like she's a fighter, and you've got Miri who's just innocent and shouldn't be there. But you know, it's just weird, like the the way that they chose to utilize these characters and the story and in the reveal and the motive and everything put together is a lot of mixed emotions, a lot of mixed feelings in there. And it's hard to figure out who you're rooting for and why you're rooting for them, and that doesn't make for a successful film. I don't know. It it's just interesting that the way the way it all unfolded, and I don't know if that was the the intention.

SPEAKER_01 52:48

I think when we talk about realism in movies like this, like there's always a line where it's gonna break down, but this is a place where realism would have gone really far. I think if we had a killer who had a realistic motive for wanting to kill, even it was simply that was their thing and that's how they got off, we would have believed it more. We would have cared about it more. But in this case, you're watching it going, oh, this is kind of like a joke in a way. It's kind of making fun, but not in a funny way. And it just like I didn't connect with it at all.

SPEAKER_03 53:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 53:16

But I guess in some ways, like if I were to think of what the worst part of this film would be, I think it would be that portrayal, despite me liking the ending, because I think ultimately it just to me, it was still a shock that they decided to go that route. And the whole conversation that unfolded in that ending, the the little bits of, you know, when Jason is like getting really upset and in Parker's face, and so you know, Pamela's so calm and she's like, honey, your mask, you know, like it's just the little things that I think they're trying to lighten the mood of of a direction that is kind of rough. It's like a uh it's the worst part of the movie, but nonetheless, they still try to tread lightly in, you know, trying in not making it as obvious that, like, yeah, we went there. We probably shouldn't have. Let's try to make it a little light as much as we can.

SPEAKER_01 54:11

But they lost me in the details.

SPEAKER_04 54:13

Sure. That's right.

SPEAKER_01 54:14

So the worst part of the movie for me, or how they got some of the small, silly details wrong, or just pointed them out when they didn't need to. First of all, something that really bothered me. At home rapid antigen tests, like the one that the antagonist uses to like point out the fact that Barker was the one.

SPEAKER_06 54:31

We're not yet available.

SPEAKER_01 54:32

They didn't come out until December of that year.

SPEAKER_03 54:35

Yes, that's so true.

SPEAKER_01 54:36

And so it wasn't even necessary to the plot. Why did they need to use that? They they could have had some other reasoning to where they could have showed. So that was incredibly annoying. Um, pointing out the whole like, oh, the router's blinking. So that means that means someone's using the Wi-Fi first of all. You don't have a smart TV somewhere in the house. Is it updating? Is something else on the internet? That's just a silly detail. Don't use that. That's ridiculous. I could pick on them for the like the weak ass throat slitting thing. Like, if you if you slit someone's throat, they don't instantly die, especially as weak as they did it. They're gonna gurgle, they're gonna hold their throat, they're gonna keep living for a little bit. You'd have to cut so far through, and they didn't, right? So it just but that feels kind of par for the course from with slashers. That's just how they show it. That's how Hollywood does it, which is fine. But the other stuff, there's just small details here and there that are I like I can't get over, and that really bothered me.

SPEAKER_06 55:24

I am here once again to say that Miri is the best part of this movie. And if you are listening to this and thinking, hmm, I have listened to this whole episode without watching this movie, and I think I won't watch it, you might actually want to watch it because Miri is just that fucking cool. And whenever the time comes for us to do a final girl ranking of this decade, she will be among them and she will be great.

SPEAKER_03 55:52

Nice. I agree. I like the overall backbone of the slasher. Like, I I like the kills, like I like the intensity of some of those scenes. Those that was those were probably the best parts of the film for me, but it's tough because I I truly believe the worst part of the film is probably meant to be the best part of the film. And and of course, I'm talking about the big reveal in the third act, and we've been talking about it, right? But when we learn that Parker is asymptomatic and unknowingly passed COVID onto Benji and then killing him inadvertently, and the lengths that this family went to to seek revenge for their son's death, it felt like they were trying to go down the street to the last house on the fucking left and open that door, but it just didn't work out. It it just wasn't hitting the same, right? Like, I get it, it sucks, but it's hard to blame teenagers. Like, it's one thing if they know they're sick and then go out and whatever, but they're asymptomatic. Is that really her fault? I don't know. Like it was an interesting time in the early months. Like, I I don't know, you just don't know. But you gotta remember at the beginning of the pandemic, we didn't know a ton about it, right? Like, kids especially didn't probably didn't take it seriously. Hell, I didn't even truthfully take it seriously at first until stuff started really picking up. So you gotta think about all this stuff. But like the way that it tried to take that tone, right? Uh, it just didn't hit the same. Just didn't hit the same as The Last House on the Left.

SPEAKER_01 57:18

It it really did read as tone deaf, which is surprising to me because I feel like the filmmakers probably aren't actually tone deaf. And so it's almost like they they missed the execution of delivering whatever it is that they wanted to deliver with this movie. It's like you guys wanted to do something, but you lost it in translation a little bit because it's hard to read. It's coming across like you're you're just kind of making fun a little bit. Like, oh, remember those days? Oh, what if we said a killer like back in the early pandemic? Oh, that would be silly. That'd be so silly. Let's do that.

SPEAKER_04 57:48

Which which is why I think it it goes back to what you said earlier, Chris. That is it that this movie is like a little too soon. And even that, not that's not to say that if it was late years later down the road, would we still probably be feeling the same way? Sure. But I mean, uh yeah, this is still pretty soon. It's I mean, the latest strand of of COVID, I think it was Omicron or Delta, the one that I got, honestly, was just like not very long ago. Like maybe seven months ago, eight months ago. Like, yikes.

unknown 58:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 58:21

This movie came out when I had COVID. Like it's not that long ago.

SPEAKER_05 58:25

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_06 58:26

And I think it's it I think it's so interesting, Sean, that you bring up the parallel to Last House on the Left, because I got a little bit of that energy as well. Except it could not come anywhere near the mastery that Wes Craven had in that. And I avoided that movie for so long because of the brutality of the assault scene in that movie. But even when I first when even when I got so round to watching it, you could see how that kind of violence and how that kind of horror to befall a young woman could incite that rage in those parents, and it was different because they're the killers were then on their turf, right? And it's an entirely different ball game, and the tone with which it was done was masterful. And we know that Kevin Williamson and Wes Craven are a killer combination, but I don't know that Kevin Williamson in this in this work in this in this writing really hit for me trying to recreate a little bit of that last house on the left magic. It's it was a swing and a miss.

SPEAKER_01 59:26

You know, part of it for me is if you're gonna give me college students, let me like connect with them on some level. Don't give me college students driving a Range Rover to their family's lake house. That's where you lost me because I already honestly don't even care.

SPEAKER_06 59:41

Yeah, it just feels out of touch. I'll say this there are some moments in this movie that are great, and if this movie was put on not by me, but it was just on, I wouldn't shut it off. But I don't know that I'll ever intentionally seek this movie out to revisit it.

SPEAKER_04 59:57

That's fair. I mean, I've definitely seen this movie twice in one month, so I'm done for a good while. But I for me, I think it's just one of those movies where like if it's on, you got nothing else going on, maybe some somewhere down the line, sure I'll pop it on. Will I put it on while I'm sick? I don't know.

SPEAKER_05 1:00:18

I don't know about all that. Maybe, maybe not. We'll see.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:21

I mean, I don't know. I really don't think I will watch this one again. It was entertaining enough to watch once. I I just don't feel like it needs another watch. It's not one of those films that is good enough to want to keep watching every so often. I I I mean, I just can't imagine a time where I'd I'd really ever want to choose to put this one on again.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:40

Honestly, this movie is Applebee's, right? It's like so generic and so blah that like we've all been there. Nobody here can probably say they've never been to an Applebee's, right? But like, do you want to go back to an Applebee's tomorrow?

SPEAKER_02 1:00:54

Damn.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:54

No. Nah. Yeah, you're you're fine. Like, yeah, I went there. I did the thing. Should other people go there? Maybe. I don't know if you're 17 or whatever, but like, do I want to go there? No. I got I got other stuff to do at this point.

SPEAKER_06 1:01:04

There's a reason why the office didn't feel God in that Applebee's tonight. There you go. Well, look, there you have it, folks. Sick from 2023 streaming on Peacock has had us split down the middle with two hacks and two slashes. And honestly, even one of those slashes doesn't sound too convincing. Well, we've certainly had a robust discussion here. It doesn't end here by any means.

SPEAKER_04 1:01:26

We want to know what you think. I'm genuinely curious. Would you find yourself having a rave with Lysol after having a few hits of a blunt? I just want to know. Let's fact check. I'm curious. You can join in on the conversation and let me know and let the rest of us know by hanging out with us for free in our Discord. You can click the link in our show notes to sign up.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:47

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SPEAKER_06 1:01:58

We'll see you next time, folks. And remember, I can't let you in. It's not safe.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:02

Thank you for the bedtime psycho babble.