Shut-In Film Fest Week 2: Gilded Cages and Sanitary Spaces

The second installation of the Shut-In Fest focuses on films about isolation as a way of life

Week 2 of our Shut-In Festival takes isolation a step further. While Week 1 dealt with temporary states of confinement, week two explores isolation as a way of being. In these films, the characters did not choose their lifestyles, but must learn to operate within them. What I hope we can gather from this week’s screenings is a sense of both the dangers of disconnecting too harshly from our world around us (call your grandparents!) and the ways we can try to make the best of our situations, by becoming amateur sleuths, starting a socially distanced love affair or consuming household objects — actually, maybe avoid the last one.

Day One: The Gilded Cage

Swallow (Carlo Mirabella-Davis, 2019)

Yes, we’re starting with a pricey rental option, but if you watch anything I recommend this week, let it be this stunningly realized, deeply empathetic portrait of a woman trying desperately to maintain any semblance of control over her life and her body. Hunter (played by the heavenly Haley Bennett) is stuck in a stifling marriage to a wealthy, controlling man and, essentially, his mother. When she finds herself reluctantly pregnant, she falls even deeper into their trap, unable to leave their palatial home and forced to live by their rules for the health of the baby. In a quest for some way to own her own body and agency again, Hunter begins consuming household objects of ever-increasing complexity and danger. Even if this gripping, tragic and touching premise doesn’t speak to you, check it out for the stylish mid-century modern production design and chic ’50s attire. You’ll at least be inspired to redecorate!

Swallow is available to rent on Amazon Prime or Vudu

Day One (Pt. 2): Germaphobia

Safe (Todd Haynes, 1995)

It’s double feature time! I cannot imagine a more perfect double feature, thematically or aesthetically. Todd Haynes’ masterpiece (one of many) Safe feels like the spiritual predecessor to Carlo Mirabella-Davis’ Swallow. Julianne Moore stars in an equally evocative turn as Carol, a housewife who slowly falls into a paranoia that her home contains toxic, damaging chemicals that she must remove at all costs. Slowly, she devolves into a state of genuine illness and deep-ceded paranoia. Is it psychosomatic? Is her chemical sensitivity real? The film may play a bit close to home these days, but this too can be watched for sheer gorgeous escapism if that’s more your speed. Haynes has always had amazing set design, but none is so soothing and lovely as Carol’s pastel-soaked, insidiously destructive home.

Safe is available on the Criterion Channel

Day Three: Bourgeois Isolation

The Exterminating Angel (Luis Buñuel, 1962)

It’s only healthy to take a little break between that psychologically trying double feature and your next film. After a night off, why not try something a bit more experimental? Luis Buñuel’s insane piece of surreality builds from a grounded initial premise, intriguing just for its glimpse into bourgeois mannerisms, into something utterly bonkers. A group of elite acquaintances gather for a fancy dinner party at a mansion. It’s all propriety and small talk until the guests discover they can’t quite find a way to leave. Like the most infuriating type of dream playing out on unlikable characters, The Exterminating Angel allows for a healthy dose of Schadenfreude and a charming wink of humor as it spirals deeper into its clever rabbit hole.

The Exterminating Angel is available to rent on Amazon Prime or iTunes

Day Four: Isolation, Curiosity and Detective Work

Rear Window (Alfred Hithcock, 1954) or Number 37 (Nosipho Dumisa, 2017)

For a classic take on isolation and the resulting paranoia, check out Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window. In his classic mystery-thriller, Jimmy Stewart plays a wheelchair bound photographer whose professional curiosity gets the better of him. With little else to distract him, he starts spying on his neighbors across the alley. When he witnesses what he believes to be a murder, things escalate into a clever take on the cat-and-mouse detective story. If you’ve seen this one and its many reimaginings too many times before, fear not! Number 37, a slick 2017 South African film, is here to mix up the formula and give you a surprisingly fresh take with a questionably immoral protagonist at the helm. To say more would ruin the excitement, but rest assured you’re in for an absorbing ride with either film.

Rear Window is available to rent on Prime or Vudu
Number 37 is available to stream on Prime

Day Five: Creating A Separate World in Isolation

Dogtooth (Yorgos Lanthimos, 2009)

Before Yorgos Lanthimos became one of the most popular and prolific filmmakers of the last decade, he was already making his signature brand of haunting, oddball arthouse curiosities on a smaller scale. Dogtooth centers around a group of siblings living on an isolated property in Greece with their restrictive parents. With no one to speak to and little to do, the siblings begin to develop their own society and their own rules. Despite their parents’ best protective efforts, the delusion and perversions of the siblings’ microcosm can only persist for so long before reality creeps in. If you’ve found yourself a fan of Lanthimos in recent years, do yourself the huge favor of catching his first major breakthrough.