Night crawler the easy comparison . Anyone who says this says nothing is insane or just doesn’t like what it says

i understood the moment Lee dies to be a choice Joel and Jesse made to compartmentalize, or numb her loss entirely (much like Lee would in the first half). Joel’s goal-oriented, possessed by the notion that if he gets an interview from the president, it’ll justify Sammy’s death. and Jesse just had the torch fully passed to her.. she learned from Lee that you’ve gotta shut down to do the job. ironically, just as soon as Lee started opening herself up to feeling things again, she catches a bullet (ie. deleting Sammy’s death picture, and her full-on panic attack at the White House)

You summarized it better then me but agree with this 100%

that’s the point they were laughing and smiling when people were getting executed but when it home they became the monsters they once captured . They are just as bad as plemonsxjust no gun in their hand . Him saying “ don’t kill me “ is the perfect quote shows that “

Literally was thinking of the night crawler comparison alot during this

This . The job requires you to become apolitical or die that’s part of the point too

Fitting but full write up in moments

I’m saying it didn’t make sense to me about Joel’s character crying over every other friend of his that died, but then when Lee died everyone acted like it was nothing. Didn’t check the body. Literally was just like “oops, oh well” and shrugged it off. I think Garland could’ve wrote that moment better

That’s the only thing that stops it from getting a 5/5 for me. Everything else is was pretty f***ing great

Especially how the first run Joel had to hold Jesse and protect her and then the last run she was running around doing her own thing, fearless and reckless

he snapped after the cigarette screaming scene . He openly says “ he died for nothing “ . He didn’t care about her. He just wanted his friends death to mean something with the president kill shot . They execute the press secretary in cold blood and he doesn’t care . He saw her weakness in panic attack and viewed her as useless to his cause and goal

well I get why he doesn’t care about the secretary but Lee was most definitely his friend. I’m telling you bro they didn’t set up his character to be some cruel ruthless a\*\*\*\*\*\* “oh, you’re useless to my goal now so to hell wit you”…he was literally the protector of the crew throughout the whole movie. Idk. Like I said that’s prolly the only part I disliked

Anyone else notice the blurring/out of focus effect around lee during certain scenes? In the final shot the area surrounding Jesse is out of focus too 🤔

the sides of many frames had a multicolor blur effect

Aight here we go home

Joel showing humanity/empathy for his friends deaths is what made his character have depth. Without that he might as well just be a walking robot who just watches people get killed with no affect on him. I understand that came with it due to the job. But when his friends died they showcased he’s still a human. When Jesse was on that first run, he was protecting her, that’s human. Idk why they threw that out at the last act. He ain’t have to do a big gesture, just something, anything, your friend just died in front of you. Also prior to them entering the house he was yelling at Jesse for being reckless cus he wanted her safe. So clearly he didn’t want anyone to die.

also he couldn’t have viewed her as useless because she’s the one who said “the president isn’t in the car, he’s in the house still”….he would’ve never gotten his goal if it wasn’t for Lee

Just rewatched the ending via camrip yeah bro that s\*\*\* is still weird, Joel walks up to Jesse instead, he literally could’ve went to his friends dead body instead in that same time frame and shut her eyes or something. Any type of gesture. Idk that was a weird 180 they did with his character at last minute

Dropping this during an election year isn't irresponsible or just chasing clout in anyway

The movie opens with an attack on the fuel truck someone running in with a flag if you were to swap it with someone in a hijab yelling Allah Akbar no one would have an issue. The movie questions the religion that is America itself it removes Christ and God from the equation. The entire goal is to interview the God of America and get his final words. A final interview. An explanation for why america fell to become what it was. A reason . President ends with don't kill me.

Movie opens with police brutality and scenes from our very own protest interlaced. President trying to formulate the words to justify him staying alive. All of America appears as a police state to a hyper degree everyone pitted against each other for resources. Throughout the course of the movie the man who openly calls both audience and person asking lowly regarded is saying the cycles of constantly shooting at each other eventually inevitably escalates to violence. What is any other natural progression when people won't listen to each other. There is no need to wrap this movie around hyper religious, abortion, gay rights, trans rights, poverty, race when central to it all is othering and viewing as a foreign body. What kind of American are you ? When he says Hong Kong Plemons instantly views him as disposable.

Again earlier in movie we see them zoomed in all laughing and smiling as war crimes occur around them. Not saying they should speak out but they are numb to it and just pokemon snapping a war until it begins to bleed into their lives . Then we see them become numb and more numb. As long as the killers believe the press is on their side. The change over moment for Missouri is when she swaps cars . I think that was partially symbolic too. Them swapping cars like that and driving behind them recklessly showed they were no longer taking anything seriously or operating carefully. When they did that and because they did that they ensured they would die. If they had died in that moment we would be like "dumbasses" but because they die by the gun of plemons we view it as horrorific and feel bad for them. We feel they were killed by the evil villain with (red glasses all he sees is red lol). My con nitpick is I hate the trope of car getting shot at and one person catching a surprise bullet . We see so much survivors guilt throughout the entire movie so although I do understand those that think the characters flips was fast. They wanted their lives and deaths to mean something. In the credits we see them standing over the dead body of the president smiling which reminded me of the horrors of Abu Gharib. People going to install democracy or in their mind do a good thing and becoming monsters.

It wasn't last minute at all lol

him suddenly not caring about his friends? Yes it was. He literally was still trying to protect Jesse moments before that when they were outside

but that was the last thing he needed from her. He didn't need her for the interview and he could tell she still had more of a soul than he did. What did he need her for after that. Yes she served her purpose there but even if he was in the car he would have been instantly executed. the person tauntedd him about " I will get the kill photo first race you there" he didn't want the kill photo he wante the final words. The same way his friend was force to say Hong Kong

When they were outside yes but once he realized they made it to the presient that is what mattered to him. Seeing the president beg in fear someone so powerful just as his friend had

The president is the scapegoat for the entirety of the violence when the truth is they are all to blame

Bro when did he showcase in the film he didn’t give a f\*\*\* about the people in the car with him? Cus I vividly remember this mufucka having emotional breakdowns over three of his boys getting popped. So I’m not seeing where he was established as being THAT soulless. Why was he constantly trying to protect Jesse if he’s suppose to be this soulesss person?

Everyone wants someone to blame and to see that person suffer. The pursuit of vengeance leads to the cycles we see on display. There are many glances to just following orders but there are no true orders or clear chain of command for most of the movie. They are disorganized groups fighting

It is like watching call of duty or battlefield matches for 2 hours. That is purposeful the same way we load up the game and for that marathon of gaming the other side is our enemy without question. We don't need a reason we don't care about their beliefs we just want them dead