directed by:
Emma Jacqueline written by: Emma Jacqueline genre: Animation, Comedy |
Why does this robot in the intro assume that I like gummi worms so much? I mean, it’s not wrong, but like…well, I guess I thought I hid that information better. #FeelingVerySeen
I freakin’ love stop-motion animation; it’s by far my favourite of the visually-animated styles. I also like unique dialogue too – and how many films are you going to find with lines like: “Vicky the talking vagina? She seems chill.” It becomes very apparent very quickly that Writer/Director Emma Jacqueline is ready and equipped to do things differently as “Into The Menstrualverse” begins to take its shape. Some spoilers ahead. So... Alice is trying to date Sparky, only Sparky’s not into dating trans-women and Chloe’s trying to find a way just to be comfortable with herself. Vicky is happy to dispense expletives and wisdom whether it’s solicited or not, you know, as all talking vaginas tend to. Alice’s magical pussy friend Vicky potentially has the power to squirt its way “Into The Menstrualverse,” where it’ll try to help Alice adjust the past so that she’s born a cis-gendered female instead. I know, I know… everyone thinks the Marvel Universe has a total monopoly on multiverses, but here we are, with proof that at least one of those multiverses includes a menstrualverse as well. Vicky and Alice make their way back to the past - to the point of conception, where they find out that Alice was conceived in the back of a…jeez…what is that, a Gremlin? I’m not a car guy, so I have no real idea…but my parents used to own a Gremlin when I was a kid, and now this film has got me wondering about whether or not I might have been conceived in the exact same way. Alice becomes more of a “complete woman” after gaining the ability to menstruate by altering the past. Don’t go thinkin’ that solves all her problems, though, because it won’t – as I’m sure many of you can imagine, there’s more to being a woman than just the bleeding part. Soon enough, we’re navigating the realms of societal constructs and multiple storylines to ‘fix’ the present by ‘improving the timeline.’ “F**k you, Alice,” Vicky will go on to say, as their relationship gets complicated by ovaries and a uterus, and directly before the film’s big musical number. Look. I’m not here to tell you this all makes a whole lot of sense, but that’s kinda the real fun to be had here as “Into The Menstrualverse” takes on a highly serious subject in just about the most un-serious of ways. Loosen up, y’all – when you’ve got a talking vagina as one of the main characters in a movie, you can get away with a chuckle here and there. The most comedic aspects of the script are effective, and you’re bound to have a laugh or two along the way. So…okay…brass taxes here. I love the crudeness in the dialogue, and I love the crudeness of the characters on a visual level as well. It’s like…you can tell that Jacqueline has done everything right to create a distinct look that seems like everything you see is relatively unimportant to what the content is, and sure, if you like, you could probably take that as a multi-dimensional metaphor. We’re not talking about making the detail in the characters the main priority, you know what I mean? It’s like we get just enough visual representation to pull this story off and that the emotions/reactions all fit the scenes, but not a heck of a lot more when it comes to what we see. Some folks are gonna like that…where all the clay model colours start to blend together from being constantly molded around, misshapen faces, breaks in the seams, and stuff like that - like Vicky, for example - no disrespect to this magical pussy & all, but she looks…umm…fairly well used, let’s put it that way. Alright, f**k it, I’ll just say it simple and plain – this vagina is practically crumbling right before our eyes in certain scenes! To be fair, let the record show that I have absolutely no idea what it takes to keep one entirely intact. I liked the use of effects in this movie, though, as well as the additional visual textures created by cardboard cut-outs, tinfoil, pipe cleaners, and cloth with the characters. Multiverse theory is obviously about as complex as it gets when it comes to writing, which is why most folks steer completely clear of it…it’s fair to say that it’s always going to create more potential questions and unresolvable parts of a story as it seeks to create a timeline that makes sense. “Into The Menstrualverse” is going to hit the wall a little in that regard like any other film would, but like just about anything else multi or menstrualverse, we kinda just go along with it, even if all the details in the plot don’t totally add up. I’d say that “Into The Menstrualverse” gets a little bogged down by its dip into Sci-Fi from the more comedic gear that it starts in. As to whether or not that becomes a real obstacle for viewers or not, honestly, I don’t know.
Personally, I felt like this movie had no problem retaining my attention because even when the plot/defining characteristics of its demeanour shift around a lot, the animation and cleverness in Jacqueline’s direction kept my interest when the storyline seemed to wander. Ultimately, I think what becomes most important in multiverse theory in terms of keeping the masses sticking with it, is that the main concept is still clear enough; in this tale of everyone doing their best to help Alice find her way in life, credit where credit is due, Jacqueline does an exceptional job of. I like the confidence that she displays with the script as well – she goes after the comedic perspective with the assumption that the jokes are gonna land, which is really the only way to tackle comedy successfully, pass or fail. There are hits, there are misses, and that’s okay – it’s the presentation that matters, and I felt like Emma approached making this film with a whole lot of confidence all-around in that regard. Could the dialogue still be a bit more focused than it is? Sure! Definitely lots of room to sharpen the pencil - not get too mired in the Sci-Fi stuff and lean harder into what’s connecting the most, which is actually the combination of laughs and heart at the core of this story. Visually, despite all her efforts to dirty this up with its crudely shaped characters, there’s not much I would have wanted done any different – I felt like the animated aspects of this film were a ton of fun and kept us watching intently, even when the story started to lag. Is it a little weird to have so many references to pussy juice and not an ounce of fluid to be found in this film? Yes! I think I can speak for most of us when I say everyone loves a great squirt, so let that juice loose, yo! It’s a worthwhile watch – I enjoyed my time in the menstrualverse, which, admittedly, wasn’t a place that I thought I might find myself in. The final twist at the end was a freakin’ fantastic curveball, which had Jacqueline flex one of her best ideas in the plot and introduce yet another different texture to the visuals in some of the movie’s last scenes. As to whether or not we’re all gonna feel like this was completely cohesive from start to finish - or made enough sense in its jagged line from point A to point B as we head through the mentstrualverses, I’d imagine we’re all gonna come to our own individual conclusions. Like I was saying earlier, what matters most is that we have the ability to connect with the overall concepts more so than the smaller details, and I felt like Jacqueline got that all correct. That being said, in a way, that’s also kinda what this is all about -individualism and recognizing that we’re all perfect, just the way we are in however you might see ourselves – we’re all enough, and whatever conclusions we come to, about anything, are a large part of what makes us as unique and beautiful as we are. I’m gonna go with three and a half stars out of five here, based around Emma’s good intentions, the fun in the animation, the brutally crass dialogue, and its overall message. “Into The Menstrualverse” might wander around a little bit, but it gets to where it wants to go by the end…and so, too, will we all. |
More To Check Out.
|