Heathers (1988) - 3/5

This movie goes from high school drama to murder-thriller in the blink of an eye. It’s been influential for everything from Mean Girls to Jojo Rabbit, though its successors have generally improved on the formula. It’s campy by modern standards, but even at its time it was a black sheep in the genre because of the bait-and-switch plot and tone. The main disconnect between the tone and the events of the film is handled a bit clumsily, and despite all its clever plotting it leaves the audience with almost nothing to take away from the film above the level of ‘don’t murder’.

Content warnings: language

Closest comparison: It goes from Sixteen Candles to a tamer version of Scream.

Setting: High School Drama
Plot: Teen Angst / Thriller
Tone: Teen Comedy / Dark Comedy

Stranger Things, Season 3 (Netflix) - 3/5

This season of Stranger Things is a strange case of inconsistency. The direction, editing, and acting are all phenomenal, and the plot is better constructed and more memorable than season 2. The first six episodes are exciting and binge-worthy, but after that it starts going downhill fast. The show constantly portrays bullying and bickering as an integral part of natural, healthy relationships which is offensively tone-deaf, and it only gets worse in the last two episodes. Most of the intriguing build-up gets squashed by shoe-horned character moments and one blindingly out-of-place experiment in bathos whiplash (using comedy to cut dramatic tension) that grinds on painfully for the duration of an entire song. This season had the makings of something great, but the last two episodes drop it from an almost 5/5 to a mid-tier 3/5.

Closest comparison: It’s like a conglomeration of ‘80s pop horror movies with modern production values.

Setting: ‘80s Horror
Plot: Mystery Thriller
Tone: Pop Horror

Stanger Things: Season 2 (Netflix) - 4/5

The Duffer Brothers did it again! Season 2 is really good in so many of the ways the first one was: cinematography, writing, acting. The pacing wasn't as good (one episode, though iconic, didn't have a lot to do with the rest of the season), but they managed to subvert my expectations over and over again which is always important. The main flaw comes in the form of what they did with a certain character's story arc, which was just not ok (at the lab). All in all there's lots to like and it is a surprisingly good follow-up to the first season.