remaking cult classic movies with queer vibes but excising the queer vibes is ignoring anything that made them classic in the first place

The queer camp horror classic that Nightmare 2 wishes it was.

This film is a stunner - I am shocked I don't hear it talked about more in regular conversations about LGBTQ cinema and coming-of-age films. The storytelling here is so specific and well-rendered, Dee Rees' direction and writing so confident and mature, and Bradford Young's cinematography so lush, gorgeous, and detailed. Adepero Oduye anchors the movie with a beautiful performance and the film is not afraid to insert well-earned moments of poetry in an otherwise realism-based vocabulary. Honestly, if you spent one minute of time gushing about Lady Bird but haven't seen Pariah, the latter deserves your attention and praise with equal fervor. (Ditto with Moonlight.)

I haven't seen a more miserable downer in a long time - uninspired reveals, trite resolutions, and middling action. Swing and a miss.