Gimmick Movies Hit The Screens of Thousands

Gimmick+Movies+Hit+The+Screens+of+Thousands

Connor Crafton, Reporter

In the past year, movies and shows came out that broke the barrier of what a movie experience could be. Movies like Bird Box, Black Mirror: Bandersnatch, and A Quiet Place, took what we knew about movies and brought a new spin to them. With the gimmicks these movies use, watchers get an experience unseen in theatres before.

Bird Box stars Sandra Bullock and follows the story of a mother trying to protect her children from the horrors of the post-apocalyptic world, filled to the brim with creatures so terrifying, it causes immediate mental deterioration of anyone who witnesses them. The gimmick of this movie follows the fact that these monsters cannot be seen. The mother blindfolds herself and her children, and the story sees them stumble about the world blindly numerous times. This gimmick is effective in immersing the audience into their world and helps accent the fear of the unknown. Critics have complained that besides this, there is not much going for the movie in terms of plot or characters.

Black Mirror: Bandersnatch is the story of a young programmer struggling to finish his next project. The gimmick of this movie comes from the game he’s creating, a choose your own adventure game with the title Bandersnatch. The viewer chooses their own adventure, having the protagonist choose one of two choices when prompted. Critics and fans alike applaud the piece for its ability to tell a concise story with each of the 13 different endings and even more paths. Black Mirror has previously told stories that play with the viewer’s sense of reality, but none are like Bandersnatch in how it involves the viewer in the protagonist’s choices. Some would call it 5/5 stars.

A Quiet Place is the story of a family in a post-apocalyptic world trying to avoid the dangers of an invading alien race, except this time by not making sound. We follow the father, played by John Kransinski, as he teaches his children about the dangers of the aliens who are attracted to sound. The movie’s gimmick follows the fact that there can be no sound. The majority of the film has little to no sound. This does a great job of enveloping the viewer into their world, but this leaves little room for connection to the characters.

2018 brought movies and shows that changed the way that we see film. The directors brought new and unique ideas of what a movie could and couldn’t be. From the success of all these movies and shows, we can only expect more unique movies in the future, instead of just remakes.