Originally Posted by
Jinsai
I just saw this... I liked it. It was a very well made and adeptly directed horror movie debut.
That said, there's some HUGE plot holes in this.
Spoiler: OK, where to start...
First off, why the fuck are these people letting their relatives lounge around wearing their black husk host-bodies while they're trying to "recruit" a new option?
Why does Rose have a conveniently displayed box full of damning evidence that she's been seducing black men (and a woman) to be new candidates for the procedure? I mean, COME ON, a box full of ONLY the evidence? In the next room? With the door unlocked AND open?
Further... So the housekeeper and worker are actually replanted grandparents... wait, so these people had their consciousness transplanted into young black people, but then they do slave labor all day?
To that point, I guess someone could say "well, maybe they usually just lounge around and don't do work all day, and that was just a pretense put on while Chris was there to dupe him." Uh... No. If you're going to be putting on a facade to fool the person you're trying to kidnap, why risk that weirdness? What was grandpa running at full speed towards him for if not to provide a piece of "wait what the fuck is going on here?!" moment for him? Why not just have all the husks go somewhere else for a day or two while they take in a new one? Like Rose's dad says, "I know how it looks, white family with black servants." Yeah, it looks weird, and you know it... so why are you doing it?
Additionally, why did they let him go after the first hypnosis session? You already had him in deep paralyzed hypnosis... why did he wake up in his bed? I don't know about you, but if I met my girlfriend's parents and the first night they traumatized me and tricked me into going into some intense trance... and I woke up in a bed without restraints? I'm fucking OUT of there.
I mentioned this point to someone, and they said that maybe it was part of the procedure; that they needed a specialized form of brain mashing to achieve the results. Ok, then why was that not addressed in the movie? Also, apparently they don't, because the movie starts with someone being choked while walking down the street. Nothing subtle going on there, and if you let that guy wander around the next day, you can be sure he wouldn't stay around to see if there was ill will at foot.
The "cotton earplugs" thing was a clever twist, but come on at the same time. This is a modern setting; there would be cameras. Also, you would double/triple check to make sure the subject was completely subdued before removing the restraints. I know, this is not a plot hole exactly, but this is also kind of ridiculous oversight that we're being asked to accept.
Also, the Logan character... you bring your 'drone' around to this function where you're planning on creating another drone, and you don't think this is going to be odd? I get the point being made, but holy hell no. It's like they're trying to warn him! You don't show up wearing clothes that are out of a different century, speaking in a way that sounds insane and alarmingly old-school white, and just try to unnecessarily fit in with your neck tattoo.
If there's a reason for him to have been there, then why was it just fine for him to leave after the flash from the camera set him off?
It's obvious that a lot of "what the fuuuuuuck?!" moments were allowed before the discovery scenes, because the audience is still puzzled at the deeper mystery of what's going on here. With the reveal, these clues should not have been present. I mean, everyone might as well have shown up to the party wearing t-shirts that said "Hey, Chris, we're up to something, and it involves you!" They brought over a shell of a person who used to live in the same town as the guy they're trying to trick!
Also, regarding the chair that he dug the cotton out of... Why? If he's going to be moved shortly into a situation where he's to be surgically lobotomized, why not strap him to a gurney from the get go, and then just roll him in?
And while I get the message, why would you spout off a bunch of faux racial pandering to someone when you know (from Rose's warnings) that it's just going to fail to assuage his fears and instead make him tensely aware that you're all, at best, unintentionally racist?
All the same, I liked the movie. I also understand that it's an allegory, and that most of the actual events portrayed are meant to have symbolic resonance. I understand the messages on display. A lot of it was pretty heavy handed, sometimes to comedic effect, and bravo for that self-awareness, but allegories work best when contained within your created world's rules. This runs roughshod in asking the audience to extend their suspension of disbelief. I'm willing to accept a story wherein a bunch of people are kidnapping young black people and dumping their consciousness into them for whatever motives may be at hand. I have a harder time accepting a story wherein that happens, but the people carrying it out are basically trying to shout their intentions into the face of the person they're attempting to dupe, and failing to take advantage of opportunities to seal the deal.
At the same time, I appreciated the allegory for what it was saying, and enjoyed the movie immensely. It's incredibly entertaining, and simultaneously very clever while being frequently very dumb.