Othello

"Nobody exists on purpose, nobody belongs anywhere, everybody's gonna die. Please come watch TV." The series mecca of nihilism! EDIT: the ending of the episode "Auto Erotic Assimilation" is a fabulously monstrous trigger of genuine sadness and unmistakable wit.

Vallée's American directing career rested on the fact that he could handle themes in a distinctive, ambiguous, and relatively naturalistic way that would have ended up as slick motivational kitsch under most other filmmakers. But when his abilities were finally able to join forces with the abysmal suffocation of Gillian Flynn's subject matter, his potential was tapped to its fullest. Sharp Objects is eight hours of watching a staid, static Southern town with resigned, mentally ill characters, shot through the lens of a traumatized alcoholic. And so we watch everything through the not particularly comfortable formal method of static shots, which are nonetheless shot handheld, with occasional characters or impressions of characters who aren't even supposed to be in the scene, all interrupted here and there by a traumatic half-second flashback, as diegetic music plays almost exclusively from car radios or speakers somewhere in the background. Most of the characters speak in tired half-whispers and never say anything. They all have their pastimes and rituals to fill the dullness of everyday life. I wouldn't have expected a miniseries to mount such a thorough effort to keep the viewer in unfulfilled frustration in the constant company of unpleasant characters, where everything from the first to the last shot happens at the same snail pace without any gradation or payoff. The elusive omnipresence of evil makes this one of the most powerful horror experiences ever, where after each episode I was afraid to turn my head quickly.