Unemployed Theologian

Many of last year’s best movies resonated in some powerful way with our current cultural and political moment, in which our most disenfranchised neighbors have become outright targets of a fascist authoritarian regime. I’m Still Here , for example, provided a snapshot of life under a similar US-backed far right dictatorship, while Wicked depicted a fantasy-tinged allegorical version of the same. Rebel Ridge, Nickel Boys and Sing Sing all shed light on the deeply-rooted racism of our criminal justice system, and A Real Pain explored the generational trauma visited upon victims of government violence. Thelma and The Beekeeper foregrounded our neglect of the elderly, The Substance and The First Omen each told a twisted feminist parable about our world’s grotesque mistreatment of women’s bodies, and The Brutalist found itself in strange company with Problemista for their portrayals of the surreality of the American immigrant experience. Each of these stories, in its way, speaks me...