#59: The Little Hours

A bunch of Nunsense. Satirical smartass filmmaking 101.

I don't think I've seen an Aubrey Plaza movie since Monsters University.

Nothing against her, I've just never been quite interested in the projects she was in.

This was a bit of an on the whim thing - I remember hearing about it and then forgetting until I came across a reddit comment.

 Still kicking myself for not seeing Ingrid Goes West at the dollar theater (RIP).

Kate Micucci? Oh, she's everywhere. Any thin-lined cartoon on TV today, there she is. It's impressive.

The rolling, twangly and percussion-heavy score got me fired up, which is an odd thing to say about a movie regarding cursing nun-witches.

This movies basically rests on the idea that most people do not know what nuns normally do and have a puritan, chaste version of them in our minds.

It's called 'subverting expectations'. I laughed hardest, not at the parts where "Oh look, the sisters are swearing," but at little shit like Fernanda copying Ginevra's confession and lying about it, or them getting drunk and...harmonizing a hymn.

Like, who expected that?



Chalk this up to me not being a medieval historian, but there's a bit of a modern air to some of the situations and phrases. Maybe it's a 'universal theme' thing, do you think "Did last night mean anything to you?" was said in the context of essentially a one night stand between nuns happened in the 1400s?

I do feel like it's a movie where nothing really happened - sure the conflict is "Don't get caught drinking and fucking," - but considering the context - They've already fucked up in the eyes of the Lord Jesus, the worst they can do is...well, not get sent to a convent. That didn't help.

Just - what are the stakes? Not every movie needs a conflict, but the entire story is set up to be one with no...threat.

The style reminds me of What We Do In The Shadows but not nearly as engaging or tongue in cheek, but this wasn't a mockumentary.

Just a story that ironically took place in medieval times and runs with the gag that holy people shouldn't succumb to lusts of the flesh amidst a lot of dead air.