Dan BerkandRobert Olson’sNovocaineis a crowd-pleasing romantic action-comedy starringJack Quaidas a credit union assistant manager who can’t feel pain. He takes on a dangerous quest to save his crush (played byAmber Midthunder) when bank robbers take her hostage, sending Caine on a cross-city trek against ex-special forces villains. Caine’s lack of pain is far from a lack of damage (this isn’tDeadpool & Wolverine).As a consequence, Caine has to overcome a lifetime of being highly risk-adverse as an unnoticed garden-variety cut, for example, could prove fatal. It’s an excellent genre bender thatputs Quaid’s Nathan Caine inbody horror territoryas his pain-free corporeal form takes unthinkable levels of damage. The filmadeptly uses this admittedly gory set-up for comedyand action sequences alike, a delicate balance showcasing a strong command of genre territory.
Berk and Olson’s last film,Significant Other, is even further entrenched in body horror territory. Body horror is forever entwined with the brilliant works ofDavid Cronenberg, usingsometimes unwatchable violations of bodily formto scare, gross out, investigate thought experiments, and create new cinematic territory. It’s been used to exemplify the tough pressures on women in Hollywood inThe Substance, to explore social class inBrian Yuzna’sSociety, to explore dangerous erotic attraction in Cronenberg’sCrashandTitane, and so on. InSignificant Other, after a shape-shifting, body-stealing alien falls from the sky (a laThe Thing), it threatens campers Ruth (Maika Monroe) and Harry (Jake Lacy) as they hike the dense woods of the Pacific Northwest. What begins as a horrific relationship drama spirals into a tense apocalyptic thriller as the creature’s The Thing-like ability has a singular wrinkle: it also absorbs the emotions and memories of its victims, creating a truly novel situation.
‘Significant Other’ Is an Anxious Take on a John Carpenter Classic
As any avid fan ofThe Thingwill tell you, plots centeringbody-absorbing/mimicking shapeshifterswork best whenthere’s alreadydistrust between its victims. InSignificant Other, the relationship between Harry and Ruth is a little strained from moment one. After a failed proposal, the pair are put in a further complicated state marked by tension even before the body-absorbing alien comes calling. Just like theJohn Carpenterclassic, the alien is an intelligent shape-shifting member of an apocalyptically-dangerous species, and in both cases the humans are woefully outclassed. Like that 1982 masterpiece,Significant Otheris a surprising film that works best when its major plot turns aren’t spoiled, so we’ll tread lightly on the specifics in the discussion to follow. Suffice to say, the film’s extraterrestrial menace does absorb and replicatesomeone’s form, and in doing so it absorbs the totality of their emotional baggage, anxieties, fears, and so-on. These characteristic human emotions are alien to its species (sorry, I had to), and it gives humanity a rare advantage in a key moment.
“There’s Gore, but It’s Funny”: Jack Quaid’s Violence in ‘Novocaine’ Had to Fall Somewhere Between ‘The Terminator’ and David Cronenberg
Directors Dan Berk and Robert Olsen talk genre, concept, and chemistry on ‘Novocaine’
It’s a smart choice to use often ignored aspects of the human experiencein afight against unimaginable threats, alien, monster, robot, or otherwise. Using supposed human weaknesses as strengths against unbeatable foes has a strong pedigree in genre plotting. Humans are weak, sometimes idiotic meat bags with few natural defenses, but we’re also stubborn, adaptable, unpredictable, and capable of self-sacrifice and complicated emotions, and sci-fi history has explored how these unique eccentricities may give advantages over better-prepared alien species. InIndependence Day: Resurgence,the outnumbered humansbecome supposedly the first species to kill a Harvester Queendespite being outnumbered and outgunned, in part because we’re unpredictable and adaptable in a pinch. InAvengers: Age of Ultron, Ultron hates humanity for its flaws,but Vision admires their tenacious attemptsto create order out of chaos and solve unsolvable problems.
Significant Othersurprises a would-be alien conqueror byfinally answering the age-old question “could we defeat The Thing by giving it anxiety?”No spoilers for the answer here, but it’s a novel use of human fear and anxiety (not widely considered human virtues) to take a step towards opposing the apocalypse. Just asNovocaineexplores the untapped powers of the human body, in a way,Significant Otherexplores the untapped powers of the human emotional landscape.
Significant Other
Ruth and Harry, a couple on a romantic backpacking trip in the Pacific Northwest, encounter sinister events that reveal they are not alone. As they navigate the eerie wilderness, their relationship and sanity are put to the test, leading them down a dark and unexpected path.
