“The problem, after all, with being a “woman” is being treated as such by other people.” (Bauer 2001)
It is rare to watch a film that succeeds in capturing the intricacies of the structures that restrict and limit girls and women's lives. The quote by Nancy Bauer points to the situation of being socially produced as a woman, and 'Never Rarely' manages to give us insight and perspective on how it feels to be estranged and alienated from your body…
The scene I have thought about the most in the 24 hours or so since I watched the film is the scene in the taxi when Rosie tells the driver that Áila is her sister who is struggling with alcohol addiction and they are now taking her to rehab. This is not true; they have just met, and it is in fact Áila who is taking Rosie to a safe house for women who are victims of domestic abuse. This…
What inspired this film was a news article about a man who drowned, and the headline read "faggot drowned". Amat Escalante was so appalled by the lack of humanity that he decided to make a film exploring themes of sex, homosexuality, violence and gender roles. And it the middle of it all, simply lacking any humanity: an alien which both gives humans pleasure and destroys them. When facing the cruelty and violence in Mexico, creating a supernatural being might seem less far fetched than reality.
The title is misleading. This is not revenge, and the film is not subversive. It's for the most part a straight genre film using rape as a backdrop.
Spoilers ahead:
There is no satisfaction to be had, because there is no actual (cinematic) revenge. Jen is raped and left for dead, but she doesn't come back for a "manhunt" which the misleading plot summary says. It's more of a fight to the death, where the men who already raped and…
