Frewaka

This movie can be interpreted literally or figuratively, and I choose to believe that it is a figurative narrative for how trauma seeps through generations. Now, for movies like Smile, that trauma transference is quite literal where in Frewaka there are some things that make me think these things are just happening to this family. There is also the ode to how women in particular were literally taken by the Catholic church and punished for "misbehaving". Ok, let's start with Peig's story. Peig was abducted by a cult on her wedding night (the ode to the Catholic church). It is found out later that her husband had made a deal to get her back by guaranteeing that the cult can have their first son or daughter instead. However, Peig sends her daughter away to try and avoid getting her entangled with the cult (and probably tortured/killed by them). There is a scene very early on in the movie where we see a woman hanging herself and not found for a few days. Her corpse begins to rot as it hangs from the noose and eventually the noose gives out. Then we come to Shoo, who is the deceased woman's daughter. We learn later on that Shoo had been mistreated by her mother and she really had no connection to her. In fact, she was sort of frightened of her and her religious zealous. Though some sort of weird traumatic fate, Shoo is sent to Peig's residence to take care of her. Peig is very standoffish at first but starts to warm up to Shoo once she sees that Shoo has been through a lot of trauma herself and stands up for herself. We see the scars on Peig's back showing the immense amount of physical torture she has gone through. It is revealed that the cult who had kidnapped her had done this to her. Fast forward to towards the end of the movie where we find out that Shoo is actually Peig's granddaughter and the woman who hung herself is Peig's daughter. Peig's daughter is drawn to suicide as the cult has still put some sort of power to make her feel very intense, evil things (sounds like something the Catholic church would do). The ending is what makes me think that this is a figurative narrative and not literal. Peig tells Shoo that the cult is coming for her since they did not get her son or daughter as promised. Shoo now has to escape the cult and she literally runs from them as they parade around town. It's sort of like that scene in the Black Mirror episode White Rabbit where she is just running around town and no one is helping her. She goes back to Peig's house for refuge only for Peig to stab herself in the eye and die to try and protect Shoo?? Shoo only comes out of hiding when she thinks her partner is in trouble. In fact, she sacrifices herself in a way by wearing the dress they had picked out for her and "joining" the cult. The basement in Peig's house leads to a space where we see a man with a ram's mask waiting for her. To me, this whole ending is a representation of Shoo surrendering and not facing the trauma that enveloped her mother and grandmother. Like her grandmother, Shoo is doing what she thinks is best for the person she loves, but she is just creating more trauma by ending her reality with her partner and stepping into this new phase. Maybe it is to be interpreted that she is being converted to the Catholic church for her own good as she is queer? There are just so many things at play here that there might not be one good solid interpretation. Perhaps it is meant to be a mix of literal and figurative interpretations. I'm not sure. I will say that this movie had some extremely slow parts, but they did a great job making the entire thing very unsettling. It was giving A24 vibes for sure.    

Shudder rating: 4 out of 5 skulls

My rating: 3.8 out of 5 skulls. Tons of meaning to the movie, but I think I just needed a bit more guidance as to what some of the things symbolized. As I said though, I think it was intentionally made that way!