Complete Stories

Years ago, in my teens, I wrote a very short story that was just some characters talking. Some of the talk concerned events they were expecting to occur in the future. It could have served as the prologue or first chapter of a book, but I was content to let it stand on its own. When it was done, I let a few friends and family read it. Their reactions were all the same: Where's the rest of it? This isn't a complete story, Matt! Interestingly enough, I've had similar reactions to some recent movies and TV shows, though critical reaction for them has been (mostly) full of praise.

(What follows are spoilers for the works to be discussed)

Critics loved the film It Comes at Night, released earlier this year to rave reviews. I left the theater feeling perplexed at all the praise. The movie is essentially a 90 minute snippet of The Walking Dead. We are dropped into the story without knowing why people might come back as zombies (unless they are shot and the bodies burned), nor do we ever have a glimmer of resolution to the crisis. The focus of the film is on a family of three, and the guests they let into their home. It's another one of those humanity-is-its-own-word-enemy themed projects, and the ending is dour.

It Comes at Night has no real beginning, since we arrive as the plague/zombie events are already underway. A character study about how people behave during a zombie crisis may seem good on paper, but we have a television show that has explored this in detail for seven years. Other films have been made about people in the middle of zombie crises. This is not new ground. And to provide no real resolution, except for 'everybody we've seen dies or is probably going to die' doesn't really cut it.

Next we have Twin Peaks The Return, what serves as a third season to the classic cult program that last aired in 1991 (with a feature film in 1992). Granted, I really liked this 18-part event, so am not going to bash it. It's worth noting, however, that several plot threads were left dangling, scenes occurred that were never explained, and the show ended (again) on a cliffhanger. At this point, no new episodes are planned. All of that is terribly irksome, to say the least.

Finally, we come to the movie mother!, released just last weekend. It still has a fresh score on the Tomato-meter (barely), and I am confounded as to the reason why. It can be argued that the film does, at least, seem to have a narrative arc, where the beginning mirrors the end, yet not much is explained about what is going on during or about that arc. The house where much (all?) of the action takes place is like its own entity, yet we are never clued-in as to what exactly it is. A long slog of a third act ensues, maddeningly, without explanation or rhyme or reason. Shit just happens.

Look, I can enjoy weirdness. My favorite film of 2016 featured a talking and farting corpse as one of its main protagonists. So quirky and outlandish narratives are not a turn-off. Yet, one has to ask where the line between unconventional storytelling and lazy writing becomes blurred. Simply being weird and uncommon is not a guarantee of greatness.

Twin Peaks The Return bringing back fan-favorite character Audrey for four episodes, in an uncanny setting, leaving her in peril at the end of part 16, then never going back to her again -- is that unique and intriguing, or indolent and neglectful? It Comes at Night providing no beginning or end to its crisis, and rehashing characters and situations from a TV show -- is that inspired or sub-par? mother! featuring scenes of unexplained violent actions -- is that bold or slack?

There's something to be said for the traditional narrative structure. Perhaps certain film snobs will sigh at such a bourgeois notion and say that varying from the norm is to be noted and celebrated. And yet, there is talent in being able to tell a story that makes sense, from beginning to end. It requires logic, it requires thinking things through, it requires cause & effect. Eschewing such requirements is the easy path. There is far less difficulty in being haphazard, chaotic and unfinished.

The short story I mentioned at the start of this post, the one I wrote several years ago that was just some people talking and never went anywhere: That was probably the easiest thing I ever wrote. It certainly wasn't the best.