Brimstone - Martin Koolhoven (2017) "Do you know why I'm here? I'm here to punish you."

As I watched "Brimstone," one phrase kept repeating in my head: "Jesus, the things we do to women."

I have seen this film marketed as a thriller, a mystery, a western and a drama. But make no mistake, "Brimstone" is a straight-up horror film. 

The villain in "Brimstone" is clearly identified at the start of the film. Liz (Dakota Fanning) Instantly recognizes his voice, even before we see his face. When she hears The Reverend (Guy Pearce) speak, she freezes up. All of the blood and hell vanishes from her face, leaving her an insane shade of white.

And we will discover, bit by bit, that The Reverend is just as menacing as any monster you've seen.

Normally, 'greasy' is a word that describes how something feels or looks, but The Reverend sounds greasy. You can hear the pomade gurgling through his throat.

When Liz, the midwife of the small town, is in the middle of delivering a baby, she faces a tragic choice: save either mother or the child . She can't save them both and she chooses the former. This horrifying opening sequence drains us emotionally and that is only at the twelve-minute mark.

It takes just moments until The Reverend starts to sow seeds of discord in the community he is settling into. Soon, people are calling Liz a child murderer and demanding she be burned at the stake. The Reverent has no empathy, no mercy, only wrath to bring down on Liz' head. And not even her husband can see how petrified she is.

The Reverend says he is after Liz to bring her to justice for a past murder.

Vengeance. Why does it always have to be vengeance?

She flees with her children to her father-in-law's home and the story switches over to Johanna (Emilia Jones,) a younger woman.

Johanna is a victim of circumstance. She passes out in the wilderness and is rescued by a foreign family. But this doesn't turn out to be a stroke of luck.

At the next town they encounter, just like those typical old-west places we've seen in too many movies to remember. The family stops at the first saloon/whorehouses they come across.

Before she knows it, Johanna has been sold and told that she is now officially a whore. And before she can even settle in, one of her sisters by circumstance is hanged.

As time passes, she settles into her new life, though it's clear she is not callous. She and her sisters are systematically abused and helpless to fight back.

Then, The Reverend shows up at the cat-house. Just like Liz, Johanna recognizes his voice instantly. And just like Liz, Johanna is paralyzed with fear.

Soon, we see the connection between these two and it's a shock. And we haven't even reached the halfway point yet.

The Reverend is malevolence personified. He creeps in and out of this woman's life, searching for something to cut.

There are opportunities for Johanna to escape. She falls in love with a man who tells her, "I seen your mother. She's the kind of person who turns the other cheek. Are you like her?" No, she is not. She fights and resists with every bit of her cunning and strength. 

The Reverend turns up to thwart every attempt to escape. 

What sets "Brimstone" apart from similar films is that it does not tell the story and then give us a twist at the end to shake us up. This film twists all the way through. We spend most of our time watching this either surprised or just plain confused. You get the feeling you have to keep looking over your shoulder.

The Reverend's sadism increases as we go from one section of the film to another. His capacity for cruelty has no limits. He terrorizes us right through the cruel and unforgiving climax. 

But you should know what you're in for. "Brimstone" is not a film to watch if you're looking for a suspense movie or a thriller.

This is one of the most difficult movies I have ever sat through. It's right up there with "Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer" with that visceral vomit taste at the bottom of your stomach.

It is an eye-opening look at the dangers of our world through a woman's eyes. 

So let's not argue anymore. Women have a harder time than men. That settles that.

At least, I know I will never be able to sing, "Abide With Me" again.

Certain Women - Kelly Reichardt (2017)

Hey, who likes it when someone pretentiously opens a discussion about a movie with a trite and obvious first sentence? How about: "'Certain Women' is a film about the burdens of being a woman." (You like that?)

The film is an opportunity for director Kelly Reichardt (Wendy and Lucy, Meek's Cutoff) to show us men how our boorish behavior and negligence feels like from a women's points of view. "Certain Women" is about watching men making decisions for women and giving them the harsh choice to either cause a ruckus by defying them or just go with the flow when frankly, either option is exhausting. Women do not deserve to face this choice day in and day out. It is too much to put on one's shoulders. Over time, that weight is devastating.

"Women" is cut into three segments, following the stories of three different women. At the start of the first segment, we watch from Laura's (Laura Dern) point of view as she is dismissed and disrespected professionally because she is not a man. Aside from the small humiliations, being a woman also gives her numbers of reasons why she can not feel safe. (She carries this weight all by herself, too.)

And she takes it all from whiny, unimpressive and sniveling men.

Then there is a crisis and chivalry is chucked out the window entirely. When a dangerous situation presents itself, the "men" in charge badger Laura until she agrees to go into an office building where a madman has taken a security guard. She is not even a cop, but nevertheless, they put her in harms way before endangering anyone else.

Police, EMPs and even the hostage negotiator are happy to sit back and watch. I thought about whether or not the life of a woman is worth less than that of a man. A lot of men seem to feel that way. The rest are simply cowards. In either case, once again with the theme of 'unimpressive.'

The sequence is dream-like while this shameful and cowardly behavior is uncovered. They stand back and watch this civilian woman, Laura, walk inside into a hostage situation.

Once she walks into the room, the madman lets the security guard go and tells him to tell the cops that he would kill 'the woman' if they did anything they did not like.

Now, we see Laura as cannon fodder on top of everything else.

Then we shift to the second part of the film.

When we first meet Gina, (Michelle Williams) she is camping with her husband and their daughter.

They seem like a normal, happy family. But if you look carefully, there is a thoughtlessness, deliberate or not, in the way he treats his wife. He lets her carry the heavy tubs and stops her so he can dig inside to fetch some bungee cords. We can clearly see Gina struggling with the weight, but her husband either does not notice or care.

One of the worst things about chauvinism is that many men have no idea how the way we think and act feels like a natural instinct. Some of us don't consciously realize that we are prejudice.

And men are not the whole problem. Women can demean women, too. One takes it from her husband and passes that hostility onto their children. And on and on and on...

After spending some time with Gina and her family, we cut to the third part of the film.

A quiet, unassuming woman known only as 'The Rancher' (Lily Gladstone) does not seem to have any tangible connections with anybody.

She shows up at a community college and sits unofficially in some classes. She just wants to be around people.

That is where she meets Elizabeth (Kristen Stewart) who teaches law at the school. Elizabeth was tricked into taking this job, forcing her into a four-hour commute. She did not realize it until it was too late that this job is just a practical joke. Months of sleepless inconvenience for Elizabeth, some chuckles for the men in charge, playing a game called screwing around with the woman.


Elizabeth strikes up a rapport with The Rancher, though she barely says a word. At some point, somebody must have taught her the hard way to be seen and not heard.

You might think The Rancher does not have it too bad, the women who keeps her nose down and minds her own business. But we do not understand what hell life can be, passing through unnoticed.

Then The Rancher is floored as she learns that even the sparks of the beginning of a romance can be crushed, just as she gets bold enough to open up to somebody.

Reichardt cut "Certain Women herself." It is impressive how she does not cut the film quickly. She is willing to hold an unforgiving shot long enough for it to sink in, as cruel as that may be.

The endings of these women's stories are each cryptic as they are desperate.

Sometimes, women can grab the upper hand, but more often than not, they don't.

The goal of "Certain Women" is to force men to empathize with women. Not only the obvious, terrible misogyny, but the small things, too.

This film got to me, and I'm a cynical bastard, so I think fans of melodramas and indie films should go nuts over it.

You need patience to really enjoy "Women." If you will stay with this deliberately quiet film, it will pay off handsomely.