WoodshockUnable to cope with grief, some people turn to drug abuse to escape the pain. Woodshock is a drama about Theresa (Kirsten Dunst), who struggles to deal with the passing of her mother (Susan Traylor), whom she assisted in her suicide by a poison-laced marijuana joint. Theresa loses touch with reality over time, becoming increasingly distant from her boyfriend, Nick (Joe Cole), and her friend and employer, Keith (Pilou Asbæk). Riddled with sorrow and guilt, Theresa begins a slow process of self-destruction as her mother before her, through a half dozen poisoned joints--smoked one by one--experiencing hallucinogenic visions in the process.
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Woodshock is a languid and soporific film that moves with the mellow pace of a drug-infused dream, evident when Theresa is left alone with her melancholy, unraveling as she navigates the house bequeathed to her and where her mother's life ended. When Theresa dreams, she dreams of the forest of gigantic redwood trees where she used to play as a child. Theresa looks diminutive alongside these giants, dwarfed by the grandeur of nature. The chaos of nature versus the order of civilization is an underlying motif in Woodshock, filled with deliberate paradoxes. There is tension between Theresa and Nick because he wants them to move out of her mother's old house, while she takes pride in staying. Nick represents the hand of civilization in Woodshock; he works for a logging company, and his job is to cut down the very trees she instinctively adores, to which Theresa harbors a subconscious resentment of him. Theresa finds comfort in nature--a metaphorical cradle where she is at peace. She has a tactile way of interacting with the world, running her hands across things to experience them, even trying on her mother's negligee to feel closer to her after her death. Nick comes home in his sturdy work gloves, which by design deprive him of this form of empathy, representing a barrier in their relationship. Keith runs marijuana dispensary where he cultivates and sells cannabis to members of his store. He is a leisurely yet imposing man, whose connection to nature is represented in his trade. Yet Keith furnished the drugs which facilitated the suicide of Theresa's mother, underscoring the paradox that both life and death are inherent aspects of nature. Theresa even keeps the vial of hallucinogenic poison in a jar with the money she has stashed away from working for Keith, creating a metaphorical connection between commerce and toxicity, nature and civilization.
Woodshock avoids moralizing about the legality of marijuana or other drugs, yet there is a cautionary message about the dangers of abusing drugs to escape reality. Theresa is never shown smoking pot until she rolls the ominous joints for later use, but the implication is that her altered cognition is related to drug use. Drug use is commonplace in Woodshock, but rarely offers any kind of enjoyment or outright appreciation of it for its own sake--in almost all cases, it is a means to escape reality instead of coping with hardship. One of Keith's customers named Ed (Steph DuVall) is dying from some painful illness, and another is a young kid named Johnny (Jack Kilmer) who has a crush on Theresa, and buys pot as an excuse to ask her out. Even Keith--who merges fashionable style with laconic ease--harbors an unspoken desire for Theresa, which she leverages when she dresses up and visits him after a fight with Nick. Theresa's life begins to come undone as she retreats into drugs. She loses the ability to manage her feelings and loses track of time, forgetting what she is doing. She forgets to buy food, picking at a half-eaten birthday cake for dinner one night, and discovers a full carton of eggs that have long since gone rotten. Theresa is a grieving heroine, struggling with crushing despair in the face of terrible loss. Comparisons have been made between Woodshock and Roman Polanski's Repulsion. Both films depict young women struggling with psychological collapse while their home life falls apart around them, shambling around in their underwear which becomes increasingly filthy as they fail to take care of themselves. The all-consuming grief that erodes Theresa's perspective on reality echoes Sylvia Plath's anxiety-laden "The Bell Jar" (Kirsten Dunst is directing an adaptation of the novel), while themes of nature overpowering civilization and coping with the loss of a family member recalls Virginia Woolf's "To the Lighthouse". The most obvious parallel to Theresa would be Ophelia from "Hamlet", who loses her sanity, offering various flora to her loved ones to assuage their pain, and ultimately consigns herself to death by drowning in self-destruction. There is a scene where Theresa begins to take a bath, and she has a fleeting vision of flowers and leaves floating in the tub, reminiscent the famous painting of Ophelia by Sir John Everett Millais. Theresa moves with a quiet sadness throughout Woodshock, setting a somber tone for a film which confronts the dangers inherent in using drugs--or any other destructive outlet--as a way to escape suffering.
Recommended for: Fans of a haunting and sorrowful depiction of a woman battling grief, and how she seeks solace--from the nostalgia of childhood to the drug abuse that leaves her benumbed. Woodshock hints at themes of nature versus civilization in its kaleidoscopic depiction of a woman adopting a fatalistic attempt to reconnect with her mother, even beyond the grave.
Woodshock avoids moralizing about the legality of marijuana or other drugs, yet there is a cautionary message about the dangers of abusing drugs to escape reality. Theresa is never shown smoking pot until she rolls the ominous joints for later use, but the implication is that her altered cognition is related to drug use. Drug use is commonplace in Woodshock, but rarely offers any kind of enjoyment or outright appreciation of it for its own sake--in almost all cases, it is a means to escape reality instead of coping with hardship. One of Keith's customers named Ed (Steph DuVall) is dying from some painful illness, and another is a young kid named Johnny (Jack Kilmer) who has a crush on Theresa, and buys pot as an excuse to ask her out. Even Keith--who merges fashionable style with laconic ease--harbors an unspoken desire for Theresa, which she leverages when she dresses up and visits him after a fight with Nick. Theresa's life begins to come undone as she retreats into drugs. She loses the ability to manage her feelings and loses track of time, forgetting what she is doing. She forgets to buy food, picking at a half-eaten birthday cake for dinner one night, and discovers a full carton of eggs that have long since gone rotten. Theresa is a grieving heroine, struggling with crushing despair in the face of terrible loss. Comparisons have been made between Woodshock and Roman Polanski's Repulsion. Both films depict young women struggling with psychological collapse while their home life falls apart around them, shambling around in their underwear which becomes increasingly filthy as they fail to take care of themselves. The all-consuming grief that erodes Theresa's perspective on reality echoes Sylvia Plath's anxiety-laden "The Bell Jar" (Kirsten Dunst is directing an adaptation of the novel), while themes of nature overpowering civilization and coping with the loss of a family member recalls Virginia Woolf's "To the Lighthouse". The most obvious parallel to Theresa would be Ophelia from "Hamlet", who loses her sanity, offering various flora to her loved ones to assuage their pain, and ultimately consigns herself to death by drowning in self-destruction. There is a scene where Theresa begins to take a bath, and she has a fleeting vision of flowers and leaves floating in the tub, reminiscent the famous painting of Ophelia by Sir John Everett Millais. Theresa moves with a quiet sadness throughout Woodshock, setting a somber tone for a film which confronts the dangers inherent in using drugs--or any other destructive outlet--as a way to escape suffering.
Recommended for: Fans of a haunting and sorrowful depiction of a woman battling grief, and how she seeks solace--from the nostalgia of childhood to the drug abuse that leaves her benumbed. Woodshock hints at themes of nature versus civilization in its kaleidoscopic depiction of a woman adopting a fatalistic attempt to reconnect with her mother, even beyond the grave.