Watched ‘No Country For Old Men’ with my girlfriend, her first time. She was in tears at the end, beyond terrified.

You name it, she hasn’t seen it. Introducing movies I love has been a fun part of our relationship. This time around, I didn’t give her any information about the kind of movie and story it was. She went in blind, no idea what to expect and was incredibly engaged the whole film. I was happy to see it genuinely capturing her intrigue and investment. That’s not always the case when we watch something. Proof of why ‘the greats’ are so great I guess.

When the credits came, she was angry, yelling at the screen, “that’s IT?!!” It was not the ending she was hoping for. There was no feeling of relief or hope for her. She turned to me with tears in her eyes, a reaction I did not expect, and asked if I would stay up until she fell asleep. She went on to talk about how afraid she is to die. How unsettled she felt and how crippling the thought of death can be. I felt bad that was how she was feeling but at the same time, I couldn’t help but take in the fact a story and it’s telling was the reason for such a strong reaction. The power of cinema and story is so, so interesting to me. She had never really opened up about this fear of hers and then we watch a Cohen Brothers movie and it rips something open in her. It’s a conversation I would like to revisit with her at some point, an opening the watching of this movie created. But for that night, I knew enough to just stay up, throw on The Office and let Michael Scott wash away the feelings Anton Chigurh had left in her mind.

Submitted February 04, 2023 at 11:17PM by doofyduck https://ift.tt/dDTtBvX