Andrea Arnold's WASP (2003)

It's maybe widely known that glamor's not
A feature of a single mother's days.
Well, here we get a concentrated shot
Of what that life can wreak upon her, gaze
Upon her squalor, and then watch her lie
When some old flame just spots her in the street.
From then the bad decisions seem to fly
Right at us, and the consequences meet
Us almost ere the mistakes can happen. This
Predicament is often played for laughs,
But here it's simply squalid, sad and hits
Us in the gut. Some clever edits graph
Trajectories of tragedy. We sweat
With Zoe's oldest daughter most, and fret.

Maren Ade's THE FOREST FOR THE TREES (2003)

Some trigger warnings might be needed here,
For social awkwardness at its worst height
Of tension is this film's point. I don't fear
Encounters with new people, but new fright
Might well be triggered by the agony
We share with Melanie (especially since
The smart and lucky ones still aren't quite free
Of lockdown in this COVID year). You'll wince
Each this young, new teacher meets someone,
And nod as her collection of house plants
Increases as her life moves from not fun
To desolate. If Eva Lobau's glance,
All neediness and optimism, breaks
Your heart, well, you were warned, and no mistake.

Bong-Joon Ho's THE HOST (2006)

A monster movie always needs a bit

Of slapstick, but these laughs come with a punch

Right to the gut. A class on how this fit

Together could, sure, benefit a bunch

Of students. Here the monster shows up soon

And clearly, and is sinuous and cool

And interesting to watch, at night or noon

(That's right: broad daylight, often tough and cruel

To creatures, only makes this better! I

Would nothing change, unless, perhaps I'd give

To Chekhov's archer more to do than fly

That arrow; Doona Bae just makes me live. 

But Ko Asung does, too, and Kan-Ho Song

Paired with her never, ever, can go wrong!

Denis Villeneuve's NEXT FLOOR (2008)

The Platform, if reversed and cut way down
Is how we might describe this now, but ere
That weird conceit came this short, grey and brown
Yet glistening, a feast no one would dare
Partake of, yet these diners gorge despite
Some risks. Not since Pete Greenaway set out
To ruin restaurants has food less brought appetite
Up to the fore. What's all of this about?
It's short, go look on YouTube, but prepare
For frightfulness and creepiness and sounds
Of dining that will make you never care
To feed again as staffers make the rounds
A-keeping up the flow of haute cuisine
E'en as we slowly guess what this all means.

Bong-Joon Ho's MOTHER (2009)

A bit Twin Peaks and Hitchcock, but instead

Of hard-boiled gumshoes or the FBI,

Our sleuth is someone's mama. A girl's dead;

And all assume it's this poor, simple guy

Who's duped into confessing. But in fact

Did he commit the deed? His mom says no

And sets herself to keeping full, intact

Her baby's honor. No Miss Marple, though

Is she. Her sordid course through what occurred

A girl's last night is full of error and

Of churning images that soon are stirred

Into a muddy moral mess (on-brand

For Ho) shows off how Hye-Ja Kim can dance

Through any scene or mood, given the chance. 

Craig Gillespie's LARS AND THE REAL GIRL (2007)

A fantasy of kindness and support,
Of just the type that anyone would crave;
So fun to watch a quirky heartthrob court
A paracoita doll, a thing, a slave.
But nat'urally that's not what it's about.
Strange wounds sometimes, or always, do require
Strange medicines and gestures that would flout
Convention. Ev'ryone's sometimes a liar
To spare another's grief, fragility
Or naked need. Here, Ryan Gosling and
A cast of less-known colleages let this be
That simple. Moments breathe and tableaux stand.
Impossible! But movies partly let
Us dream of better. Best we don't forget.

Ivan Engler's CARGO (2019)

It's cold in outer space, and lonely, too. 

A four - year trip aboard a cargo ship,

With eight-month shifts alone, while all the crew

But you is hibernating, gets a grip

On mind and body. Engler here partakes

Of A. Tarkovsky, Ridley Scott, and, yes,

Of Kubrick. Spacecrafts shown are dark, with lakes

(Well, shallow pools) of water, and a mess

Like YoYoDyne Propulsion! Atmosphere

Is paramount in moody sci - fi flicks, 

And this has it in spades. And, too, the sheer

Unpleasantness of all aboard will fix

Attention on the dreariness yet more,

As will the silences that form the score. 

Thomas Russell's MR. DUNGBEETLE (2005)

No geese fly over any cuckoos' nests;
Disciples of a strange and kindly god,
The Khepri, who persuades them it is best
To heal themselves in wilderness. Applaud,
As each is given space and time to tilt
At his own windmills. Ev'ry line they say
Has meaning strange and lovely as they build
A world that looks like ours, but better. They
Are fun to watch e'en as they make one cry
At kindness and at courage. This unknown
But perfect cast will have you asking why
Divergence bears such stigma. We're alone
Each in our heads, but Thomas Russell sees
Us all. Let's sit together 'neath the trees.