If you’ve been reading my thoughts on this blog recently then you know that I absolutely despise movies made with ironic film twitter/cynical letterboxd people in mind. But Conner O’malley’s short film Coreys is an exception. I love this film so much that I don’t care who likes it even if it’s for disingenuous reasons. And to be fair, I don’t even believe he made this movie with that audience in mind. Coreys is just the kind of thing that will draw that type of crowd no matter what. It’s a surreal existential "body horror"/comedy made by someone associated with stuff like Joe Pera & I Think You Should Leave. This is something that would absolutely appeal to short attention span adult swim folks (like myself), people that make liking “bad movies” a part of their personality, or people that love modern classics made by the likes of Cronenberg, Lynch & Carpenter. This is a short film made by someone who loves The Thing, Alien, Scanners, etc – but doesn’t take themselves too seriously. Instead of writing lengthy think-pieces on the existentialism of the body horror genre, they’d rather just enjoy the images in front of them and appreciate the craft that goes in to the visual effects.
Is Coreys a film about the pressures of being a good father & husband? Or is it some kind of commentary on wanting to escape from the monotony of small town life? It’s probably a mix of those things and more. Personally, I’m more fascinated by the humor that’s catered to my very specific taste (again – fans of Joe Pera, I Think You Should Leave, Adult Swim, etc will absolutely love this), and all of the movie references (some are clearly intentional while others are coincidental). It makes sense that Conner O’Malley shows up in Jane Schoenbrun’s I Saw The Tv Glow. Coreys feels like a like side-quest birthed from that movie.
O’malley clearly has some type of ironic fascination with The Mask (or maybe he just genuinely likes the movie, I dunno…)
The Mask / Coreys
But he also pulls from a lot of other recognizable sources…
The Shining / Coreys
The Shining / Coreys
2001: A Space Odyssey / Coreys
2001: A Space Odyssey / Coreys
Scanners / Coreys
Scanners / Coreys
Lost Highway / Coreys
Lost Highway / Coreys
Lost Highway / Coreys
Lost Highway / Coreys
Eraserhead / Coreys
And like most things labeled "Lynchian", you can trace things back to filmmakers like Maya Deren who predates a lot of the imagery in Lynch's films...
Meshes Of The Afternoon / Coreys
At Land / Coreys
Shivers / Coreys
Alien / Coreys
The Thing/ Coreys
Half of Coreys revolves around our lead character hypnotized by weird videos on his phone. I found myself watching this nonstop on my phone for the last 48 hours. And, like our lead character/Corey – I have a fair amount of self-induced pressure to be a good husband and father, and I don't like spending time in places like Target (the film opens in Target and the ambiance is more scary & uneasy than it is calming).
This is the first thing I’ve seen since Lisandro Alonso’s Eureka (2023) that has reignited my love for seeking out new movies. I’ll probably have more to say on this towards the end of the year but for now I just wanted to share my initial thoughts.
It's only 11 minutes long so you can check it out right here:
