The Descent

I just finished the film and wanted to write this while it was fresh in my mind. Spoiler alert starting right now.

First, I LOVED this film. I feel like someone recommended it a while ago and I just hadn’t gotten around to it yet. This October, I wanted to watch films I haven’t seen yet, in addition to my favorites (like A Nightmare On Elm Street 4 and Saw).

Now, let’s get into it.

Females kicking ass. Loved that there was only one male character, not counting the creatures, and he was only in the first minute or so. Love a film that has jump scares, but doesn’t rely on them.

Now really into spoilers. When Paul pulled Juno out of the water, and I found out Paul was Sarah’s husband… and the look Beth gave Paul and Juno… I IMMEDIATELY knew Paul and Juno were having an affair. And it was confirmed by Juno immediately leaving town after Paul and Jessica died…

Immediately didn’t like Juno because of this… but loved Juno when the creatures attacked and she said FUCK THAT and whooped their asses with that pickaxe.

Onto Beth… Girl, you can’t sneak up on someone who just got attacked. Someone who just got attacked and is wielding a pickaxe. It was shocking, but felt believable, given the situation. I didn’t like Beth acting like Juno attacked her for no reason. Juno seemed to have genuine remorse for stabbing Beth in the neck and leaving her to die but again, it felt like a reaction I could see someone like her having in that situation. She ran away just like she ran away when Paul died.

I figured Sarah would be the main character (and I had a spoiler via the blurb for The Descent 2 that says Sarah was the sole survivor, so I went into it knowing no one else was going to make it out. Based on Juno being the mistress, I knew they would be the final two, I just didn’t know how it would end.

Towards the end, Juno and Sarah with their torches and pickaxes… Juno serving Lara Croft realness. I LOVED it. I didn’t like Sarah stabbing Juno in the leg and leaving her to die.

I get it, she was sleeping with your husband… and she brought you guys into this situation… but I was surprised that Sarah left her there to die. Then again, Juno didn’t explain herself, she just lied about what happened with Beth… but Juno was my favorite.

Also, going into this, I couldn’t help but think of how Sarah reminded me of Sissy Spacek in Carrie. And when she goes into the blood and comes back up covered in it… that HAD to be an homage to Carrie. Sarah became such a badass towards the end.

Beth was my third favorite, minus her not explaining what happened with Juno… and waiting until she was fucking DYING to tell Sarah about Juno’s affair with Paul. The other characters were okay but felt more like bodies to up the body count, and I was okay with that.

Great movie. I’ll have to check out the second one, and now I want to watch some video essays to see what I can find out because maybe I missed something about Juno that justified her death… or maybe I’m clouded by her Lara Croft realness.