Plot vs Execution: “Moon” (2009) vs “We Have Always Lived in the Castle” (2021)
Last night I watched We Have Always Lived in the Castle with my roommate. Short review, put it on in the background just to catch glimpses of it. It's not great and pretty meaningless, but is beautifully shot and even though they go nowhere, many of the scenes are very well performed. The thing that's important about it is comparing it to something else as an example of really boring plot with excellent execution vs a film with a really excellent plot and pretty poor execution.
Big spoilers ahead.
Castle's plot revolves around a family that lives in a mansion atop a hill (same writer as The Haunting of Hill House <which is brilliant if you haven't seen it yet>) and is hated by the local town's people because of a suspicious acquittal during a murder trial. We follow the youngest of the Blackwoods as she goes to and from town, experiencing the malice of the fellows there and attempting to cast ritualistic spells to keep her sister safe and at home. At some point a random cousin shows up and causes a stir in the house, upsetting the balance that she's so carefully cultivated. She attempts to finally dive him out of the house by setting fire to his room. Upon arriving on scene, the fire department puts out the fire amid the jeers of the town that has also shown up, and then proceeds to destroy and ransack the house. In the end, the Blackwoods (sans divergent uncle who died in the fire) stay in the house with a sort of Beetlejuice meets The Adams Family vibes as the town slowly brings them food and gifts in apology for what they did. If it feels like you're missing parts or that my description of the film feels hollow and meaningless... that's because it was, and you aren't missing parts. It was a real stupid movie. But we'll get to why it matters in a minute.
Moon, on the other hand, has a brilliant plot.
Sam Bell is nearing the end of his 3 year contract mining Helium-3 on the Moon. When an accident happens, he's rescued by the on board AI, Gertie, and then things start to get weird. Through a series of events, we learn that Sam Bell is actually a clone of some unknown original, and that they last about 3 years before beginning to deteriorate. The current Sam rescues the other Sam from his accident and they devise a plan to escape to Earth for a chance at a real life. It's a very simple plot, but it's very strong and very very fun. I did not enjoy this movie from moment to moment as much as I did Castle, however.
The reason lies in their execution. Castle uses very clever, what I would call "modern-noire", camera angles with heavily saturated sets utilizing deep earth tones offset by bright accents for eye catching drama. The acting is heavily characterized and awkward where it needs to be, strange where it's intended, dramatic and uncomfortable, and consistent throughout. The score is fun and, while none of the characters are particularly moving, they are very strong characters… if tied into their archetypes pretty stringently.
The plot of Castle, as described above, is totally stupid and meaningless. It ends where it begins with only a 180° shift in attitude from the outside world. The movie ends with the first and only smile from our main character... but nothing really happens. However, until the final scene, you also don't really know where the film is going, what is really happening behind anyone's eyes, or what is going to happen next. Unfortunately... the answers to all of those questions is "nothing", but, it doesn't FEEL like nothing until it's over. The crappy plot of Castle was brilliantly executed to keep you engaged for the whole film. Moon, on the other hand...
Moon was the better of the two movies, but not the one that grabbed me the most. It has some decent camera work, a very very clever opening title sequence, and some pretty lean but well done sets. It's basically a one man show accented by Gertie (Kevin Spacey) which is fun. Sam Rockwell, predictably, is great and is very, very fun to watch. That being said, the plot is just handed to you. At one point in the movie, Sam 2 is investigating something out on the surface while Sam 1 is inside trying to uncover the truth. He more or less asks Gertie "Hey what is this all about" and then has the plot of the film simply explained to him. There's very little intrigue, almost everything is told rather than shown or experienced, and the ending almost ruins the entire movie by wrapping up into a nice little package. There wasn't a single point in Moon where I thought "Ooo, what happens next...". You knew, because the whole thing was telegraphed from the very start. The excellent plot of Moon was almost boring to watch and unengaging, because it was just poorly executed.
The storytelling of the camera -- the ability to show rather than tell -- can carry even the most basic and mundane of plots much further than unique and intriguing stories that are TOLD to the viewer through expositional dialogue handed to them on a plate. Nobody likes a lecture, like the one I've just typed up, we like to be engaged and intrigued and wowed. Watch both of these films back to back to see what I mean.
