Big film genres stick around. As long as movies are a device for long-form storytelling, we’ll always have earnest dramas, goofy comedies, and movies where a guy walks away from an explosion without looking at it. But smaller sub-genres come and go, and we seem to be entering a resurgence of the Yuppies in Peril film. If it’s been a minute since you’ve seen one of these flicks; no worries—I’m here to help. Originally, Yuppies in Peril movies focused on a young, white, and affluent person, couple or family being psychologically and physically assaulted. For example, disc jockey Clint Eastwood... Read More

A girl sprints out of the front door of her nondescript suburban house. The sun is setting. The girl is scantily clad and out of her mind with panic. She dashes into the middle of the street, stops, not sure what do do next. The girl’s father comes outside and asks her if everything is okay. Clearly it’s not, and the girl runs back into her house. She emerges again holding car keys. She hops in the car and tears out of there at high speed. We next see her on a moonlit deserted beach, babbling into a cellphone, telling her parents that she loves them. Finally, the sun has come up. The... Read More