Trash Fire

If you've never seen a Richard Bates Jr., I just don't even know how to explain his vibe. And I've tried, because with this, I've now seen all five of his movies. It is no exaggeration to call him a singular voice in cinema. Nobody, and I do mean nobody, writes or directs a movie like Bates, and Trash Fire is no different. Insofar as the story can be summarized, Trash Fire is about Owen, a man suffering from intense guilt and depression over starting a fire in his youth that killed his parents and severely scarred his younger sister. His unprocessed mental health issues have made his relationship with Isabel problematic to say the least, a situation that gets murkier when she becomes pregnant. Owen wants the baby, so he agrees to Isabel's demands of working on himself, and repairing the fractured relationship with his sister, whom he hasn't spoken to since the funeral of their parents, and his grandmother, who takes care of his sister and is a judgmental, intolerant, religious extremist. Bates not only directs but writes all his movies. Bates' characters are always unique, and his stories always have a unique flow to them, and Trash Fire is no exception. Bates uses almost sitcom-like timing to deliver gallows humor that both masks and somehow draws attention to more serious and complex issues. For Trash Fire, those themes of unprocessed guilt, how mental health issues are handled in a relationship, fundamentalism, forgiveness, and self-image are the driving force, and that dark sense of humor is what allows it to be explored without feeling like a lecture. Owen is a selfish, insensitive dick, but he is riddled with PTSD and survivor's guilt. Isabel might come off as insensitive, but she's also hung around for three years, and the situation has only deteriorated, so she's at the end of a very understandable rope. When we meet them, they're definitely at a point where they are more toxic than they are good for one another, but Bates' writing lets us know that there was something there at the beginning, and it is only through Owen's lack of self-improvement and Isabel not approaching the situation the proper way that has led to the breakdown. That they're willing to come together for the sake of a baby is troubling (babies don't save relationships), but they're both trying to step out of their comfort zones to find what brought them together in the first place, so that's nice in a way. And they do start to get along, even if it becomes based on their mutual feelings of Owen's grandmother. Again, the humor does a great job at allowing the movie's bitter pills to go down. And then the final act kicks in, and Trash Fire really goes for it. I don't want to say how, because this is a movie you really need to see for yourself, but suffice it to say you'll know when this movie has kicked into its highest gear, and it gets bonkers from then in, and in a way only a Bates movie can. The last 20-30 minutes left me laughing despite how sick it was getting, and surprised to no end. Bates has become one of my favorite modern directors. The lowest-scoring movie of his in my opinion is still a 7/10. So far, he can't miss, and Trash Fire is no exception. It would not be the first movie I'd recommend, though; it is not his most bleak (that would be Excision), but it is his most bitter. There is definitely some satirical skewering of things in Trash Fire, but the movie isn't a satire by any means. The dark humor is meant to keep the heavy material from being oppressive and hopelessly grim, but it's still dark. But if you've already seen something of Bates (I'd start with Suburban Gothic or King Knight), and would like something a little more challenging, or you just enjoy a movie with a sick sense of humor, Trash Fire is a strong recommendation.