The Inherent Sadness of Pandemic Nostalgia
A new film made entirely during the Covid-19 age is already a period piece
Last week, HBO Max released a film called Locked Down, a thriller starring Anne Hathaway and Chiwetel Ejiofor. The film is mostly unremarkable, with two likable actors being likable but not particularly inspired, and the thriller aspect is especially limp; it’s a heist movie that really doesn’t want to go through the trouble of setting up a complicated heist. It is the very definition of a movie you forget about an hour after you’ve seen it.
But there’s one unique thing about it: It was made during the pandemic. Directed by Doug Liman, it was written, shot, and edited entirely in the age of Covid-19. The movie’s plot revolves around a couple (played by Hathaway and Ejiofor) who break up right when the stay-at-home orders land in London; they want to separate, but now they’re stuck together. (Eventually, they plan a heist if only because the movie needs something for them to do.) Thus, we have a movie about people who are doing the same thing we are doing: Being stuck at home and going crazy. Stars: They’re just like us!
What’s most fascinating about Locked Down, though, is not that it’s a movie made during quarantine or that Liman is close enough buddies with Ben Kingsley and Ben Stiller to get…
