Review of Elephant (2015) by Keenan S — 13 Apr 2018

Elephant has become more timely than ever in an age where it seems there's a mass shooting every other week. It never has an direct messages like others will make, it only offers partial glimpses into perhaps why (Guns obtained too easily, violent video games, fascination with Nazis.

It never offers heavy-handed "BAN THIS!" messages, just perhaps some influence in already troubled and disturbed minds). Elephant begins with a typical high school day, following around multiple students - the popular kids, the outcasts, the weird kids, the middle social status kids, etc.

You've got family troubles, social troubles, or even just the mundane. Ordinary high school life with all the drama and weird moments that come with adolescence and figuring out your place in the world.

But as this is going on, two students are planning to commit a school shooting. The film is never overwrought in its depictions of high school life or even when the dreaded moment arrives. It's a restrained film that presents those elements as is.

The everyday of high school and the unthinkable horror of mass shootings as the duo remorselessly gun down fellow students and staff. It's a cold and disturbing film, but an important viewing, especially within our current climate.

There are no simple answers - only tough, unanswerable questions for why this sort of thing happens.