Where many movies and books go wrong is suddenly changing the tone and the emotions of the story. If you’re going along watching a rom-com and midway through the movie Scream-mask-guy shows up and kills the male protagonist in his sleep and now the female protagonist spends the rest of the movie fighting for her life, you’ve been lied to. At least it feels like it, so you walk out or watch something else. You never agreed to feel those emotions.

In Jurassic Park, they promised horror from the very first scene. The movie opens with a raptor eating a construction worker. Then the danger of them is foreshadowed throughout. On top of that, everyone is asking morality questions, hinting at mother nature having her revenge. So when a T-Rex shreds the lawyer into two, we’re okay with it. We were emotionally prepared.


Last night, I watched a movie that played out right on the border of emotional preparation. In ~Drive~, we’re watching a crime film, so we know there will be violence, but it isn’t until 60% into the movie do we watch a girl lose her head from a shotgun. I’m sure that surprised many and even caused some to turn it off.