Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud Friday wrap on Welcome to Derry, Bugonia, and Dream Eater
Oct 31, 2025
Sonya Ballantyne, a Winnipeg filmmaker, discusses the unsettling use of child vulnerability in 'Welcome to Derry.' Laura Hall, an associate professor, highlights the social horrors of the 1962 setting while comparing Pennywise's menace to other horror icons. Beatrice Loayza, a film critic, praises Emma Stone’s eerie performance in 'Bugonia' and critiques misinformation in the storyline. They also explore the found-footage appeal in the Canadian indie horror 'Dream Eater,' emphasizing its fresh take on relationship collapse amid terror.
AI Snips
Chapters
Books
Transcript
Episode notes
Childhood Horror Raises Adult Stakes
- Welcome to Derry re-centers horror by making children believable victims, increasing emotional stakes for adult viewers.
- The pilot mixes monstrous Pennywise terror with human horrors like racism and broken families to deepen dread.
Period Setting Amplifies Social Horror
- Welcome to Derry uses 1960s small-town America to expose systemic ills alongside supernatural threats.
- The show frames Pennywise amid racism, classism, and sexist family dynamics to expand horror beyond the monster.
Mystery Makes Monsters Scarier
- Over-explaining a monster can lessen its terror by fixing its form and limits.
- Laura Hall argues that mystery keeps Pennywise scarier because ambiguity lets him become anyone's fear.
