"Boss in Distress": A Provocative Attempt That Falls Short
Twelve years after his last feature, director Gregg Araki returns with "Boss in Distress." However, his attempts to shock the audience feel outdated, predictable, and lack the sharp edge of his earlier work.
In the 90s, the so-called nineties, Japanese-American director Gregg Araki was a defining name in American independent queer cinema. His 'Teenage Apocalypse' trilogy, including 'Totally F***ed Up' (1993), 'The Doom Generation' (1995), and 'Nowhere' (1997), sharply expressed the mental world of Generation X nihilists. A blend of punk aesthetics and emotional honesty made him one of the most influential filmmakers of that decade.
After presenting 'White Bird in a Blizzard' in 2014, Araki largely vanished from cinema screens. Now, 12 years later, he returns with a new film, titled 'Boss in Distress.' This comeback invites curiosity, yet it begs the question: what has changed in the style of the now 66-year-old director? The answer is that the film struggles to recreate the sharpness and provocativeness of his early work. There is something slightly pathetic about provocations that feel outdated, even if the film remains an enjoyable watch.
Power Dynamics and Control
In this new film, Araki fires arrows in all directions: at progressive politics, cultural correctness, the discourse surrounding art, and gender power relations where a dominant woman exploits her subordinates. He draws open inspiration from Zalman King, the screenwriter of '9 1/2 Weeks' (1986), to whom the film is dedicated. The plot pays homage to Billy Wilder's classic 'Sunset Boulevard' (1950), opening with a body in a pool before flashing back nine and a half weeks.
Elliot, a young university graduate (Cooper Hoffman), is hired by aging artist Erica Tracy (Olivia Wilde), a provocative figure in the art world. Erica turns Elliot into her sex slave, allowing Araki to build a fantasy of power inversion that mocks political correctness and the 'woke' discourse.
A Shift in Generations
Casting Olivia Wilde as the boss who thrives on dominance adds a layer of meaning. Similar to her own directorial work ('Don't Worry Darling', 'The Invitation'), she plays a woman challenging sexual hierarchies. While Araki's early characters represented alienation in a chaotic space of drugs and violence, Elliot—a member of Generation Z—embodies a new sexual conservatism. He seeks his place by voluntarily submitting to the three women in his life.
Ultimately, 'Boss in Distress' is an enjoyable film, but unlike Araki's early work, it lacks a significant statement about contemporary youth or art. Araki is no longer filming youth from the inside; instead, he identifies the pathetic dimension inherent in those who were once their voice.
