The global covid-19 pandemic has only deepened the divide between many feature film directors and their audience, with filmmakers centering “the theatrical experience” as the end-all, be-all of cinema, while audiences just want to be able to see a movie without traveling 40 miles to the only open cinema, or risking their health in a crowded room during a pandemic. So it’s refreshing to see Michael Kennedy, writer of the 2020 slasher comedy Freaky, take to social media to offer a somewhat more nuanced take. While acknowleding that it’s nice to have a “normal” theatrical release for your movie, Kennedy offered the perspective that streaming “isn’t the enemy.”
Do I wish FREAKY was released on 3000 screens at a time people could go safely? Yes. Am I also happy that people got to see it at home during a terrible surge and smile for 102 minutes? Big yes. And it’s finding new life on @hbomax. Streaming isn’t the enemy.
