Ginger Snaps (2000)

Ginger Snaps (2000)

This post will be my first film review for The Vault, and therefore your first impression of me. I specially picked this film because it embodies the general tone of what I want this blog to be: thoughtful, witty and perhaps, sometimes, uneasy. Although this is not my absolute favorite film, it is one that I often rewatch, because I find it to be so thoughtful yet so fun at the same time.

Ginger Snaps is about two alternative and death-obsessed teen sisters named Ginger (Katharine Isabelle) and Brigitte (Emily Perkins) who must overcome the challenges in their relationship after Ginger starts to transform into a “werewolf”. The sisters are the misfits of their town, Bailey Downs, sporting grunge and disillusionment in their cookie-cutter surroundings. The film is one-a-kind in the werewolf movie scene, because it takes this hyper masculine trope and turns it into a legitimate feminist coming-of-age story.  

The whole premise of the movie is centered around Ginger being turned into a werewolf, and that mythological transformation is paired with the physical and social implications of menstruating. Those two events are inseparable, because it is the onset of Ginger’s period that attracts the beast to the sisters in the first place. Both Brigette and Ginger are considered late-bloomers and in fact dread starting their periods, because in their minds, that would be the tipping point that would turn them into “stereotypical” women. Women who are vain, homely and only concerned with the wants of men around them. Although, these sentiments are the fruit of internalized misogyny, these concerns represent a real fear and resentment towards what it means to exist as a woman within a patriarchal society. Brigette and Ginger often refer to periods as a “curse” and look down on all their fellow highschoolers especially the girls. The sisters are most often juxtaposed with their own mother, Pamela, who is a very typical housewife.

From the very start of the film, we are shown how different each of the girls’ demeanor is, Ginger is quite outgoing and assertive, where as Brigette is quieter and more introverted. It is established early on that Ginger leads the two and that Brigette always listens to her older sister no matter how hesitant she may be to do so. However, from the onset of Ginger’s metamorphosis the two start to diverge. Ginger becomes an exaggerated version of herself, but she also starts to become sexual and destructive if not blood-thirsty. Ginger actions and decisions start to become a point of contention for the sisters, for Brigette is able to recognize the rashness of her behavior. Whoever, this development does propel Brigette to blossom into herself, and discover her own autonomy and that self-actualization crescendos at the very climax of the film (which I will not spoil)!

Besides the thematic elements, I loved the music and Ginger and Brigette’s style. It is very of-its -time in terms of styling and music which was quite charming. I do have soft spot for early 2000s alt culture. The silly special effects are also a big positive. That silly little werewolf can’t help but be a bit charming.

Highly Recommended.