Concrete Utopia (2023): Housing, Class, and the Ethics of Exclusion
This essay contains major spoilers. In Concrete Utopia, an earthquake destroys Seoul but leaves one piece of the old world remarkably
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Film Essays
These essays examine how cinema engages with philosophy, politics, identity, ethics, psychology, and film theory. Through close analysis of canonical works, cult films, and contemporary releases, Matthew Jones explores the ideas beneath the surface and the questions that remain after the credits.
Between Boys: Friendship, Desire, and Violence in Super Dark Times
Near the end of Super Dark Times (2017), Zach tries to stop Josh with the one kind of speech the boys have
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The Filthiest Person Alive: Taste, Power, and the Right to Be Vile in John Waters’ Golden Era
John Waters has been called the “Pope of Trash” so often that the title may feel like a substitute for
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Colony (2026): Cooperative Individualism Against the Zombie Hive
The following essay contains major spoilers for Colony (2026). Zombies are normally terrifying because they are mindless. In Yeon Sang-ho’s Colony, they are
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Faith, Control, and the Illusion of Choice in Heretic (2024)
This essay contains major spoilers. Scott Beck and Bryan Woods’ Heretic (2024) begins as a theological debate before gradually revealing that no
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No Safe Place: Queer Space, Religious Violence, and Survival in Leviticus
Most horror films generate fear by violating the boundary between a dangerous world and a supposedly protected interior. The killer
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Reel Life: One Dude’s Experience at Lebowski Fest
When I first watched The Big Lebowski (1998), I didn’t like it. The viewing took place sometime around 2010, while I was
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Blade Runner 2049 on What Makes Us Human
Roughly 8 years after writing my review of Blade Runner 2049, I chose to revisit the film. Upon my second
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What Pixar’s Inside Out Teaches Us About Plato’s Theory of the Soul
I had not expected a Pixar film to illuminate the nature of the human soul more vividly than a standard
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Book Review: The Philosophy of Martin Scorsese
Martin Scorsese is an Academy Award-winning director and legendary filmmaker noted for his profound, character-driven stories and fascinating explorations of
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Space and Isolation in Michael Haneke’s The Piano Teacher
The Piano Teacher (2001) is a film directed by Michael Haneke, based on the 1983 novel of the same name
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Documenting Subjectivity in Kitty Green’s Casting JonBenet
The murder of JonBenet Ramsey was one of the most widely-publicized crimes of the late 20th Century. Despite all of
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Beyond the Door Trilogy: One Imitation, One Bore, and One Trainwreck
If you’ve spent time watching bad 70s and 80s horror, then you’ve likely come across the Beyond the Door trilogy.
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The Architecture of Gazing in Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window
In Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window (1954), a wheelchair-bound photographer observes the surrounding neighborhood through the rear window of his apartment.
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Female Representation in Films: An Analysis of Hollywood Superheroes
In her article for the New York Times, Laurie Frankel uses the example of her six-year-old child (born male) wearing
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The Gettier Cases and the Revision of Knowledge
To many philosophers, it has been the long-standing view that knowledge is defined as a justified, true belief. But does
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The Case for Animal Rights: A Defense of Tom Regan
The animal rights movement has gained a much larger following since the advent of the Internet. American philosopher Tom Regan
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