It’s absolutely not surprising that “Don’t Look Up” and “West Side Story” made the list of 2022 Oscar nominations including the highly-coveted Best Picture award. This turn of events clearly shows the types of projects which receive recognition in modern Hollywood.
The satirical comedy, “Don’t Look Up” openly criticizes conservative viewpoints while congratulating its own cleverness. This film from industry veteran Adam McKay showcased noted climate change alarmist Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence posing as two astronomers who discover a comet on track to destroy the earth. Even a self-described leftist film critic panned the film as “smug, shrill, obvious satire.”
And then there was Spielberg’s spectacularly awful flop “West Side Story” which had industry experts scratching their heads at box office results. The widely promoted film had an embarrassing $10.5 million opening weekend after costing a massive $100 million to make. This was blamed on lingering COVID-19 effects as Omicron raged. However, some analysts blamed the “modernized” version of the classic story, which included a new transgender character played by a non-binary actor.
It’s been so long since any politically opposite opinion, or even neutral stance, got recognized on the awards circuit that it’s hard to remember the last time it happened. But this reality only highlights the necessity of independent projects like The Daily Wire’s new psychological thriller, “Shut In.”
The beauty of “Shut In” is that it’s not a political movie. Instead, the film sends a message on the power of redemption, motherhood, and the universal truth of the human condition. Hollywood has been putting out movies with political agendas for decades. The only way to fight back is to offer something better. “Shut In” is part of the plan to win back the culture.
“If you want milquetoast polemics masquerading as entertainment, Daily Wire’s film venture isn’t for you. ’Shut In’ is a fiercely independent, powerful movie about motherhood and redemption, “It’s riveting. It’s challenging. It’s highly entertaining,” said Daily Wire co-founder and co-CEO Jeremy Boreing.
It’s understood that most movies with great critic reviews on sites such as Rotten Tomatoes often have terrible viewer scores, and vice versa. This phenomenon only proves that industry professionals are not in touch with what viewing audiences actually want. With the exception of “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” multi-million dollar film projects have been suffering at the box office lately. And there’s only so much you can blame on the pandemic.
Typically, Academy Awards are reserved for movies which follow the approved messaging and check all the woke boxes. Soon that will become part of the written rules. The Daily Wire reported in 2020 that the Academy of Motion Picture Art and Sciences announced that for any film to be nominated for Best Picture starting in the year 2024, new standards of inclusion must be met.
“Those standards require one of the following: at least one of the lead actors or significant supporting actors is from an underrepresented racial or ethnic group; at least 30% of all actors in secondary and more minor roles are from certain underrepresented groups; or the main storyline, theme or narrative is centered on an underrepresented group,” The LA Times wrote.
These rules haven’t gone into effect yet. But no doubt producers are already thinking in these terms if they have any home of clinching nominations in the future. This is just one more reason that movies like “Shut In” and other independent projects without political agendas are vital for the future of the film industry.
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
The Daily Wire’s first original film, Shut In, will be premiering on Thursday, February 10th at 9pm ET on YouTube. Following the premiere, Shut In will be available exclusively to Daily Wire members. Click here to watch, and be sure to hit that “Set reminder” button so you don’t miss the free premiere!