movies

It is obvious that the themes of the movie were lost on you, and that is ok. It takes time to understand a movie, then you might not get it completely. I had to watch the film 3 times before I got it. You are far to confident in your judgement. If you did understand the film, you wouldn't be say the Sheriff was disconnected from the plot. Everything in the movie was done with intent, and you didn't pick up on that, which, again is ok. Just please DO NOT say that it wasn't without purpose. You just failed to get it, and that happens all the time, especially to me. I hate to think about all the times I complain about a book or movie only for friends and colleagues to point out the obvious details I missed.

Not trying to be rude to you, but that sounds like bullshit.

In film, you can tell who the driving character is by seeing which character believes a lie and how they are forced change because of it. The Sheriff is the only character with an arc.

He’s the character I’m rooting for

I believe that this movie's theme attacks you personally, and is having the intended effect. Once he dies, that should tip you off to the movie was about something else, and give you more context to the events of the film.

He doesn’t at any point interact with the plot

The Sheriff is the only character who changes.

They’re not following the rules for how stories should be told.

They DO follow the standard story structure.

and the way they told the story was needlessly confusing and pretentious.

It was confusing, because they challenge your assumptions and established predictable cliche. They do follow a normal story structure, just not normal cliche.

You can include themes in a movie and still tell a coherent story. Try this: remove the theme. Is the movie any good? Is the plot entertaining, and does it make sense? No, it’d be really awful, and the inclusion of a theme doesn’t excuse that.

I don't know what you're trying to say here, but theme is the most important element.

In short, you should be more open minded. You didn't get the movie, that's ok. I don't think most video essays on youtube or reviewers get it either. But frankly, it's extremely well written, and it would be a measure of bad judgement if you dismissed it as senseless. I'll be clear, you didn't get it. The movie is amazing, and it will take thought to understand it, and not everyone is in a position in their life to get it. But some day, I hope you will, and the first step is to believe it is possible that you didn't get it, and to have trust in other people.

So often I hate mainstream movies, but this isn't it. This movie doesn't waste a single shot.