A few month in the past, my editor reached out and basically ordered me to join a press junket for a brand new film that lastly got here out in theaters final week. It’s referred to as Teenage Intercourse and Loss of life at Camp Miasma, and it’s a knowingly campy and infrequently fairly perceptive horror/comedy written and directed by the acclaimed filmmaker Jane Schoenbrun (I Noticed The TV Glow, We’re All Going To The World’s Honest). The movie’s meta-narrative considerations an acclaimed maker of horror movies (Hannah Einbinder) who’s employed to reboot an ’80s slasher franchise centered on a mad killer named Little Loss of life, and the reclusive starlet (Gillian Anderson) she’s attempting to recruit for the film. Although the precise level of Teenage Intercourse, it appears, is exploring the ways in which even the junkiest popular culture we eat as youngsters continues to tell, form, and (sure) warp our minds properly into maturity.
My editor didn’t insist that I write about this movie for any of these attributes, nonetheless. As an alternative, he instantly despatched me an pressing Slack message due to one scene that takes place at roughly the movie’s midpoint. Now, to debate this scene intimately would imply spoiling what’s the flashiest set piece, so I’ll solely expose precisely two items of knowledge. One will not be particular in any respect, particularly since we’re speaking a few “horror/comedy” right here. The opposite is extra particular, and is likely to be thought of a spoiler, but it surely pertains to a needle drop so incongruous that it ought to compel the typical viewer to see this film extra reasonably than much less, simply to witness how the hell they pull this one off.
Okay, right here goes: It’s a homicide scene — a deliriously gory mass homicide scene — set to “A Lengthy December” by Counting Crows.
As maybe essentially the most prolific “talker about Counting Crows-related ephemera, however particularly ‘A Lengthy December’” in trendy music criticism, I understood completely why my editor needed me to go on this junket and ask the author/director why they used this track, and why they used it on this method, and what (if something) would possibly Adam Duritz must say about any of this.
To date, I’ve tried to not be spoiler-y concerning the scene, however the interview explores how the track is used within the movie so please cease studying for those who haven’t seen the movie or need to see the film with none prior data.
Hello Jane. I’ve very particular questions for my time. I’m solely asking about “A Lengthy December.”
Certain.
For starters: Why this track? And why use it this fashion?
Nicely, the very first thing about Counting Crows is that I’ve a second cousin, Doug, who was their guitar tech within the ’90s. So after I was like 12 years previous, I received to go see them. And I went backstage and I met them. They had been such a gateway band for me. I cherished that music. Their first two albums and their reside album that they put out across the similar time, they had been always in rotation. And a lot of the music that I nonetheless love, I really feel like owes such a non secular debt to these information. The kind of confessional singer-songwriter, completely satisfied/disappointment of these songs, it’s everlasting. I went by a breakup in 2024 and I used to be simply clinging to Recovering the Satellites.
I had written “Nightswimming” [by R.E.M.] into the script for that sequence. I used to be like, “It’s such a queer anthem. They’ll’t see me bare swimming at evening.” I used to be like, “That is the right track for a killing spree.” After which someplace alongside listening time and again to Recovering the Satellites, I used to be like, “Wait a second. Is it ‘A Lengthy December’?” I believe the very first thing that tickled me was the Hollywood repetition. And I used to be like, “Oh my God, Little Loss of life can chop somebody’s head off each time Adam Duritz says Hollywood.” But additionally the track’s tone is the film’s tone, I believe. Kind of like, it’s been an extended 12 months and it’s form of sucked, however subsequent 12 months goes to be just a little bit higher. That form of hard-won, resilient triumph. With out that feeling, the scene is meaningless. You’re simply watching somebody kill folks.
It’s fascinating that you just thought of a distinct ’90s alt-rock piano ballad for that scene.
It was actually a Sophie’s Alternative for me between the 2. I used to be texting with Lindsey from Snail Mail, who’s a buddy. And I used to be like, “All proper, Lindsey, utterly theoretical query: For those who had been going to observe a four-minute one shot killing spree set to a ’90s piano ballad, wouldn’t it be ‘A Lengthy December’ or ‘Nightswimming’ for you?” And she or he voted “Lengthy December,” and that did form of tip it for me. I used to be like, “That’s what my coronary heart is telling me and I believe I received to make this transformation.”
When it comes to the lyrical content material, “Nightswimming” has at all times spoken to me by way of the shyness, the approaching out of 1’s personal shell, the form of bashfulness round one’s personal physique. Simply the romance, the moment nostalgia of nighttime in the summertime by the water. Clearly, there’s one thing of that within the slasher film additionally, in order that felt like a pure match. However with “A Lengthy December,” it has some form of transcendence. When it hits its “na-na-nas,” it actually hits it.
Some individuals are going to see that scene and consider it as purely ironic. But it surely’s clear that you just love the track.
I believe that normally, so many nice needle drops are surprising or they’re tonally, not clashing, however including a very surprising spice to the dish. Clearly, that is happening right here. However I’ve cherished Counting Crows since I used to be 12 years previous. I might go deep on it. I like these information and I believe he’s a superb songwriter and performer. I bear in mind I used to be doing “A Lengthy December” in karaoke a couple of years in the past, and my buddy Gracie was like, “I believe that was the top second of pop rock radio being nice.”
It’s identical to, what an amazing track to have been highly regarded on the radio. It’s only a good fucking track. It’s so good. I’ve listened to it tons of of instances, clearly over the past couple of years engaged on the film and I don’t get uninterested in it. I simply suppose it’s an ordinary. It’s humorous, I noticed MJ Lenderman was masking it proper after we shot the film.
Has Adam Duritz seen the film and if that’s the case what does he suppose?
We texted just a little bit and he informed me he was stoked to have “A Lengthy December” be a part of a one shot. I don’t suppose he’s seen it but. I noticed him on the RSVP record for tonight. I don’t know if that was pretend or not although. I can’t await him to see it. I hope he loves it. I believe he’ll prefer it.
