Get Your Reps In: This Week’s Theme is Fractured Identity

As more people get vaccinated, it can feel as though we’re torn between two selves: the one who’s excited to get back out there, and the one who wants to stay at home forever.

Movie Review - Seconds 1966 (TCM.com)

While local rep theaters are out of commission, we’ll be putting together weekly watchlists of films readily available to stream. As more people get vaccinated and a less isolated world looms on the horizon, it can feel as though we’re torn between two selves: the one who’s excited to get back out there and socialize again, and the one who wants to stay in bed and work from home forever. Thus, this week’s theme is fractured identity.

Persona (1966)

One of the most influential and essential arthouse films ever made, Ingmar Bergman’s masterpiece follows nurse Alma and her patient, a stage actress named Elisabet who has stopped speaking. Isolated in a cottage by the sea, the pair begin to bond—so well, in fact, they soon inhabit each other’s personalities. Amazon Prime, Apple TV, Criterion Channel, HBO Max, iTunes.

Dead Ringers (1988)

David “King of Body Horror” Cronenberg turns his attention from the corporal to the psychological in this twisted character study of twin gynecologists (Jeremy Irons, in dual roles). Believing they are of one soul, the twins’ codependency is tested when they attempt to live their own lives, leading to a descent into madness. Amazon Prime, Apple TV, Google Play, Hoopla, Hulu, iTunes, Kanopy, Peacock, Philo, Pluto TV, Sling TV, Starz, Tubi, Vudu, YouTube.

Images (1972)

When children’s author Cathryn and her husband vacation at a remote Irish cottage, she finds herself haunted by apparitions and her own doppelgänger. While attempting to kill each one off, she cannot distinguish reality from her own fractured psyche. Amazon Prime, Apple TV, Criterion Channel, Google Play, Kanopy, Mubi, Tubi, YouTube.

Always Shine (2016)

When two longtime friends with varying degrees of success as actors vacation together at Big Sur to reconnect, they become entangled in a web of jealous rivalry. Sophia Takal directs this scathing indictment of Hollywood’s culture of misogyny. Amazon Prime, Apple TV, Crackle, Fubo, Google Play, iTunes, Kanopy, Pluto TV, Vudu, YouTube.

Seconds (1966)

In this sci-fi thriller by John Frankenheimer, dissatisfied banker Arthur is looking for a second chance at life. Salvation comes in the form of an experimental procedure that allows him to fake his own death and form a completely new identity, and he is reborn as a handsome artist named Tony. Regret predictably ensues as he realizes his dream life is a nightmare. Amazon Prime, Apple TV, Google Play, iTunes, Kanopy, YouTube.

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