Essays

“The Loneliness of Elio: Growing Up Queer in the American Military.” Reactor, 3/11/26.

“Double Features: School of Hard Knocks.” On Road House (1989), Magic Mike, and undervalued work. Bright Wall/Dark Room, 9/10/25.

“One Foot in the Grave: On Nosferatu and The Vourdalak.” Bright Wall/Dark Room, 2/10/25.

“People Have Become Slaves to Probability: Humans, Machines, and Jean-Luc Godard’s Alphaville (1965).” Bright Wall/Dark Room, 11/26/24.

“You Fabulous Thing: Furiosa and the Struggle for Personhood.” On a word choice that rubbed me the wrong way. Reactor, 6/24/24.

“My Money Is Still in Your Pocket: The Death of the American Dream in Michael Mann’s Thief.” On heists and capitalism. Bright Wall/Dark Room, 8/7/23.

“The Horror of Powerlessness: Skinamarink and the Rapture.” On the vestiges of horror from being raised evangelical. Reactor, 4/13/23.

“This Is A Test: A Taxonomy of Documentaries from True/False 2023.” On film festival coverage. Bright Wall/Dark Room, 3/20/23.

“Saying Goodbye.” On memory, the grieving process, and Kogonada’s After Yang. Bright Wall/Dark Room, 11/2/22.

“23: Back to Middle-Earth.” On the failures of Amazon’s The Rings of Power. Newsletter, 10/15/22.

“You’re Gonna Give Me Back My Spur.” On vampires, the American West, and Kathryn Bigelow’s Near Dark. Bright Wall/Dark Room, 8/3/22.

“Optimism, Identity, and the Fourth Doctor’s Scarf.” On a knitting project. Reactor, 4/26/22.

“Stealing Fire: Frankenstein (1931).” On horror, transgression, and transcendence. Bright Wall/Dark Room, 10/6/21.

“You May Find Yourself.” On Talking Heads, quarantine, and Stop Making Sense. Bright Wall/Dark Room, 9/7/21.

“Love Your Enemies: A Biblical Reading of Michael Sarnoski’s Pig.” On weakness and vulnerability as spiritual discipline. RogerEbert.com, 8/3/21.

“I’ll See You In Hell.” On The Empire Strikes Back and foiled plans. Bright Wall/Dark Room, 6/11/21.

“Objects in Motion.” On Michael Mann’s Collateral. Bright Wall/Dark Room, 3/18/21.

“Biodigital Jazz.” On Tron: Legacy’s status as an intelligent mess. Bright Wall/Dark Room, 2/7/20.

“The World Spins Madly On: Only Lovers Left Alive and Long Dark Nights of the Soul.” On vampirism and the cyclical nature of soul-searching. Bright Wall/Dark Room, 8/7/19.

“The Heart of a Home.” On Miyazaki’s Howl’s Moving Castle and what makes a person feel loved. Bright Wall/Dark Room, 12/12/18.

“Women, Aliens, and Dangerous Things: Female Bodies in Alien 3.” On being a woman in a man’s world and what that does to the soul. Bright Wall/Dark Room, 8/13/18.

“I’m Coming Back: On 2001, Interstellar, and Love.” Bright Wall/Dark Room, 5/25/18.