Marketed as a teen slasher, with a premise and structuring that
only works with this kind of weekly release schedule,
Fear Street promised gore, horror, genre appreciation, and maybe
a little representation. Netflix can still do better than featuring two queer relationships portrayed by the same actresses. And
Fear Street also feels very white, mostly with its supporting characters and other extras that helped with the world-building.
Nevertheless,
Fear Street Part 3 almost makes up for it. The queer relationships, as well as the lesbian protagonist, are great narratives and help reiterate what good films can do by abandoning the heteronormative quest. This trilogy also looks at other topics such as generational wealth, lack of socioeconomic mobility, and hysteria, dressing them up with gore, curses, and witches.
Fear Street: 1666 Highlights the Link Between Witch-Hunts and Persecution of Queerness
By Stefania SarrubbaJul 16th, 2021, 5:37 pm
The final installment in Netflix’s film saga inspired by R.L. Stine’s book series,
Fear Street Part Three: 1666, takes protagonist Deena (Kiana Madeira) back to where it all began. She inhabits the body of Sarah Fier, the witch who is said to have started the curse plaguing the town of Shadyside, tying together the loose threads left behind by the first two films, set in 1994 and 1978. In a long vision that makes for the film’s strongest act, Deena relives the last days of Sarah’s life and makes valid points about the dynamics at play between powerful, straight men and rebellious, queer women.