i bought this film on dvd for 10 swedish krona at a thrift shop in northern sweden when i was fourteen. back then i had red hair and did not know much about anything, but i was about to find out. i had been wanting to see it for a good while before i got my hands on it, because i knew how much the columbine shooters loved it, and i wanted to know what the fuss was about. that same evening i put it on in the living room, and watched it with my mother as she braided my hair. it was something very special, and i have seen it many times in the years after, by myself and with others. each time i notice something new, or i get something new to reflect upon. i would argue that i saw it the first time at both the best and worst time. i would never the same, but being so affected by something is a privilege in my opinion. how did it make me feel, and why? i will be getting into that now.
the film follows two main characters, Mickey Knox and Mallory Wilson. we do not find out much about Mickey's upbringing, but we do know that his father shot himself dead, likely in front of Mickey when he was a preteen. his parents would physically and verbally abuse both each other and him. Mallory's homelife on the other hand, we get to see more of. it is shown to us in the style of a sitcom, complete with a laugh track. her father abuses her in ever way, including sexually, and her mother seemingly verbally as well as physically. it is made clear that the abuse has been nearly lifelong for Mallory. she is used to it, but she obviously still hates it. her father touches and comments inappropriately on her body and clothing in front of the entire family, including Mallory's younger brother, but nobody does anything about it.
Mickey arrives at their house one night, to deliver meat to the father. due to health issues he is not supposed to have meat, which he and the wife argue about. during the argument, Mickey and Mallory meet each other. he tells her that she is beautiful, and that she looks upset, offering her to go for a drive with him and talk about it. they steal the father's car, and Mickey is then arrested. some time passes, and he manages to escape prison, coming back to Mallory's home one night with the intention to rescue her and kill her parents. the father is shown drinking, and yelling at a wrestling game on the tv. during the killing of her father, she yells the same degrading phrases at him that he would often use towards her. when he is dead, drowned in an aquarium and beaten with a crowbar, the couple burn her mother alive in her bed. "you never did nothing" says Mallory as she sets her mother aflame, referring to the times where she could have protected Mallory from her father's abuse, but chose to look the other way. Mickey and Mallory then drive off into the night. she says that she must get a whole new wardrobe, she is a new woman now, and tells Mickey that he makes every day feel like kindergarten.
...
this is where the killing really starts. the pair starts murdering mercilessly, in the places of their choosing. markets, diners, cop cars. to them it doesn't matter, as long as there is somebody left to talk about what they have done. it appears they want to gain notoriety, perhaps because they have been made to feel insicnificant and powerless in their childhoods. they are successful in this, as the popular tv-show American Maniacs, hosted by Wayne Gale, is making a piece on them as they are acting out their rampage in the american south. snippets of the show are frequently shown in the film. Mickey and Mallory stop their car on a bridge above a river of some sort. they toss some of Mallory's things over the railing and into the water. she has a long blonde wig on, covering her shorter brown hair. he tells her that it's time to grow up. we never find out by how much, but he is older than her. by a good ten years i would assume. there, Mickey asks her to marry him, and she agrees, exclaiming that she had been waiting for him to ask. he cuts the palm of his hand with a knife, as Mallory reaches into the car to grab a piece of white fabric, she secures it around her head with a ribbon of some sort and wears it as a veil. he asks for her hand, and cuts her the same way, which takes her by surprise, and she's upset for a moment. he then takes her hand in his so that their wounds touch, and they hold their hands out over the railing, letting the blood drip down and fall into the water. we are shown an animated sequence of two red snakes spinning around each other, down into the water. Mickey says his vows, and puts a ring on her finger. the ring has two snakes, wrapped around each other, on it. a car full of men drives by, and they cheer at the couple. Mallory is instantly upset again, but Mickey reminds her that they should not kill on their wedding day. she focuses on him again, and puts an identical ring on his finger. Mallory is happy. "as god of my world" says Mickey, "i announce us husband and wife".