…and out of 39 film reviews she’s written for Vox over the last several weeks, my basic impressions are that (a) she’s smart and writes well, (b) she leans toward circumspect analysis rather than yea-nay verdicts, and (c) that she seems to be generally obliging.

I certainly wouldn’t say that Wilkinson is looking to preemptively strike blows or tear down, not if she can avoid it. She’d rather analyze, understand and reflect upon.

Her hiring by the N.Y. Times was announced yesterday (11.8.23).

I haven’t read all 39 Wilkinson reviews top to bottom, but so far it appears that she’s panned only one — The Exorcist: Believer, which everyone trashed.

I hated Janet Planet and yet Wilkinson kinda loved it…uh-oh. And she found Fingernails, which I couldn’t stand and in fact walked out of, “funny and ultimately heartwrenching”…yikes!

Wilkinson just turned 40 — born on 11.4.83 — and is therefore an elderly Millennial. Is it therefore fair to presume that she’s a bit of a wokey? No, it’s not fair to presume that, certainly based on my limited knowledge of her work. But she almost certainly is to some extent or the Times wouldn’t have hired her.

I know that just shy of seven years ago Wilkinson was totally floored by Get Out so she and Bob Strauss are automatic besties in this regard. Wilkinson’s review made no mention of Ira Levin‘s The Stepford Wives, and in my book that’s a serious thing to omit.

Here’s her final paragraph: “I’m white, and have no idea what it’s like to be a black American, and I never really can understand it instinctively, no matter how much I try to empathize. But my female body thrilled sickeningly with recognition when I saw Rosemary’s Baby, and I felt an echo of that same sensation watching Get Out. Which makes me wonder if — just maybe — a great, funny, well-made horror movie like Get Out can, while not totally bridging the gap between my experience and someone else’s, at least help us understand each other a little better.”

Then again she appreciated and up-voted The Holdovers…good show.