THE LONG ROAD AHEAD
THERE IS A FAMILIAR BEAT TO ON-SCREEN STORIES ABOUT RAPE SURVIVORS attempting to reclaim the control that was taken from them. These stories often either open with or build up to the moment when a woman is sexually assaulted, then lead their protagonists through an arc of self-actualization and revenge. In fact, they make up an entire subgenre that zigzags across drama, horror, thriller, and action, from The Accused (1988) to Teeth (2007) to Hannie Caulder (1971) to Avenged (2013) to Lipstick (1976) to Ms. 45 (1981).
Perhaps the most recognizable modern film that exploited these tropes and then rearranged them for a broad audience is Thelma & Louise, Ridley Scott’s 1991 classic starring Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis. Plenty of rape-revenge films predated Thelma & Louise, but it continues to linger in the pop-cultural imagination some 28 years after its release. Now, Test Pattern, the debut feature by writer-director Shatara Michelle Ford, offers a fresh way of examining sexual assault and its aftermath on screen, one that feels just as emblematic of its moment as was Thelma & Louise.
Test Pattern is a quiet, meditative examination of what one Austin woman goes through after she experiences a weed-and-alcohol-soaked assault. Ford asks viewers of Test Pattern to immerse themselves in the consciousness of her protagonist, Renesha (Brittany S. Hall), as she attempts to make sense of the events she’s experienced and figure out what to do about them. Renesha has a support system—a loving boyfriend, admiring friends, respectful work colleagues—and yet she’s repeatedly failed by the individuals and institutions that are supposed to support her. And because she’s a black woman, Renesha seems to expect this. She’s almost resigned to it, in a way that her white boyfriend cannot see and does not understand.
The new film enters a still-changing landscape. In October reporters Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor and reporter Ronan Farrow published news stories exposing Harvey Weinstein’s years of alleged sexual abuse toward Hollywood actresses, an avalanche was activated. One explosive news story after another of harassment and assault rolled through the culture; as a result, public conversation grew wider and more nuanced as women began to discuss not just sexual abuse but also all of the social graces, ambiguities, and shame that kept it quiet and allowed it to flourish. It was as though half of society had been hemmed in for decades, if not longer, by invisible chicken wire.
