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The Reading

Name: The Reading
Director: Courtney Glaude
Released: 2023
Duration: 96 min

Representation Score

5.7/10

Fair

2023

TV-MA

Director

Courtney Glaude

Runtime

96 minutes

Average Rating

No ratings yet

New Showbiz Analysis

The film successfully diversifies the thriller genre by focusing on a Black female protagonist. By highlighting Emma's intellectual and creative responses to trauma, the movie challenges the usual demographic norms in horror-drama. The film's strength lies in its subversion of traditional gender roles and its incorporation of spiritual and metaphysical themes. However, it remains limited by a lack of visible LGBTQ+ representation and ambiguity in handling psychological trauma and neurodivergent representation.

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Category Breakdown

Does The Reading have LGBTQ+ representation?

Fair

The film does not include explicit LGBTQ+ characters or dynamics. The story centers on the psychological impact of a home invasion and supernatural events.

How does The Reading portray gender?

Good

Emma plays a key role in driving the plot, transitioning from a victim of trauma to an active participant in a psychic investigation. This shifts the typical passive role of women in horror films.

How racially and ethnically diverse is The Reading?

Good

By featuring a Black woman as the main character in a domestic thriller, the film offers a fresh perspective. Mo'Nique Hicks' casting brings a non-Anglo-Saxon viewpoint to the themes of home and safety.

How does The Reading represent religion and culture?

Fair

The narrative explores spirituality through a psychic team's readings, moving away from traditional Western secular views. This introduces a subjective, metaphysical framework to the psychological drama.

Does The Reading include disability representation?

Minimal

While the protagonist faces significant psychological trauma, it is unclear if this is portrayed with ability to act. There is insufficient information to determine if there is any representation of neurodivergent individuals.

Present on Screen

Focuses on a powerful Black female protagonist in a genre traditionally dominated by white leads.
Challenges traditional horror clichés by giving the female lead a significant role in driving the plot.
Integrates spiritual and metaphysical themes that go beyond Western secular perspectives.

Limited or Absent

Lacks visible LGBTQ+ representation or queer relationship dynamics within the primary plot.
Ambiguity in whether psychological trauma is portrayed with ability to act or used merely as a plot device.
Insufficient details regarding neurodivergent or disability representation.

Official Synopsis

After a deadly home invasion, Emma (Mo'Nique Hicks) copes by writing a book, but when a young psychic and her team perform a reading in her home, a new terror is unleashed.

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