Hunter and Liv Podcast

The podcast hosts discuss the movie "Save Yourselves" on Hulu, which follows a millennial couple, Jack and Sue, who decide to unplug and go on a trip to upstate New York. While there, they are oblivious to an alien invasion. The movie highlights the couple's struggle to disconnect from technology and satirizes the millennial generation's reliance on it. The hosts also discuss the concept of internet addiction, which is portrayed in the film. They praise the movie for its portrayal of the couple's relationship and the consequences of their technological addiction. Overall, they recommend the movie as an entertaining and thought-provoking watch. Hi there! I'm Lynch. And I'm Hunter. And this is Critical Era! Wow, episode 387. I just can't believe we've been dissecting generational representation in media for this long already. Me neither. It is absolutely insane. So how's your day been so far? It's been pretty good. Cold outside, of course, dealing with that, trying to stay cozy, and dealing with some dry skin. How about you? I've been having some group members not pull their weight recently. But, in all honesty, it is not you, so don't even worry about it. Awesome. Sounds good. So what are we talking about today? So we will be discussing the movie titled Save Yourselves on Hulu. So, essentially, this couple, Jack and Sue, millennials, are currently living in New York. They feel a need to unplug from their devices and take a trip to, quote-unquote, find themselves in upstate New York. While there, an alien invasion occurs that they are blissfully unaware of. The story follows the couple navigating their struggles with leaving technology behind while simultaneously... The movie we're looking at today is titled Save Yourselves on Hulu. This couple, Jack and Sue, who are millennials, are currently living in New York. They feel a need to unplug from their devices and take a trip to find themselves in upstate New York. While there, an alien invasion occurs that they are blissfully unaware of. The story follows the couple navigating their struggles with leaving technology behind while simultaneously... The movie uses common tropes surrounding the millennial generation to emphasize their shortcomings. So our job as a podcast is to dissect why and how they use these tropes and how it might impact our views on excessive use of technology. Overall, this movie does stem from satire and an exaggerated view of the millennial generation's inability to deal with difficult or unexpected circumstances. It uses the sci-fi angle to make the storyline entertaining and more easily digestible for the mass audience. Our main characters, Jack and Sue, are kind of like the epitome of all that's wrong with millennial culture, i.e., like the stereotype that they're lazy or addicted to technology. The actors actually do such an incredible job portraying the extreme anxiety and insecurity plaguing these characters throughout the entire movie. I was so impressed. They really did such a great job. I love that movie. So we wanted to do a little bit of a research deep dive. Are internet addictions even a thing? Yeah, like, is that something I should be worried about getting? Because, I mean, I'm pretty sure I have one. No, same! And so, anyway, according to doctors Schurer and Lavounas, technological addictions are becoming more prevalent, and actually clinically so, in society. This is seen throughout the film, and the characters actually end up in more duress due to technological use. This is partly due to their use of technology, but also their lack of awareness of the world around them. Mm-hmm, agreed. So, for instance, one of the scenes I really enjoy throughout this movie takes place in a canoe. So our two main characters are in the middle of the lake on a canoe when Sue wants to try an activity to even further connect with one another. They're on a wellness retreat in upstate New York. They're trying to go find themselves again. So Jack eventually realizes that the activity she brought was none other than a list from the internet, the exact thing they were trying to avoid on this trip together. So they begin to argue. But from an outside perspective, you can really just see how unimportant and insignificant their argument really is. Behind them, the viewer is able to see a man running towards the canoe. Right before he reaches the water, a poof, one of those little fluffy aliens, grabs and kills him. I love this scene so much, as it really emphasizes that there are bigger problems in the world than we're even aware of, yet we continue to be stuck in a bubble of our own lives. Had Jack and Sue just taken the time to look around them, they would have realized that they were under attack by way of an alien invasion. Yet it still takes them another two days to find this out. Yeah, I totally agree with you. That scene did a fantastic job of portraying this couple's relationship and the problems they face really well. On the other hand, one of my favorite scenes from the film that pertains to the idea of technology was actually that last scene when they were in the bubble. A little bit of a spoiler alert. So, essentially, our characters see this really weird crystal-like formation in the woods. They walk up to it and try to figure out what it is for a bit of time before realizing that their phones have reconnected. While they are distracted trying to listen to all of the news in regards to this alien invasion, they realize that the crystal has turned into a bubble that has trapped them inside. They begin to freak out, and as the bubble rises into the sky, you can see the world below them. Eventually, they end up in space, and as they look out into the cosmos, they can see that not only they are in a bubble, but a huge number of bubbles containing other groups of people are also in space. So, here's a sound bite from that scene. Hunter, insert said scene. Okay, thank you. Perfect. Oh, it's nice. They think that they've been saved, but we actually never find that affects the case. However, my thought is that the aliens were actually completely aware of the humans' addictions to technology, and that's why the phones began working again. At the perfect moment, the phones reconnected so that people were distracted and could be easily abducted. The main characters thought they were being saved, but I don't think they actually had the capacity to understand what had likely just occurred was an abduction. I absolutely agree. I think that it's perfect irony for them using their technology and the aliens figuring that out because they understand that we're addicted to it. So, overall, I think this movie did a fantastic job at portraying the shortcomings of our generation in regards to this technological addiction. I would highly recommend this movie to anyone that finds themselves using technology excessively, which I would count myself as one of those people. Me as well, yep. I believe it'll lead to a good laugh, and yeah, what do you think? No, I did truly love this movie, and I really appreciated the over-exaggeration of themes portraying this generation well. Absolutely. It was so fun to watch and review this film, and I actually really look forward to next week when we discuss the bucket list and the associated middle-age crisis. So, happy holidays, and we'll see you next time on Critical Era.