"Eric and Alex."
In physics class, while the other students listened attentively, Alex sat alone at the back of the classroom, lost in his own world of drawing comics.
However, Nathan and his group of football buddies weren't going to leave him alone. They wet some tissues, rolled them up into balls, and started practicing their "passing" skills—
One. Then another.
Did the person at the front of the class notice? Unclear.
Did the other students notice? Also unclear.
The camera stays focused on Alex, never switching angles. Naturally, the rest of the classroom remains out of sight, and all other activity is just background noise. The only certainty is that the class continues as usual, and so does their "passing practice."
Alex quietly leaves for the bathroom to clean himself up; then he wanders alone through the school, doing nothing in particular, standing idly in the hallway of the cafeteria.
Students pass by without noticing him. Not a single one.
Standing in the middle of the cafeteria, the noise of the world gradually grows louder, as if someone is turning up the volume on a speaker. Eventually, the noise erupts, exploding in Alex's mind.
Alex clutches his head, struggling.
But everything around him remains normal. Students pass by as if nothing is happening. No one stops.
So, Alex goes home.
"Brittany, Jordan, and Nicole."
Three girls discussing how handsome and cute Nathan is, how fierce and domineering Nathan's girlfriend can be. They talk about routines, beauty tips, dieting, and complain about a friend who has distanced herself from the group ever since she started dating. Such betrayal, they agree, deserves condemnation.
Nicole tries to defend herself repeatedly, but in the face of Brittany and Jordan's combined attacks, she falters, barely touching her food.
But.
One moment they're bickering, and the next, they're gleefully planning a shopping trip.
They finish their cafeteria meal with barely touched trays of food but still head to the bathroom together. Each girl takes a stall.
Before long, the sound of vomiting echoes from the stalls.
These unseen things, in fact, always happen quietly—things visible to Alex and Michelle, and invisible tensions between Brittany, Jordan, and Nicole, as they bond together against other girls or fret about body image.
An unspoken rule exists in the school, subtly altering social dynamics without anyone realizing.
Are these harms obvious?
Not really. At least, they aren't visible wounds or acts of aggression.
Yet, that doesn't mean they don't exist.
They hide in daily life, settling deep into the heart, eventually forming scars.
Precisely because school life seems so normal, as if nothing is wrong—whether through willful ignorance or simple acceptance—this banality of evil is all the more chilling.
Slowly, it seeps from the quiet scenes on screen.
The audience may notice, or maybe they don't.
But sitting in Lumière Hall at this moment, there's a tingling sensation underfoot. Goosebumps rise on their skin, shoulders shrink as they wonder if the air conditioning is just too cold.
When the camera cuts back to Alex, he sits peacefully at the piano, playing "Für Elise." The melody flows from his fingertips, soothing, romantic, calm.
The atmosphere matches perfectly with the school scenes, though a chilling and eerie sensation gradually spreads through the cool restraint of classical music.
His playing is a bit unpolished, a bit raw, but he is deeply absorbed, a trace of happiness visible on his boyish face as he loses himself in the music.
Even his good friend Eric's arrival doesn't interrupt him.
But Alex doesn't mind.
Eric enters Alex's home as if it's his own bedroom, casually lounging on Alex's bed, grabbing a laptop from the bedside to start playing a game—
A gun game.
On one side, Alex plays the piano; on the other, Eric becomes engrossed in his game.
Finally, when "Für Elise" finishes, Alex sits on the couch next to Eric and grabs the laptop off Eric's lap to browse the web.
Gun.
"Free," "Free"—though the web content is only glanced at briefly, the word "free" next to gun images stands out glaringly.
In the next shot, the skies begin to change.
The sky, once bright, turns indigo as clouds silently move, covering the sun. Vast swathes of shadow darken the world.
Boom. Thunder rumbles.
Not long ago, the sky was clear, but in an instant, it's blackened, as if the heavens might collapse at any moment.
Cut to Alex, peacefully napping on his bed, with Eric curled up on the nearby couch like a sleeping cat.
The sky's dramatic shift was just a midday storm. By the time Alex and Eric wake, lunch is ready, and golden sunlight bathes Alex's innocent face as he laughs cheerfully, in a good mood.
The world is calm again.
So, was the sky's transformation merely a weather event or a reflection of the kids' inner turmoil? Or perhaps both?
A fleeting thought comes to mind—the movie's first scene was the changing sky, and it lingers throughout, focusing on the sun, the clouds, the shifting light. Similar shots appear multiple times, as if reflecting a state of mind or like a god watching over humanity.
The film may seem calm, just capturing everyday school life, but the imagery and sound offer much more, subtly infiltrating the viewers' thoughts and emotions—
This is cinema.
More than dialogue or plot, it relies on the visual language of the camera.
Gus Van Sant may not be Ingmar Bergman, a master of the lens, but he still knows how to quietly embed these shots into the narrative, affecting the audience's feelings without them even realizing.
The image flickers briefly, unnoticed by many in Lumière Hall, before viewers are drawn back into the documentary-like mundanity. These shifts, these abnormalities, quietly lodge deep in the brain, lying in wait.
The changing weather, storm clouds brewing, might just be an ordinary rainstorm, while the kitchen scene that follows is one of complete harmony.
Alex's parents are there, preparing a simple but hearty lunch for the two boys—
Pancakes.
Not a lavish meal, but enough to fill their stomachs.
Eric watches as Alex grins broadly, devouring the pancakes with loud, goofy laughter.
Life returns to normal once again. It seems like just another lazy afternoon where two teenage boys skip school, play games, eat junk food, and chat about nothing important, wasting time like any other kids their age.