WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for Black Christmas, in theaters now.
Sophia Takal's Black Christmas continues the trend of a mysterious slasher going on a murder spree against a bunch of sorority sisters. It occurs at Charles Hawthorne University during the winter break but this movie isn't a gore-fest with women being killed off randomly, it's systematic as the killer is basically anti-feminism.
However, as the film explores how toxic masculinity at the school is one of the biggest enemies these young women are facing, it also brings another villain into the mix in the form of campus security, an institution that's lackadaisical attitude has been complicit in this kind of scenario time and time again.
Campus security at universities is one of the most problematic issues plaguing, not just America, but the world. In this film, when the star Riley (Imogen Poots) goes to campus security for aid after becoming suspicious of a frat house, the film doesn't just put together a bunch of cliches or tries to make the cops look bad, it simply pulls from reality and holds a mirror up to a broken system. As silly as things get, these situations actually happen in the real world, making it's a dark reflection, to say the least.
After a Christmas performance with her friends, all dressed as sexy Santa wives, they flip the script on the DKO frat house by revealing their history with sexual assault and rape culture in general to most of the campus. This leads to a vendetta against Riley's crew and all sororities, where girls start getting DMs from boys who turn out to be pledges trying to find a way in the frat. They're DKO's but also, the young men are being corrupted by the evil spirit of the chauvinistic Hawthorne, the founder of the university.
The messages are promises of murder so when Riley informs the one cop working before the holiday break, you'd expect some sort of action. Instead, there's total inaction from Officer Gil (Mark Neilson). He doesn't understand the digital realm so he thinks the concept of DM is playful and nothing to be serious about, claiming "boys will be boys." Riley even tells him a couple of girls from her house are missing and one didn't make it home for the season early, leaving her parents frantic. Still, Gil does absolutely nothing, going so far as to say they're probably cooped up with some guys for holiday warmth.
It's condescending and ignorant, and Takal wades into this by having just him alone as the show's equivalent to Paul Blart, the bumbling mall cop. Usually, these movies have glorified the lone cop trope, take Dewey from the Scream franchise, but Takal smartly paints what's essentially a documentary of so many women's experiences on college campuses. Apart from victim-blaming, Gil ducks and dodges his responsibilities, shirking them just to read books or watch TV on the clock, until he's dragged by Riley to investigate the DKO house because like it or not, they're a credible threat.
He should have a sense of urgency since there are cases of assault pending from its members, with Riley being one of the victims, but he doesn't take her seriously at all. Takal takes digs at officers in general who behave this way and waive off evidence that's literally in their face. Gil doesn't even search the closed frat house, he peeks into the window and says tough luck to Riley. There's no concern on his part and the thing is, he's not even trying to be a douche.
It's simply the embodiment of the average lazy guard who just thinks women overreact or get emotional for no reason. It's his way of telling Riley to calm down as he tries to mansplain excuses to her why this isn't a grave matter for him to investigate or escalate up the ladder to his superiors. It's no surprise because the powers-that-be, clearly a patriarchy, don't care to have more security on campus after so many cases. Gil gets his comeuppance, though, when a 911 call sends him to another sorority the night that the DKO cult embarks on their purge. By the time he draws his gun and sees the girls being attacked, he realizes how foolish he was. But it's too little, too late as Gil -- the unwitting villain and unknown accomplice to the cult -- gets shot by a pledge in what we can accept now as an act of swift karma.
Directed by Sophia Takal (Always Shine) from a script she co-wrote with April Wolfe (Widower), Black Christmas, currently in theaters, stars Imogen Poots, Aleyse Shannon, Brittany O’Grady, Lily Donoghue and Caleb Eberhardt.