Gregg Araki

To live and fry in LA

I've noticed on of the strongest through lines connecting my favorite film directors is a strong, bold aesthetic, a sense of whimsy, this keen ability to create a somewhat dream-like (or nightmarish) atmosphere. They have the guts to not shy away from desire, violence, or camp, creating work that feels real but otherworldly at the same time, work that is gut-busting hilarious, gorgeous, horny, disgusting, terrifying, heartbreaking, immersive, incredibly distinctive, and thoroughly fun.

Seems like a long list but to me all these things go hand in hand, they're at the heart of the world building and visual storytelling of my favorite director's works.

And Gregg Araki is one of my favorite directors out there, he kills in all those categories.

The impeccable and incredibly detailed world building coming from set design, costuming and lighting alone would be enough to make me a fan of his work, but it's just the start of what draws me to his films.
No one does teen/young adult angst in a stylish but cruel and indifferent world, secretly full of weirdness and wonder quite like Araki.

My introduction to his work was his 2010 film Kaboom (if I recall, I was watching loads of Juno Temple movies sometime in 2014 movies when I stumbled on this one), I immediately fell in love and introduced the movie to my friends, who shared my immediate fascination. What was known online around 2015-2017 as 'bisexual youtuber lighting' or 'breadtube lighting', amongst me and my friends was referred to since 2014 as 'Kaboom lighting'.
My love for his work only intensified when I went back to watch his earlier films, with The Doom Generation and Nowhere quickly becoming my favorites of his.
I still have a few of his movies on my watch list, so maybe my rankings might change in the future, I am excited to get to those and very excited for his upcoming film I Want Your Sex.

Most of the images on this page ae pulled from two of my favorite films of his, "The Doom Generation" and "Nowhere", from his cult classic Teenage Apocalypse Trilogy.