Art Isn't Optimal

How I nearly missed the best film I've seen in ages because I was trying to over-optimise my life.

There is lots of discussion at the moment about the over-optimisation of our lives. How managing every aspect of our time to be as efficient and garner the greatest results is making us boring, sterile and perhaps less likely to experience joy.

Something very recently provided me with a greater sense of where I sit with it and it came about due to ratings on IMDb of all places. I love the platform and I’ve been using it for years, but I do sometimes rule out watching something if it doesn’t have a high enough rating - I realise this is a mistake and one that almost lead to me not watching a film that has had a more profound impact on me than any other in recent memory.

That film is Nine Days (written & directed by Edson Oda). I watched it two weeks ago and haven’t stopped thinking about it since. There is rarely a day that goes by that I also don’t listen to the beautiful soundtrack by Antonio Pinto. It felt like a film that was made just for me. Like it was speaking directly to my soul.

I must thank @TreyNesbit on TikTok for introducing it to me in the first place. But how could a film that felt so personal, so beautiful, so poignant almost pass me by? The path to viewing was littered with roadblocks. Firstly, I’d never heard about it and likely few in the UK have. If Wikipedia is to be believed, it grossed $158 in the UK, despite starring our own Benedict Wong. Secondly, it wasn’t available to stream on any platforms so I had to buy it. When I have so many streaming platforms, it feels strange to part with more money for the opportunity to watch something. But often these gems don’t have big audiences and therefore don’t get picked up by platforms. And then came the IMDb rating. 6.8. Not terrible by rating standards, but usually I look for things 7 and above.

So this film was going to take £5 of my money and 2 hours of my time and there was no guarantee it would be worthwhile. The optimised choice would have been to find a film with a higher rating that was already available to stream. One that could’ve had a lower risk of disappointment, or required less investment in potential mediocracy. But I took the risk. And sound an absolute gem of a film. It might just be my favourite right now.

At what point did a relatively small amount of money and an evening of my time become such a precious commodity that I couldn’t possibly waste it by seeing something I didn’t absolutely love? Especially when I will be the first to hold my hand up and say I have spent entire evenings doomscrolling and felt nothing by the end. Like I had hypnotised myself into a dopamine fuelled binge that provided no sustenance, no meaning, no profound epiphanies.

How many hidden gems are we missing in the name of efficiency? Are we robbing ourselves of joy and meaning in the name of optimisation?

If there’s any grand conclusion to this, it’s to go and enjoy something without a set of internal rules holding you back. Give that film a go, or visit that exhibition that piqued your interest, or see a play at a local theatre. You just might find the thing you’ve been looking for.