Well there are bad movies with flashbacks, but I don't think a flashback inherently ruins a movie. It can be used to give much needed context or revelations.

by New_Duck_154 6 days ago

No, I think it's very interesting actually. You get to see the memories and flashbacks of the characters

by Beautiful_Grab 6 days ago

Memento with Guy Pearce is exceptional though.

by FederalPitch 6 days ago

We found Morty's account.

by Flat_Major 6 days ago

I disagree. Done well, flashbacks can provide insight into the principal players' motives and actions. Placing those flashbacks into proper context, rather than in chronological order, can drive the understanding of the story arc well. Of course, as with anything, flashbacks can be poorly done and/or poorly placed within the narrative. In these cases, flashbacks can hinder the story. But IMO, that's because the flashback device is poorly implemented, not that the device is flawed in and of itself.

by Anonymous 6 days ago

What about if "5 years earlier" or flashback is frequently used, but then in a pivotal episide it is revealed that the flashback is a flashforward? "We have to go back"

by Anonymous 6 days ago

I actually love when that happens, and try to seek out media that has some kind of aspect like that.

by Ok-Fox 6 days ago

OP needs to google "in media res."

by Acceptable-Oven 6 days ago

in media res doesn't mean flashback. Plenty of novels and films begin "in media res" and don't have a flashback. It just means you're starting in the middle of the action. The action isn't then necessarily explained retroactively. Say, Thor 3 begins explicitly in media res with Thor trapped by Surtur and then the film carries on chronologically. There isn't a flashback back to how he got there, because it's not relevant.

by Anonymous 6 days ago

In media res means you start the story in the middle, not the beginning. It might not require a non-linear timeline, but almost all stories that employ it end up flashing back at some point. The third movie in a series is a horrible example to prove your point; the baseline of the narrative and characters is already well established.

by Acceptable-Oven 6 days ago

Yes you're sort of right, but the "middle" of the story isn't strictly true. It means you begin the story in the middle of action, and that action isn't necessarily in the middle of the chronology of the story. If we were to label story beats chronologically A-Z, "in media res" doesn't mean you begin the opening shots of the film at point K. You can begin at point A, meaning the rest of the movie is indeed at a chronologically later date and there are no flash "backs," but if point A is the middle of a piece of action it is indeed in media res. If you don't like my example, let me give you another one then. The film The Dark Knight begins in the middle of a bank heist. The rest of the film is set after the heist and we never get an explanation or a view of a flashback before the heist or the planning of the heist. It is the earliest point we see and yet it is indeed in media res because we are injected into the middle of that moment without build up. That's a stark contrast to, say, Harry Potter, which absolutely isn't in media res. We begin at point A, indeed, which also happens to be the start of the life of the protagonist. We literally begin when Harry Potter himself, as a person, begins. It literally translates to "the middle of things," not necessarily the middle of the story you're telling

by Anonymous 6 days ago

I'd say you're sort of right too. As I said, "in media res" doesn't mean a story requires flashbacks, but you'd be hard-pressed to find one that doesn't do so. Your Dark Knight example doesn't really work for two reasons. One, it's a sequel, so it's beginning in the middle of a story by definition. Two, and more importantly, TDK isn't the story of the bank heist or even of The Joker; it's the story of Batman, which begins in Batman Begins at…the beginning.

by Acceptable-Oven 6 days ago

You're throwing around a lot of very precise definitions and absolutist arguments. Lit crit doesn't work that way; it's nowhere near as precise as you're trying to make it, and it's mostly about arguing the definitions of terms.

by Acceptable-Oven 6 days ago

Lit crit works precisely on precise definitions. Otherwise it's not an appropriate criticism. I can't say Pulp Fiction is a Bildungsroman because Bildungsroman has a precise definition, that Pulp Fiction definitely doesn't apply to. That's how terms works. Words have specific definitions and so we can't arbitrarily ascribe them to random things. We wouldn't have an array of terms and definitions if they were imprecise and interchangeable. I'm skeptical of your "lit crit" credentials if you think it's appropriate to just inflate definitions beyond their precise… definitions.

by Anonymous 6 days ago

Star Wars begins in medias res with the space battle and has zero flashbacks. Past events are explained by dialogue.

by No-Green-364 6 days ago

No, it doesn't. Star Wars begins at the beginning of the Skywalker story with Anakin, including explaining his birth. Why do y'all keep citing sprawling serial sci-fi examples?

by Acceptable-Oven 6 days ago

If we were having this convo in 1995, your point would be valid, but it isn't anymore. Remember, Lucas always had a grand narrative plan for multiple trilogies.

by Acceptable-Oven 6 days ago