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In his final breaths in “Frankenstein” (2025), Victor Frankenstein’s brother gasps, “You are the monster.”
I figured as much.
It is no secret Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” contains two monsters, the creator and the creature he abandons. Not a single viewer of Guillermo del Toro’s adaptation needed the quote to figure that out. But recent screenwriting trends continue to opt for overt dialogue rather than allowing audiences to infer plotlines and gaps for themselves.
“Show, don’t tell” is among the first principles you learn in any screenwriting class: Find ways to convey your message through actors’ expressions and your film’s scenes, before resorting to unnatural dialogue. For example, a character could make a sullen face and skip the, “I’m so sad.” This technique not only creates scripts that flow organically but also shapes stories that respect audiences’ critical thinking skills.
Lately, however, filmmakers have been telling and not showing. In a recent interview with Joe Rogan to promote his new film “The Rip,” Matt Damon shared his frustration with how filmmaking has evolved — or rather, devolved — to accommodate changing attention spans. According to the actor, streaming services like Netflix encourage this trend.
“Now they’re like… it wouldn't be terrible if you reiterated the plot three or four times in the dialogue because people are on their phones while they’re watching,” Damon said of Netflix.
Stating the obvious has become very apparent over the past year.
“That’s what family is. It’s about fighting for something bigger than yourself,” Sue Storm of "The Fantastic Four,” a superhero movie about the power of family, said.
“Your choices. Your actions. That’s what makes you who you are,” is not only a quote from the latest "Superman" but could double as a lovely inspirational poster in a third-grade classroom.
Even non-franchised films, like A24’s "Materialists,” wear their messages on their sleeves. This film in particular drips with on-the-nose dialogue over the shallowness latent in modern dating:
“Marriage is a business deal.”
“I don’t want to hate you because you’re poor, but right now I do, and it makes me hate myself.”
Are these lines from award-winning screenwriter Celine Song or a Dhar Mann video?
When a story’s morals are so drawn out, the audience is distracted by unrealistic speech, cheapening the film’s effect. There may be a tendency to roll one's eyes at the infamous “blue curtains” debate over the significance of visual descriptors in literary work, but there is no doubt symbolic cues are essential to understanding an audio-visual medium such as film. That’s what makes the show-don’t-tell method so important.
The films I mentioned undeniably exceed in other areas. “Frankenstein” has all the craftsmanship one could ask for in a modern film. “Materialists” is gorgeously shot; the use of 35-millimeter film provides a warm, textured feel that so many recent movies are lacking. But when their dialogue all but breaks the fourth wall to ask, “Do you get it?” the themes they are promoting feel hollow.
Filmmakers don’t need to simplify their work for the “phone generation.” So many young people desire complex media they can interpret, beyond the surface level ideas we’re currently being presented with. Based on the negative reception surrounding major titles like "Wuthering Heights” and "Stranger Things,” writing is still a significant factor for many viewers. Fans of the latter have pointed out how the show’s awkward dialogue reads more like a plot summary than natural character exchanges. Many blame the same Netflix policies Matt Damon mentioned.
Amid a wave of online anti-intellectualism and the trend of “it’s not that deep,” those dedicated to the idea that “yes, it is that deep,” remain strong. With the rise of newer long-form content like video essays, a near 133% increase in U.S. protests from 2017 to 2025 and the obvious inclination for thoughtfully-written television and film, Generation Z has proven it is perfectly apt to search for deeper meaning. But if we aren’t presented films that can provide that, we can’t explore those critical thinking skills.
It worries me that instead of deciding to challenge the youth, companies like Netflix and Disney would rather feed into the narrative that we can’t dissect the work we consume. Maybe they just don’t want to put in the effort. After all, it is much easier to blame the phones.
Emma Howard (she/her) is a sophomore studying cinematic arts.
