Melanie Lynskey: "Yellowjackets"

The world was waiting for Melanie Lynskey to land a sensational role, and now she has it.

Lynksey plays Shauna in "Yellowjackets"; she is an angry, smart person with a child and a mountain of time on her hands. Shauna watches Jeopardy as she prepares supper; when a contestant confuses "Paradise Lost" with "The Great Gatsby," Shauna clucks, in sympathy, and says, "Anne! You're a dumb bitch...."

Shauna has tired of the rabbit-invaders in her garden, so, within the first hour, she uses her shovel to behead a rabbit. She later asks her obnoxious daughter to defrost some Stop-and-Shop meat, but the daughter forgets, so Shauna just bakes the rabbit into her stew. ("I sliced it from mouth to anus....")

A flashback to Shauna, in her youth, shows an awkward sex encounter in a car: Shauna says, "Say you love me -- Say it once." Clear-eyed, in a monotone, she adds, "You don't have to mean it. Just say it so I can finish."

I understand that Juliette Lewis is winning raves, and I'm happy to see her, too. But it's Shauna I really love. At least for now. I'm two hours in.

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