'The current pandemic has not only prompted revived interest in viral dystopian films, but also inflects the way we engage with even the most mundane filmic images. David Edelstein reflects, “the other day I swear I was watching a movie where a guy coughed and I flinched”. This embodied reaction indicates the affective bridge between the screen and the self. Vivian Sobchack argues that even when watching a fiction film, viewers may find themselves having ‘home movie’ and ‘documentary’ moments when they see something connected to their real-life experiences. Building on Sobchack’s work, I have argued elsewhere that the ‘home movie’ moment may be a fleeting interruption or a deeply felt resonance, inspired by sight or sound, with the potential to create an uncanny liminal viewing experience. During the pandemic, it is the surprise of film scenes with new and unintended resonance with the lockdown, or alternatively, scenes now positively alarming in their divergence from our current predicament. This is the shock of the old.' (Introduction)
