Twilight takes teenage yearning seriously. For Peters, what is enduring about the series “is the drama of the love story.” Bella and Edward’s love story is characterised by powerful emotions, major sacrifices, and life-or-death stakes. O’Donoghue and Peters noted that while Bella is not a typical feminist heroine, she is never a pushover. She consistently resists Edward’s traditional notions of marriage, and pushes back against Jacob’s unwanted advances. She is vocal about her desire to be turned into a vampire, and in the final instalment, her wish comes true. To many readers, Bella feels like a reflection of themselves, articulating their longings in a sparkling fantasy world of vampires, werewolves and undying, eternal love.
Was Twilight a Good Film?
“Back in the day, it was a rite of passage to hate on Twilight,” said Zed in one of his videos. “Every joke has been run into the ground, every negative thing has been said. So imagine my surprise when I’m watching this first movie and it’s low-key not that bad … Watching Twilight feels like watching a movie.” Possibly helping the resurgence is the shift in the public image of Twilight’s lead actors, who have since gained recognition and goodwill for their performances – like Robert Pattinson with Tenet (2020) and Batman (2022), and Kristen Stewart with Happiest Season (2020) and Spencer (2021) (Honourable mention: Taylor Lautner’s cameo in Taylor Swift’s newest music video, ‘I Can See You.’)
Rewatching the Twilight films in 2023 is making many people appreciate aspects they hadn’t really noticed before, particularly the cinematography and soundtrack. O’Donoghue pointed out how Twilight was visually distinct from other teen movies being made at the time. The infamous blue tint (which disappears after the first film) makes Forks feel like a pocket outside our time and reality — gritty, gloomy and enchanting. Catherine Hardwicke, who directed the first Twilight film, makes use of Dutch angles, extreme close-ups and dynamic camera movements to convey the surreal urgency of Bella and Edward’s love. Twilight’s score is thoughtfully put together to fit the vibe of the film, with a haunting original theme and a selection of alternative rock songs — setting the tone with ‘Full Moon’ by The Black Ghosts in the opening, and taking the excitement up a notch with Muse’s ‘Supermassive Black Hole’ during the iconic baseball scene. YouTuber Dominic Noble, who breaks down book-to-movie adaptations on his channel, remarked, “One can simply not judge this movie without mentioning how the baseball scene, with its unapologetically goofy fun and excellent choice of soundtrack, rocks way more than anything associated with Twilight has any right to.”