£10.00
Published annually, Beneficial Shock! is a fully illustrated film magazine exploring movie characters, genres and tropes through themed essays and original illustration.
What grabbed us about this issue...
Issue 7 is titled Together/Apart, taking Sartre's "Hell is Other People" as its unlikely starting point. The magazine uses it to unpick what movies have always known: that we define ourselves through others. The piece on twins and doppelgängers in cinema is worth finding. It's a genuinely unsettling thread once you start pulling it. We also kept coming back to the Duncan Jones's Moon feature. The film's unconventional take on companionship is handled with the depth it deserves.
Who's Beneficial Shock! for?
Beneficial Shock! is one for when you want film writing that takes the medium seriously. Each issue builds its essays around a single theme, using it to travel across genres and eras. The illustration is central rather than decorative, with original work from a wide range of artists giving each issue its own visual identity. This would suit you if you're drawn to film as a cultural subject rather than a list of recommendations. Think of it as a film essay collection with pictures to match. It's one to reach for when you want to think differently about films you thought you already knew.
Type: Long-form, visual read
Instagram: @beneficialshockmag