It was the fifth time that Mr. Braun had been arrested since Mr. Trump commuted his 10-year sentence just before leaving office in 2021, which was among a raft of last-minute clemencies granted to those with ties to the president. Mr. Braun’s sentence was commuted after his family used a connection with Charles Kushner, the father of Jared Kushner, Mr. Trump’s son-in-law who was a senior White House adviser, to get the matter before Mr. Trump.

That episode highlighted Mr. Trump’s ad hoc process for granting clemency, favoring defendants who have gained access to the White House, often with scant vetting of their criminal histories. At the end of his first term, Mr. Trump granted clemency to a number of allies and well-connected people, including his longtime strategist Stephen K. Bannon and Elliott Broidy, a top fund-raiser.

I think the argument is that even if you’re not consciously noticing it, your brain picks it up and that’s part of the unsettling feeling you get. Is that true? I don’t know. I was unsettled as hell watching Hereditary, but there’s a lot more unsettling content besides the quasi-noticeable woman in the corner of the ceiling.

I’m glad to see It Follows included in the essay though. Watching characters converse in the grass, in the sunlight, in a scenario that in almost all other horror movies would be a tension-relieving safe scene, until you notice another character, blurry and deep in the distance, walking robotically on a straight path toward the central characters, still gives me chills. It remains one of my favorite effects, and is a top-tier reason why I love horror movies even though I don’t love feeling tense or scared.

My incredulity is as boundless as it is impotent.

Well deserved. My kids fucking love Astro’s Playroom.