I saw a movie in a theatre for the first time in years recently. It was The Joker, the controversial nihilistic interpretation of the Batman villain’s descent into evil. Critics (left and right) have blamed The Joker for motivating incels, glamorizing mental illness and encouraging violence. It was quite glum. Certainly, not a “feel good” film. It’s such a contrast to a Soviet-era flick I recently saw called Не может быть! (Russian for It Can’t Be!), a heart-warming comedy about the follies of love and marriage. The Russian film was released in 1975, still within the grips of Soviet censorship and repression. And yet, despite the darkness of communism, the film has a lightness to it that made it more enjoyable than The Joker. By many measures, modern life is better, and yet our films are so grim. Is this an issue of censorship, the rise of nihilism or something else?