This movie is bonkers. Part satire, part horror, part realist drama and set in 1930s Hollywood, The Day of the Locust follows Tod Hackett–a production illustrator–through chaotic and ill-fated scenarios centered around his love-interest Faye Greener (who is almost certainly an inspiration for Pearl).
It’s got everything: female rage, cockfights, annoying children (who are ultimately a product of their parent’s negligence and a culture obsessed with spectacle to the point that they ignore real violence), gold digging, cowboys, cannibalism, and rioting.