Just like the old man in that book by Nabokov

I watched Submission, because I loved the film Miller's Girl, and one reviewer criticized Miller's Girl as having the exact same plot as Submission. I wanted to know: would I agree? And would this film be as stellar as Miller's Girl?

But first, let's deal with the question of whether Submission is woke. The setting is a liberal university in Vermont. There is an obviously homosexual professor and an obviously homosexual student, plus a feminist faculty member. This is representative of that community, and none of these characters are presented sympathetically, so I rule not woke. The lead girl makes a passing comment about the "patriarchy", but if I heard correctly she was ridiculing that feminist concept. The film is subtly anti-woke.

Note: stop reading here and go watch Miller's Girl.

Spoilers follow for both Submission and Miller's Girl.

Now let's discuss whether Submission is similar to Miller's Girl, which came 7 years later. Yes, it is. A middle-aged married man is a talented writer with one book, but, in a writing slump, he had taken an unrewarding teaching position to pay the bills. One of his students is a young, hot girl who is an excellent writer and an even better manipulator. He is flattered that she has read his book. She starts writing sexually charged stories for him that are obviously about them, and he jerks off. He can't resist her advances. He loses his wife, understandably, but the girl distorts the truth while playing the #MeToo card to make sure he loses his job, which hurts him. There is a silver lining: after losing everything, the man has the motivation to reboot his writing career. Can you believe I just described two different movies?!

There may be no direct rip-off here. The writer of Submission said he based it on a 2000 novel, Blue Angel, which is based on the 1930 movie The Blue Angel and the 1905 novel Professor Unrat aka The Blue Angel, which are referenced in Submission. The writer of Miller's Girl said she based it off of a 2011 play she wrote and perhaps she was influenced by Blue Angel or The Blue Angel as well.

Both Submission and Miller's Girl show how #MeToo can be abused. On IMDB, some Leftist reviewers criticized the films for casting doubt on #MeToo accusations. 5/10 average scores resulted for both films, unfair to both.

So which film is better? Miller's Girl wins by a mile. It's just so well written, dotting all the i's and crossing all the t's, and even adding some subtle details for the careful viewer. The tension is higher in Miller's Girl, because it's in high school instead of university, and because most of the action is mental, in the eyes and words of the actors. Acting in both is great, except for the parents of the girl in Submission. The one thing done better in Submission is that several other students have speaking roles rather than just being part of the set.

Submission is a decent film, but life is short, so watch Miller's Girl. It is the much better version of essentially the same story.