Single White Female meets The Talented Mr. Ripley in this psychological thriller about how the awkward Oliver Quick (Barry Keoghan) becomes infatuated with one of his classmates at Oxford, the beautiful, wealthy, and popular Felix Catton (Jacob Elordi), and begins to wedge himself into Felix’s life, eventually getting invited to spend the summer at the palatial estate which gives the film’s its title.
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A musing on loneliness, depression, and the end of a friendship, writer/director Martin McDonagh‘s The Banshees of Inisherin offers stand-out performances from both Colin Farrell, as the dull but otherwise likable enough Pádraic, and Brendan Gleeson as his longtime friend Colm, who announces one day he wants nothing further to do with his best friend and will perform physical harm to himself should Pádraic refuse to leave him alone.
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Save me from early-career Batman films. For once, can’t I just get a Batman at the height of his physical and mental prowess (in a movie that doesn’t star George Clooney)? Sadly, that’s not what’s in store with Matt Reeves‘ stylish The Batman taking place during the second year of Batman‘s (Robert Pattinson) run as a now police sanctioned, but certainly not beloved, vigilante. Reeves hits on themes of class struggle and the effects of loss (specifically being orphaned) and how these affect the three main characters in the film in different ways. While that works as a sociology experiment, it’s not the most entertaining main theme for a Batman movie. But, hey, it’s got a new Batmobile!
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Eternals is ambitious as hell. It may be the most ambitious movie Marvel has attempted since weaving together various threads into a single story in The Avengers. Sadly, it’s nowhere near as successful. With an opening crawl, monologues aplenty, and flashbacks, Eternals struggles to introduce and flesh out a dozen characters, their purpose, their backstory, and their place in the MCU.
I’ll give writer/director Chloé Zhao credit for assembling a talented and diverse cast, but with so many characters to keep track of (many of who disappear for large amounts of screentime) more than once I forgot an actor was even in the film.
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Writer/director Yorgos Lanthimos (The Lobster) is known for unconventional storytelling, and his latest certainly fits that bill. Steven Murphy (Colin Farrell) is a respected surgeon with a wife (Nicole Kidman), two children (Raffey Cassidy and Sunny Suljic), and secretive relationship to the son (Barry Keoghan) of a former patient with an equally strange mother (Alicia Silverstone, in a surprisingly small role). When Steven’s son develops odd symptoms that can’t be explained, the doctor is confronted by Martin (Keoghan) who makes veiled threats while suggesting that he is somehow responsible.
The Killing of a Sacred Deer is a frustrating movie. The film is visually stunning with a haunting score, but every time an actor delivers a torturous line-reading (more appropriate to a group of lonely souls reading publicly from their Twilight fan fiction) the spell is broken. There’s a stiltedness to every performance, no character speaks naturally, and even their reactions, movements, and manners are so affected it will make you wonder if you missed the note explaining that everyone in the film is autistic.
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