Summary: Two upper-class teenage girls in suburban Connecticut rekindle their unlikely friendship after years of growing apart. Together, they hatch a plan to solve both of their problems-no matter what the cost.
This will be a short review. Especially since this has been in my drafts forever. Good thing I try to take notes when I watch movies at home.
R.I.P Anton Yelchin, he was a great actor and seemed like a sweet man as well.
Pros:
Cast and Characters. Shoutout to Anton Yelchin and Paul Sparks in their roles in the film but they’re both pretty small. They serve their purpose and they both do a great job. But the movie really follows Anya Taylor-Joy as Lily and Olivia Cooke as Amanda. They both do a great job. Lily is this uppity, smart, rich girl who wears this mask in her house because she does not like her stepfather, and she pretends that she’s above it all. Not to mention, she’s kind of a liar lol. Amanda is very emotionally unavailable, she’s weird, she’s detached and kind of morbid. She does something that gets talked about a lot in the movie that is pretty shocking, but she has her reasons. I think they were friends when they were younger and haven’t really maintained that over the years until Lily is tutoring Amanda. They’re both interesting characters in their personalities separately but when they’re together. Amanda helps Lily come more to terms with who she is and being friends with Lily helps Amanda realize that not having emotions isn’t really a life she wants, or she finds worth living. It really is great stuff.
Direction/Cinematography. Cory Finley was the director and Lyle Vincent was the cinematographer and they did a great job together on this film. Like y’all, this review is so late from when I watched this movie, but I distinctly remember how the movie looked. It has this pristine look to it and some of the shots, especially coupled with the music, I remember so many shots where I was like O.O wow. There are shots where both girls are in the scene and the camera slowly pulls away so you can get both but it’s like the back of their heads and then it cuts so we can see their faces. Then the camera starts to slowly zoom out again now that they’re closer to each other in the same scene. It was very fascinating to watch. There are a lot of scenes like that where the camera does interesting things in shots. The house is so big that I guess they can get away with that lol.
Use of Music. I like how they don’t just throw music in there because they should, but they use it to help the scene. For example, there is a scene where the girls are trying to talk Tim in helping them and it’s silent except for their conversation but when Tim goes to move, music kicks in and it’s like drums and it keeps going, even when Lily and Tim are now talking, the tension in the scene is high and it only stops after Amanda does something. It’s really smart how they use music in the scene. I like when music accompanies but doesn’t overpower the scene unless it needs to. The music just feels like another character.
Character Chemistry. Anya Taylor-Joy and Olivia Cooke worked well together. Their relationship started out rocky because I guess they’re a little estranged from when they were kids but wow, they are electric in this movie. There is a scene when Amanda comes to Lily’s house to be tutored and they talk about each other’s personality. Amanda questions Lily’s honesty when it comes to herself while also explaining herself and why she doesn’t feel anything, which Lily also brings up. It’s great dialogue, the blocking/direction is great and when Amanda tries to hug Lily and Lily’s reaction to it because “she was just trying to be nice” was hilarious but also sad at the same time. They hug anyway but the first time it happens was great. I mean, if anything, watch the movie for them. Every scene they are in together, the dialogue is so smart, and they just really elevate the already interesting material.
Unpredictable. I remembered back when I first heard about this movie, that I thought these two girls paid Anton Yelchin’s character to kill one of their stepdad’s and while the movie does have that, it doesn’t quite go that way. I’m usually pretty good at figuring movies out quickly and I wasn’t too sure where this was going after my expectations were already averted lol. I’m sure there’s going to be someone who will watch it and get it from the jump, or at least say they got it from the jump… good for you.
Cons:
The Ending. I’m not sure what I would have liked to have seen instead but I do remember feeling perplexed that it ended this way and that I didn’t like it. It was nice that Amanda did that for Lily considering her personality and probably how she thought of herself, but I just thought it was a rather strange ending. Maybe that was the point. But I didn’t like it lol.
Tim’s Role. He was great, don’t get me wrong but you could literally take him out of the movie, and it means nothing. Obviously, I’m glad he was in it being that this was his last film (R.I.P Anton) but I thought he was going to be way more involved and he wasn’t. I didn’t think his character made much of an impact on the film. The girls had the plan before even meeting him, so I didn’t think it was necessary to have him in the grand scheme of things.
Overall, I really liked this movie. I thought it was very good. I didn’t really know what to expect other than Tim’s involvement from the description but that was ultimately wrong so lol. But all the acting from everyone is really good. Particularly Anya Taylor-Joy and Olivia Cooke, I have seen them both in other films and I think they’re both great young actresses and this movie really showcases that. Olivia Cooke as Amanda really unsettles you because of who she is, and Anya Taylor-Joy as Lily makes you wonder what she’s capable of because of what she’s hiding. It’s so good plus their chemistry together really helps as well. The dialogue is smart and doesn’t feel too cliché or shallow as sometimes these movies can be. The direction and cinematography also lend itself to how this film comes across and affects how the viewer views these girls’ lives. I appreciated the use of music. It wasn’t too much; it was another character in the film. My only two problems with the film are how Tim is used in the film, I was expecting more but if he was taken away it wouldn’t impact the film much. I also did not care for the ending, I get it, but I just didn’t like it lol.
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars.
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