James Cerne

A lot of people want to call a movie bad because it scared them.

A real treat of a movie. A classic story told by a master filmmaker at the height of his powers. Not perfect but nonetheless a superior film, and one where every corner of every frame is saturated in its makers love for the story, for film and… for life itself! (cue thunder and lightning) Elordi is wonderful, doing what decades of previous films have not: giving an interpretation of Frankenstein’s creature that, both visually and performatively, equals Karloffs. Just as Gary Oldman reinvented an archetype in Dracula, Elordi does in Frankenstein. Oscar Isaac is a tad less effective, essentially playing Gene Wilder In young Frankenstein with a nastier edge and none of the laughs Mia Goth steals every scene she’s in and we end the movie wishing it had more of her and Elordi. Other positives: the world building is ravishing. Sets, scenery and costumes… oh my goodness the costumes he puts Mia Goth in… gowns of turquoise, acid green and malachite in fabrics that shimmer like a butterfly’s wings. They are incredible Structurally the film is sturdily designed as not one, but two extended flashbacks, bookended by a gripping sequence in an icebound ship in the arctic waste The storytelling is self assured and the tempo confident, unfortunately it’s a bit of a slog and then at the end you feel del toro rushing through important moments. Relationships and plots are underdeveloped and wrapped up too quickly. We don’t get villagers with pitchforks or a malevolent housekeeper or a hissing bride, certain iconic plot points seem to have been jettisoned in favor of an extended sequence in a remote forest cottage that helps reinforce the monsters humanity but slows momentum considerably. The ending is disappointingly tidy and punches are pulled in order to provide a contemporary version of closure and redemption that either Del toro or Netflix thinks the audience needs. It’s too bad because what leads up to it is lovely. Del toro has given us misunderstood monsters before but never articulated the double bind of human existence as lyrically here, and for the most part his tendencies to get overly sentimental are reigned in. All told it’s a capital M movie, one that demands to be seen in a theater, and one that like Dracula, I expect to find a devoted following, both for its lavish visuals and the achingly empathetic and physically masterful performance at the center of it

Highly enjoyable moviegoing experience grabs you from the start and never lets go through various twists and turns right until the end and never descends into predicablity, routine or cliche. Moss delivers a flawless performance as does the rest of the talented cast.

This movie is An absolutely wild ride. I could go on and on about the things this movie does right: intricate world building, gorgeous camerawork and cinematography, expertly orchestrated and truely shocking shocks (and laughs), an extremely captivated performance by Florence Pugh, and in terms of inventiveness and characterization absolutely miles ahead of most horror movies that document the gruesome fate of a group of attractive youths. My only quibble would be that the portrayal of the group dynamics is too neglected. Asler is clearly most interested in his female lead and supporting characters are dispensed of in ways that feel rushed so that he can focus on her experience. For 6 people trapped in a foreign environment of escalating strangeness, it seems strange to me how little concern they have for each other’s whereabouts and safety and how little interdependence develops between them. 2 characters in particular are given so little to do that disappearance barely registers

ingenious filmmaking that requires a second viewing. Similar to the 6th sense in that second viewing will almost seem like a different movie. Its impossible to really say more without spoiling the experience. Almost every single casual line of dialogue in the opening third sees ironic fulfillment throughout the course of the movie. Lupita Nyong'o plays two entirely different characters in such a brilliant complicated way that she could almost be said to be giving 4 performances at once. If you're hoping for get out 2 that is not what this movie is. Get out functioned like a very well written crime procedural with every clue and confusion tidily explained by the films ending. US plays a lot faster and looser - more along the lines of 2017s Mother, in that symbolism and metaphor propel the narrative more than strict logic. in the end though the subtext- of class anxiety, imposter syndrome and the attrocities we will overlook, and even commit, to achieve a confortable social status and then maintain the facade of a decent genteel existence, is every bit equal to the horrors of Get Out