[yasr_overall_rating]
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.
What does it look like to truly feel nothing? What would you do? How do you go about your daily living? If you don’t feel trapped is it really a disorder? Who can say? Better yet, how crazy must everyone around look when they lose their minds over such little things. “Thoroughbreds” plays with this callous unfeeling sentiment by bouncing it off a hyper-moody teenage girl living in the Hamptons and pivoting towards drastic violence in a slightly-apathetic tone.
This movie is Anton Yelchin’s last performance (may he rest in eternal peace that angel) and as such, it’s not really his movie. Instead, we follow Anya Taylor-Joy’s efforts to murder her father at the behest of her emotionally-devoid friend played by Olivia Cooke. The film has all the benchmarks for great drama, incorporating a will-they-or-wont-they element to the entire narrative that would’ve played out even more tense had it not been about someone with no feelings.
The production design features so thoroughly in the film that its rich mansion interiors/exteriors thread their way into every scene. Marbled walls, Greek busts, oak desks, wine cellars with an actual bar provide the backdrop for Lily and Amanda’s exploration of their friendship. More than just a backdrop, they feature prominently in scenes when Anton Yelchin’s confronting the two girls, or Olivia Cooke is discussing how she murdered a horse, or how Any Taylor-Joy talks to her mom. It adds a silver sheen to the cinematography lifting the profile of the image significantly.
Basically, the movie’s well made. It’s told well. The story wrings out the tension in every scene through its use of long takes. Often we’re left wondering what is going on, and we hear the story happening in another room. We feel the shock of the plot in its auditory cues, something I applaud. The movie allows us to create our own image of gruesome violence to drastic effect.
The main problem is with the performances focus on flat affects. Olivia Cooke’s performances, while technically nuanced, echo off Anya Taylor-Joy’s performances which, when they’re both being deadpan, kind of leeches the drama from their scenes. Granted, there’s plenty to enjoy, but so much of the regular plotting involves dry subtlety. By the time Anton Yelchin steps in, he breathes new life into the movie. He steals the scene, without a doubt, and I wish there was more of him in it. The rest, more or less, hits those emotional notes but in a breathy way that feels distant more often than not.
I liked this movie’s tense plotting and intelligent sound design. You can tell it’s carefully made from the lamps in the background to Anya’s carefully (and pretty dope!) selected wardrobe/makeup to the chapter markers to the pool lighting effects. There’s comedy to be found in this film, but it’s played so straight you don’t know whether to laugh or to be afraid. Check it out! Perhaps after it’s theatrical run though.
In theaters Friday, March 9th
