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The cast is attractive and likeable, even when they're trying to be nasty. Carson has strong screen presence, but is badly over-styled; she's far more interesting when she lets her Insta-ready persona waver. Each other character plays directly to type, complete with the usual back-stories concocted to provide a vague hint of emotional baggage that never requires much from the actors. This includes the most colourful person in the story, April's New York flatmate (Goodman), who makes a rather weak splash in rural America with his squeaky clean queerness.

This kind of script writes itself, including the undeveloped romance and random subplots featuring side characters. Each story beat arrives right on cue, so there's never a doubt where it's going. This kind of undermines the filmmakers' relentless attempts to create a feel-good vibe. But it's energetic enough that it's never dull, with a gorgeous climactic performance before an extra half-hour of preordained melodramatic soul-searching. And the competition and love story are cute enough to win over the movie's target audience of 8-year-old girls.

themes, language

19.Jun.20

The performances are deliberately broad, finding realistic textures in a situation that's simply bonkers. Essoe is terrific as the captive Michelle, unnerved and sometimes downright terrified, but trying to play along. By contrast, Chong gives Linda a wild-eyed craziness, a woman who has never grown up and sees the world through an extremely warped perspective. As a result, Chong lets some pathos seep through around Linda's edges, which connects unexpectedly to Michelle, as each of them has both deep yearnings and nagging doubts.

There's a strong underlying theme exploring how expectations can lead to the feeling that you're missing out on the life you think you deserve to have. Michelle longs to be a mother but is unsure that her marriage is healthy; Linda is desperate for any connection at all. The way they veer between moments of deep understanding and full-on battles is amusing and sometimes nasty. And as the story evolves, the screenplay is unafraid to delve into some provocative, properly vicious angles on envy and obsession.

themes, language, violence

18.Jun.20

Bacon and Seyfried are terrific as a happy couple with unresolved issues, although both are too cold to identify with. They play the roles unapologetically, flawed people who are trying to be better, but perhaps not hard enough. And the sense that there's some sort of outside menace adds a surreal edge to the characters, as they react in different ways to what's happening and to issues from their past. Meanwhile, young Essex has a strong presence, even if Ella remains somewhat superficial.

Koepp lifts a few things directly from Kubrick, from the wonky architecture to a scary woman in a bathtub. But he also has a few inventive tricks up his sleeve, with especially ingenious lighting and editing. And while the story unfolds with oddly familiar twists and turns, and some gimmicks that never quite connect, there are also pitch-black ideas about guilt and regret woven into the narrative that give the film a vicious kick. None of this is deep enough to add much meaning, but it does leave us chilled to the bone.

themes, language, violence, sexuality

18.Jun.20