Saint Clare

For this genre Saint Clare is a watchable movie but it's not a movie you will remember in the future, not even a day later in my case. For that it's just not good enough in many aspects. The twists and turns that should make this movie better were weak, maybe not predictable but weak nonetheless. The acting from some actors of the cast could definitely be better. All in all it's worth a watch if you don't set the bar too high.

I'd had this film on my watch list for quite a while as the premise sounded intriguing and from what I know about Bella Thorne, she's keen on artistic risks. While it was intriguing, it certainly wasn't worth the wait.

There are plenty of interesting ideas on offer, but several are under utilised or forgotten about. There's artistic flare at times, reminiscent of other recent horror such as Censor and, to a lesser extent, Saint Maud, but frankly the film is put together so sloppily that these are few and far between. For example, about ten minutes or so into the film, we're introduced to Frank Whaley's character, and it seems like we're suddenly getting a dynamic akin to Griffin Dunne in An American Werewolf in London, but the film soon gets bored of that.

Bella Thorne was fine as the titular Clare, and Whaley isn't bad either, but the rest of the cast felt either limp, hammy or in Ryan Phillipe's case, wooden. These performances, coupled with predictable twists and haphazard editing and directing create something held together with tape rather than superglue and it comes close to falling apart completely.

I really wanted to like this film after waiting for so long, and while I didn't hate it, it falls into the category of forgettable films like The Night House.

The idea behind this is good and different from these kinds of revenge horror movies. Usually when the lead is a woman who fights "the bag guys" she's been assaulted, attacked, something happens to her. But here, she's not a victim. She's not going after her attackers. She's like Dexter and with her own code.

The acting was great, Bella Thorne was amazing.

Ryan Phillippe however... Why? He's not a good actor and it kind of ruined what we're supposed to be tense moments in the movie.

Regarding the one of 2 plot twists, if you can call it that, it was so predictable, especially that the voice on the phone was distinctive, so you knew what was going to happen next.

The movie had good pacing until the "plot twists" those felt rushed, like not much effort had been put in.

It's an OK movie.

Bella gives a solid performance.

Disjointed and confusing thriller, Saint Claire is unsure what path it wants to take so zig zags through to no real point. Mitzi Perrone appears to edit the film with sticky tape - a lot of it makes no sense. Bella Thorne's performance whilst earnest isn't focused enough for the heavy material. Ryan Phillipe and Rebecca DeMornay are wasted.

So whatever this movie was exactly going for didn't quite work for me. Bella Thorne manages to carry the movie quite well, even though her acting was a little uneven at times, but that could be due to how she was directed. In general, there are many stylistic choices and script decisions that felt uneven and out of place. The movie certainly had some interesting elements, and some scenes were enjoyable overall, but there's just a lot going on that doesn't fit together. From the uneven tone to the distracting editing and the very hit-or-miss performances from the cast, it all feels inconsistent. I feel like Thorne's character definitely had potential and the story could have been much more interesting, but the overall tone the movie was going for left me more confused than engaged with the narrative. The movie never really builds any genuine atmosphere, and neither the darker elements nor the gore stand out, which makes this movie overall pretty much below average with lots of weird stylistic choices and unevenness. A less pretentious attempt with a clearer narrative and less confusing editing could have made for a decently enjoyable movie. [3.9/10]