Off putting title. But what else could it have been called? Twelve Sisters?
On paper this sounds pretty cool. The themes and the concept have a lot of potential. I must say, stylistically I have sort of always wanted to watch this kind of movie ever since I was a youth. You know, that kind of movie filled with distinctive imagery, in which it feels more like a very long music video and only grudgingly takes a break from that so it can get back to the script.
The problem with this movie is pretty simple. Everything about it is de trop. Every element of it on the micro and macro level is just kind of excessive. By all means, really go for it in terms of cinematic panache but like I said, execution is important and this movie does not walk that fine line between chilling and goofy. It fell off a long time ago.
I want to like the story that its telling. A story of womanhood, of two characters separated by so much finding a sense of sorority, of identifying with past people but it's poorly thought through.
I get that she's an ageing former movie idol, groomed to be a masculine person's vision of feminine beauty but has now outstayed her welcome. Beginning the movie with a double mastectomy is a symbolism we can all get.
That's the other problem: while nearly every moment in its script or its visualization is a bit too much, the one exception is the most important thing: the story. I feel like I don't really know this woman. I have guessed that she's some kind of famous actor that's now going through a dark place but that's all informed attributes. They leave stuff to the imagination only when it's stuff that might have fleshed out this walking cliche, this modern Baby Jane.
Maybe it's my fault for assuming this movie was a horror movie and not simply a piece of nuanced emotional storytelling but they do not hold their cards to their chest and let the mysteriousness build. It's more Harry Potter than Silent Hill. The dialogue and actions of the people around all fit so neatly into the prescribed themes (you know, misogyny) that this film felt over all quite mechanical.
They just did not invest in the elements that would have made this an enriching emotional journey.
At one point a character remarks "creepy" which no horror character should ever do. I was almost glad someone challenged her but I was not rooting against her.
Throughout watching this movie I kept thinking of the pretty swell Post-Rock group "Maybeshewill".
