I've never felt inclined to bother writing a review before but after watching Beautiful Friend & then seeing the very harsh IMDB rating I felt obliged to do so.
This film is really simple & very interesting. It's filmed from the point of view of Daniel who is living through the COVID Pandemic & already feels isolated & marginalised by society, he wants to find love but has no understanding of what women want, how they should be approached & sees them as only from his own perspective without ever considering that he's only seeing a very shallow & surface level view of the women he, for want of a better word, meets.
He's what's often referred to as an incel & his rapid oscillation from viewing the objects of his attraction as near perfect, to creatures beneath contempt certainly puts you in mind of some of the darker corners of online discourse around women. Despite this, the film does an excellent job of making the protagonist (?), if not relatable exactly, at least understandable, he articulates his thoughts & feelings throughout in a way that probably contravenes some laws of filmmaking but it works well.
The two main actors are fantastic, watching Madison interact with Daniel, seeing her making decisions following a timely introspective is truly heart wrenching.
The camerawork & cinematography are unusual but they work brilliantly.
A really interesting film that takes a difficult & possibly unpopular approach.
