Thoroughbreds

The movie that makes you feel nothing.

I was absolutely stoked to watch the film Thoroughbreds as it was one of the last films Anton Yelchin got to act in before his sad, bizarre, young death. Ive always admired him and thought he was a brilliant actor, who was ahead of his time. The film follows two upper-class teenage girls in suburban Connecticut who 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. This indie, drama, thriller captures you with its brilliant acting but falls flat with its very slow pace. There is almost never a sense of urgency in any scene, even though there might be a sense of urgency to the character. The movie that made me feel nothing may have been the point the entire time. With both characters incapable of emotion, the film itself is purposely stagnent. This film had a stellar score, A + acting and stylish visuals but the story just felt a little to on the simple side and failed to really attach me to what could have been a top notch, new age teen thriller. All in all, I watched this film to see Anton Yelchin in one of his last rolls and he was brilliant as always, Olivia Cook and Anya Taylor-Joy are fantastic in everyway and keep the movie afloat although its eagerness to sink.

Thoroughbreds 6/10

I wanted to like this film. But overall it is fairly poor. The only standout is return to "shining" type cam shots and visuals. These were interesting as novelty when introduced 40 years ago, but were dropped from good filmmaking for good reason.

Ultimately this will appeal to filmgoers who like to be manipulated by technique instead of told a story. Even the deus ex machine ending is such a cop out that everyone left the screening shaking their heads.

Some films you know within moments of them beginning that they are going to be something special. 'Thoroughbreds' was very much one of those films for me. The opening shot containing the character of 'Amanda' looking around a home - something so simply and yet done in such a way that you can't take your eyes off the screen - told me everything I needed to know about the film I was about to watch. And I was right. The next 90 minutes were some of the best cinema of 2017.

The movie is a lot darker than I expected it to be. There is a comedy genre tag attached to the film but it really is in no way a comedy. I think I maybe lightly chuckled twice throughout the film, and both of those chuckles were at some quite dark jokes. The acting in the film is amazing. The two lead girls Olivia Cook and Anya Taylor-Joy were in outstanding form and played a huge part in making the film as brilliant as it was.

The fact that this is a debut film written and directed by Cory Finley is quite incredible. The class with which he made this was well beyond his experience. The music in the film is haunting and absolutely perfectly selected. The dialogue is captivating to listen to. Kevin Smith or Quentin Tarantino could easily have written this film it's that good. In particular the final line of the movie will stick with me for a long time to come. I absolutely loved 'Thoroughbreds' and I couldn't recommend it strongly enough.

I must admit I came to watch the movie because I had seen Olivia Cooke in Amazon/ ITV's production of Wm Thackeray's Vanity Fair and I must say she is quite the young actress I am sure we will be hearing more about her and from her however... This movie starts out with some good dialogue with both humor and , yes, existential philosophy but by the time you reach the end of the movie it has fallen apart completely, it no longer satisfies the way the first half did. Watch the first half , skip the ending, not worth your time.

I decided to check this film out because the premise sounded very interesting but it was told in a way I didn't expect.

Thoroughbreds follow two teenage girls, Amanda and Lily, who both scheme to kill Lily's stepfather.

This is a very strange film. Cory Finley has a background in plays and it clearly shows in Thoroughbreds. There are a lot of scenes where characters just talk in one location but what makes it fun to watch is the dialogue and performances. The humour may not appeal to everybody but I found a lot of the lines to be pretty funny. It reminded me of American Psycho a lot. The humour is very dark and subtle and if you're on board with that then you may like this film. Alongside that, Olivia Cooke and Anya Taylor-Joy are pretty fantastic in this film. They have great chemistry with one another and suit their roles really well. Unfortunately this is Anton Yelchin's final performance but he shines during the scenes he's present in.

The cinematography and production design was really good. The score is what really stood out to me. It's filled with all sorts of strange sounds that fit well with the overall style of the film. The ending does feel underwhelming and it could be due to budget constraints or Finley's background in plays.

For the most part I enjoyed the deadpan humour and I thought Finley's approach to this kind of film was quite refreshing but I feel the story and the stakes could have been elevated more to make it even more entertaining.