Thoroughbreds

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.

I'm not sure this movie classifies as a comedy film. It's a light movie, but it's more serious than funny if you ask me. I really love this indie movie, and I watched it because of Anya Taylor-Joy. She did phenomenal and so did Olivia Cooke.

More indie films like this! (:

Apparently it was very upsetting to a lot of reviewers here that they found this in the comedy section of their local Red Box or whatever, saw two peppy looking teen girls on the cover, and had severe overreactions when they discovered that this movie "misled". It seems so strange to me that people continue to blind-watch movies and then get mad at the movie for not being what they convinced themselves the movie was about. You would have spent just as long watching a trailer or reading a one paragraph synopsis or review as you did coming back here to leave an awful review trashing a movie for your own mistake, but then I guess you'd have to admit that the problem was on your end.

Look, this is NOT a comedy. There are a few dry laughs here and there, but this is absolutely not a movie you want to watch for the laughs. This is a drama and it's one that deals with some pretty dark subjects. Unfortunately, it's hard to talk about what the point of this movie is without giving everything away. Let's just say it's the story of a friendship that forms between two very disturbed young women which takes a look at the darker side of human nature along the way. It's surprising, disturbing, and also surprisingly touching at times.

If you're not a complete fool that's looking for teen comedy in all the wrong places, give this a try, you might find yourself very surprised. I'd give it an 8 or a 9, but I'm going to go ahead and give it a 10 just to balance out all the triggered whiners giving it 1's for no good reason.

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 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.