Olivia Wilde dove headfirst into her sophomore project, a mystery filled thriller-drama, and landed head first into an endless pit of unfinished and underdeveloped characters and concepts so wide, that even the movie's 2-hour runtime couldn't even begin to unpack it all.
Carrying most of the movie alongside Wilde herself was Florence Pugh as the lost puppy, 'Alice', who finds herself in an ominously perfect world with her 'perfect' boyfriend, Jack portrayed by Harry Styles. The story follows Alice's journey in unveiling the truth about this utopia and just how she wound up there. The movie wastes no time in setting the story up (later causing pacing and contextual issues) and we are introduced to all the main characters, portrayed in 'keep up with the Joneses' style, pretty quickly. Almost too quickly.
As Act 1 takes up most of its time showing just how much Alice and Jack are in love with each other, and how the ritualistic days that repeat in this community make up most of the characters' personalities, the story is pretty much revealed. Amid the cinematic sequences is Alice, already in anguish, trying to unfold the expected truth about this dreamland. If not for the trailers, which give away a pretty significant chunk of the movie; this plot might have had a bigger effect. But running on the cliché of a mystery filled utopia, audiences are already likely to be one step ahead.
By the time we're halfway through the movie, Alice has already had many revelations and jeopardised her safety, which in theory should provide the thriller part of the movie, but the continuous back and forth between her and her inner voice stalls the action. When it sets its footing and tension is built, we're already on the next scene in a different scenario. The occasional appearance by Frank (Chris Pine) grounds viewers as his authoritative speeches and long dialogues, reminiscent of Fight Club type toxic masculinity, give direction as to what is going on. Which is a great question for most of the movie as scenes start and abruptly end, often without any meaning or possible interpretation whilst watching.
Ultimately, the main issue is that there are some wonderful concepts but there's no depth to the story, leaving audiences with two-dimensional characters and an underwhelming reaction. The revelation of Bunny's character (Wilde) and Alice's background are a few of the more unique and intriguing elements of the movie, but all the while it doesn't make up for some of the most confusing and random character storylines such as Margaret's.
Addressing the elephant in the room, and what I believe is the main discussion point of many reviews surrounding this project, is Harry Styles. While he offers a very mild performance, he nonetheless provides some of the more memorable parts of this movie -- which may be for the wrong reasons but at least he made his mark. His character makes me believe this movie would have worked better as a comedy rather than a completely serious social commentary.
Carrying most of the movie alongside Wilde herself was Florence Pugh as the lost puppy, 'Alice', who finds herself in an ominously perfect world with her 'perfect' boyfriend, Jack portrayed by Harry Styles. The story follows Alice's journey in unveiling the truth about this utopia and just how she wound up there. The movie wastes no time in setting the story up (later causing pacing and contextual issues) and we are introduced to all the main characters, portrayed in 'keep up with the Joneses' style, pretty quickly. Almost too quickly.
As Act 1 takes up most of its time showing just how much Alice and Jack are in love with each other, and how the ritualistic days that repeat in this community make up most of the characters' personalities, the story is pretty much revealed. Amid the cinematic sequences is Alice, already in anguish, trying to unfold the expected truth about this dreamland. If not for the trailers, which give away a pretty significant chunk of the movie; this plot might have had a bigger effect. But running on the cliché of a mystery filled utopia, audiences are already likely to be one step ahead.
By the time we're halfway through the movie, Alice has already had many revelations and jeopardised her safety, which in theory should provide the thriller part of the movie, but the continuous back and forth between her and her inner voice stalls the action. When it sets its footing and tension is built, we're already on the next scene in a different scenario. The occasional appearance by Frank (Chris Pine) grounds viewers as his authoritative speeches and long dialogues, reminiscent of Fight Club type toxic masculinity, give direction as to what is going on. Which is a great question for most of the movie as scenes start and abruptly end, often without any meaning or possible interpretation whilst watching.
Ultimately, the main issue is that there are some wonderful concepts but there's no depth to the story, leaving audiences with two-dimensional characters and an underwhelming reaction. The revelation of Bunny's character (Wilde) and Alice's background are a few of the more unique and intriguing elements of the movie, but all the while it doesn't make up for some of the most confusing and random character storylines such as Margaret's.
Addressing the elephant in the room, and what I believe is the main discussion point of many reviews surrounding this project, is Harry Styles. While he offers a very mild performance, he nonetheless provides some of the more memorable parts of this movie -- which may be for the wrong reasons but at least he made his mark. His character makes me believe this movie would have worked better as a comedy rather than a completely serious social commentary.