The premise of this movie sounded interesting to me. I'm not really a political person but I enjoy watching movies where a character slowly loses their grip on reality and descends down a rabbit hole of madness, to me this movie fell short of delivering that feeling. It's pretty clear from the beginning of the movie that Ronnie is not a stable person and the ending of the film was rather predictable. The second act of the movie was unexpected in it's subject matter and while it has some fascinating moments it is ultimately depressing and you actually begin to feel sorry for Ronnie.
One big problem I think this movie suffers from is that it is very self-serious. The comedic moments that are in the film do not seem to come from a place of finding humor in tragedy, instead they seem to come from a place of intentional humiliation. The themes inside the movie also present themselves as very matter-of-fact. Black comedy can be good, but here it feels more vindictive than it does serving as a venue for humor in a certain situation.
Given the political context I can see why this movie is so polarizing. While making movies with a divisive subject can be risky, it can payoff if by the end the viewer leaves feeling like they learned something. I'm not very familiar with the alt-right but I didn't leave this movie thinking to myself, "wow! That was really an insightful look into the mindset of a group of people I don't understand." I kind of wish this film had dropped the political narrative entirely and just focused on further character development. Ronnie has a friend in the movie that kind of acts like a mentor but besides that he is rather one-dimensional and really just serves as a plot device. Ronnie's Dad passed away years ago and was in the army, that's about all we know about him--did Ronnie's father have a significant influence on his personality? Ronnie works at a convenience store and the owner's son basically acts as a plot device and another scenario for Ronnie to get upset about. The character Candy is somewhat fleshed-out but even still, her subplot is rather predictable and lacks tension.
Overall, this movie isn't unwatchable but it also didn't leave a significant impact on me. It was a very on-the-nose movie that felt like it was also patting itself on the back constantly. Like I mentioned in the beginning, you do begin to feel sorry for Ronnie by the end of the movie, however I do wonder if that was ever truly the filmmakers intentions?
One big problem I think this movie suffers from is that it is very self-serious. The comedic moments that are in the film do not seem to come from a place of finding humor in tragedy, instead they seem to come from a place of intentional humiliation. The themes inside the movie also present themselves as very matter-of-fact. Black comedy can be good, but here it feels more vindictive than it does serving as a venue for humor in a certain situation.
Given the political context I can see why this movie is so polarizing. While making movies with a divisive subject can be risky, it can payoff if by the end the viewer leaves feeling like they learned something. I'm not very familiar with the alt-right but I didn't leave this movie thinking to myself, "wow! That was really an insightful look into the mindset of a group of people I don't understand." I kind of wish this film had dropped the political narrative entirely and just focused on further character development. Ronnie has a friend in the movie that kind of acts like a mentor but besides that he is rather one-dimensional and really just serves as a plot device. Ronnie's Dad passed away years ago and was in the army, that's about all we know about him--did Ronnie's father have a significant influence on his personality? Ronnie works at a convenience store and the owner's son basically acts as a plot device and another scenario for Ronnie to get upset about. The character Candy is somewhat fleshed-out but even still, her subplot is rather predictable and lacks tension.
Overall, this movie isn't unwatchable but it also didn't leave a significant impact on me. It was a very on-the-nose movie that felt like it was also patting itself on the back constantly. Like I mentioned in the beginning, you do begin to feel sorry for Ronnie by the end of the movie, however I do wonder if that was ever truly the filmmakers intentions?