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

A slow thriller about two upper-class teenage girls in suburban Connecticut rekindle their unlikely friendship after years of growing apart. They're: Amanda (Olivia Cooke) who euthanizes her crippled horse with a knife, resulting in charges of animal cruelty. Some time later, Amanda arrives at the home of the more popular and academically-inclined Lily (Anya Taylor-Joy). The girls had previously been best friends but grew apart after the death of Lily's father. Together, they hatch a plan to solve both of their problems-no matter what the cost. They meet under the pretense of hanging out and having a casual tutoring session, but Amanda knows that her mother (Kaili Vernoff) has paid Lily to socialize with Amanda. Lily denies being paid, but Amanda, left emotionless by an unspecified mental disorder, is unfazed. Lily meets with Amanda again, this time voluntarily, and they rekindle their friendship.. Good Breeding Gone Bad !

A slow-burning thriller originally written for the stage that contains intrigue, emotion, suspense , twists and turns. The film is acceptable and decent, but not too much, containing excessive dialogue and little action, focusing too much on the dark plans to be carried out by our beautiful and intriguing protagonists.

The film unfolds little by little, until the inevitable conclusion, the film relies heavily on the two very young protagonists, the suburban Connecticut, upper-class high schoolers , the film rests on them, whoever likes actresses will definitely like the film, whoever is not attracted to them will they will feel disappointed. When Thoroughbreds (2017) was filmed they were partially known (both actresses are English) , Anya Taylor-Joy and Olivia Cooke are today at the maximum height of their fame thanks to films ¨Furiosa: a Mad max saga¨ and ¨House of the Dragon¨ series. They are the authentic and beautiful protagonists, being briefly accompanied by a good support cast, such as: Paul Sparks, Francie Swift, Kaili Vernoff and Anton Yelchin to whom the film is dedicated due to his premature death due to an accident at the age of 27 .

This Thoroughbreds (2017) results to be Cory Finley's directorial debut. The film remained unreleased for two years, then the movie was later released with relative success. Finley later directed the most successful ¨Bad Education¨ (2019) with Hugh Jackman, Allison Janney, ¨WeCrashed¨ (2022) with Jared Leto, Anne Hathaway, and ¨Landscape with Invisible Hand¨ (2023) Kylie Rogers, Tiffany Haddish. Rating: 6/10. The pic will appeal to Olivia Cooke and Anya Taylor-Joy fans.

This film is incredbily entertaining and intriguing from beginning to end. Our two lead actresses both give fantastic performances, as wealthy teenage girls from suburban Connecticut. The story unfolds in a very interesting way and the ending left me satisifed. The cameraweork is stunning, and the direction is great, especially for a directorial debut. It manages to be both comedic and dark and balances the tone quite well. There is one plot line including Anton Yelich that I would have liked to see wrapped up a little better, but it definietely does not take away from the overall enjoyment of the film. This film is intriguing and brings a much-needed spin to a genre that often produces subpar films. You should definitely go watch Thoroughbreds, you will not be dissapointed.

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.

SPOILER: Thoroughbreds was quite a bit to process for me. On the surface, it's a story about young would-be murderers who are plotting to kill a stepfather in a WASPy Connecticut setting. Symbolically, it's a story about free will and letting go of all inhibitions. Amanda teaches Lily that committing a murder is all about getting away from yourself and focusing on the goal. Throughout the film, they relate it to how Steve Jobs dropped out of college and founded his own computer company. Strange and satirical, for sure. Cooke and Joy are a fabulous duo.

The pacing of the film is even more off-putting. Also, despite being advertised as a comedy, Thoroughbreds is so matter of fact and grim, I couldn't decipher what was supposed to be funny from what was supposed to be dead serious. That was entirely the point, but I found myself scratching my head more than enjoying the nuance.