Velvet Buzzsaw (2019)

A satire set in the contemporary art world scene of Los Angeles, where big money artists and mega-collectors pay a high price when art collides with commerce.

Director:

Dan Gilroy

Writer:

Dan Gilroy

Stars:

Jake Gyllenhaal, Rene Russo, Zawe Ashton

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jake Gyllenhaal	...	Morf Vandewalt
Rene Russo	...	Rhodora Haze
Zawe Ashton	...	Josephina
Tom Sturridge	...	Jon Dondon
Toni Collette	...	Gretchen
Natalia Dyer	...	Coco
Daveed Diggs	...	Damrish
John Malkovich	...	Piers
Billy Magnussen	...	Bryson
Alan Mandell	...	Dease
Mig Macario	...	Cloudio
Nitya Vidyasagar	...	Gita
Sedale Threatt Jr.	...	Ed
Keith Bogart	...	Husband at Art Basel Will Call
Sofia Toufa	...	Wife at Art Basel Will Call

Storyline

A satire set in the contemporary art world scene of Los Angeles, where big money artists and mega-collectors pay a high price when art collides with commerce.

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Plot Keywords:

artist | satire | gay man has sex with a woman | supernatural horror | dark satire | 

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Taglines:

All art is dangerous.

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Genres:

Horror | Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence, language, some sexuality/nudity and brief drug use

Did You Know?

Trivia

In an interview with Insider, director Dan Gilroy reveals that the name, Vetril Dease, is a real name that belonged to a man who lived in the 1800s. He discovered the name while researching names in census rolls for a film project he did a decade prior to this film. He states, "I collected like 50 names, and one of them was Vetril Dease. So Vetril Dease was a real person who lived in South Carolina in the 1850s, and I've resurrected him somehow."

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Goofs

Several characters are seen smoking in the galleries. This is a major breach of etiquette in the art world and likely against laws regarding smoking in public (filmed in Miami, there is a Florida statute banning public smoking).

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Quotes

Piers: I am fighting to get back to creation, to revelation, the billion years of energy sparking through our brain.

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Crazy Credits

During the first part of the credits, Piers is creating art in the sand.

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Connections

Featured in WatchMojo: Top 10 Best Horror Movies of 2019 (2019)

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Soundtracks

Negrita Ve
Produced, Mixed, Written, and performed by José Miguel Ortegon
Performed by Sr Ortegon

User Reviews

A lot of ideas. No real cohesion.

It's a bit ironic, this film that wants to explore the vapid shallowness of the fine art world in a stylish horror movie setting... ends up inviting the very same criticisms that the finely dressed tastemakers in the film fling about.

Ok. Buzzwords aside. I did enjoy this film more than I disliked it. But in all earnestnest, it was by a hair. Knowing this came from the same guy who made the excellent psochological thriller Nightcrawler. This is like asketchbook of ideas for a giallo-inspired slasher. Each individually awesome. But there's no real throughline to keep us going. People pop up until they die gruesome deaths. It feels kind of slapped together haphazardly.

I expected more from Gilroy

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 February 2019 (Portugal)

Also Known As:

Bársony körfűrész

Filming Locations:

Santa Clarita, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Netflix

Technical Specs

Runtime:

113 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Atmos

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1